Intelligentsus ja sotsiaalmajanduslik edukus: Seoste, põhjuste ja tagajärgede analüüs

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Intelligentsed inimesed on üldiselt edukamad kui vähem intelligentsed inimesed. Käesolev doktoritöö näitab, et intelligentsus aitab eriti tugevalt kaasa edukusele hariduse ja töö valdkonnas, mõnevõrra vähemal määral inimsuhete ja tervise valdkonnas. Intelligentsuse mõju tööalasele edukusele ei ole kõikides ühiskondades ühesugune. Näiteks USA-s on intelligentne olemisest rohkem kasu kui Skandinaaviamaades, Eesti asub kusagil nende vahepeal. Intelligentsuse mõju tööalasele edukusele on oluline teema mitte ainult inimeste jaoks isiklikult, vaid ka ühiskonna jaoks tervikuna, sest ühiskond mis laseb intelligentsetel inimestel end tööalaselt teostada, saab nende inimeste võimetest majanduslikku kasu. Ühiskonnad kus intelligentsed inimesed on edukad, kasvavad majanduslikus mõttes kiiremini, kui ühiskonnad mis intelligentsete inimeste edukust ei soodusta.Intelligent people are more successful than less intelligent people. The present dissertation shows that intelligence contributes strongly to success in education and work, and a bit less strongly to success in social interaction and health. The impact of intelligence on work related success is not equally strong in all societies. It is stronger in the United States than in Scandinavian countries, Estonia is somewhere in between these two. The impact of intelligence on work related success is an important topic for people personally, but also for societies, because a society can benefit from talented people better if it allows such people to achieve success. The societies that enhance the success of intelligent people experience faster economic growth

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Relationships between portable chlorophyll meter estimates for the red mangrove tree (Rhizophora mangle L.)

Several ecosystem processes and services provided by mangrove trees, such as the regulation of biogeochemical cycles, biological control, soil retention and protection against erosion, and especially CO2 assimilation and carbon storage are related to the photosynthetic process (Donato et al. 2011; Schaeffer-Novelli et al., 2016; Santos et al., 2017). Photosynthesis is directly related to chlorophyll present in the leaves, and assessment of chlorophyll concentrations may be used as an indicator of a plants’ physiological condition. Decreases in leaf chlorophyll concentrations occur in plants exposed to environmental stress, including stress caused by heavy metals (Chandra & Kang, 2016), nutrient deficiency (Kalaji et al., 2017), and petroleum pollution (Arellano et al., 2017), among others. Thus, estimates of chlorophyll concentrations may provide information on plant and ecosystem function (Heenkenda et al., 2015; Pastor-Guzman et al., 2015)

Tehnoloogiarikkas keskkonnas probleemilahendusoskuste tase ja IKT kasutus Eesti elanike hulgas

Käesolev aruanne on valminud PIAAC uuringu temaatiliste aruannete sarjas ning annab ülevaate Eestis elavate 16–65-aastaste inimeste info- ja kommunikatsioonitehnoloogia (IKT) töisest ja mittetöisest kasutusest ning tehnoloogiarikkas keskkonnas probleemilahendusoskuse tulemustest. Analüüsitakse ka tehnoloogiarikkas keskkonnas probleemilahendusoskuse ja muude mõõdikute headust uuringus ning pakutakse välja alternatiivne lahend, kuidas grupeerida inimesi PIAAC uuringu andmete alusel lisaks oskustele ka arvuti kasutusviiside järgi. Aruandes analüüsitakse inimeste IKT kasutust ning oskusi arvuti kasutamise sageduse ja viiside ning riigi makromajanduslike näitajate võrdluses. Riigi tunnuste puhul keskendutakse eelkõige erinevate toomissektorite tootlikkuse võrdlusele ning seoste otsimisele arvuti kasutusviiside ja oskustega. Eestit võrreldakse aruandes viie meile arvutikasutuse poolest sarnase riigiga: Austria, Soome, Tšehhi, Slovakkia ja Iirimaaga, kuid mitmetes analüüsides on kasutatud ka enamate riikide andmeid

Psychosocial functioning and intelligence both partly explain socioeconomic inequalities in premature death. A population-based male cohort study

The possible contributions of psychosocial functioning and intelligence differences to socioeconomic status (SES)-related inequalities in premature death were investigated. None of the previous studies focusing on inequalities in mortality has included measures of both psychosocial functioning and intelligence.The study was based on a cohort of 49 321 men born 1949-1951 from the general community in Sweden. Data on psychosocial functioning and intelligence from military conscription at ∼18 years of age were linked with register data on education, occupational class, and income at 35-39 years of age. Psychosocial functioning was rated by psychologists as a summary measure of differences in level of activity, power of initiative, independence, and emotional stability. Intelligence was measured through a multidimensional test. Causes of death between 40 and 57 years of age were followed in registers.The estimated inequalities in all-cause mortality by education and occupational class were attenuated with 32% (95% confidence interval: 20-45%) and 41% (29-52%) after adjustments for individual psychological differences; both psychosocial functioning and intelligence contributed to account for the inequalities. The inequalities in cardiovascular and injury mortality were attenuated by as much as 51% (24-76%) and 52% (35-68%) after the same adjustments, and the inequalities in alcohol-related mortality were attenuated by up to 33% (8-59%). Less of the inequalities were accounted for when those were measured by level of income, with which intelligence had a weaker correlation. The small SES-related inequalities in cancer mortality were not attenuated by adjustment for intelligence.Differences in psychosocial functioning and intelligence might both contribute to the explanation of observed SES-related inequalities in premature death, but the magnitude of their contributions likely varies with measure of socioeconomic status and cause of death. Both psychosocial functioning and intelligence should be considered in future studies

Childhood cognitive ability and smoking initiation, relapse and cessation throughout adulthood: Evidence from two British cohort studies

Aims  To test the relationship between early cognitive ability and major changes in smoking habits across adulthood, and test whether educational attainment mediates these associations.  Design  Prospective observational study to examine the link between cognitive ability and smoking initiation, relapse and cessation at multiple time-points throughout adulthood in a pooled analysis of two cohorts.  Setting  Great Britain 1981–2013.  Participants  A total of 16 653 participants from two British cohorts; 7191 from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS) and 9462 from the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS). Participants were 52.9% female and 27.3% were smokers, 24.8% were ex-smokers and 47.9% reported never smoking.  Measurements  Cognitive ability was assessed at age 10years in the BCS and 11years in the NCDS. Outcomes were smoking initiation, relapse and cessation derived from changes in smoking status observed across five time-points between ages 26–42 in the BCS and six time-points between ages 23–55 in the NCDS. Educational attainment was examined as a mediating variable. Controls were age, gender, social class, self-control, psychological distress, parental smoking and a study indicator (BCS/NCDS).  Findings  In adjusted regression models, a 1 standard deviation increase in cognitive ability predicted a 0.5 percentage point (95% CI=−0.9 to −0.1) reduced probability of smoking and a 2.9 percentage point (95% CI=2.1–3.7) higher probability of smoking cessation throughout adulthood, but did not change the likelihood of smoking relapse significantly. Differences in educational attainment explained approximately half the association between childhood cognitive ability and smoking initiation/cessation.  Conclusions  Lower cognitive ability, measured in childhood before smoking is initiated, appears to predict a higher likelihood of taking up smoking and a lower likelihood of quitting in adulthood. Educational attainment appears to mediate this effect: children with higher cognitive ability tend to become more highly educated adults which, in turn, predicts lower rates of smoking initiation and increased rates of smoking cessation

Desempeño cognitivo y rendimiento académico: ¿cómo confluyen familia y escuela?

Children enter the school system with different educational experiences, leavingalso with different levels of learning and school results. In this study, we intend to understandthe impact of family and school on children’s cognitive performance and academic achievementduring elementary education. The sample consists of 406 Portuguese children, from preschooland the 1st cycle of Basic Education, aged from 4 to 10 years old. Through full structural equationmodel, it was observed that the latent variable family (parents’ schooling and socioeconomiclevel) and the latent variable school (community and type of school) have a significant impacton academic achievement. However, only family presents a significant impact on cognitiveperformance. These data suggest that the impact of school on intelligence quotient is notexpressive in early academic years, where family present higher explanation of the variance.Los niños ingresan en el Sistema Educativo con diferentes experiencias escolares, alcanzando también diferentes niveles de aprendizaje y resultados escolares. En este estudio, nuestra pretensión es comprender el impacto de la familia y de la escuela en el desempeño cognitivo y el rendimiento académico de los niños durante la educación primaria. La muestra se compone de 406 niños portugueses de preescolar y del 1° ciclo de Educación Primaria, con edades comprendidas entre los 4 y los 10 años. Por medio de modelo completo de ecuaciones estructurales, se observa que la variable latente familia (nivel de escolaridad y nivel socioeconómico) y la variable latente escuela (comunidad y tipo de escuela) tienen un impacto significativo en el rendimiento académico. No obstante, solo la familia presenta un impacto significativo en el desempeño cognitivo. Estos resultados sugieren que el impacto de la escuela en el cociente de inteligencia no es tan relevante en los primeros años o niveles escolares, donde la familia presenta mayor explicación de la varianza.This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, IP (FCT) and the POCH/FSE under Grant SFRH/BD/85110/2012.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Implications of Advancing Paternal Age: Does It Affect Offspring School Performance?

Average paternal age is increasing in many high income countries, but the implications of this demographic shift for child health and welfare are poorly understood. There is equivocal evidence that children of older fathers are at increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders and reduced IQ. We therefore report here on the relationship between paternal age and a composite indicator of scholastic achievement during adolescence, i.e. compulsory school leaving grades, among recent birth cohorts in Stockholm County where delayed paternity is notably common. We performed a record-linkage study comprising all individuals in Stockholm County who finished 9 years of compulsory school from 2000 through 2007 (n = 155,875). Data on school leaving grades and parental characteristics were retrieved from administrative and health service registers and analyzed using multiple linear regression. Advancing paternal age at birth was not associated with a decrease in school leaving grades in adolescent offspring. After adjustment for year of graduation, maternal age and parental education, country of birth and parental mental health service use, offspring of fathers aged 50 years or older had on average 0.3 (95% CI −3.8, 4.4) points higher grades than those of fathers aged 30–34 years. In conclusion, advancing paternal age is not associated with poorer school performance in adolescence. Adverse effects of delayed paternity on offspring cognitive function, if any, may be counterbalanced by other potential advantages for children born to older fathers