13 research outputs found
Early Predictors Of Creative Writing At Age 9
The present study investigated the extent to which creative expressiveness in writing at age 9 could
be predicted by early human figure drawing ability and general cognitive ability, measured at age 4.
Participants (N=277) were members of the Twins Early Development Study, for whom measures of
human figure drawing and general cognitive ability were available at age 4 and a measure of creative
writing was available at age 9. Creativity was measured with the Consensual Assessment Technique,
which is a commonly used technique to estimate creativity of a product. Each story, based on three
pictures shown to children, was coded on 10 dimensions by five independent judges. Creative
Expressiveness score was created as a composite measure of dimensions that correlated highly with
creativity dimension. Human figure drawing ability, measured by The Draw-A-Child test at 4, was found
to be a weak but significant predictor of Creative Expressiveness at age 9 (r =.17). General cognitive
ability at 4 did not predict Creative Expressiveness in writing at 9. It is concluded that examining
individual differences in human figure drawing ability may provide a promising direction for exploring
the early antecedents of creativity throughout childhood
Creative Storytelling In Childhood Is Related To Exam Performance At Age 16
Creativity is only partly recognised in education. A recent meta-analysis estimated a correlation
of r = 0.22 between creativity and educational achievement across many international student samples of
all educational levels. In the meta-analysis, creativity was measured with a variety of measures, including
divergent thinking and remote association tasks. The differences in the measures influenced the strength
of the relationship between creativity and educational achievement. More research is needed to establish
reliable measures of creativity, especially in primary school children, whose creativity remains poorly
evaluated. The present study measured creativity in written stories in children at age 9 using the
Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT). The study employed a longitudinal design, using CAT
creativity scores as a predictor of educational achievement at age 16. Each of the stories from 59 children
were coded by 6 different judges for 10 dimensions, including creativity. The inter-rater reliabilities
between the judges for the 10 dimensions were high (α = .76 - .95). Among the dimensions, a factor
analysis revealed two factors: Creative Expressiveness and Logic. The Creative Expressiveness factor
explained an additional 7 % of variance in English grades, but not in Maths, beyond intelligence, previous
achievement and personality traits associated with creativity. Overall, the study showed that CAT is a
robust and reliable measure to detect verbal creativity in childhood. The results also suggest that early
creativity predicts later academic achievement, calling for more attention to early creativity assessment
and development
Assessing Creative Expressiveness In Children's Written Stories Using The Consensual Assessment Technique
The study investigated methodological issues relating to the use of the Consensual Assessment
Technique (CAT) for measuring creativity in childrenâs written stories. The CAT is a commonly used
measure to estimate creativity of a product, based on social recognition of creativity by independent
judges. Across domains, the CAT has shown high inter-rater reliability. The present study utilised the
CAT to assess creativity in childrenâs written stories. The stories were also evaluated for: Imagination,
Novelty, Liking (how much the judges liked the story), Detail, Emotion, Vocabulary,
Straightforwardness, Logic and Grammar. The sample consisted of 277 nine-year-olds. The results
showed that to reach sufficient inter-rater reliability, 5 coders were needed. The results gave evidence of a
2-factor structure among the 10 dimensions, indexing âCreative Expressivenessâ and âLogicâ constructs
related to individual differences in writing. Girls outperformed boys on both constructs. The story length
was positively correlated with the constructs, explaining 63% of the variance in Creative Expressiveness,
and 42% in Logic. Creative Expressiveness was positively correlated with verbal ability (r = .20) and with
teacher rating of writing (r = .28). Similarly, Logic was also correlated with verbal ability (r = .34) and
teacher rating of writing (r = .44). The findings inform future research employing the CAT to measure
creativity in childrenâs storytelling
BMC Psychol
Background Preschoolers regularly display disruptive behaviors in child care settings because they have not yet developed the social skills necessary to interact prosocially with others. Disruptive behaviors interfere with daily routines and can lead to conflict with peers and educators. We investigated the impact of a social skills training program led by childcare educators on childrenâs social behaviors and tested whether the impact varied according to the childâs sex and family socio-economic status. Methods Nineteen public Child Care Centers (CCC, nâ=â361 children) located in low socio-economic neighborhoods of Montreal, Canada, were randomized into one of two conditions: 1) intervention (nâ= 10 CCC; 185 children) or 2) wait list control (nâ=â9 CCC; 176 children). Educators rated childrenâs behaviors (i.e., disruptive and prosocial behaviors) before and after the intervention. Hierarchical linear mixed models were used to account for the nested structure of the data. Results At pre-intervention, no differences in disruptive and prosocial behaviors were observed between the experimental conditions. At post-intervention, we found a significant sex by intervention interaction (ÎČ intervention by sexâ=âââ1.19, pâ=â0.04) indicating that girls in the intervention condition exhibited lower levels of disruptive behaviors compared to girls in the control condition (f2 effect sizeâ=âââ0.15). There was no effect of the intervention for boys. Conclusions Girls may benefit more than boys from social skills training offered in the child care context. Studies with larger sample sizes and greater intervention intensity are needed to confirm the results
Prenatal testosterone does not explain sex differences in spatial ability
The most consistent sex differences in cognition are found for spatial ability, in which males, on average, outperform females. Utilizing a twin design, two studies have shown that females with male co-twins perform better than females with female co-twins on a mental rotation task. According to the Twin Testosterone Transfer hypothesis (TTT) this advantage is due to in-uterine transmission of testosterone from males to females. The present study tested the TTT across 14 different spatial ability measures, including mental rotation tasks, in a large sample of 19â21-year-old twins. Males performed significantly better than females on all spatial tasks, with effect sizes ranging from η2â=â0.02 to η2â=â0.16. Females with a male co-twin outperformed females with a female co-twin in two of the tasks. The effect sizes for both differences were negligible (η2â<â0.02). Contrary to the previous studies, our results gave no indication that prenatally transferred testosterone, from a male to a female twin, influences sex differences in spatial ability
Genetic consequences of directional selection in <em>Arabidopsis lyrata</em>
Abstract
Plants and animals colonized Northern Europe after the last Ice Age from different refugia, not covered by the ice sheet. Many plants, such as the northern rock cress (Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea) adapted to the short growing season in the North. We thus expect that colonization of the new environment was accompanied by directional selection for traits conferring this adaptation. In this thesis I studied whether recent directional selection can be detected in two important genes, PHYTOCHROME A (PHYA) and FLOWERING LOCUS C1 (FLC1), related to the flowering time pathway. To detect directional selection, I compared DNA sequence variation from the samples of a southern (Plech, Germany) and a northern (Spiterstulen, Norway) population. I also studied the current response potential to changing conditions in the marginal Spiterstulen population. Adaptation potential was characterized by assessing plasticity and amount of additive genetic variation, focusing on flowering traits. In addition, associations of 21 flowering time candidate genes for phenological and fitness traits were studied.
There were several lines of evidence for recent directional selection in both candidate genes, PHYA and FLC1, in the northern Spiterstulen population Variation was strongly reduced around both genes and in addition they were highly differentiated between populations. In the Spiterstulen population there was a remarkable reduction in additive genetic variation for flowering traits, for instance when compared with morphological traits. On the other hand, phenological traits showed high plasticity. Some of the photoperiodic pathway genes showed association to flowering or reproductive fitness.
The results suggest that directional selection during the colonization of the northern areas has impacted the two studied genes. Genetic changes were likely involved in altered photoperiodic and vernalization responses which might be adaptive for a short growing season. Further, directional selection was probably responsible for reducing additive genetic variation in flowering traits. Because there was only little genetic variation, adaptation to future environmental change of the marginal Spiterstulen population is likely to rely largely on plastic reactions to environmental signals, or tracking the environment by dispersal.TiivistelmÀ
Kasvit ja elÀimet levittÀytyivÀt Pohjois-Eurooppaan viimeisen jÀÀkauden jÀlkeen mannerjÀÀtikön ulkopuolella jÀÀneistÀ refugioista. Useat kasvit, kuten idÀnpitkÀpalko (Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea) sopeutuivat pohjoisen lyhyeen kasvukauteen. On syytÀ olettaa, ettÀ suuntaava valinta vaikutti sopeutumisessa tÀrkeisiin ominaisuuksiin. TÀssÀ vÀitöskirjassa tutkin voidaanko suuntaavan valinnan aiheuttamia jalanjÀlkiÀ löytÀÀ kahdesta tÀrkeÀstÀ kukkimisaikageenistÀ, FYTOKROMI A (PHYA) ja FLOWERING LOCUS C1 (FLC1) geeneistÀ. TÀtÀ varten vertasin DNA sekvenssimuuntelua pohjoisessa (Norja) ja etelÀisessÀ (Saksa) populaatiossa, kiinnittÀen erityisesti huomiota geneettisen muuntelun mÀÀrÀÀn ja erilaistumiseen. LisÀksi tutkin miten Spiterstulenin reunapopulaatio voi vastata tulevaisuudessa muuttuvaan ympÀristöön. Sopeutumispotentiaalia arvioitiin sekÀ fenotyyppisen plastisuuden ettÀ additiivisen geneettisen muuntelun mÀÀrÀllÀ. LisÀksi tutkin miten vaihtelu 21 kukkimisaikageenissÀ liittyy fenologisiin ja kelpoisuusominaisuuksiin.
Useat merkit viittasivat siihen, ettÀ suuntaava valinta oli vaikuttanut kummassakin tutkitussa geenissÀ. Muuntelu oli vÀhentynyt voimakkaasti kumpaakin geeniÀ ympÀröiviltÀ kromosomialueilta, jotka olivat myös selkeÀsti erilaistuneet. Additiivinen geneettinen muuntelu oli selvÀsti vÀhentynyt kukkimisominaisuuksissa verrattuna morfologisiin ominaisuuksiin, mahdollisesti suuntaavan valinnan johdosta. Kukkimisominaisuudet olivat kuitenkin plastisia. Jotkin valojaksoreitin geenit vaikuttivat sekÀ kukkimiseen ettÀ lisÀÀntymiskykyyn.
NÀmÀ tulokset osoittavat ettÀ suuntaava valinta vaikutti kahteen tutkittuun geeniin pohjoiseen levittÀytymisen aikana. Geneettiset muutokset liittyivÀt todennÀköisesti muuttuneisiin valojakso-, ja vernalisaatiovasteisiin, jotka saattoivat edistÀÀ sopeutumista lyhyeen kasvukauteen. Koska geneettistÀ muuntelua oli vain hyvin vÀhÀn, fenotyyppisellÀ plastisuudella on todennÀköisesti tÀrkeÀ rooli sopeutumisessa muuttuvaan ympÀristöön Spiterstulenin reunapopulaatiossa
Importance of dose metrics for lethal and sublethal sediment metal toxicity in the oligochaete worm Lumbriculus variegatus
Sequencing of the genus Arabidopsis identifies a complex history of nonbifurcating speciation and abundant trans-specific polymorphism
The notion of species as reproductively isolated units related through a bifurcating tree implies that gene trees should generally agree with the species tree and that sister taxa should not share polymorphisms unless they diverged recently and should be equally closely related to outgroups. It is now possible to evaluate this model systematically. We sequenced multiple individuals from 27 described taxa representing the entire Arabidopsis genus. Cluster analysis identified seven groups, corresponding to described species that capture the structure of the genus. However, at the level of gene trees, only the separation of Arabidopsis thaliana from the remaining species was universally supported, and, overall, the amount of shared polymorphism demonstrated that reproductive isolation was considerably more recent than the estimated divergence times. We uncovered multiple cases of past gene flow that contradict a bifurcating species tree. Finally, we showed that the pattern of divergence differs between gene ontologies, suggesting a role for selection. © 2016 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.CODEN: NGENE</p
Early phonetic and lexical development: A productivity approach
Researchers frequently examine the development of the single-word lexicon in the absence of phonetic data. Yet a large body of literature demonstrates relationships between the phonetics of babble and early speech, and it is clear that production skill is essential for establishing a lexicon. This study uses longitudinal productivity criteria to establish children's phonetic skill. Twenty children were followed from age 9 to 16 months, and their level of consistency of vocal patterns was examined in relation to their lexical production, providing a relatively largesample demonstration of phonetic/lexical relationships at the transition to language. Number of specific consonants produced consistently across the months of observation predicted referential lexical use at 16 months, whereas the transition to reference itself signaled the onset of a sharp increase in numbers of different words produced in a session. The earliest referential speakers exhibited prior consistency in the production of [p/b], which also predominated in their words. Prior use of at least two supraglottal consonants characterized the referential group. Children varied in the specific consonants they produced consistently, and these same consonants, varying according to individual child repertoire, characterized nearly all consonant-based words produced by each child in both of the final 2 months of observation. These findings are interpreted in relation to the children's contemporaneous development of representational ability and pragmatic skill