Individual Differences in Children’s Paths to Arithmetical Development

Cross-sectional and longitudinal data consistently indicate that mathematical difficulties are more prevalent in older than in younger children (e.g. Department of Education, 2011). Children’s trajectories can take a variety of shapes such as linear, flat, curvilinear, and uneven, and shape has been found to vary within children and across tasks (J Jordan, Mulhern, and Wylie, 2009). There has been an increase in the use of statistical methods which are specifically designed to study development, and this has greatly improved our understanding of children’s mathematical development. However, the effects of many cognitive and social variables (e.g. working memory and verbal ability) on mathematical development are unclear. It is likely that greater consistency between studies will be achieved by adopting a componential approach to study mathematics, rather than treating mathematics as a unitary concept.</p

The Irish Rover: Phil Lynott and the Search for Identity

Phil Lynott, the lead singer of the rock band Thin Lizzy, was a complex character. An illegitimate black child who grew up in a working-class, Catholic district of Dublin, Ireland in the 1950s, Lynott spent his life searching for a sense of belonging, something which he explored through rock and roll. This study uses Lynott’s song lyrics to investigate his quest for identity. In particular, it identifies the many recurring themes and archetypes in his music that offered multifaceted self-portraits of his internal conflict between being black, Irish, illegitimate, a rockstar, a Lothario, a son, a father, and a husband, all at the same time