Enhancing Persistence on Mastery Tasks Among Young Preschool Children by Implementing the “I Can” Mastery Motivation Classroom Program

Task persistence plays important role in school readiness and helps to enhance young children’s cognitive development and academic skills; thus, designing and implementing programs to enhance it is vital. The objective of the present research was to assess the effectiveness of the “I Can” mastery motivation classroom program in enhancing young children’s persistence on mastery tasks. Altogether, forty-four (n = 44) children between the ages of two to three years selected from three kindergartens in Malaysia participated in the research, which was conducted by using a randomized pretest and posttest experimental-control group design. Persistence on three mastery tasks and mastery pleasure were assessed by using the Individualized Assessment of Mastery Motivation manual. The experimental group (n = 25) was exposed to the “I Can” mastery motivation classroom program, while the control group (n = 19) attended regular classroom lessons. There was a significant gain score difference between the experimental and control groups on task persistence for puzzles but not for shape sorters, cause and effect toys, and mastery pleasure. Thus, the program was effective in enhancing persistence on some mastery tasks. The content and findings of the intervention should help policy makers understand this important aspect of early childhood education

Peningkatan kualiti diri melalui intervensi interpersonal

The study aimed to identify whether social emotional intelligence training can increase the level of interpersonal. This quasi-experimental study used self evaluation report that was given during the pre and post tests after 14 weeks of training. Each training was 2 hours each week. Second year students of Psychology at Universiti Malaysia Sabah participated in this study. 19 students were selected into the expeimental group and received an intervention, while 22 students were selected for the control group. The selection of participants was based on students who had low scores for social emotional intelligence using the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) that consists of 133 items, divided into 5 components and 15 subscales. Pre test was given at the starting of the semester to get the basic scores and comparisons for the outcome after the participants received training using the ‘Modul Latihan Kecerdasan Emosi Sosial’ which was developed by the researchers. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney analyses were used to examine the difference between pre and post social emotional intelligence training within and between groups. The results showed that social emotional intelligence interpersonal skills increased after training in the treatment group. The comparison between the control group and the treatment group showed that there was a significant difference. In conclusion, social emotional intelligence training (interpersonal) has a positive effect on participants in the treatment group

Peningkatan kualiti diri melalui intervensi interpersonal

The study aimed to identify whether social emotional intelligence training can increase the level of interpersonal. This quasi-experimental study used self evaluation report that was given during the pre and post tests after 14 weeks of training. Each training was 2 hours each week. Second year students of Psychology at Universiti Malaysia Sabah participated in this study. 19 students were selected into the expeimental group and received an intervention, while 22 students were selected for the control group. The selection of participants was based on students who had low scores for social emotional intelligence using the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) that consists of 133 items, divided into 5 components and 15 subscales. Pre test was given at the starting of the semester to get the basic scores and comparisons for the outcome after the participants received training using the ‘Modul Latihan Kecerdasan Emosi Sosial’ which was developed by the researchers. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney analyses were used to examine the difference between pre and post social emotional intelligence training within and between groups. The results showed that social emotional intelligence interpersonal skills increased after training in the treatment group. The comparison between the control group and the treatment group showed that there was a significant difference. In conclusion, social emotional intelligence training (interpersonal) has a positive effect on participants in the treatment group

Kesejahteraan, kepuasan dan keberkesanan hidup komuniti Pulau Sapanggar: Perspektif komuniti pulau

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk memahami indeks kesejahteraan, kepuasan dan keberkesanan hidup komuniti yang tinggal di Pulau Sapanggar. Penyelidikan ini juga bertujuan untuk mengkaji perbezaan pemboleh ubah ini mengikut faktor demografik, iaitu jantina, generasi/umur dan status perkahwinan responden kajian. Seramai 124 orang penduduk Pulau Sapanggar yang dipilih secara rawak telah terlibat dalam kajian ini. Indeks Kesejahteraan WHO-5 (The WHO-5 Well-being Index), The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) dan The Life Effectiveness Questionnaire digunakan dalam kajian ini. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan indeks kesejahteraan dan kepuasan hidup komuniti Pulau Sapanggar terletak pada tahap sederhana dan tinggi. Tahap keberkesanan hidup dilaporkan adalah tinggi dalam semua dimensi kecuali bagi dimensi kawalan emosi. Bagi dimensi kawalan emosi paling ramai di antara responden melaporkan mempunyai keupayaan kawalan yang rendah jika dibandingkan dengan dimensi keberkesanan hidup lain. Hasil kajian ini juga mendapati bahawa responden perempuan Pulau Sapanggar lebih berpuas hati dengan kehidupan mereka berbanding dengan responden lelaki. Dari segi indeks kesejahteraan, laporan yang diberikan adalah tidak berbeza mengikut jantina, generasi/umur mahupun mengikut status perkahwinan responden. Bagi aspek keberkesanan hidup pula, didapati faktor umur dan status perkahwinan mempengaruhi responden dalam mempersepsikan keupayaan mereka, terutamanya bagi dimensi pengurusan masa, fleksibiliti kecerdasan, kepimpinan tugas dan inisiatif aktif

Well-Being, Life Satisfaction and Effectiveness among Sapanggar Island Communities: A Perspective of Island Community

This study is aimed at understanding the index of well-being, satisfaction and effectiveness of community living in Sapanggar Island. It also seeks to examine the differences of the variables based on demographic factors such as gender, generation/age and marital status of study respondents. A total of 124 Sapanggar Island residents were selected randomly and involved in this study. The WHO-5 Wellness Index, The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and The Life Effectiveness Questionnaire are used to measure the variables in this study. The findings indicate that the index of well-being and satisfaction of the community in Sapanggar Island is at medium and high levels while the level of effectiveness reported is high in all dimensions except for emotional control. For emotional control dimensions, many of the respondents reported having low capability compared to other dimensions of life effectiveness. The findings also reported that female respondents were more satisfied with their lives on Sapanggar Island compared to male respondents. In terms of wellness index, reports provided are not different according to gender, generation/age or the respondents’ marital status. In terms of life effectiveness, it was found that age and marital status influenced how these respondents perceived their capabilities, especially for time management dimensions, intelligence flexibility, active leadership and active initiative, whereas married and older respondents (generation X) demonstrated higher ability

The Link between Life Effectiveness, Well-Being and Life Satisfaction Among Communities of Sepanggar Island in Sabah

The purpose of this study was to investigate the link between life effectiveness, well-being and life satisfaction among members of the Sepanggar Island community. In addition to that, the aim was also to gauge the relationship between these variables according to the different generations of the island’s resident. A random sample of 124 people living at Sepanggar Island, Sabah (aged 65 to 97) responded to a questionnaire that included the following scales: The WHO-5 Well-being Index; The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS); and The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Findings suggested that the community members of the Sepanggar Island who were able to initiate action in new situations reported higher well-being. The subscales of time management and social competence contributed significantly and positively on the community members’ life satisfaction. The findings showed that life effectiveness of Generation X contributed higher variance in well-being as compared to the life effectiveness among Generation Y. The results also reported that the subscales of intellectual flexibility; task leadership and active initiative were the significant predictor of well-being among Generation X. Contrary, emotion control was the only significant predictors of well-being among Generation Y. The subscale of social competence was the only significant predictor of life satisfaction among Generation X of Sepanggar Island. But, for Generation Y, besides social competence, active initiative was also a significant predictor for their life satisfaction

Kecerdasan emosi sosial kemahiran penyesuaian diri dalam kalangan pelajar sekolah menengah

Social emotional intelligence, a combination between emotion and social intelligence, is a very important aspect of one's self. It is divided into five components which is intrapersonal, interpersonal, stress management, adaptation and general mood. Social emotional intelligence directly affects the behavior, emotion and decision making of an individual. Secondary school students are a group of early teenager and still in the process of identity formation. Therefore, it is important to know the social emotional intelligence of adaptability skills especially among school students as it has long-term impact on their performance. The main objective of this study is to examine the social emotional intelligence scores among high school students in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The sample in this study consisted of Form One to Form Six students from various schools around Kota Kinabalu. A set of questionnaire used in this study is The Emotional Quotient Inventory Youth Version (EQ-i: YV) designed by Bar-On and Parker (2000) contains 60 questions with four likert scale. The data obtained were analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 24.0. The results of this study showed that the social emotional intelligence as a whole is at a moderate level. Meanwhile, there are differences in adaptability skills between male and female students, where the mean score for male students is higher than female students. As for the implication, related parties such as ministries of education, parents and the community can obtain relevant information for the purpose of implementation of programs and activities to enhance emotional intelligence and adaptability skills that are appropriate to the current generation Z

Cerebellar Integrity in the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Frontotemporal Dementia Continuum

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) are multisystem neurodegenerative disorders that manifest overlapping cognitive, neuropsychiatric and motor features. The cerebellum has long been known to be crucial for intact motor function although emerging evidence over the past decade has attributed cognitive and neuropsychiatric processes to this structure. The current study set out i) to establish the integrity of cerebellar subregions in the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia spectrum (ALS-bvFTD) and ii) determine whether specific cerebellar atrophy regions are associated with cognitive, neuropsychiatric and motor symptoms in the patients. Seventy-eight patients diagnosed with ALS, ALS-bvFTD, behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), most without C9ORF72 gene abnormalities, and healthy controls were investigated. Participants underwent cognitive, neuropsychiatric and functional evaluation as well as structural imaging using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to examine the grey matter subregions of the cerebellar lobules, vermis and crus. VBM analyses revealed: i) significant grey matter atrophy in the cerebellum across the whole ALS-bvFTD continuum; ii) atrophy predominantly of the superior cerebellum and crus in bvFTD patients, atrophy of the inferior cerebellum and vermis in ALS patients, while ALS-bvFTD patients had both patterns of atrophy. Post-hoc covariance analyses revealed that cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms were particularly associated with atrophy of the crus and superior lobule, while motor symptoms were more associated with atrophy of the inferior lobules. Taken together, these findings indicate an important role of the cerebellum in the ALS-bvFTD disease spectrum, with all three clinical phenotypes demonstrating specific patterns of subregional atrophy that associated with different symptomology

pncA mutations in clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Korea

BACKGROUND: Pyrazinamide (PZA) is among the first-line drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. In vitro, it kills semidormant mycobacteria only at low pH. The purpose of this study was to compare PZA resistance with pyrazinamidase (PZase) activity and the genotype to better understand the molecular basis of PZA resistance and to expand the profile of pncA mutations worldwide. RESULTS: Of the 28 tested strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 6 were susceptible to PZA and positive for PZase activity and had no pncA mutations. Twenty-one strains were resistant to PZA and negative for PZase activity and had mutations in the pncA gene, including 15 point mutations, 5 insertions, and 2 deletions. One strain had no mutation in the pncA gene, even though it was resistant to PZA and negative for PZase activity. Three isolates had adenine to guanine point mutations in the -11 upstream region, making this the most common type of pncA mutations in this study, with at least two different RFLP patterns. CONCLUSION: These data help in the understanding of the molecular basis of PZA resistance. An adenine to guanine point mutation in the -11 upstream region was the most common type of pncA mutation in our isolates. The results of pncA mutation analyses should be carefully interpreted for epidemiologic purposes