Cross-Cultural Universality of Knowledge Attributions

We provide new findings that add to the growing body of empirical evidence that important epistemic intuitions converge across cultures. Specifically, we selected three recent studies conducted in the US that reported surprising effects of knowledge attribution among English speakers. We translated the vignettes used in those studies into Mandarin Chinese and Korean and then ran the studies with participants in Mainland China, Taiwan, and South Korea. We found that, strikingly, all three of the effects first obtained in the US also emerged in the East Asian cultures we studied. Our findings not only cohere with but also provide—at least moderate—support for the existence of extensive convergences of important epistemic intuitions across cultures

Bayesian model averaging for mathematics achievement growth rate trends

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 6/1/2023] In this study, we investigated the use of Bayesian model averaging (BMA) for latent growth curve models. We used the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to predict growth rates in 8th-grade students' mathematics achievement. The dataset on male and female students' mathematics achievement contained 6 predictors, meaning that 64 model combinations were generated. Results highlighted science achievement score and teaching years as the most important predictors of both male and female students' growth in mathematics achievement. In this study, the growth rate of mathematical achievement for each country was compared with the predicted density and the density based on actual data. Most countries did not differ significantly in observed and predicted growth rates for male and female groups. For sensitivity analysis, the model prior had the smallest log-predictive score (LPS) value when specified as a binomial model with m = 4 for both the male and female data groups, regardless of the parameter prior. When comparing the fixed prior and flexible prior for parameters, the LPS value was relatively small when the fixed prior for parameters was set regardless of the model prior.Includes bibliographical references

Multilevel structural equation modeling for 2-1-1 mediation using Bayesian method

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 5/31/2023] The multilevel mediation effect from the 2-1-1 designed model was analyzed using the Bayesian method. For Bayesian analysis, eight default priors and one informative prior were used. The priors for the location and the variance parameters associated with the mediation effect were diversely specified and compared in terms of how the estimated mediation effect changed depending on the prior distribution. Findings are analyzed in terms of convergence, relative bias, RMSE, coverage rates, and power for all location and variance parameters. Furthermore, based on different prior distributions, the data conditions that best estimated the multilevel mediation effect were identified. Followed by the simulation findings, a sensitivity analysis was conducted using this empirical example to determine the robustness of the results through various analyses. The prior sensitivity analysis reveals that the estimate of the indirect parameter was robust when the EB priors that contained even a small amount of data information or the informative prior were selected. The findings from this study have implications for specification of EB priors, selection of preferred methods, and appropriate data conditions when using multilevel mediation model. Further investigation of extended models, diverse data conditions, and different types of prior conditions is warranted.Includes bibliographical references

An Empirical Analysis on Urban-Rural Linkage in Mumbai Metropolitan Area

Abstract: The concept of ‘urban-rural linkage or continuum’ has been developed as a mechanism to better view and understand the inherent differences between the two terms in the field of planning and regional development. Examining consensus between the conceptual approaches in the literature and actual transforming process in some of the most dynamic and least regulated cities in the world – Mumbai metropolitan region, this paper tries to describe the increasing significance of urban-rural linkages in the livelihoods of rural residents, including spatial and occupational transformations and their interdependence on surrounding urban centers and towns. The results of the network analysis suggested the role of small and intermediate urban centers in facilitating exchange between the rural villages and towns by offering employments and markets both for farming and non-farming sectors. This also indicates that urban-rural linkages can be strengthened by the local or regional authorities which transcend traditional administrative boundaries and build an interdependent urban-rural continuum in planning and resource management practices

Effects of literacy environmental factors on fourth graders' mathematics-related outcomes in Finland

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 13, 2013).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Ze WangIncludes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri-Columbia 2013.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Educational and counseling psychology."May 2013"According to many researchers, literacy affects not only students' reading achievement, but also achievement in diverse subjects. To increase students' academic outcomes, as one of the ways to explain how to develop literacy education, many education researchers have focused on environmental factors supporting literacy education, primarily in the student's home. This study examined the effects of literacy environmental factors at home on students' academic achievement, self-concept, and attitude toward mathematics. The data used in this study were from Finland at the fourth grade level in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011. Multiple regression analyses were performed for each dependent variable. The six independent variables which are parents' involvement in literacy learning, parents' highest level of education, early literacy education environment, the number of books, material sources, and students' gender together accounted for approximately 24% of variance in academic achievement in mathematics and affected mathematics academic achievement significantly based on the t statistics for regression coefficients. Early literacy education, parents' involvement in students' literacy learning, parents' highest level of education, the number of books, and students' gender accounted for approximately 8.7% of the variance in students' self-concept in mathematics. In the last analysis, only early literacy education environment and students' gender were significant to predict students' attitude toward mathematics with 1% of the variance. In this study, literacy education environmental factors had effects on explaining and developing all of the dependent variables. Especially, the early literacy education variable and students' gender were used as significant predictors on all dependent variables. In the future study, including the early literacy education, other environmental factors such as SES, parental attitude toward reading which could have a strong relationship with students' outcomes should be explored

Automatic Syntactic Processing in Agrammatic Aphasia: The Effect of Grammatical Violations

This study aimed to examine syntactic processing in agrammatic aphasia. We hypothesized that agrammatic individuals’ automatic syntactic processing would be preserved, as measured by word monitoring task, and their knowledge of syntactic constraints would be impaired, as measured by sentence judgment task, and their performance would vary by type of syntactic violation. The study found that the sentence processing in agrammatism differed based on the type of violation in both tasks: preserved for semantic and tense violations and impaired for word category violations. However, there was no correlation between the two tasks. Furthermore, single-subject analyses showed that automatic syntactic processing for word category violations does not seem to be impaired in aphasia. Based on the findings, this study supports that knowledge of syntactic constraints and automatic processing may be relatively independent abilities which are not related. Findings suggest that individuals with agrammatic aphasia may have preserved automatic syntactic processing

Comparison of Academic Development in Catholic versus Non-Catholic Private Secondary Schools

Utilizing hierarchical linear models, this study of 144 private schools (72 Catholic and 72 non-Catholic schools) drawn from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 discovered that Catholic school students scored lower in reading than students at non-Catholic private schools. Analysis of internal school characteristics suggested that lower growth in reading achievement might be related in part to lower student morale in Catholic schools. However, we found no significant differences between Catholic and non-Catholic private secondary schools in the development of students' math, history/social studies, and science abilities from eighth to tenth grades. This study also identified important student- and school-level variables such as Catholicism, gender, risk factor, parental involvement, and enrollment size that help to explain the outcomes