Long-term effects of synthetic versus analytic phonics teaching on the reading and spelling ability of 10 year old boys and girls

A comparison was made of 10-year-old boys and girls who had learnt to read by analytic or synthetic phonics methods as part of their early literacy programmes. The boys taught by the synthetic phonics method had better word reading than the girls in their classes, and their spelling and reading comprehension was as good. In contrast, with analytic phonics teaching, although the boys performed as well as the girls in word reading, they had inferior spelling and reading comprehension. Overall, the group taught by synthetic phonics had better word reading, spelling, and reading comprehension. There was no evidence that the synthetic phonics approach, which early on teaches children to blend letter sounds in order to read unfamiliar words, led to any impairment in the reading of irregular words

Understanding and supporting adolescents' mental touchness in an educational context

This study sought to explore the concept of mental toughness (comprising the attributes challenge, commitment, control and confidence) from the perceptions of adolescents, to better understand their views on these attributes and the extent to which each were regarded as important within an educational setting. In total, 54 adolescents (31 female) aged 12-17 participated. Focus group interviews (n = 15, average group size 3-4) were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using the principles of abbreviated grounded theory. The students’ views are discussed with reference to relevant psychological theory and literature and implications for teachers interested in encouraging these positive psychological attributes among adolescents are discussed

The Development and Validation of a Mental Toughness Scale for Adolescents

The present study examined the validity of a newly developed instrument, the Mental Toughness Scale for Adolescents (MTS-A), which examines the attributes of challenge, commitment, confidence (abilities and interpersonal) and control (life and emotion). The six factor model was supporting using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA, n = 373) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA, n = 372). In addition, the mental toughness attributes correlated with adolescents’ academic motivation and engagement (n = 439), well-being (depression and anxiety) (n = 279) and test anxiety (n = 279), indicating relations with a number of affective, cognitive and behavioural dispositions, and demonstrating relevance in education and potentially mental health contexts

The relationship between transliminality, hypnotic and imaginative suggestibility, and other personality traits

Data availability: We have shared a link to the data within the manuscript.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. To our knowledge, no study has directly examined the link between hypnotic response and the personality trait of transliminality (which is underpinned, for example, by magical ideation, mystical experience, fantasy proneness, absorption, hyperaesthesia). In order to further understand the correlates of suggestibility, the aim of the current project was to investigate whether transliminality is associated with hypnotic and imaginative suggestibility (considering: objective response, subjective response and involuntariness). Another aim was to assess the contribution of transliminality as a predictor of suggestibility when a range of previously studied personality trait measures were considered. Participants completed: the Revised Transliminality Scale, Tellegen Absorption Scale, Creative Experiences Questionnaire, and the Dissociative Experiences Scale II. To avoid context effects, where knowledge or measurement of one trait or ability might influence measurement of another, a separate standalone study was conducted where hypnotic and imaginative (without hypnosis) suggestibility screenings were carried out in-person in small groups using the modified Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale. The merging of these two datasets enabled the analyses. Transliminality was weakly correlated with the imaginative suggestibility subjective response measure (r = 0.19). Likewise, weak correlations were found between transliminality and the hypnotic suggestibility response measures (objective, r = 0.21, subjective, r = 0.23, involuntariness, r = 0.24). The multiple regressions (forward selection) reflected the pattern of correlations, with no model for any of the variables, retaining more than a single significant predictor. In summary, this study combination, avoiding context effects, shows transliminality to be a weak predictor of response to suggestion.The Leverhulme Trust (grant number RPG-2017-291) to W McGeown (Principal Investigator), A Venneri, G Mazzoni and I Kirsch, and The BIAL Foundation (grant number 269/18) to W McGeown (Principal Investigator), R Tate, A Venneri, G Mazzoni and I Kirsch

Rapid detection of heart failure using a spectroscopic liquid biopsy

Heart disease is growing annually across the globe with numbers expected to rise to 46% of the population by 2030. Early detection is vital for several reasons, firstly it improves the long-term prognosis of the patient by admitting them through the appropriate pathway faster, secondly it reduces healthcare costs by streamlining diagnosis and finally, in combination with management or treatment, it can prevent the progression of the disease which in turn improves the patient’s quality of life. Therefore, there lies an increasing need to develop assays which can rapidly detect heart disease at an early stage. The Dxcover® liquid biopsy platform employs infrared spectroscopy and artificial intelligence, to quickly analyse minute amounts of patient serum. In this study, discrimination between healthy controls and diseased patients was obtained with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.89. When assessing the heart failure vs all patients, which is most akin to what would be observed in a triage setting, the model when tuned to a minimum of 45% specificity yielded a sensitivity of 89% and an NPV of 0.996, conversely when sensitivity was set at a 45% minimum, the specificity was 96%, giving an NPV of 0.991 when using a 1.5% prevalence. Other models were assessed in parallel, but the performance of the ORFPLS model was overall superior to the other models tested. In this large scale (n = 404) proof-of-concept study, we have shown that the Dxcover liquid biopsy platform has the potential to be a viable triage tool in emergency and routine situations for the diagnosis of heart failure