Identifying the task characteristics that predict children's construction task performance

Construction tasks form a major part of children’s play and can be linked to achievement in maths and science. However there is a lack of understanding of construction task ability and development. Therefore, there is little foundation for the applied use of construction tasks, such as in teaching or research, as there are no apparent methods for assessing difficulty. This empirical research identifies four construction task characteristics that impact on cognition and predict construction task difficulty in children aged 7-8 and 10-11 years and adults. The results also reveal a developmental trajectory in construction ability. The research provides a method to quantify, predict and control the complexity of construction tasks for future research and to inform applied use

Play and Developmental Outcomes in Infant Siblings of Children with Autism

We observed infant siblings of children with autism later diagnosed with ASD (ASD siblings; n = 17), infant siblings of children with autism with and without other delays (Other Delays and No Delays siblings; n = 12 and n = 19, respectively) and typically developing controls (TD controls; n = 19) during a free-play task at 18 months of age. Functional, symbolic, and repeated play actions were coded. ASD siblings showed fewer functional and more non-functional repeated play behaviors than TD controls. Other Delays and No Delays siblings showed more non-functional repeated play than TD controls. Group differences disappeared with the inclusion of verbal mental age. Play as an early indicator of autism and its relationship to the broader autism phenotype is discussed

Best practice for motor imagery: a systematic literature review on motor imagery training elements in five different disciplines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The literature suggests a beneficial effect of motor imagery (MI) if combined with physical practice, but detailed descriptions of MI training session (MITS) elements and temporal parameters are lacking. The aim of this review was to identify the characteristics of a successful MITS and compare these for different disciplines, MI session types, task focus, age, gender and MI modification during intervention.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An extended systematic literature search using 24 databases was performed for five disciplines: Education, Medicine, Music, Psychology and Sports. References that described an MI intervention that focused on motor skills, performance or strength improvement were included. Information describing 17 MITS elements was extracted based on the PETTLEP (physical, environment, timing, task, learning, emotion, perspective) approach. Seven elements describing the MITS temporal parameters were calculated: study duration, intervention duration, MITS duration, total MITS count, MITS per week, MI trials per MITS and total MI training time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both independent reviewers found 96% congruity, which was tested on a random sample of 20% of all references. After selection, 133 studies reporting 141 MI interventions were included. The locations of the MITS and position of the participants during MI were task-specific. Participants received acoustic detailed MI instructions, which were mostly standardised and live. During MI practice, participants kept their eyes closed. MI training was performed from an internal perspective with a kinaesthetic mode. Changes in MI content, duration and dosage were reported in 31 MI interventions. Familiarisation sessions before the start of the MI intervention were mentioned in 17 reports. MI interventions focused with decreasing relevance on motor-, cognitive- and strength-focused tasks. Average study intervention lasted 34 days, with participants practicing MI on average three times per week for 17 minutes, with 34 MI trials. Average total MI time was 178 minutes including 13 MITS. Reporting rate varied between 25.5% and 95.5%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MITS elements of successful interventions were individual, supervised and non-directed sessions, added after physical practice. Successful design characteristics were dominant in the Psychology literature, in interventions focusing on motor and strength-related tasks, in interventions with participants aged 20 to 29 years old, and in MI interventions including participants of both genders. Systematic searching of the MI literature was constrained by the lack of a defined MeSH term.</p

Pretend play and parents\u27 view of social competence: the construct validity of the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment.

Background and Aims: Play is the primary means through which children develop skills and socially interact with other children. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between pretend play and social competence in 4&ndash;5-year-old typically developing children, thereby adding further knowledge to the construct validity of the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA). Procedure: The pretend play ability of 35 preschool children aged 4&ndash;5 years was assessed using the ChIPPA. Parent/guardians of the children were interviewed regarding their child\u27s social competence using the Vineland Social&ndash;Emotional Early Childhood Scales (Vineland SEEC Scales). Main Findings: No significant correlations were found between the children\u27s play scores and their Vineland SEEC Scales scores. A significant and negative relationship was found between cooperation and sharing and elaborate play scores, suggesting that children who scored poorly on the play assessment were rated as cooperative by parents. Principal Conclusions: Parent report of social competence cannot be inferred from play scores. Reasons for the negative and significant finding are put forward and clinical implications of the findings are discussed. Additional investigations are necessary to further explore the construct validity of inferring social competence using the ChIPPA. <br /

Geologic and geophysical investigation of a portion of the upper continental slope, northwest Gulf of Mexico

The continental slope in the northwest Gulf of Mexico ranges in width from 11 kilometers (59 nautical miles) off the Rio Grande to 24 kilometers (13 nautical miles) off Louisiana. Throughout its Cenozoic history, this continental margin has increased its limits through the progradation and aggradation of clastic sediments on a broadly downwarped and subsiding basement. Eustatic changes in sea level in response to Pleistocene climatic fluctuations have provided for the deposition of these transgressive and regressive deposits. Rapid Pleistocene sea level changes are responsible for accelerated deposition and extension of the continental margin. Eustatic lowering of sea level moved the site of nearshore sedimentation to the outer edge of the continental shelf. Shelf outbuilding occurred as deltas prograded over the shelf-slope break. Growth faults cut the sediment column in response to this rapid sedimentation. Transgressive seas decreased the sedimentation rate, calling a halt to this outbuilding sequence. The continental slope in the northwest gulf is also marked by diapiric uplifts of variable size. Drilling in the late 196’s confirmed the hypothesis that these are salt diapirs. These intrusions greatly affect the surrounding sedimentation, especially in the basins, or synclines, which they create. This particular study correlates high resolution seismic profiles with drill core data in a selected location on the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope off the Texas Gulf coast. Textural, micropaleontologic and paleomagnetic information obtained from these drill cores combined with sparker data to yield a history of the Late Pleistocene to Recent in this area. The analysis of shelf edge progradation and its relationship to sedimentation and structural activity on the continental slope yielded additional information with respect to the Pleistocene to Recent depositional history

God's Little Cow & An Argument for Hybridity

This practice based PhD thesis asks questions and explores creative practice related to the production of a multi-modal work. Part One is the creative writing project, God's Little Cow, a book of texts containing manually typed pages and a language-based sound and object installation as part of the final reading. This project serves as a practical reading experience of multi-modal work necessitated by an understanding of language that demands to be seen in all its materialities. Part Two comprises of a close reading of Anne Carson's multi-modal work, Nox, as an exemplar of work using the form of the Artist’s Book to explore issues in relation to language, translation and the use of source materials. I outline elements of process that are pertinent to work that deals with the materialities of language and the visual-verbal relationships, the materialities of the text and the production of meanings. The conclusion outlines how Anne Carson informed my practice and shows how this critical exploration influenced my approach to the work God's Little Cow. It argues for the visibility of hybridity in creative practice and articulates the ways in which the language-based installation operates as a conclusion to thinking of the book as a four dimensional phenomenological experience