Human figure drawings by children: a measure of sporting ability? [Blog post]

As early as the 1920’s psychologists have examined children’s drawings, particularly of a human figure, and counted the number of body parts drawn against a prescribed list (such as head, eyes and arms) as a measure of the child’s intellectual abilities

Children are turning to drawing during the lockdown – what can we learn from them? [Blog post]

Children’s drawings are a mirror to their mind. It is a reflection of their feelings, emotions, and their cognitive development. The early works of psychologists dating back to the 1920s were focused on children’s drawings as a measure of their intellectual abilities. This was generally based on the principle of counting the number of body parts drawn against a prescribed list (such as head, eyes, or arms) and arriving at a score reflecting the child’s intellectual ability. However, while this aspect of children’s drawings appears to be straightforward, it was largely thanks to the work of Elizabeth Koppitz that led to the evaluation of children’s drawings not just by counting the number of body parts but also considering the manner in which it was drawn

Persian orthography and its relation to literacy.

Persian orthography, which is a modified version of the Arabic script, is used for transcribing the Persian (Farsi) language, which is the major language spoken in Iran. Persian is also one of the two (Farsi and Urdu) major languages spoken in Afghanistan, and the main language in Tajikestan, a former central Asian republic of the former Soviet Union. However, the Persian spoken in these countries and the script used to transcribe the spoken language, particularly in Tajikistan, have been influenced by local factors and borrowed words. The focus of this chapter is on the Persian spoken in the present-day Iran and its relationship with the orthography, henceforth referred to as Persian orthography. In particular, the emphasis is on how literacy acquisition by Persian beginner (and skilled) readers may be affected by peculiarities of Persian orthography. Arguably, very little systematic research has been conducted on cognitive processes involved in the reading of Persian. It is hoped that this article will stimulate such research. After presenting factors that influence literacy acquisition in Persian, we take up the question of whether there should be changes to Persian orthography

Gender differences in Polish citizens attitudes towards immigration to the UK.

The present study examined gender differences in attitudes towards immigration of Polish citizens to the UK. Participants: 60 men (mean age =26.21, SD=2.51) and 60 women (mean age=26.15, SD=3.73) participated in the investigation. A 30 item questionnaire was administered to the participants and subjected to the Principle Component Analysis. Factor analysis showed 3 strong factors which were labeled as “domestic preference”, “lifestyle patterns” and “social participation”. The results of statistical analysis showed that Polish women have more preference for the Polish lifestyle than Polish men. However, results of regression analysis showed that as well as gender other significant predictors affecting attitudes towards living in the UK are the length of stay and level of education. Implications of the findings are discussed

Images of “the other”: “the turks” in Greek Cypriot children’s drawings

The present study investigated how Greek-Cypriot children portray themselves, a Greek-Cypriot child and a Turkish child of the same age in terms of size, details shading and differences. Participants (boys, n = 14, girls, n = 20) aged 6 and 11 from a school in Limassol were asked to draw themselves, a Greek child and a Turkish child. Participants drew themselves significantly taller than a Greek-Cypriot child. The smallest figure drawn was the Turkish child. Furthermore, the Turkish figure drawn had darker shading, mostly a male- looking person and often included items such as a weapon. The results are discussed in line with studies on the analysis of children’s drawings as a reflection of their feelings towards “others” in ethnically divided societies

Effect of sports vision exercise on visual perception and reading performance in 7- to 10-year-old developmental dyslexic children

The presented study was aimed at identifying for the first time the influence of sports vision exercises on fundamental motor skills and cognitive skills of 7- to 10-year-old developmental dyslexic Persian children. A pretest - posttest quasi-experimental study was conducted. The statistical population of this study was 7- to 10-year-old dyslexic children referring to two centres of learning disorder in the city of Isfahan. Twenty two of these children were selected using available and purposive sampling from the statistical population and were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control. The former (experimental group) participated in sports vision exercise courses for 12 weeks (3 one hr sessions per week) and the latter (control group) continued their routine daily activities during the exercise. Before the beginning and at the end of the exercise, Gardner’s test of visual perception test - revised and Dehkhoda’s reading skills test was administered to both groups. The results showed that the sports vision exercises increases motor skills, visual perceptual skills and reading skills in developmental dyslexic children. Based on the results of the presented study it was concluded that sports vision exercises can be used for fundamental and cognitive skills of developmental dyslexic children

Semantic priming in Russian monolingual and Russian (L1) – English (L2) bilingual speakers in a single word naming task: semantic priming in Russian

Identifying and exploring factors that influence bilingual language processing has been the topic of much psycholinguistic research. Semantic priming is typically used to examine semantic processing and refers to the phenomenon in which semantically related items (doctor-nurse) are processed faster and more accurately than semantically unrelated items (doctor-butter). The aim of the chapter is to address two key questions: 1) how the two languages of a bilingual are organised or stored and 2) how the two languages are processed. A review of the literature shows that there are currently no theoretical frameworks that explain Russian monolingual or Russian (L1)-English (L2) bilingual storage or processing. Monolingual Russian speakers and bilingual Russian (L1)-English (L2) speaking university students were asked to name target words under related or unrelated conditions. The results show that the magnitude of the semantic priming effect was determined by L2 proficiency. The implications for these findings is discussed within the current bilingual theoretical models

Defining extreme sport: conceptions and misconceptions

One feature in how sport is defined is the distinction between extreme and non-extreme. BASE jumping is an example of an ‘extreme sport’ because it involves a high degree of ‘risk’, whilst swimming is classified as ‘non-extreme’ because the risks are minimal. This broad definition falls short of identifying the extent of risk and ignores the psychological, social-demographic and life style variables associated with engagement in each sport

Rugby as a rehabilitation program in a United Kingdom male young offenders' institution: key findings and implications from mixed methods research

There is a growing body of research on the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes in a Young Offenders’ Institution (YOI). The aim of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of Rugby training as a rehabilitation intervention in a YOI in the UK. Young adult males (n = 46) currently serving sentences at the YOI were split into two groups, intervention (n = 25, mean age = 19.64, SD = 0.81) and no intervention (n = 21, mean age = 19.76, SD = 0.89). Participants completed the Criminal Attitudes and Associates (MCAA) instrument (Mills et al., 2002) pre and post intervals at three different time cycles across an 8 week period. Additionally, qualitative interviews (one to one and focus groups) were carried out with the intervention and no intervention groups during the same cycles of the study. The results of questionnaire analysis showed no significant difference in MCAA measures taken before and after Rugby intervention. Interestingly, the intervention group showed more pro-criminal attitudes on their responses compared to the no intervention group. Finally, analysis of the 3 cycles of data collected showed that the time of the year the questionnaire was completed has a significant impact on the responses given. In contrast, the qualitative interviews showed a very positive change of attitude towards rehabilitation from the intervention group after Rugby training. The implications of the results in relation to studies aimed at evaluation of the intervention programmes in YOI are discussed

Personality differences amongst drag racers and archers: implications for sport injury rehabilitation

Personality trait of an athlete is a significant factor in sports injury rehabilitation. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether there are differences in personality traits between male and female, professional and amateur athletes from sports representing two ends of extreme to traditional namely; drag racing and archery. Overall 189 male and female, professional and amateur drag racers (n=144) and archers (n=45) took part in this study. Participants completed the personality traits of extroversion and neuroticism as measured by Eysenck’s classic Personality Inventory dimensions and thrill and adventure seeking (TAS), experience seeking (ES), disinhibition (DIS), boredom susceptibility (BS), and sensation seeking (SS) as measured by Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale. The results showed that professionals scored significantly lower on neuroticism compared to amateurs. Drag racers scored significantly higher on TAS, DIS, and SS compared to archers and there were gender differences amongst archers on TAS and SS with males scoring higher than females. Such differences in personality factors and the readiness to take risks, lack of caution, and adventurous spirit can influence the risk of injury in athletes and indeed may influence the outcome of rehabilitation. Practitioners would need to recognise difference in personality traits associated with the type of sport and the choice of interventions strategies