Resident Ratings of Communication Skills Using the Kalamazoo Adapted Checklist.

Science.gov (United States)

Porcerelli, John H; Brennan, Simone; Carty, Jennifer; Ziadni, Maisa; Markova, Tsveti

2015-09-01

The Kalamazoo Essential Elements Communication Checklist-Adapted (KEECC-A) is a well-regarded instrument for evaluating communication and interpersonal skills. To date, little research has been conducted that assesses the accuracy of resident self-ratings of their communication skills. To assess whether residents can accurately self-rate communication skills, using the KEECC-A, during an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). A group of 104 residents from 8 specialties completed a multistation OSCE as part of an institutional communication skills curriculum conducted at a single institution. Standardized patients (SPs) and observers were trained in rating communication skills using the KEECC-A. Standardized patient ratings and resident self-ratings were completed immediately following each OSCE encounter, and trained observers rated archived videotapes of the encounters. Resident self-ratings and SP ratings using the KEECC-A were significantly correlated (r104  = 0.238, P = .02), as were resident self-ratings and observer ratings (r104  = 0.284, P = .004). The correlation between the SP ratings and observer (r104  = 0.378, P = .001) ratings were larger in magnitude, but not significantly different (P > .05) from resident/SP or resident/observer correlations. The results suggest that residents, with a modicum of training using the KEECC-A, can accurately rate their own communication and interpersonal skills during an OSCE. Using trained observers to rate resident communication skills provides a unique opportunity for evaluating SP and resident self-ratings. Our findings also lend further support for the reliability and validity of the KEECC-A.

Feasibility of adapting the fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery trainer box to endoscopic skills training tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Crespin, Oscar M; Okrainec, Allan; Kwong, Andrea V; Habaz, Ilay; Jimenez, Maria Carolina; Szasz, Peter; Weiss, Ethan; Gonzalez, Cecilia G; Mosko, Jeffrey D; Liu, Louis W C; Swanstrom, Lee L; Perretta, Silvana; Shlomovitz, Eran

2018-06-01

The fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (FLS) training box is a validated tool, already accessible to surgical trainees to hone their laparoscopic skills. We aim to investigate the feasibility of adapting the FLS box for the practice and assessment of endoscopic skills. This would allow for a highly available, reusable, low-cost, mechanical trainer. The design and development process was based on a user-centered design, which is a combination of the design thinking method and cognitive task analysis. The process comprises four phases: empathy, cognitive, prototyping/adaptation, and end user testing. The underlying idea was to utilize as many of the existing components of FLS training to maintain simplicity and cost effectiveness while allowing for the practice of clinically relevant endoscopic skills. A sample size of 18 participants was calculated to be sufficient to detect performance differences between experts and trainees using a two tailed t test with alpha set at 0.05, standard deviation of 5.5, and a power of 80%. Adaptation to the FLS box included two fundamental attachments: a front panel with an insertion point for an endoscope and a shaft which provides additional support and limits movement of the scope. The panel also allows for mounting of retroflexion tasks. Six endoscopic tasks inspired by FLS were designed (two of which utilize existing FLS components). Pilot testing with 38 participants showed high user's satisfaction and demonstrated that the trainer was robust and reliable. Task performance times was able to discriminate between trainees and experts for all six tasks. A mechanical, reusable, low-cost adaptation of the FLS training box for endoscopic skills is feasible and has high user satisfaction. Preliminary testing shows that the simulator is able to discriminate between trainees and experts. Following further validation, this adaptation may act as a supplement to the FES program.

Predictors of Career Adaptability Skill among Higher Education Students in Nigeria

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Ebenehi, Amos Shaibu; Rashid, Abdullah Mat; Bakar, Ab Rahim

2016-01-01

This paper examined predictors of career adaptability skill among higher education students in Nigeria. A sample of 603 higher education students randomly selected from six colleges of education in Nigeria participated in this study. A set of self-reported questionnaire was used for data collection, and multiple linear regression analysis was used…

Empowering Children with Adaptive Technology Skills: Careful Engagement in the Digital Information Age

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Miftachul HUDA

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The technological advancement occurring in the world today has a potency to create positive and negative side effects especially on children. The positive side may entail increased empathy and acceptance of diversity through modelling the prosocial behaviours, while the negative can be manifest in aggressive behaviour, risky sexual behaviour, and substance abuse. These challenges pose a need to draw a particular attention to children’s rights of protection and care in relation to the use of technology. This paper sought to critically explore the way in which children adapt technology skills and the way they respond towards media influences. The findings revealed that the adaptive technology skills are needed in providing a considerable guidance for child protection and careful engagement towards digital information as part of their rights to natural growth and development.

Reliability and validity of the adapted Resistance Training Skills Battery for Children.

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Furzer, Bonnie J; Bebich-Philip, Marc D; Wright, Kemi E; Reid, Siobhan L; Thornton, Ashleigh L

2017-12-29

Resistance training (RT) is emerging as a training modality to improve motor function and facilitate physical activity participation in children across the motor proficiency spectrum. Although RT competency assessments have been established and validated among adolescent cohorts, the extent to which these methods are suitable for assessing children's RT skills is unknown. This project aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the adapted Resistance Training Skills Battery for Children (RTSBc), in children with varying motor proficiency. Repeated measures design with 40 participants (M age=8.2±1.7years) displaying varying levels of motor proficiency. Participants performed the adapted RTSBc on two occasions, receiving a score for their execution of each component, in addition to an overall RT skill quotient child (RTSQc). Cronbach's alpha, intra-class correlation (ICC), Bland-Altman analysis, and typical error were used to assess test-retest reliability. To examine construct validity, exploratory factor analysis was performed alongside computing correlations between participants' muscle strength, motor proficiency, age, lean muscle mass, and RTSQc. The RTSBc displayed an acceptable level of internal consistency (alpha=0.86) and test-retest reliability (ICC range=0.86-0.99). Exploratory factor analysis supported internal test structure, with all six RT skills loading strongly on a single factor (range 0.56-0.89). Analyses of structural validity revealed positive correlations for RTSQc in relation to motor proficiency (r=0.52, preliability of the RTSBc, providing preliminary evidence that the RTSBc is appropriate for use in the assessment of children's RT competency. Copyright © 2018 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Empowering children with adaptive technology skills: Careful engagement in the digital ınformation age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miftachul Huda

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The technological advancement occurring in the world today has a potency to create positive and negative side effects especially on children. The positive side may entail increased empathy and acceptance of diversity through modelling the prosocial behaviours, while the negative can be manifest in aggressive behaviour, risky sexual behaviour, and substance abuse. These challenges pose a need to draw a particular attention to children’s rights of protection and care in relation to the use of technology. This paper sought to critically explore the way in which children adapt technology skills and the way they respond towards media influences. The findings revealed that the adaptive technology skills are needed in providing a considerable guidance for child protection and careful engagement towards digital information as part of their rights to natural growth and development.

Social and Emotional Skills for Life and Career: Policy Levers That Focus on the Whole Child. Policy Snapshot

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Yoder, Nick

2015-01-01

Although Employers and colleges want candidates who are motivated and adaptable, are able to work well in teams and communicate effectively, have a strong work ethic, have solid interpersonal skills, and are strategic in their planning skills. Schools need to place a greater emphasis on social and emotional skills for students to prepare them for…

Does enhanced heat resistance of irradiated insects represent greater ability to adapt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ducoff, H.S.; MacDuff, R.A.

1985-01-01

Previous work from this lab demonstrated that irradiated flour beetles (Tribolium) develop resistance to oxygen with similar kinetics: greater sensitivity for about 1 week, increasing resistance over the next week, and resistance persisting for 3-6 months. This is in contrast to the rapid development of heat resistance in yeast exposed to UV or ionizing radiation and to rapid induction of heat-stress proteins in E. coli exposed to UV or nalidixic acid. The authors' early work did not distinguish between intrinsic heat resistance and enhanced ability to adapt. They tried to resolve this problem by comparing response of irradiated and of control beetles to challenge at 45 0 C with or without brief exposure to 41 0 C just prior to challenge. Mean lethal exposure time at 45 0 C was increased to about the same extent in both populations after 15 min at 41 0 C, suggesting that irradiation increases insectors' intrinsic resistance to stress rather than their ability to adapt

Teaching Genetic Counseling Skills: Incorporating a Genetic Counseling Adaptation Continuum Model to Address Psychosocial Complexity.

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Shugar, Andrea

2017-04-01

Genetic counselors are trained health care professionals who effectively integrate both psychosocial counseling and information-giving into their practice. Preparing genetic counseling students for clinical practice is a challenging task, particularly when helping them develop effective and active counseling skills. Resistance to incorporating these skills may stem from decreased confidence, fear of causing harm or a lack of clarity of psycho-social goals. The author reflects on the personal challenges experienced in teaching genetic counselling students to work with psychological and social complexity, and proposes a Genetic Counseling Adaptation Continuum model and methodology to guide students in the use of advanced counseling skills.

Adaptation of a tool to assess non-technical skills of scrub practitioners in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mundt, Anna Sofie; Spanager, Lene; Lyk-Jensen, Helle Teglgaard

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to adapt the Scottish tool, Scrub Practitioners List of Intraoperative Non-Technical Skills, to Danish organisation and culture. With an explorative and qualitative approach, four group interviews with scrub practitioners, surgeons and anaesthesia staff were conducted....... The main differences found were related to communication and teamwork regarding scrub practitioners focus on the team and speaking up. Differences in the non-technical skills described in the behavioural markers are perhaps explained by cultural differences between Scotland and Denmark. A new tool...

Adapting the helpful responses questionnaire to assess communication skills involved in delivering contingency management: preliminary psychometrics.

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Hartzler, Bryan

2015-08-01

A paper/pencil instrument, adapted from Miller and colleagues' (1991) Helpful Responses Questionnaire (HRQ), was developed to assess clinician skill with core communicative aspects involved in delivering contingency management (CM). The instrument presents a single vignette consisting of six points of client dialogue to which respondents write 'what they would say next.' In the context of an implementation/effectiveness hybrid trial, 19 staff clinicians at an opiate treatment program completed serial training outcome assessments before, following, and three months after CM training. Assessments included this adaptation of the HRQ, a multiple-choice CM knowledge test, and a recorded standardized patient encounter scored for CM skillfulness. Study results reveal promising psychometric properties for the instrument, including strong scoring reliability, internal consistency, concurrent and predictive validity, test-retest reliability and sensitivity to training effects. These preliminary findings suggest the instrument is a viable, practical method to assess clinician skill in communicative aspects of CM delivery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of a Computerized Adaptive Test of Children's Gross Motor Skills.

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Huang, Chien-Yu; Tung, Li-Chen; Chou, Yeh-Tai; Wu, Hing-Man; Chen, Kuan-Lin; Hsieh, Ching-Lin

2018-03-01

To (1) develop a computerized adaptive test for gross motor skills (GM-CAT) as a diagnostic test and an outcome measure, using the gross motor skills subscale of the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers (CDIIT-GM) as the candidate item bank; and (2) examine the psychometric properties and the efficiency of the GM-CAT. Retrospective study. A developmental center of a medical center. Children with and without developmental delay (N=1738). Not applicable. The CDIIT-GM contains 56 universal items on gross motor skills assessing children's antigravity control, locomotion, and body movement coordination. The item bank of the GM-CAT had 44 items that met the dichotomous Rasch model's assumptions. High Rasch person reliabilities were found for each estimated gross motor skill for the GM-CAT (Rasch person reliabilities =.940-.995, SE=.68-2.43). For children aged 6 to 71 months, the GM-CAT had good concurrent validity (r values =.97-.98), adequate to excellent diagnostic accuracy (area under receiver operating characteristics curve =.80-.98), and moderate to large responsiveness (effect size =.65-5.82). The averages of items administered for the GM-CAT were 7 to 11, depending on the age group. The results of this study support the use of the GM-CAT as a diagnostic and outcome measure to estimate children's gross motor skills in both research and clinical settings. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring students’ adaptive reasoning skills and van Hiele levels of geometric thinking: a case study in geometry

Science.gov (United States)

Rizki, H. T. N.; Frentika, D.; Wijaya, A.

2018-03-01

This study aims to explore junior high school students’ adaptive reasoning and the Van Hiele level of geometric thinking. The present study was a quasi-experiment with the non-equivalent control group design. The participants of the study were 34 seventh graders and 35 eighth graders in the experiment classes and 34 seventh graders and 34 eighth graders in the control classes. The students in the experiment classes learned geometry under the circumstances of a Knisley mathematical learning. The data were analyzed quantitatively by using inferential statistics. The results of data analysis show an improvement of adaptive reasoning skills both in the grade seven and grade eight. An improvement was also found for the Van Hiele level of geometric thinking. These results indicate the positive impact of Knisley learning model on students’ adaptive reasoning skills and Van Hiele level of geometric thinking.

Adaptation of manipulation skills in physical contact with the environment to reference force profiles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abu-Dakka, Fares J.; Nemec, Bojan; Jørgensen, Jimmy A.

2015-01-01

We propose a new methodology for learning and adaption of manipulation skills that involve physical contact with the environment. Pure position control is unsuitable for such tasks because even small errors in the desired trajectory can cause significant deviations from the desired forces...... and torques. The proposed algorithm takes a reference Cartesian trajectory and force/torque profile as input and adapts the movement so that the resulting forces and torques match the reference profiles. The learning algorithm is based on dynamic movement primitives and quaternion representation...

Adaptation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) to dental students.

Science.gov (United States)

Laurence, Brian; Bertera, Elizabeth M; Feimster, Tawana; Hollander, Roberta; Stroman, Carolyn

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to adapt the twenty-six-item Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) developed for medical students for use among dental students and to test the psychometric properties of the modified instrument. The sample consisted of 250 students (an 80.1 percent response rate) in years D1 to D4 at a dental school in Washington, DC. The mean age of participants was 26.6 years with a range from twenty-one to forty-two years. Slightly more than half of the participants were female (52.4 percent) and were African American or of African descent (51.7 percent). Principal components analysis was used to test the psychometric properties of the instrument. The index that resulted measured both positive and negative attitudes toward learning communications skills. The final twenty-four-item scale had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.87), and the study obtained four important factors-Learning, Importance, Quality, and Success-that explained a significant portion of the variance (49.1 percent). Stratified analysis by demographic variables suggested that there may be gender and ethnic differences in the students' attitudes towards learning communication skills. The authors conclude that the CSAS modified for dental students, or DCSAS, is a useful tool to assess attitudes towards learning communication skills among dental students.

Psychological and socio-cultural adaptation of international journalism students in Russia: The role of communication skills in the adaptation process

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Gladkova A.A.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background. The study of both Russian and international publications issued in the last twenty years revealed a significant gap in the number of studies examining adaptation (general living, psychological, socio-cultural, etc. in general, i.e., without regard to specific characteristics of the audience, and those describing adaptation of a particular group of people (specific age, ethnic, professional groups, etc.. Objective. The current paper aims to overcome this gap by offering a closer look at the adaptation processes of international journalism students at Russian universities, in particular, their psychological and socio-cultural types of adaptation. The question that interests us the most is how psychological and socio-cultural adaptation of international journalists to-be can be made easier and whether communication-oriented techniques can somehow facilitate this process. Design. In this paper, we provide an overview of current research analyzing adaptation from different angles, which is essential for creating a context for further narrower studies. Results. We discuss adaptation of journalism students in Russia, suggesting ways to make their adaptation in a host country easier and arguing that the development of communication skills can be important for successful adaptation to new living and learning conditions. Conclusion. We argue that there is a need for more detailed, narrow-focused research discussing the specifics of adaptation of different groups of people to a new environment (since we believe different people tend to adapt to new conditions in different ways as well as research outlining the role of communication competences in their adaptation processes.

Argentinean adaptation of the Social Skills Inventory IHS-Del-Prette.

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Olaz, Fabián Orlando; Medrano, Leonardo; Greco, María Eugenia; Del Prette, Zilda Aparecida Pereira

2009-11-01

We present the results of the adaptation of the IHS-Del-Prette (Inventario de Habilidades Sociales, in English, Social Skills Inventory) to a sample of Argentinean college students. Firstly, we addressed the backward translation and carried out an equivalence study of the Portuguese and Spanish versions of the scale. The results showed the two versions were equivalent, as we obtained correlations lower than .50 in only 5 items. Secondly, we performed item analysis by calculating discrimination indexes and item-total correlations. Results indicated that the items are sensitive to differentiate between high and low social-skill groups. Exploratory factor analysis carried out with a sample of 602 college students yielded five factors that explained 26.5% of the total variance, although our data did not completely match the original factor structure. We also obtained moderate alpha values for the subscales, but high reliability for the total scale. Lastly, group differences between males and females are presented to provide evidence of validity. We discuss the implications of the results and present future lines of inquiry.

Group training in interpersonal problem-solving skills for workplace adaptation of adolescents and adults with Asperger syndrome: a preliminary study.

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Bonete, Saray; Calero, María Dolores; Fernández-Parra, Antonio

2015-05-01

Adults with Asperger syndrome show persistent difficulties in social situations which psychosocial treatments may address. Despite the multiple studies focusing on social skills interventions, only some have focused specifically on problem-solving skills and have not targeted workplace adaptation training in the adult population. This study describes preliminary data from a group format manual-based intervention, the Interpersonal Problem-Solving for Workplace Adaptation Programme, aimed at improving the cognitive and metacognitive process of social problem-solving skills focusing on typical social situations in the workplace based on mediation as the main strategy. A total of 50 adults with Asperger syndrome received the programme and were compared with a control group of typical development. The feasibility and effectiveness of the treatment were explored. Participants were assessed at pre-treatment and post-treatment on a task of social problem-solving skills and two secondary measures of socialisation and work profile using self- and caregiver-report. Using a variety of methods, the results showed that scores were significantly higher at post-treatment in the social problem-solving task and socialisation skills based on reports by parents. Differences in comparison to the control group had decreased after treatment. The treatment was acceptable to families and subject adherence was high. The Interpersonal Problem-Solving for Workplace Adaptation Programme appears to be a feasible training programme. © The Author(s) 2014.

The Effects of Reflective Activities on Skill Adaptation in a Work-Related Instrumental Learning Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Roessger, Kevin M.

2014-01-01

In work-related instrumental learning contexts, the role of reflective activities is unclear. Kolb's experiential learning theory and Mezirow's transformative learning theory predict skill adaptation as an outcome. This prediction was tested by manipulating reflective activities and assessing participants' response and error rates during novel…

Instrument adaptation and validation to evaluate psychosocial skills and healthy habits in schoolchildren

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucila Niño-Bautista

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To adapt and validate an evaluation tool on psychosocial skills for life and healthy habits in Schoolchildren from a locality in Bogota, Colombia. Materials and methods: This quantitative transversal with empirical analytical non-experimental approach study evaluated responses of schoolchildren in third and fourth grade of primary school with the instrument adapted and reconstructed to establish technical quality of items, reliability and validity of it. The instrument (18 psychosocial skills and 19 healthy habits, plus 4 identification items was self-diligence with Yes, No dichotomous answer option. It had evidence of apparent validity with schoolchildren from other peer institutions and was tested at 32 Public schools and analyzed using the Rasch model. Results: 1,066 schoolchildren participated in total. The items of the two constructs showed a good fit to the Rasch model as well as unidimensionality, reliability and separation measures above the recommended values. There was no differential functioning of the item by sex. Conclusion: The instrument of 37 items presented good properties of validity, reliability and adjustment to Rasch; although it does not have enough items of high difficulty level, which can be corrected in future applications.

Brief Report: The Relationship between Language Skills, Adaptive Behavior, and Emotional and Behavior Problems in Pre-Schoolers with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Carlie J.; Yelland, Gregory W.; Taffe, John R.; Gray, Kylie M.

2012-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between structural language skills, and communication skills, adaptive behavior, and emotional and behavior problems in pre-school children with autism. Participants were aged 3-5 years with autism (n = 27), and two comparison groups of children with developmental delay without autism (n = 12) and typically…

Enhancing Students' Confidence in Employability Skills through the Practice of "Recall, Adapt and Apply"

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Sinclair, Alison J.

2017-01-01

The ability to apply prior knowledge to new challenges is a skill that is highly valued by employers, but the confidence to achieve this does not come naturally to all students. An essential step to becoming an independent researcher requires a transition between simply following a fail-safe set of instructions to being able to adapt a known…

Utilization of Skills in the Care of Patients with Deviations in Psychosocial Adaptation (NS 207): Competency-Based Course Syllabus.

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Tanya G.

"Utilization of Skills in the Care of Patients with Deviations in Psychosocial Adaptation" (NS 207) is an associate degree nursing course offered at Chattanooga State Technical Community College. The course stresses the individual as a system in his/her psychosocial adaptation to internal and external stressors, and highlights the…

Group Training in Interpersonal Problem-Solving Skills for Workplace Adaptation of Adolescents and Adults with Asperger Syndrome: A Preliminary Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bonete, Saray; Calero, María Dolores; Fernández-Parra, Antonio

2015-01-01

Adults with Asperger syndrome show persistent difficulties in social situations which psychosocial treatments may address. Despite the multiple studies focusing on social skills interventions, only some have focused specifically on problem-solving skills and have not targeted workplace adaptation training in the adult population. This study…

The Parent Version of the Preschool Social Skills Rating System: Psychometric Analysis and Adaptation with a German Preschool Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, Markus; Scheithauer, Herbert; Kleiber, Dieter; Wille, Nora; Erhart, Michael; Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike

2014-01-01

The Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) developed by Gresham and Elliott (1990) is a multirater, norm-referenced instrument measuring social skills and adaptive behavior in preschool children. The aims of the present study were (a) to test the factorial structure of the Parent Form of the SSRS for the first time with a German preschool sample (391…

Adaptation behavior of skilled infant bouncers to different spring frequencies

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Olinda Habib Perez

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Infants explore their environments through repetitive movements that are constrained or facilitated by the environmental context. In this study, we evaluated how skilled bouncers adapted to bouncing in systems with four different spring conditions (natural frequencies of 0.9, 1.15, 1.27 and 1.56 Hz. Trunk kinematics and vertical ground reaction forces (VGRFs were recorded from three pre-walking infants (mean age 10.6 ±0.9 months. Bounce frequency, trunk displacement, peak VGRF, percent of time on the ground and time to peak force as a function of time on the ground were analyzed. In addition, infant bounce frequencies were compared to measured oscillations of an inert mass equivalent to each infant’s mass. All infants bounced above the natural frequency of the spring system in all conditions suggesting that they did not behave solely like mass-spring systems. Infants produced asymmetrical VGRF loading patterns suggesting that a timing component, such as bounce frequency, was regulated. Skilled infants consistently increased their bounce frequency as their vertical trunk displacement decreased; however, the mode for regulating bounce frequency differed from infant to infant.

Dysfunction of Rapid Neural Adaptation in Dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Perrachione, Tyler K; Del Tufo, Stephanie N; Winter, Rebecca; Murtagh, Jack; Cyr, Abigail; Chang, Patricia; Halverson, Kelly; Ghosh, Satrajit S; Christodoulou, Joanna A; Gabrieli, John D E

2016-12-21

Identification of specific neurophysiological dysfunctions resulting in selective reading difficulty (dyslexia) has remained elusive. In addition to impaired reading development, individuals with dyslexia frequently exhibit behavioral deficits in perceptual adaptation. Here, we assessed neurophysiological adaptation to stimulus repetition in adults and children with dyslexia for a wide variety of stimuli, spoken words, written words, visual objects, and faces. For every stimulus type, individuals with dyslexia exhibited significantly diminished neural adaptation compared to controls in stimulus-specific cortical areas. Better reading skills in adults and children with dyslexia were associated with greater repetition-induced neural adaptation. These results highlight a dysfunction of rapid neural adaptation as a core neurophysiological difference in dyslexia that may underlie impaired reading development. Reduced neurophysiological adaptation may relate to prior reports of reduced behavioral adaptation in dyslexia and may reveal a difference in brain functions that ultimately results in a specific reading impairment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pilot randomized controlled trial of dialectical behavior therapy group skills training for ADHD among college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Andrew P; McMahon, Robert J; Moran, Lyndsey R; Peterson, A Paige; Dreessen, Anthony

2015-03-01

ADHD affects between 2% and 8% of college students and is associated with broad functional impairment. No prior randomized controlled trials with this population have been published. The present study is a pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) group skills training adapted for college students with ADHD. Thirty-three undergraduates with ADHD between ages 18 and 24 were randomized to receive either DBT group skills training or skills handouts during an 8-week intervention phase. ADHD symptoms, executive functioning (EF), and related outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up. Participants receiving DBT group skills training showed greater treatment response rates (59-65% vs. 19-25%) and clinical recovery rates (53-59% vs. 6-13%) on ADHD symptoms and EF, and greater improvements in quality of life. DBT group skills training may be efficacious, acceptable, and feasible for treating ADHD among college students. A larger randomized trial is needed for further evaluation. © 2014 SAGE Publications.

Greater emotional arousal predicts poorer long-term memory of communication skills in couples.

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Baucom, Brian R; Weusthoff, Sarah; Atkins, David C; Hahlweg, Kurt

2012-06-01

Many studies have examined the importance of learning skills in behaviorally based couple interventions but none have examined predictors of long-term memory for skills. Associations between emotional arousal and long-term recall of communication skills delivered to couples during a behaviorally based relationship distress prevention program were examined in a sample of 49 German couples. Fundamental frequency (f(0)), a vocal measure of encoded emotional arousal, was measured during pre-treatment couple conflict. Higher levels of f(0) were linked to fewer skills remembered 11 years after completing the program, and women remembered more skills than men. Implications of results for behaviorally based couple interventions are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptation of non-technical skills behavioural markers for delivery room simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bracco, Fabrizio; Masini, Michele; De Tonetti, Gabriele; Brogioni, Francesca; Amidani, Arianna; Monichino, Sara; Maltoni, Alessandra; Dato, Andrea; Grattarola, Claudia; Cordone, Massimo; Torre, Giancarlo; Launo, Claudio; Chiorri, Carlo; Celleno, Danilo

2017-03-17

Simulation in healthcare has proved to be a useful method in improving skills and increasing the safety of clinical operations. The debriefing session, after the simulated scenario, is the core of the simulation, since it allows participants to integrate the experience with the theoretical frameworks and the procedural guidelines. There is consistent evidence for the relevance of non-technical skills (NTS) for the safe and efficient accomplishment of operations. However, the observation, assessment and feedback on these skills is particularly complex, because the process needs expert observers and the feedback is often provided in judgmental and ineffective ways. The aim of this study was therefore to develop and test a set of observation and rating forms for the NTS behavioural markers of multi-professional teams involved in delivery room emergency simulations (MINTS-DR, Multi-professional Inventory for Non-Technical Skills in the Delivery Room). The MINTS-DR was developed by adapting the existing tools and, when needed, by designing new tools according to the literature. We followed a bottom-up process accompanied by interviews and co-design between practitioners and psychology experts. The forms were specific for anaesthetists, gynaecologists, nurses/midwives, assistants, plus a global team assessment tool. We administered the tools in five editions of a simulation training course that involved 48 practitioners. Ratings on usability and usefulness were collected. The mean ratings of the usability and usefulness of the tools were not statistically different to or higher than 4 on a 5-point rating scale. In either case no significant differences were found across professional categories. The MINTS-DR is quick and easy to administer. It is judged to be a useful asset in maximising the learning experience that is provided by the simulation.

Investigating the Impact of Formal Reflective Activities on Skill Adaptation in a Work-Related Instrumental Learning Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Roessger, Kevin M.

2013-01-01

In work-related, instrumental learning contexts the role of reflective activities is unclear. Kolb's (1985) experiential learning theory and Mezirow's transformative learning theory (2000) predict skill-adaptation as a possible outcome. This prediction was experimentally explored by manipulating reflective activities and assessing participants'…

Adaptive behavior of children with visual impairment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anđelković Marija

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Adaptive behavior includes a wide range of skills necessary for independent, safe and adequate performance of everyday activities. Practical, social and conceptual skills make the concept of adaptive behavior. The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the existing studies of adaptive behavior in persons with visual impairment. The paper mainly focuses on the research on adaptive behavior in children with visual impairment. The results show that the acquisition of adaptive skills is mainly low or moderately low in children and youth with visual impairment. Children with visual impairment achieve the worst results in social skills and everyday life skills, while the most acquired are communication skills. Apart from the degree of visual impairment, difficulties in motor development also significantly influence the acquisition of practical and social skills of blind persons and persons with low vision.

Acquiring Psychomotor Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Padelford, Harold E.

1984-01-01

The author discusses levels of psychomotor skill acquisition: perceiving, motivating, imitating, performing, adapting, and innovating. How these skills interact and how they affect the learner's ability to learn are examined. (CT)

Teaching "Yes, And" … Improv in Sales Classes: Enhancing Student Adaptive Selling Skills, Sales Performance, and Teaching Evaluations

Science.gov (United States)

Rocco, Richard A.; Whalen, D. Joel

2014-01-01

In an application of experiential learning, assessment, and career development, this article reports a field experiment of teaching sales students adaptive selling skills via an "Improvisational (Improv) Comedy" technique: "Yes, And." Students learn this well-established theatrical improv method via classroom lecture,…

Outcomes and Experiences of an Adapted Dialectic Behaviour Therapy Skills Training Group for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Crossland, Tom; Hewitt, Olivia; Walden, Sarah

2017-01-01

Background: A growing body of evidence supports the use of Dialectic Behaviour Therapy with people with an intellectual disability. Various adaptation have been used in studies exploring the efficacy of this intervention. Method: A Dialectic Behaviour Therapy DBT skills training group was attended by people with an intellectual disability and…

Interest level in 2-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder predicts rate of verbal, nonverbal, and adaptive skill acquisition

OpenAIRE

Klintwall, Lars; Macari, Suzanne; Eikeseth, Svein; Chawarska, Katarzyna

2014-01-01

Recent studies have suggested that skill acquisition rates for children with autism spectrum disorders receiving early interventions can be predicted by child motivation. We examined whether level of interest during an Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule assessment at 2 years predicts subsequent rates of verbal, nonverbal, and adaptive skill acquisition to the age of 3 years. A total of 70 toddlers with autism spectrum disorder, mean age of 21.9 months, were scored using Interest Level Sco...

Assistive technology for promoting adaptive skills of children with cerebral palsy: ten cases evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stasolla, Fabrizio; Caffò, Alessandro O; Perilli, Viviana; Boccasini, Adele; Damiani, Rita; D'Amico, Fiora

2018-05-06

To extend the use of assistive technology for promoting adaptive skills of children with cerebral palsy. To assess its effects on positive participation of ten participants involved. To carry out a social validation recruiting parents, physiotherapists and support teachers as external raters. A multiple probe design was implemented for Studies I and II. Study I involved five participants exposed to a combined program aimed at enhancing choice process of preferred items and locomotion fluency. Study II involved five further children for a combined intervention finalized at ensuring them with literacy access and ambulation responses. Study III recruited 60 external raters for a social validation assessment. All participants improved their performance, although differences among children occurred. Indices of positive participation increased as well. Social raters favorably scored the use of both technology and programs. Assistive technology-based programs were effective for promoting independence of children with cerebral palsy. Implications for Rehabilitation A basic form of assistive technology such as a microswitch-based program may be useful and helpful for supporting adaptive skills of children with cerebral palsy and different levels of functioning. The same program may improve the participants' indices of positive participation and constructive engagement with beneficial effects on their quality of life. The positive social rating provided by external experts sensitive to the matter may recommend a favorable acceptance and implementation of the program in daily settings.

Adaptive behavior of children with visual impairment

OpenAIRE

Anđelković Marija

2014-01-01

Adaptive behavior includes a wide range of skills necessary for independent, safe and adequate performance of everyday activities. Practical, social and conceptual skills make the concept of adaptive behavior. The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the existing studies of adaptive behavior in persons with visual impairment. The paper mainly focuses on the research on adaptive behavior in children with visual impairment. The results show that the acquisition of adaptive skills is ...

Farsi version of social skills rating system-secondary student form: cultural adaptation, reliability and construct validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Eslami, Ahmad Ali; Amidi Mazaheri, Maryam; Mostafavi, Firoozeh; Abbasi, Mohamad Hadi; Noroozi, Ensieh

2014-01-01

Assessment of social skills is a necessary requirement to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive and behavioral interventions. This paper reports the cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Farsi version of the social skills rating system-secondary students form (SSRS-SS) questionnaire (Gresham and Elliot, 1990), in a normative sample of secondary school students. A two-phase design was used that phase 1 consisted of the linguistic adaptation and in phase 2, using cross-sectional sample survey data, the construct validity and reliability of the Farsi version of the SSRS-SS were examined in a sample of 724 adolescents aged from 13 to 19 years. Content validity index was excellent, and the floor/ceiling effects were low. After deleting five of the original SSRS-SS items, the findings gave support for the item convergent and divergent validity. Factor analysis revealed four subscales. RESULTS showed good internal consistency (0.89) and temporal stability (0.91) for the total scale score. Findings demonstrated support for the use of the 27-item Farsi version in the school setting. Directions for future research regarding the applicability of the scale in other settings and populations of adolescents are discussed.

An Evaluation of Social and Adaptive Skills in Adults with Bipolar Disorder and Severe/Profound Intellectual Disability

Science.gov (United States)

Matson, Johnny L.; Terlonge, Cindy; Gonzalez, Melissa L.; Rivet, Tessa

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the interrelationship of social and adaptive skills in adults with bipolar disorder and severe or profound intellectual disability. A bipolar group (N=14), a severe psychopathology group without bipolar disorder (N=14), and a control group with no DSM-IV Axis I diagnosis (N=14) were compared on the…

Non-technical skills evaluation in the critical care air ambulance environment: introduction of an adapted rating instrument--an observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Julia A; Powell, David M C; Psirides, Alex; Hathaway, Karyn; Aldington, Sarah; Haney, Michael F

2016-03-08

In the isolated and dynamic health-care setting of critical care air ambulance transport, the quality of clinical care is strongly influenced by non-technical skills such as anticipating, recognising and understanding, decision making, and teamwork. However there are no published reports identifying or applying a non-technical skills framework specific to an intensive care air ambulance setting. The objective of this study was to adapt and evaluate a non-technical skills rating framework for the air ambulance clinical environment. In the first phase of the project the anaesthetists' non-technical skills (ANTS) framework was adapted to the air ambulance setting, using data collected directly from clinician groups, published literature, and field observation. In the second phase experienced and inexperienced inter-hospital transport clinicians completed a simulated critical care air transport scenario, and their non-technical skills performance was independently rated by two blinded assessors. Observed and self-rated general clinical performance ratings were also collected. Rank-based statistical tests were used to examine differences in the performance of experienced and inexperienced clinicians, and relationships between different assessment approaches and assessors. The framework developed during phase one was referred to as an aeromedical non-technical skills framework, or AeroNOTS. During phase two 16 physicians from speciality training programmes in intensive care, emergency medicine and anaesthesia took part in the clinical simulation study. Clinicians with inter-hospital transport experience performed more highly than those without experience, according to both AeroNOTS non-technical skills ratings (p = 0.001) and general performance ratings (p = 0.003). Self-ratings did not distinguish experienced from inexperienced transport clinicians (p = 0.32) and were not strongly associated with either observed general performance (r(s) = 0.4, p = 0

Adaptation

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

building skills, knowledge or networks on adaptation, ... the African partners leading the AfricaAdapt network, together with the UK-based Institute of Development Studies; and ... UNCCD Secretariat, Regional Coordination Unit for Africa, Tunis, Tunisia .... 26 Rural–urban Cooperation on Water Management in the Context of.

Fine and gross motor skills: The effects on skill-focused dual-tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Raisbeck, Louisa D; Diekfuss, Jed A

2015-10-01

Dual-task methodology often directs participants' attention towards a gross motor skill involved in the execution of a skill, but researchers have not investigated the comparative effects of attention on fine motor skill tasks. Furthermore, there is limited information about participants' subjective perception of workload with respect to task performance. To examine this, the current study administered the NASA-Task Load Index following a simulated shooting dual-task. The task required participants to stand 15 feet from a projector screen which depicted virtual targets and fire a modified Glock 17 handgun equipped with an infrared laser. Participants performed the primary shooting task alone (control), or were also instructed to focus their attention on a gross motor skill relevant to task execution (gross skill-focused) and a fine motor skill relevant to task execution (fine skill-focused). Results revealed that workload was significantly greater during the fine skill-focused task for both skill levels, but performance was only affected for the lesser-skilled participants. Shooting performance for the lesser-skilled participants was greater during the gross skill-focused condition compared to the fine skill-focused condition. Correlational analyses also demonstrated a significant negative relationship between shooting performance and workload during the gross skill-focused task for the higher-skilled participants. A discussion of the relationship between skill type, workload, skill level, and performance in dual-task paradigms is presented. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessing family planning service-delivery skills in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Valadez, J J; Transgrud, R; Mbugua, M; Smith, T

1997-06-01

This report demonstrates the use of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) to evaluate the technical competence of two cohorts of family planning service providers in Kenya trained with a new curriculum. One cohort had just finished training within two months of the study. The other cohort was the first group trained with the new curriculum about one year before the study. LQAS was adapted from industrial and other public health applications to assess both the individual competence of 30 service providers and the competence of each cohort. Results show that Cohorts One and Two did not differ markedly in the number of tasks needing improvement. However, both cohorts exhibited more tasks needing improvement in counseling skills as compared with physical examination skills or with all other skills. Care-givers who were not currently providing services accounted for most service-delivery problems. This result suggests that providers' use of their skills explains their ability to retain service-delivery skills learned in training to a greater degree than does the amount of time elapsed since they were trained. LQAS proved to be a rapid, easy-to-use empirical method for management decisionmaking for improvement of a family planning training curriculum and services.

Language and communication skills in preschool children with autism spectrum disorders: contribution of cognition, severity of autism symptoms, and adaptive functioning to the variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Kjellmer, Liselotte; Hedvall, Åsa; Fernell, Elisabeth; Gillberg, Christopher; Norrelgen, Fritjof

2012-01-01

This study examined the contribution of cognitive function, severity of autism, and adaptive functioning to the variability in language and communication skills in 129 preschool children (aged 24-63 months) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants were selected from a representative research cohort of 208 preschool children on the basis of caregiver completion of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI). The children were classified into three cognitive groups: (a) Normal intelligence; (b) Developmental delay; and (c) Intellectual disability. Autism symptom severity was measured by the Autistic Behavior Checklist (ABC), and adaptive functioning by the Daily Living Skills (DLS) and Socialization (Soc) subscales from the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. For each of five CDI variables (Phrases understood, Words understood, Words produced, Gestures and actions, and Language use), the contribution of cognition, severity of autism symptoms, and adaptive functioning to the variability was examined. Cognition and age explained about half or more of the variance in the four verbal language CDI variables, but only about one fourth of the variance in the non-verbal communication variable Gestures and actions. Severity of autism symptoms and the two adaptive measures (DLS and Soc) each only accounted for a few percent more of the variance in the four CDI language variables; however, for Gestures and actions, an additional 11-21% of the variance was accounted for. In conclusion, for children with ASD, receptive and expressive language is mainly related to cognitive level, whereas non-verbal communication skills seem to also be related to severity of autism symptoms and adaptive functioning. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interest Level in 2-Year-Olds with Autism Spectrum Disorder Predicts Rate of Verbal, Nonverbal, and Adaptive Skill Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Klintwall, Lars; Macari, Suzanne; Eikeseth, Svein; Chawarska, Katarzyna

2015-01-01

Recent studies have suggested that skill acquisition rates for children with autism spectrum disorders receiving early interventions can be predicted by child motivation. We examined whether level of interest during an Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule assessment at 2?years predicts subsequent rates of verbal, nonverbal, and adaptive skill…

A randomised group comparison controlled trial of 'preschoolers with autism': a parent education and skills training intervention for young children with autistic disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Tonge, Bruce; Brereton, Avril; Kiomall, Melissa; Mackinnon, Andrew; Rinehart, Nicole J

2014-02-01

To determine the effect of parent education on adaptive behaviour, autism symptoms and cognitive/language skills of young children with autistic disorder. A randomised group comparison design involving a parent education and counselling intervention and a parent education and behaviour management intervention to control for parent skills training and a control sample. Two rural and two metropolitan regions were randomly allocated to intervention groups (n = 70) or control (n = 35). Parents from autism assessment services in the intervention regions were randomly allocated to parent education and behaviour management (n = 35) or parent education and counselling (n = 35). Parent education and behaviour management resulted in significant improvement in adaptive behaviour and autism symptoms at 6 months follow-up for children with greater delays in adaptive behaviour. Parent education and behaviour management was superior to parent education and counselling. We conclude that a 20-week parent education programme including skills training for parents of young children with autistic disorder provides significant improvements in child adaptive behaviour and symptoms of autism for low-functioning children.

Neuropsychological presentation and adaptive skills in high-functioning adolescents with visual impairment: A preliminary investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenaway, R; Pring, L; Schepers, A; Isaacs, D P; Dale, N J

2017-01-01

Studies in infants and young children with congenital visual impairment (VI) have indicated early developmental vulnerabilities, conversely research with older children and adults have highlighted areas of cognitive strength. A minimal amount is known, however, about the possible combination of strengths and weaknesses in adolescence, and this present study therefore aims to explore the neuropsychological presentation and adaptive behavior profile in high-functioning adolescents with congenital VI. Participants completed a battery of commonly used neuropsychological measures assessing memory, executive function, and attention. The measures utilized focused on auditory neuropsychological function, because only subtests that could be completed with auditory administration were suitable for this sample. Parents completed standardized measures of adaptive behavior, executive function, and social communication. Compared to aged-based norms for normal sight, adolescents with VI demonstrated strengths in aspects of working memory and verbal memory. Furthermore, performance across the neuropsychological battery was within or above the average range for the majority of the sample. In contrast, parent-report measures indicated areas of weakness in adaptive functioning, social communication, and behavioral executive functioning. Overall, this study provides preliminary evidence that relative to fully sighted peers, high-functioning adolescents with VI present with an uneven profile of cognitive and adaptive skills, which has important implications for assessment and intervention.

Development of a Brazilian Portuguese adapted version of the Gap-Kalamazoo communication skills assessment form.

Science.gov (United States)

Amaral, Anna Beatriz C N; Rider, Elizabeth A; Lajolo, Paula P; Tone, Luiz G; Pinto, Rogerio M C; Lajolo, Marisa P; Calhoun, Aaron W

2016-12-11

The goal of this study was to translate, adapt and validate the items of the Gap-Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form for use in the Brazilian cultural setting. The Gap-Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form was translated into Portuguese by two independent bilingual Brazilian translators and was reconciled by a third bilingual healthcare professional. The translated text was then assessed for content using a modified Delphi technique and adjusted as needed to assure content validity. A total of nine phrases in the completed tool were adjusted. The final tool was then used to assess videotaped simulations as a means of validation.  Response process was assessed using exploratory factor analysis and internal structure was assessed via Cronbach's Alpha (internal consistency) and Intraclass Correlation (test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability). One hundred and four (104) videotaped communication skills simulations were assessed by 38 subjects (6 staff physicians, 4 faculty physicians, 8 resident physicians, 4 professional actors with experience in simulation, and 16 other allied healthcare professionals). Measures of Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.818) and test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.942) were high.  Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the uni-dimensionality of the instrument. Our results support the validity and reliability of the Brazilian Gap-Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form when used among Brazilian medical residents.  The Brazilian version of Gap-Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form was found to be adequate both in the linguistic and technical aspects.  The use of this instrument in Brazilian medical education can enhance the assessment of physician-patient-team relationships on an ongoing basis.

Cognitive and Adaptive Skills in Toddlers Who Meet Criteria for Autism in DSM-IV but Not DSM-5

Science.gov (United States)

Jashar, Dasal Tenzin; Brennan, Laura A.; Barton, Marianne L.; Fein, Deborah

2016-01-01

The current study compared adaptive and cognitive skills, and autism severity of toddlers with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis under DSM-IV but not DSM-5 criteria (DSM-IV only group) to those who met autism criteria under both diagnostic systems (DSM-5 group) and to those without ASD (non-ASD group). The toddlers in the DSM-IV only…

Measuring patient-provider communication skills in Rwanda: Selection, adaptation and assessment of psychometric properties of the Communication Assessment Tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Cubaka, Vincent Kalumire; Schriver, Michael; Vedsted, Peter; Makoul, Gregory; Kallestrup, Per

2018-04-23

To identify, adapt and validate a measure for providers' communication and interpersonal skills in Rwanda. After selection, translation and piloting of the measure, structural validity, test-retest reliability, and differential item functioning were assessed. Identification and adaptation: The 14-item Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) was selected and adapted. Content validation found all items highly relevant in the local context except two, which were retained upon understanding the reasoning applied by patients. Eleven providers and 291 patients were involved in the field-testing. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit for the original one factor model. Test-retest reliability assessment revealed a mean quadratic weighted Kappa = 0.81 (range: 0.69-0.89, N = 57). The average proportion of excellent scores was 15.7% (SD: 24.7, range: 9.9-21.8%, N = 180). Differential item functioning was not observed except for item 1, which focuses on greetings, for age groups (p = 0.02, N = 180). The Kinyarwanda version of CAT (K-CAT) is a reliable and valid patient-reported measure of providers' communication and interpersonal skills. K-CAT was validated on nurses and its use on other types of providers may require further validation. K-CAT is expected to be a valuable feedback tool for providers in practice and in training. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Formal Mediation and Negotiation Training, Providing Greater Skills for Commanders in Bosnia

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McConnell, G

1999-01-01

.... However, the training is not optimized for the environment that they will encounter. The Bosnia environment requires battalion and brigade commanders to possess and utilize mediation and negotiation skills...

School Leadership Skill Development

Science.gov (United States)

Weigel, Richard A.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between what is currently understood about skills for school leadership and the need for a greater understanding of those skills. The importance of developing leadership skills to improve school performance and effectiveness is great. In the field of school leadership, most leaders…

Rapid feedback responses correlate with reach adaptation and properties of novel upper limb loads.

Science.gov (United States)

Cluff, Tyler; Scott, Stephen H

2013-10-02

A hallmark of voluntary motor control is the ability to adjust motor patterns for novel mechanical or visuomotor contexts. Recent work has also highlighted the importance of feedback for voluntary control, leading to the hypothesis that feedback responses should adapt when we learn new motor skills. We tested this prediction with a novel paradigm requiring that human subjects adapt to a viscous elbow load while reaching to three targets. Target 1 required combined shoulder and elbow motion, target 2 required only elbow motion, and target 3 (probe target) required shoulder but no elbow motion. This simple approach controlled muscle activity at the probe target before, during, and after the application of novel elbow loads. Our paradigm allowed us to perturb the elbow during reaching movements to the probe target and identify several key properties of adapted stretch responses. Adapted long-latency responses expressed (de-) adaptation similar to reaching errors observed when we introduced (removed) the elbow load. Moreover, reaching errors during learning correlated with changes in the long-latency response, showing subjects who adapted more to the elbow load displayed greater modulation of their stretch responses. These adapted responses were sensitive to the size and direction of the viscous training load. Our results highlight an important link between the adaptation of feedforward and feedback control and suggest a key part of motor adaptation is to adjust feedback responses to the requirements of novel motor skills.

The relationship of motor skills and adaptive behavior skills in young children with autism spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, Megan; Lord, Catherine; Ulrich, Dale

2013-11-01

To determine the relationship of motor skills and the core behaviors of young children with autism, social affective skills and repetitive behaviors, as indicated through the calibrated autism severity scores. The univariate GLM tested the relationship of gross and fine motor skills measured by the gross motor scale and the fine motor scale of the MSEL with autism symptomology as measured by calibrated autism severity scores. Majority of the data collected took place in an autism clinic. A cohort of 159 young children with ASD (n=110), PDD-NOS (n=26) and non-ASD (developmental delay, n=23) between the ages of 12-33 months were recruited from early intervention studies and clinical referrals. Children with non-ASD (developmental delay) were included in this study to provide a range of scores indicted through calibrated autism severity. Not applicable. The primary outcome measures in this study were calibrated autism severity scores. Fine motor skills and gross motor skills significantly predicted calibrated autism severity (p motor skills displayed higher levels of calibrated autism severity. The fine and gross motor skills are significantly related to autism symptomology. There is more to focus on and new avenues to explore in the realm of discovering how to implement early intervention and rehabilitation for young children with autism and motor skills need to be a part of the discussion.

Sex differences in parent-reported executive functioning and adaptive behavior in children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Emily I; Wallace, Gregory L; Bascom, Julia; Armour, Anna C; Register-Brown, Kelly; Popal, Haroon S; Ratto, Allison B; Martin, Alex; Kenworthy, Lauren

2017-10-01

This study is the largest to date examining executive function and adaptive skills in females with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Its primary aim was to utilize parent ratings of real-world executive functioning and adaptive behavior to better understand whether females with ASD differ from males with ASD in these areas of everyday functioning. We compared 79 females with ASD to 158 males with ASD (ages 7-18) who were statistically matched on age, IQ, and level of ADHD or ASD traits. All participants were assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and a subset (56 females and 130 males) also received the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). Females were rated by parents as having greater problems with executive function on the BRIEF. Parents also rated females as exhibiting more difficulties than males on the Daily Living Skills domain of the VABS. There was a correlation between increased global EF difficulty and decreased adaptive ability in both males and females. Our results indicate relative weaknesses for females compared to males diagnosed with ASD on executive function and daily living skills. These differences occur in the absence of sex differences in our sample in age, IQ, clinician ratings of core ASD symptomatology, parent ratings of ADHD symptoms, and parent-reported social and communication adaptive skills on the VABS. These findings indicate specific liabilities in real world EF and daily living skills for females with ASD and have important implications for targeting their treatments. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1653-1662. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The use of adaptable automation: Effects of extended skill lay-off and changes in system reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Sauer, Juergen; Chavaillaz, Alain

2017-01-01

This experiment aimed to examine how skill lay-off and system reliability would affect operator behaviour in a simulated work environment under wide-range and large-choice adaptable automation comprising six different levels. Twenty-four participants were tested twice during a 2-hr testing session, with the second session taking place 8 months after the first. In the middle of the second testing session, system reliability changed. The results showed that after the retention interval trust increased and self-confidence decreased. Complacency was unaffected by the lay-off period. Diagnostic speed slowed down after the retention interval but diagnostic accuracy was maintained. No difference between experimental conditions was found for automation management behaviour (i.e. level of automation chosen and frequency of switching between levels). There were few effects of system reliability. Overall, the findings showed that subjective measures were more sensitive to the impact of skill lay-off than objective behavioural measures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Busting the myth of low motivation in low-skilled workers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mariager-Anderson, Kristina; Cort, Pia

2016-01-01

Should low-skilled workers continuously adapt to the needs of the labour market to ensure their own employability? The preoccupation with low-skilled people and their reluctance to be lifelong learners is apparent in surveys and research projects attempting to identify low-skilled workers’ barrie...... to learning: Are low-skilled workers unable to do what is right according to policies? Should they continuously adapt to the needs of the labour market and ensure their own employability? This policy narrative of ‘unmotivated’ low-skilled workers needs to be questioned....

Putting Climate Adaptation on the Map: Developing Spatial Management Strategies for Whitebark Pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Ireland, Kathryn B.; Hansen, Andrew J.; Keane, Robert E.; Legg, Kristin; Gump, Robert L.

2018-06-01

Natural resource managers face the need to develop strategies to adapt to projected future climates. Few existing climate adaptation frameworks prescribe where to place management actions to be most effective under anticipated future climate conditions. We developed an approach to spatially allocate climate adaptation actions and applied the method to whitebark pine (WBP; Pinus albicaulis) in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). WBP is expected to be vulnerable to climate-mediated shifts in suitable habitat, pests, pathogens, and fire. We spatially prioritized management actions aimed at mitigating climate impacts to WBP under two management strategies: (1) current management and (2) climate-informed management. The current strategy reflected management actions permissible under existing policy and access constraints. Our goal was to understand how consideration of climate might alter the placement of management actions, so the climate-informed strategies did not include these constraints. The spatial distribution of actions differed among the current and climate-informed management strategies, with 33-60% more wilderness area prioritized for action under climate-informed management. High priority areas for implementing management actions include the 1-8% of the GYE where current and climate-informed management agreed, since this is where actions are most likely to be successful in the long-term and where current management permits implementation. Areas where climate-informed strategies agreed with one another but not with current management (6-22% of the GYE) are potential locations for experimental testing of management actions. Our method for spatial climate adaptation planning is applicable to any species for which information regarding climate vulnerability and climate-mediated risk factors is available.

Dialectical behaviour therapy-informed skills training for deliberate self-harm: a controlled trial with 3-month follow-up data.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Gibson, Jennifer

2014-09-01

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for deliberate self-harm (DSH) and emerging evidence suggests DBT skills training alone may be a useful adaptation of the treatment. DBT skills are presumed to reduce maladaptive efforts to regulate emotional distress, such as DSH, by teaching adaptive methods of emotion regulation. However, the impact of DBT skills training on DSH and emotion regulation remains unclear. This study examined the Living Through Distress (LTD) programme, a DBT-informed skills group provided in an inpatient setting. Eighty-two adults presenting with DSH or Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) were offered places in LTD, in addition to their usual care. A further 21 clients on the waiting list for LTD were recruited as a treatment-as-usual (TAU) group. DSH, anxiety, depression, and emotion regulation were assessed at baseline and either post-intervention or 6 week follow-up. Greater reductions in the frequency of DSH and improvements in some aspects of emotion regulation were associated with completion of LTD, as compared with TAU. Improvements in DSH were maintained at 3 month follow-up. This suggests providing a brief intensive DBT-informed skills group may be a useful intervention for DSH.

Changes in frontal-parietal activation and math skills performance following adaptive number sense training: preliminary results from a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kesler, Shelli R; Sheau, Kristen; Koovakkattu, Della; Reiss, Allan L

2011-08-01

Number sense is believed to be critical for math development. It is putatively an implicitly learned skill and may therefore have limitations in terms of being explicitly trained, particularly in individuals with altered neurodevelopment. A case series study was conducted using an adaptive, computerised programme that focused on number sense and general problem-solving skills. The study was designed to investigate training effects on performance as well as brain function in a group of children with Turner syndrome who are at risk for math difficulties and altered development of math-related brain networks. Standardised measurements of math and math-related cognitive skills as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were used to assess behavioural and neurobiological outcomes following training. Participants demonstrated significantly increased basic math skills, including number sense, and calculation as well as processing speed, cognitive flexibility and visual-spatial processing skills. With the exception of calculation, increased scores also were clinically significant (i.e., recovered) based on reliable change analysis. Participants additionally demonstrated significantly increased bilateral parietal lobe activation and decreased frontal-striatal and mesial temporal activation following the training programme. These findings show proof of concept for an accessible training approach that may be potentially associated with improved number sense, math and related skills, as well as functional changes in math-related neural systems, even among individuals at risk for altered brain development.

Executive Function and Adaptive Behavior in Muenke Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Yarnell, Colin M P; Addissie, Yonit A; Hadley, Donald W; Guillen Sacoto, Maria J; Agochukwu, Nneamaka B; Hart, Rachel A; Wiggs, Edythe A; Platte, Petra; Paelecke, Yvonne; Collmann, Hartmut; Schweitzer, Tilmann; Kruszka, Paul; Muenke, Maximilian

2015-08-01

To investigate executive function and adaptive behavior in individuals with Muenke syndrome using validated instruments with a normative population and unaffected siblings as controls. Participants in this cross-sectional study included individuals with Muenke syndrome (P250R mutation in FGFR3) and their mutation-negative siblings. Participants completed validated assessments of executive functioning (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function [BRIEF]) and adaptive behavior skills (Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, Second Edition [ABAS-II]). Forty-four with a positive FGFR3 mutation, median age 9 years, range 7 months to 52 years were enrolled. In addition, 10 unaffected siblings served as controls (5 males, 5 females; median age, 13 years; range, 3-18 years). For the General Executive Composite scale of the BRIEF, 32.1% of the cohort had scores greater than +1.5 SD, signifying potential clinical significance. For the General Adaptive Composite of the ABAS-II, 28.2% of affected individuals scored in the 3rd-8th percentile of the normative population, and 56.4% were below the average category (General Executive Composite and the ABAS-II General Adaptive Composite. Individuals with Muenke syndrome are at an increased risk for developing adaptive and executive function behavioral changes compared with a normative population and unaffected siblings. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Workplace Basics: The Skills Employers Want.

Science.gov (United States)

Carnevale, Anthony P.; And Others

1989-01-01

Identifies the basic skills needed by workers to function in today's high technology workplace. Examines ways of training employees in learning and communication skills, adaptability, personal management, group effectiveness, and organizational leadership. Describes the eight-step training approach used by Mazda Motor Manufacturing Corporation.…

Relation between working memory and self-regulation capacities and the level of social skills acquisition in people with moderate intellectual disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Dučić, Bojan; Gligorović, Milica; Kaljača, Svetlana

2018-03-01

Social competence deficit is one of the main characteristics of intellectual disability. The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of working memory (WM) and self-regulation (SR) on social skills in persons with moderate intellectual disability (MID). The sample included 41 participants with MID, aged 14-21. Memorizing animals and maze tasks were used for WM assessment. SR skills were assessed by the Behavioral Multitask Batteries. Social skills were rated by the Socialization subscale from the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System II, which consists of two parts. Social skills part could mainly be predicted from SR scores (β = -.441), followed by WM (β = .390) and IQ score (β = .382). Only WM score (β = .494) had a predictive value for Leisure time part. As WM had a greater influence on social skills, incorporating WM training into programmes for improving social skills in persons with MID should be considered. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

More features, greater connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Sarah

2015-09-01

Changes in our political infrastructure, the continuing frailties of our economy, and a stark growth in population, have greatly impacted upon the perceived stability of the NHS. Healthcare teams have had to adapt to these changes, and so too have the technologies upon which they rely to deliver first-class patient care. Here Sarah Hunt, marketing co-ordinator at Aid Call, assesses how the changing healthcare environment has affected one of its fundamental technologies - the nurse call system, argues the case for wireless such systems in terms of what the company claims is greater adaptability to changing needs, and considers the ever-wider range of features and functions available from today's nurse call equipment, particularly via connectivity with both mobile devices, and ancillaries ranging from enuresis sensors to staff attack alert 'badges'.

Examining health-related quality of life, adaptive skills, and psychological functioning in children and adolescents with epilepsy presenting for a neuropsychological evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Clary, Lauren E; Vander Wal, Jillon S; Titus, Jeffrey B

2010-11-01

The purpose of this study was to characterize 132 children and adolescents (mean age = 10 years, 11 months) with epilepsy in terms of psychosocial functioning and to determine the extent to which adaptive skills and psychological functioning predict health-related quality of life (HRQOL), above and beyond demographic and epilepsy-specific characteristics. A chart review was conducted to obtain demographic and epilepsy-specific information as well as caregiver responses on the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) Parent Report and the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE). In addition to Full Scale IQ and age at seizure onset, the BASC-2 Clinical and Adaptive Skills subscales also predicted HRQOL, indicating that this measure may be particularly helpful in predicting HRQOL above and beyond information routinely collected in a medical setting. It is imperative to evaluate children with epilepsy for psychosocial difficulties and diminished HRQOL to ensure the provision of comprehensive quality care and intervention services. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Transnational Skills Development in Post-Industrial Knowledge Economies: The Case of Luxembourg and The Greater Region

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Graf, Lukas; Gardin, Matias

2018-01-01

Luxembourg exhibits strong transnational traits within its skills regime, defying any neat fit with existing educational typologies. It is characterised by its high-skill economy, cross-cultural characteristics, and central location within the European Union. As such, Luxembourg has developed a hybrid strategy of responding to labour market…

The Use of Skilled Strategies in Social Interactions by Groups High and Low in Self-Reported Social Skill

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Channon, Shelley; Collins, Ruth; Swain, Eleanor; Young, Mary-Beth; Fitzpatrick, Sian

2012-01-01

Individuals high or low in self-reported social skill were recruited opportunistically. When presented with everyday social scenarios ending with an awkward request or offer, the high social skill participants more often used sophisticated strategies that showed greater consideration for all parties. By contrast, the low skill participants were…

Mosaicism for the FMR1 gene influences adaptive skills development in fragile X-affected males

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Cohen, I.L.; Sudhalter, V.; Nolin, S.L. [New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island, NY (United States)

1996-08-09

Fragile X syndrome is one of the most common forms of inherited mental retardation, and the first of a new class of genetic disorders associated with expanded trinucleotide repeats. Previously, we found that about 41% of affected males are mosaic for this mutation in that some of their blood cells have an active fragile X gene and others do not. It has been hypothesized that these mosaic cases should show higher levels of functioning than those who have only the inactive full mutation gene, but previous studies have provided negative or equivocal results. In the present study, the cross-sectional development of communication, self-care, socialization, and motor skills was studied in 46 males with fragile X syndrome under age 20 years as a function of two variables: age and the presence or absence of mosaicism. The rate of adaptive skills development was 2-4 times as great in mosaic cases as in full mutation cases. There was also a trend for cases with autism to be more prevalent in the full-mutation group. These results have implications for prognosis, for the utility of gene or protein replacement therapies for this disorder, and for understanding the association between mental retardation, developmental disorders, and fragile X syndrome. 21 refs., 3 figs.

Investigation of the Association Between Motor Stereotypy Behavior With Fundamental Movement Skills, Adaptive Functioning, and Autistic Spectrum Disorder Symptomology in Children With Intellectual Disabilities.

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Powell, Joanne L; Pringle, Lydia; Greig, Matt

2017-02-01

Motor stereotypy behaviors are patterned, coordinated, repetitive behaviors that are particularly evident in those with an autistic spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities. The extent to which motor stereotypy behavior severity is associated with motor skills and maladaptive behavior, measures of adaptive functioning, along with fundamental movement skills and degree of autistic spectrum disorder symptomology is assessed in this preliminary report. Twelve participants, aged 7 to 16 years, with a reported motor stereotypy behavior and either mild or severe intellectual disability comprising developmental or global delay took part in the study. Spearman rho correlational analysis showed that severity of motor stereotypy behavior was significantly positively correlated with autistic spectrum disorder symptomology ( P = .008) and maladaptive behavior ( P = .008) but not fundamental movement skills ( P > .05). An increase in fundamental movement skills score was associated with a decrease in autistic spectrum disorder symptomology ( P = .01) and an increase in motor skills ( P = .002). This study provides evidence showing a significant relationship between motor stereotypy behavior severity with degree of autistic spectrum disorder symptomology and maladaptive behavior.

Adapting Experiential Learning to Develop Problem-Solving Skills in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Engineering Students.

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Marshall, Matthew M; Carrano, Andres L; Dannels, Wendy A

2016-10-01

Individuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions, and this may be due in part to their level of preparation in the development and retention of mathematical and problem-solving skills. An approach was developed that incorporates experiential learning and best practices of STEM instruction to give first-year DHH students enrolled in a postsecondary STEM program the opportunity to develop problem-solving skills in real-world scenarios. Using an industrial engineering laboratory that provides manufacturing and warehousing environments, students were immersed in real-world scenarios in which they worked on teams to address prescribed problems encountered during the activities. The highly structured, Plan-Do-Check-Act approach commonly used in industry was adapted for the DHH student participants to document and communicate the problem-solving steps. Students who experienced the intervention realized a 14.6% improvement in problem-solving proficiency compared with a control group, and this gain was retained at 6 and 12 months, post-intervention. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Relation between paralinguistic skills and social skills in adults with mild and moderate intellectual disability

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Đorđević Mirjana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Facial expressions and prosodic acoustic characteristics jointly present paralinguistic features of communication. By analyzing literature, we observe that respondents with intellectual disabilities manifest emphasized difficulties in detecting emotions in tasks of facial and vocal expression. However, we do not know if there are data on how paralinguistic abilities correlate with social skills in adults with intellectual disabilities. This research was conducted in order to determine the relation between the ability of paralinguistic production and paralinguistic understanding, on one side, and social skills on the other side. The sample consisted of 44 adults of both genders with mild (N=22 and moderate intellectual disabilities (N=22, aged between 20 and 50 (M=32.41, SD=9.36. The Paralinguistic scale from the battery for the assessment of communication (The Assessment Battery for Communication, Abaco, Sacco et al., 2008 was used for the assessment of paralinguistic skills, and three subscales of Vineland adaptive behavior scale - teaching form (Sparrow, Cicchetti & Balla, 2006 were used for the assessment of social skills. The results show that the achievement on subscales of Playing and leisure time positively correlated with the ability to understand emotions in communication (r = 0.486, p < 0.05 in respondents with mild intellectual disability. Achievements on the subscales Skills of adapting had a moderate and positive correlation with the ability to understand emotions in communication (r=0.522, p<0.05 in subjects with mild intellectual disability. Statistically significant correlations between the examined variables were not observed in the group of respondents with moderate intellectual disability. We can conclude that in adults with mild intellectual disability the ability to understand emotional paralinguistic elements significantly correlates with the ability to organize social activities and to adapt behavior in social interactions.

Improving visual observation skills through the arts to aid radiographic interpretation in veterinary practice: A pilot study.

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Beck, Cathy; Gaunt, Heather; Chiavaroli, Neville

2017-09-01

Radiographic interpretation is a perceptual and cognitive skill. Recently core veterinary radiology textbooks have focused on the cognitive (i.e., the clinical aspects of radiographic interpretation) rather than the features of visual observation that improve identification of abnormalities. As a result, the skill of visual observation is underemphasized and thus often underdeveloped by trainees. The study of the arts in medical education has been used to train and improve visual observation and empathy. The use of the arts to improve visual observation skills in Veterinary Science has not been previously described. Objectives of this pilot study were to adapt the existing Visual Arts in Health Education Program for medical and dental students at the University of Melbourne, Australia to third year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students and evaluate their perceptions regarding the program's effects on visual observation skills and confidence with respect to radiographic interpretation. This adaptation took the form of a single seminar given to third year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students. Following the seminar, students reported an improved approach to radiographic interpretation and felt they had gained skills which would assist them throughout their career. In the year following the seminar, written reports of the students who attended the seminar were compared with reports from a matched cohort of students who did not attend the seminar. This demonstrated increased identification of abnormalities and greater description of the abnormalities identified. Findings indicated that explicit training in visual observation may be a valuable adjunct to the radiology training of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students. © 2017 American College of Veterinary Radiology.

Life Skills – Key to Success

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Beena Johnson

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Life skills are the abilities for adaptive and positive behavior which enable the individuals to deal effectively with the challenges and stress of everyday life. Cognitive skills are used for analyzing information, personal skills help in self-management and inter-personal skills are needed for good communication and effective social interaction. These skills can be developed through scientific professional training. Life skills empower the adolescents to choose the best values and behaviors which are essential for positive health. Students who acquire life skills become better adjusted to the school environment and their academic performance will definitely improve. Their self esteem increases and they become capable of coping with the demands and challenges of daily life. Through repeated practicing, individuals can develop mastery over these skills. They learn to apply life skills in all problematic situations in real life and gain control over stressful situations easily.

Variable Resistance Training Promotes Greater Strength and Power Adaptations Than Traditional Resistance Training in Elite Youth Rugby League Players.

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Rivière, Maxence; Louit, Loic; Strokosch, Alasdair; Seitz, Laurent B

2017-04-01

Rivière, M, Louit, L, Strokosch, A, and Seitz, LB. Variable resistance training promotes greater strength and power adaptations than traditional resistance training in elite youth rugby league players. J Strength Cond Res 31(4): 947-955, 2017-The purpose of this study was to examine the strength, velocity, and power adaptations in youth rugby league players in response to a variable resistance training (VRT) or traditional free-weight resistance training (TRAD) intervention. Sixteen elite youth players were assigned to a VRT or TRAD group and completed 2 weekly upper- and lower-body strength and power sessions for 6 weeks. Training programs were identical except that the VRT group trained the bench press exercise with 20% of the prescribed load coming from elastic bands. Bench press 1 repetition maximum (1RM) and bench press mean velocity and power at 35, 45, 65, 75, and 85% of 1RM were measured before and after the training intervention, and the magnitude of the changes was determined using effect sizes (ESs). The VRT group experienced larger increases in both absolute (ES = 0.46 vs. 0.20) and relative (ES = 0.41 vs. 0.19) bench press 1RM. Similar results were observed for mean velocity as well as both absolute and relative mean power at 35, 45, 65, 75, and 85% of 1RM. Furthermore, both groups experienced large gains in both velocity and power in the heavier loads but small improvements in the lighter loads. The improvements in both velocity and power against the heavier loads were larger for the VRT group, whereas smaller differences existed between the 2 groups in the lighter loads. Variable resistance training using elastic bands may offer a greater training stimulus than traditional free-weight resistance training to improve upper-body strength, velocity, and power in elite youth rugby league players.

Key skills by design: adapting a central Web resource to departmental contexts

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Claire McAvinia

2002-12-01

Full Text Available Web-based delivery of support materials for students has proved to be a popular way of helping small teams to implement key skills policies within universities. The development of 'key' or 'transferable' skills is now encouraged throughout education, but resources (both in terms of staffing and budget tend to be limited. It is difficult for key skills teams to see learners face to face, and not feasible to print or distribute large amounts of paper-based material. Web-based delivery presents a means of overcoming these problems but it can result in generic study skills material simply being published online without due consideration of the needs of different groups of learners within different subject disciplines. Therefore, although a centralized Website for skills provision can overcome logistical problems, it may be perceived as irrelevant or unusable by the student population. This paper presents a model for Web-based delivery of support for key skills which incorporates two separate approaches to the design of these resources. The model was implemented as part of a wider key skills pilot project at University College London, over a period of one year. It includes a 'core' Website, containing information and resources for staff and students. These can also be accessed via customized, departmental key skills homepages. This paper presents the basis for the design choices made in preparing these materials, and the evaluation of some of the pilot departments using them. It then draws some wider conclusions about the effectiveness of this design for supporting skills development.

Counting on fine motor skills: links between preschool finger dexterity and numerical skills.

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Fischer, Ursula; Suggate, Sebastian P; Schmirl, Judith; Stoeger, Heidrun

2017-10-26

Finger counting is widely considered an important step in children's early mathematical development. Presumably, children's ability to move their fingers during early counting experiences to aid number representation depends in part on their early fine motor skills (FMS). Specifically, FMS should link to children's procedural counting skills through consistent repetition of finger-counting procedures. Accordingly, we hypothesized that (a) FMS are linked to early counting skills, and (b) greater FMS relate to conceptual counting knowledge (e.g., cardinality, abstraction, order irrelevance) via procedural counting skills (i.e., one-one correspondence and correctness of verbal counting). Preschool children (N = 177) were administered measures of procedural counting skills, conceptual counting knowledge, FMS, and general cognitive skills along with parent questionnaires on home mathematics and fine motor environment. FMS correlated with procedural counting skills and conceptual counting knowledge after controlling for cognitive skills, chronological age, home mathematics and FMS environments. Moreover, the relationship between FMS and conceptual counting knowledge was mediated by procedural counting skills. Findings suggest that FMS play a role in early counting and therewith conceptual counting knowledge. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Vocalization Latencies of Skilled and Less Skilled Comprehenders for Words Written in Hiragana and Kanji.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhara-Kojima, Keiko; And Others

1996-01-01

Finds that Japanese fifth graders' naming speed was a good indicator of the automaticity of the lexical access for both syllabaries and morphograms, but that skilled/less-skilled differences in vocalization latencies were greater for real words than for pseudowords for both hiragana and kanji. Discusses the applicability of C. A. Perfetti's verbal…

Teaching Social Skills: An Effective Online Program

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Sanchez, Rebecca P.; Brown, Emily; DeRosier, Melissa E.

2015-01-01

Educators, policymakers, and the general public agree that social skills should be taught to children. In an effort to bridge this gap between evidence-based social skills training and populations in need, the authors have developed an Intelligent Social Tutoring System (ISTS) that fosters learning through adaptive interaction between the student…

Individualized Special Education with Cognitive Skill Assessment.

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Kurhila, Jaakko; Laine, Tei

2000-01-01

Describes AHMED (Adaptive and Assistive Hypermedia in Education), a computer learning environment which supports the evaluation of disabled children's cognitive skills in addition to supporting openness in learning materials and adaptivity in learning events. Discusses cognitive modeling and compares it to previous intelligent tutoring systems.…

The effect of creative problem solving on students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Muin, A.; Hanifah, S. H.; Diwidian, F.

2018-01-01

This research was conducted to analyse the effect of creative problem solving (CPS) learning model on the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning. The method used in this study was a quasi-experimental with randomized post-test only control group design. Samples were taken as many as two classes by cluster random sampling technique consisting of experimental class (CPS) as many as 40 students and control class (conventional) as many as 40 students. Based on the result of hypothesis testing with the t-test at the significance level of 5%, it was obtained that significance level of 0.0000 is less than α = 0.05. This shows that the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning skills who were taught by CPS model were higher than the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning skills of those who were taught by conventional model. The result of this research showed that the most prominent aspect of adaptive reasoning that could be developed through a CPS was inductive intuitive. Two aspects of adaptive reasoning, which were inductive intuitive and deductive intuitive, were mostly balanced. The different between inductive intuitive and deductive intuitive aspect was not too big. CPS model can develop student mathematical adaptive reasoning skills. CPS model can facilitate development of mathematical adaptive reasoning skills thoroughly.

Analysis of Relations between Spatiotemporal Movement Regulation and Performance of Discrete Actions Reveals Functionality in Skilled Climbing.

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Orth, Dominic; Kerr, Graham; Davids, Keith; Seifert, Ludovic

2017-01-01

In this review of research on climbing expertise, we focus on different measures of climbing performance, including spatiotemporal measures related to fluency and activity states (i.e., discrete actions), adopted by climbers for achieving overall performance goals of getting to the end of a route efficiently and safely. Currently, a broad range of variables have been reported, however, many of these fail to capture how climbers adapt to a route whilst climbing. We argue that spatiotemporal measures should be considered concurrently with evaluation of activity states (such as reaching or exploring) in order gain a more comprehensive picture of how climbers successfully adapt to a route. Spatial and temporal movement measures taken at the hip are a traditional means of assessing efficiency of climbing behaviors. More recently, performatory and exploratory actions of the limbs have been used in combination with spatiotemporal indicators, highlighting the influence of limb states on climbing efficiency and skill transfer. However, only a few studies have attempted to combine spatiotemporal and activity state measures taken during route climbing. This review brings together existing approaches for observing climbing skill at performance outcome (i.e., spatiotemporal assessments) and process (i.e., limb activity states) levels of analysis. Skill level is associated with a spatially efficient route progression and lower levels of immobility. However, more difficult hold architecture designs require significantly greater mobility and more complex movement patterning to maintain performance. Different forms of functional, or goal-supportive, movement variability, including active recovery and hold exploration, have been implicated as important adaptations to physiological and environmental dynamics that emerge during the act of climbing. Indeed, recently it has also been shown that, when climbing on new routes, efficient exploration can improve the transfer of skill. This

Assessing the use of psychological skills by sports category and the relation with sports performance satisfaction.

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Tomé-Lourido, David; Arce, Constantino; Vales-Vázquez, Ángel; Ponte, Dolores

2018-05-02

The evaluation of psychological skills by athletes and their relationship with sports performance and satisfaction has been of great interest in recent decades. Likewise, there has been an emergent tendency to focus on developing specific psychological skills for each sport. The principal aim of this study was to determine the frequency with which athletes deploy psychological skills whilst competing and whether their frequency varies in accordance with the technical, tactical and physical characteristics of the sport in question. A further objective was to establish the connection between the frequency of use of psychological skills and athletes' degree of satisfaction with their performance. The study comprised 1003 athletes practising 43 different sports, grouped into 7 categories based on the similarities between them. Frequency of use of the psychological skills was measured with the Test of Performance Strategies 3. The data analyses allowed the following conclusions to be drawn: the degree to which psychological skills are used is dependent on the technical, tactical and physical characteristics of each sport; and the higher the frequency of the use of psychological skills, the greater the athletes' degree of satisfaction with their performance. These results allow athletes and coaches to increase levels of sports performance by working on the use of psychological skills, adapted to the technical, tactical or physical requirements of the category in which their sport is included. In addition, working on different psychological skills will improve their satisfaction with sports performance.

The role of skill in sport

OpenAIRE

Breivik, Gunnar

2016-01-01

Skill is obviously a central part of sports and should therefore be central in sport philosophic studies. My aim in this paper is to try to place skill in a wider context and thus give skill the place it deserves. I will do this by taking up four points. I first try to place the concept of skill in relation to concepts like ability and know how. I argue that ability is something one has as part of a natural endowment, but skill is something one must acquire. ‘Knowing how’ seems to a greater e...

IMPROVING THE HARD SKILLS AND SOFT SKILLS OF MADRASAH TEACHERS FOR DEALING ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (AEC

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Laely Mahmudah

2016-11-01

Full Text Available ASEAN Economic Community (AEC has been started rolling. Market competition, industry, and skilled workers, especially in the field of education are becoming increasingly stringent. Madrasah teachers as the front liners in the education process should improve the quality of human resources. Hard skills and soft skills of madrasah teachers must be improved to deal with the Asean Economic Community (AEC. Hard skills are academic skills that include pedagogic competence and professional competence. How to improve the hard skills is to meet the pedagogic competence (ability to manage learning students and professional competence (the ability to master the learning material is broad and deep. Soft skills is the ability to organize themselves (intrapersonal skills, such as creativity, motivation, and self-contained and the ability to interact with others (interpersonal skills, such as communication, team building and adaptation to maximize performance. Soft skills include personal competence and social competence. Madrasah teachers should be able to change the mindset of a passenger became good driver. Professional madrasah teachers are teachers who have the balanced hard skills and soft skills, which can compete healthily in AEC era.

Teaching adaptive leadership to family medicine residents: what? why? how?

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Eubank, Daniel; Geffken, Dominic; Orzano, John; Ricci, Rocco

2012-09-01

Health care reform calls for patient-centered medical homes built around whole person care and healing relationships. Efforts to transform primary care practices and deliver these qualities have been challenging. This study describes one Family Medicine residency's efforts to develop an adaptive leadership curriculum and use coaching as a teaching method to address this challenge. We review literature that describes a parallel between the skills underlying such care and those required for adaptive leadership. We address two questions: What is leadership? Why focus on adaptive leadership? We then present a synthesis of leadership theories as a set of process skills that lead to organization learning through effective work relationships and adaptive leadership. Four models of the learning process needed to acquire such skills are explored. Coaching is proposed as a teaching method useful for going beyond information transfer to create the experiential learning necessary to acquire the process skills. Evaluations of our efforts to date are summarized. We discuss key challenges to implementing such a curriculum and propose that teaching adaptive leadership is feasible but difficult in the current medical education and practice contexts.

Are young adolescents' social and emotional skills protective against involvement in violence and bullying behaviors?

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Polan, Julie C; Sieving, Renee E; McMorris, Barbara J

2013-07-01

This study examined relationships between social-emotional skills and involvement in bullying and violence among young adolescents from ethnically diverse, economically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. Data were from 171 sixth- and seventh-grade students involved in a larger intervention study. Analyses examined relationships between social-emotional skills measures (intrapersonal skills, stress management skills, interpersonal skills) and involvement in violence, physical bullying, and relational aggression. Of social-emotional skills indicators, interpersonal skills and stress management skills demonstrated significant bivariate relationships with each of the bullying and violence outcomes. In multivariate models, greater interpersonal skills and greater stress management skills were significantly associated with lower odds of violence involvement. Greater stress management skills were also significantly associated with lower levels of physical bullying and relational aggression. Findings suggest that efforts to foster development of young adolescents' social-emotional skills may, in turn, reduce their risk for involvement in bullying and violence.

Communication skills in psychiatry training.

Science.gov (United States)

Ditton-Phare, Philippa; Halpin, Sean; Sandhu, Harsimrat; Kelly, Brian; Vamos, Marina; Outram, Sue; Bylund, Carma L; Levin, Tomer; Kissane, David; Cohen, Martin; Loughland, Carmel

2015-08-01

Mental health clinicians can experience problems communicating distressing diagnostic information to patients and their families, especially about severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Evidence suggests that interpersonal communication skills can be effectively taught, as has been demonstrated in the specialty of oncology. However, very little literature exists with respect to interpersonal communication skills training for psychiatry. This paper provides an overview of the communication skills training literature. The report reveals significant gaps exist and highlights the need for advanced communication skills training for mental health clinicians, particularly about communicating a diagnosis and/or prognosis of schizophrenia. A new communication skills training framework for psychiatry is described, based on that used in oncology as a model. This model promotes applied skills and processes that are easily adapted for use in psychiatry, providing an effective platform for the development of similar training programs for psychiatric clinical practice. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Do young novice drivers overestimate their driving skills?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Craen, S. de Twisk, D.A.M. Hagenzieker, M.P. Elffers, H. & Brookhuis, K.A.

2007-01-01

In this study the authors argue that, in order to sufficiently adapt to task demands in traffic, drivers have to make an assessment of their own driving skills. There are indications that drivers in general, and novice drivers in particular, overestimate their driving skills. The objective of this

Substance abuse, coping strategies, adaptive skills and behavioral and emotional problems in clients with mild to borderline intellectual disability admitted to a treatment facility: A pilot study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Didden, H.C.M.; Embregts, P.J.C.M.; Toorn, M. van der; Laarhoven, N.

2009-01-01

Many clients with mild to borderline intellectual disability (ID) who are admitted to a treatment facility show serious problems in alcohol and/or drugs use. In the present case file study, we explored differences in coping strategies, adaptive skills and emotional and behavioral problems between

Practiced musical style shapes auditory skills.

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Vuust, Peter; Brattico, Elvira; Seppänen, Miia; Näätänen, Risto; Tervaniemi, Mari

2012-04-01

Musicians' processing of sounds depends highly on instrument, performance practice, and level of expertise. Here, we measured the mismatch negativity (MMN), a preattentive brain response, to six types of musical feature change in musicians playing three distinct styles of music (classical, jazz, and rock/pop) and in nonmusicians using a novel, fast, and musical sounding multifeature MMN paradigm. We found MMN to all six deviants, showing that MMN paradigms can be adapted to resemble a musical context. Furthermore, we found that jazz musicians had larger MMN amplitude than all other experimental groups across all sound features, indicating greater overall sensitivity to auditory outliers. Furthermore, we observed a tendency toward shorter latency of the MMN to all feature changes in jazz musicians compared to band musicians. These findings indicate that the characteristics of the style of music played by musicians influence their perceptual skills and the brain processing of sound features embedded in music. © 2012 New York Academy of Sciences.

[Generation Y healthcare students’ expectations: hard skills but also soft skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Engels, Cynthia

2017-12-01

Generation Y’s (born between 1981 and 1999) educational approach in healthcare studies raises questions about their expectations and which teaching methods to use with this generation. The study involved third year students of occupational therapy. One hundred and twelve students were consulted in September 2012 and September 2013 about their expectations regarding the courses and the teaching methods which were offered. Results allowed to highlight firstly the importance of the usefulness of the course and secondly expectations regarding the teachers’ soft skills. If the link between soft skills and success was pointed out in many studies, only a few studies focus on the teachers’ own soft skills development in order to respond to students’ expectations in higher education. This is the topic of this article, which main interest could be the means to develop teaching methods adapted to this students’ generation.

The relationship of motor skills and social communicative skills in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, Megan; Lord, Catherine; Ulrich, Dale A

2013-07-01

Motor skill deficits are present and persist in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Staples & Reid, 2010). Yet the focus of intervention is on core impairments, which are part of the diagnostic criteria for ASD, deficits in social communication skills. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the functional motor skills, of 6- to 15-year-old children with high-functioning ASD, predict success in standardized social communicative skills. It is hypothesized that children with better motor skills will have better social communicative skills. A total of 35 children with ASD between the ages of 6-15 years participated in this study. The univariate GLM (general linear model) tested the relationship of motor skills on social communicative skills holding constant age, IQ, ethnicity, gender, and clinical ASD diagnosis. Object-control motor skills significantly predicted calibrated ASD severity (p skills have greater social communicative skill deficits. How this relationship exists behaviorally, needs to be explored further.

Aiming for excellence - A simulation-based study on adapting and testing an instrument for developing non-technical skills in Norwegian student nurse anaesthetists.

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Fiona M; Sandaker, Kjersti; Ballangrud, Randi

2017-01-01

There is increasing focus on building safety into anaesthesia practice, with excellence in anaesthesia as an aspirational goal. Non-technical skills are an important factor in excellence and improved patient safety, though there have been few systematic attempts at integrating them into anaesthesia nursing education. This study aimed to test the reliability of NANTS-no, a specially adapted behavioural marker system for nurse anaesthetists in Norway, and explore the development of non-technical skills in student nurse anaesthetists. The pre-test post-test design incorporated a 10-week simulation-based programme, where non-technical skills in 14 student nurse anaesthetists were rated on three different occasions during high-fidelity simulation, before and after taking part in a training course. NANTS-no demonstrated high overall inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.91), high test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.94) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's α of 0.85-0.92). A significant improvement was demonstrated across all categories of non-technical skills, with greatest improvements between the first and third and second and third sessions. There was also a significant improvement in two categories between the first and second sessions. NANTS-no is therefore suitable for assessing non-technical skills during simulation training in anaesthesia nursing education. More research is needed to validate its use in clinical practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Building that Bridge over the Skills Gap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janani Ramanathan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Employers worldwide are seeking and failing to find in new recruits many skills that are critical for success. Skills that enable employees to work as part of a team, communicate effectively, take decisions, lead, adapt to change and solve problems creatively are not often found in fresh graduates. Education does not impart these skills as efficiently as it does academic knowledge and subject-specific skills. A change in the pedagogy and content of education is required to bridge the increasing skills gap we face today. The World University Consortium has identified themes that must be part of our future education, and this article highlights methods and strategies that can implement these ideas.

Multiple systems for motor skill learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Dav; Ivry, Richard B

2010-07-01

Motor learning is a ubiquitous feature of human competence. This review focuses on two particular classes of model tasks for studying skill acquisition. The serial reaction time (SRT) task is used to probe how people learn sequences of actions, while adaptation in the context of visuomotor or force field perturbations serves to illustrate how preexisting movements are recalibrated in novel environments. These tasks highlight important issues regarding the representational changes that occur during the course of motor learning. One important theme is that distinct mechanisms vary in their information processing costs during learning and performance. Fast learning processes may require few trials to produce large changes in performance but impose demands on cognitive resources. Slower processes are limited in their ability to integrate complex information but minimally demanding in terms of attention or processing resources. The representations derived from fast systems may be accessible to conscious processing and provide a relatively greater measure of flexibility, while the representations derived from slower systems are more inflexible and automatic in their behavior. In exploring these issues, we focus on how multiple neural systems may interact and compete during the acquisition and consolidation of new behaviors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Motor Skill and Performance. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Skill Bias of World Trade

OpenAIRE

Paolo Epifani; Gino Gancia

2004-01-01

We argue that, with an elasticity of substitution in consumption greater than one and higher scale economies in the skill-intensive sectors, the entire volume of world trade matters for wage inequality. This implies that trade intergration, even among identical countries, is likely to increase the skill premium. This result can also explain the increase in skill premia in developing countries that have experienced drastic trade liberalizations. Further, we argue that evidence of a falling rel...

Adaptive Behavior and Development of Infants and Toddlers with Williams Syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca M. Kirchner

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Williams syndrome (WS is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes deficits in adaptive behavior, difficulties eating and sleeping, cognitive delays, and delayed development. Although researchers have conducted characterizations of children and adults with WS, less is known about young children with this disorder. This study characterizes the developmental and adaptive behavior features of 16 infants and toddlers with WS aged 3 months - 5 years. Data for this project was obtained from 2007-2014, and includes parent report data and standardized developmental testing. Thirty-one percent (31.3% of parents reported that their infant/toddler with WS had sleeping problems and 58.3% reported feeding difficulties. Levels of adaptive behavior were in the Mildly Delayed range as measured by the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, Second Edition. Self care skills such as feeding or dressing oneself were significantly weaker than skills needed to function in the community, such as recognizing his/her home or throwing away trash. The difficulty with self-care skills is hypothesized to be related to the reported difficulties with eating and sleeping. Motor skills were significantly lower than both cognitive and language skills on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition. The current study highlights the need for early intervention in these young children across all areas of development, particularly in self-care skills.

Adaptive Knowledge Management of Project-Based Learning

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Tilchin, Oleg; Kittany, Mohamed

2016-01-01

The goal of an approach to Adaptive Knowledge Management (AKM) of project-based learning (PBL) is to intensify subject study through guiding, inducing, and facilitating development knowledge, accountability skills, and collaborative skills of students. Knowledge development is attained by knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, and knowledge…

Generic skills in medical education: developing the tools for successful lifelong learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Murdoch-Eaton, Deborah; Whittle, Sue

2012-01-01

Higher education has invested in defining the role of generic skills in developing effective, adaptable graduates fit for a changing workplace. Research confirms that the development of generic skills that underpin effectiveness and adaptability in graduates is highly context-dependent and is shaped by the discipline within which these skills are conceptualised, valued and taught. This places the responsibility for generic skills enhancement clearly within the remit of global medical education. Many factors will influence the skill set with which students begin their medical training and experience at entry needs to be taken into account. Learning and teaching environments enhance effective skill development through active learning, teaching for understanding, feedback, and teacher-student and student-student interaction. Medical curricula need to provide students with opportunities to practise and develop their generic skills in a range of discipline-specific contexts. Curricular design should include explicit and integrated generic skills objectives against which students' progress can be monitored. Assessment and feedback serve as valuable reinforcements of the professed importance of generic skills to both learner and teacher, and will encourage students to self-evaluate and take responsibility for their own skill development. The continual need for students to modify their practice in response to changes in their environment and the requirements of their roles will help students to develop the ability to transfer these skills at transition points in their training and future careers. If they are to take their place in an ever-changing profession, medical students need to be competent in the skills that underpin lifelong learning. Only then will the doctors of the future be well placed to adapt to changes in knowledge, update their practice in line with the changing evidence base, and continue to contribute effectively as societal needs change. © Blackwell

Adaptive Competency Acquisition: Why LPN-to-ADN Career Mobility Education Programs Work.

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Coyle-Rogers, Patricia G.

Adaptive competencies are the skills required to effectively complete a particular task and are the congruencies (balance) between personal skills and task demands. The differences between the adaptive competency acquisition of students in licensed practical nurse (LPN) programs and associate degree nurse (ADN) programs were examined in a…

Assessing the Social Skills and Problem Behaviors of Adolescents With Severe Disabilities Enrolled in General Education Classes.

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Lyons, Gregory L; Huber, Heartley B; Carter, Erik W; Chen, Rui; Asmus, Jennifer M

2016-07-01

Although enhancing the social competence of students with severe disabilities has long remained a prominent focus of school-based intervention efforts, relatively little attention has focused on identifying the most critical social and behavioral needs of students during high school. We examined the social skills and problem behaviors of 137 adolescents with severe disabilities from the vantage point of both special educators and parents. We sought to identify areas of potential intervention need, explore factors associated with social skill and problem behavior ratings, and examine the extent to which teachers and parents converged in their assessments of these needs. Our findings indicate teachers and parents of high school students with severe disabilities rated social skills as considerably below average and problem behaviors as above average. In addition, lower social skills ratings were evident for students with greater support needs, lower levels of overall adaptive behavior, and a special education label of autism. We found moderate consistency in the degree to which teachers and parents aligned in their assessments of both social skills and problem behavior. We offer recommendations for assessment and intervention focused on strengthening the social competence of adolescents with severe disabilities within secondary school classrooms, as well as promising avenues for future research.

Does disaster education of teenagers translate into better survival knowledge, knowledge of skills, and adaptive behavioral change? A systematic literature review.

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Codeanu, Tudor A; Celenza, Antonio; Jacobs, Ian

2014-12-01

An increasing number of people are affected worldwide by the effects of disasters, and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) has recognized the need for a radical paradigm shift in the preparedness and combat of the effects of disasters through the implementation of specific actions. At the governmental level, these actions translate into disaster and risk reduction education and activities at school. Fifteen years after the UNISDR declaration, there is a need to know if the current methods of disaster education of the teenage population enhance their knowledge, knowledge of skills in disasters, and whether there is a behavioral change which would improve their chances for survival post disaster. This multidisciplinary systematic literature review showed that the published evidence regarding enhancing the disaster-related knowledge of teenagers and the related problem solving skills and behavior is piecemeal in design, approach, and execution in spite of consensus on the detrimental effects on injury rates and survival. There is some evidence that isolated school-based intervention enhances the theoretical disaster knowledge which may also extend to practical skills; however, disaster behavioral change is not forthcoming. It seems that the best results are obtained by combining theoretical and practical activities in school, family, community, and self-education programs. There is a still a pressing need for a concerted educational drive to achieve disaster preparedness behavioral change. School leavers' lack of knowledge, knowledge of skills, and adaptive behavioral change are detrimental to their chances of survival.

Quantity and quality in nuclear engineering professional skills needed by the nuclear power industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slember, R.J.

1990-01-01

This paper examines the challenge of work force requirements in the context of the full range of issues facing the nuclear power industry. The supply of skilled managers and workers may be a more serious problem if nuclear power fades away than if it is reborn in a new generation. An even greater concern, however, is the quality of education that the industry needs in all its future professionals. Both government and industry should be helping universities adapt their curricula to the needs of the future. This means building a closer relationship with schools that educate nuclear professionals, that is, providing adequate scholarships and funding for research and development programs, offering in-kind services, and encouraging internships and other opportunities for hands-on experience. The goal should not be just state-of-the-art engineering practices, but the broad range of knowledge, issues, and skills that will be required of the nuclear leadership of the twenty-first century

Adaptation of Problem-Solving Skills Training (PSST) for Parent Caregivers of Youth with Chronic Pain

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Palermo, Tonya M.; Law, Emily F.; Essner, Bonnie; Jessen-Fiddick, Tricia; Eccleston, Christopher

2014-01-01

Research on the experience of parents caring for a child with chronic pain indicates that high levels of parental role stress, feelings of frustration over an inability to help, and psychological distress are common. Moreover, parental distress adversely influences child adjustment to chronic pain. Therefore, intervening with parents of youth with chronic pain may, in turn, result in positive outcomes for children in their ability to engage in positive coping strategies, reduce their own distress, and to function competently in their normal daily lives. Our aim was to adapt an intervention, Problem-Solving Skills Training, previously proven effective in reducing parental distress in other pediatric illness conditions to the population of caregivers of youth with chronic pain. In the first phase, the intervention was adapted based on expert review of the literature and review of parent responses on a measure of pain-related family impact. In the second phase, the intervention was tested in a small group of parents to evaluate feasibility, determined by response to treatment content, ratings of acceptability, and ability to enroll and deliver the treatment visits. This phase included piloting the PSST intervention and all outcome measures at pre-treatment and immediately post-treatment. In an exploratory manner we examined change in parent distress and child physical function and depression from pre- to post-treatment. Findings from this feasibility study suggest that PSST can be implemented with parents of youth with chronic pain, and they find the treatment acceptable. PMID:25422795

Adaptation of Problem-Solving Skills Training (PSST) for Parent Caregivers of Youth with Chronic Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Palermo, Tonya M; Law, Emily F; Essner, Bonnie; Jessen-Fiddick, Tricia; Eccleston, Christopher

2014-09-01

Research on the experience of parents caring for a child with chronic pain indicates that high levels of parental role stress, feelings of frustration over an inability to help, and psychological distress are common. Moreover, parental distress adversely influences child adjustment to chronic pain. Therefore, intervening with parents of youth with chronic pain may, in turn, result in positive outcomes for children in their ability to engage in positive coping strategies, reduce their own distress, and to function competently in their normal daily lives. Our aim was to adapt an intervention, Problem-Solving Skills Training, previously proven effective in reducing parental distress in other pediatric illness conditions to the population of caregivers of youth with chronic pain. In the first phase, the intervention was adapted based on expert review of the literature and review of parent responses on a measure of pain-related family impact. In the second phase, the intervention was tested in a small group of parents to evaluate feasibility, determined by response to treatment content, ratings of acceptability, and ability to enroll and deliver the treatment visits. This phase included piloting the PSST intervention and all outcome measures at pre-treatment and immediately post-treatment. In an exploratory manner we examined change in parent distress and child physical function and depression from pre- to post-treatment. Findings from this feasibility study suggest that PSST can be implemented with parents of youth with chronic pain, and they find the treatment acceptable.

Age-related changes of adaptive and neuropsychological features in persons with Down Syndrome.

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Alessandro Ghezzo

Full Text Available Down Syndrome (DS is characterised by premature aging and an accelerated decline of cognitive functions in the vast majority of cases. As the life expectancy of DS persons is rapidly increasing, this decline is becoming a dramatic health problem. The aim of this study was to thoroughly evaluate a group of 67 non-demented persons with DS of different ages (11 to 66 years, from a neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric and psychomotor point of view in order to evaluate in a cross-sectional study the age-related adaptive and neuropsychological features, and to possibly identify early signs predictive of cognitive decline. The main finding of this study is that both neuropsychological functions and adaptive skills are lower in adult DS persons over 40 years old, compared to younger ones. In particular, language and short memory skills, frontal lobe functions, visuo-spatial abilities and adaptive behaviour appear to be the more affected domains. A growing deficit in verbal comprehension, along with social isolation, loss of interest and greater fatigue in daily tasks, are the main features found in older, non demented DS persons evaluated in our study. It is proposed that these signs can be alarm bells for incipient dementia, and that neuro-cognitive rehabilitation and psycho-pharmacological interventions must start as soon as the fourth decade (or even earlier in DS persons, i.e. at an age where interventions can have the greatest efficacy.

Enhancing Teaching, Adaptability and Presentation Skills through Improvisational Theater

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas J. Marlowe

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Improvisational theater, creative role-playing and open-ended scenarios are increasingly being used as ways to emphasize the importance of combining planning with flexibility and evolution to respond to changes in context. These skills and capabilities are extremely valuable in teaching, especially for strengthening communication and interpersonal skills, as well as the capacity for critical thinking and problem solving. Further, this combination of planning with flexibility is also a major theme of agile software development and a number of other problem-solving domains, and in the collaborative development of intellectual property in technical areas. With improvisation, the plan becomes less of a fixed framework, and more of a guideline. In software engineering, it becomes a mutable structure on which to hang goals and objectives, progress, processes, artifacts, and properties. In this submission, we explore the ramifications of this approach.

Pairing students in clinical assignments to develop collaboration and communication skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartges, Mali

2012-01-01

Skillful collaboration and communication among healthcare team members are associated with favorable patient outcomes. Student nurses need opportunities for supervised development of these crucial and intertwined skills. The author describes the implementation of a practice-change project for simultaneously developing collaboration and communication skills by pairing prelicensure student nurses in clinical assignments. This easily adapted strategy increases options for faculty looking to stimulate student acquisition of these professional skills.

Managing Schools as Complex Adaptive Systems: A Strategic Perspective

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Fidan, Tuncer; Balci, Ali

2017-01-01

This conceptual study examines the analogies between schools and complex adaptive systems and identifies strategies used to manage schools as complex adaptive systems. Complex adaptive systems approach, introduced by the complexity theory, requires school administrators to develop new skills and strategies to realize their agendas in an…

Analysis of Relations between Spatiotemporal Movement Regulation and Performance of Discrete Actions Reveals Functionality in Skilled Climbing

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Dominic Orth

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In this review of research on climbing expertise, we focus on different measures of climbing performance, including spatiotemporal measures related to fluency and activity states (i.e., discrete actions, adopted by climbers for achieving overall performance goals of getting to the end of a route efficiently and safely. Currently, a broad range of variables have been reported, however, many of these fail to capture how climbers adapt to a route whilst climbing. We argue that spatiotemporal measures should be considered concurrently with evaluation of activity states (such as reaching or exploring in order gain a more comprehensive picture of how climbers successfully adapt to a route. Spatial and temporal movement measures taken at the hip are a traditional means of assessing efficiency of climbing behaviors. More recently, performatory and exploratory actions of the limbs have been used in combination with spatiotemporal indicators, highlighting the influence of limb states on climbing efficiency and skill transfer. However, only a few studies have attempted to combine spatiotemporal and activity state measures taken during route climbing. This review brings together existing approaches for observing climbing skill at performance outcome (i.e., spatiotemporal assessments and process (i.e., limb activity states levels of analysis. Skill level is associated with a spatially efficient route progression and lower levels of immobility. However, more difficult hold architecture designs require significantly greater mobility and more complex movement patterning to maintain performance. Different forms of functional, or goal-supportive, movement variability, including active recovery and hold exploration, have been implicated as important adaptations to physiological and environmental dynamics that emerge during the act of climbing. Indeed, recently it has also been shown that, when climbing on new routes, efficient exploration can improve the transfer

Adaptive Behavior of Children and Adolescents with Visual Impairments

Science.gov (United States)

Papadopoulos, Konstantinos; Metsiou, Katerina; Agaliotis, Ioannis

2011-01-01

The present study explored the total adaptive behavior of children and adolescents with visual impairments, as well as their adaptive behavior in each of the domains of Communication, Daily Living Skills, and Socialization. Moreover, the predictors of the performance and developmental delay in adaptive behavior were investigated. Instrumentation…

Motor adaptation capacity as a function of age in carrying out a repetitive assembly task at imposed work paces.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilles, Martine Annie; Guélin, Jean-Charles; Desbrosses, Kévin; Wild, Pascal

2017-10-01

The working population is getting older. Workers must adapt to changing conditions to respond to the efforts required by the tasks they have to perform. In this laboratory-based study, we investigated the capacities of motor adaptation as a function of age and work pace. Two phases were identified in the task performed: a collection phase, involving dominant use of the lower limbs; and an assembly phase, involving bi-manual motor skills. Results showed that senior workers were mainly limited during the collection phase, whereas they had less difficulty completing the assembly phase. However, senior workers did increase the vertical force applied while assembling parts, whatever the work pace. In younger and middle-aged subjects, vertical force was increased only for the faster pace. Older workers could adapt to perform repetitive tasks under different time constraints, but adaptation required greater effort than for younger workers. These results point towards a higher risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders among seniors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A longitudinal study of employment and skill acquisition among individuals with developmental disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Dawn L; Collins, Michael D; Dodder, Richard A

2005-01-01

Recent legislation, especially the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, generated the closure of institutions for people with disabilities and inclusion into community residences and employment. It has been well documented that individuals with developmental disabilities often experience difficulties with employment including both obtaining and maintaining jobs, and many researchers have looked for ways to make employment more successful [McConkey, R. & Mezza F. (2001). Employment aspirations of people with learning disabilities attending day centers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 5(4), 309-318; Stevens, G. (2002). Employers' perceptions and practice in the employability of disabled people: a survey of companies in south east UK. Disability and Society, 17(7), 779-796; Capella, M., Roessler, R., & Hemmeria, K. (2002). Work-related skills awareness in high-school students with disabilities. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 33(2), 17-23; Ingraham, K., Rahimi, M., Tsang, H., Chan, F., & Oulvey, E. (2001). Work support groups in state vocational rehabilitation agency settings: a case study. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills, 5(1), 6-21; Gosling, V. & Cotterill, L. (2000). An employment project as a route to social inclusion for people with learning difficulties? Disability and Society, 15(7), 1001-1018; Neitupski, J. & Hamre-Nietupski, S. (2000). A systematic process for carving supported employment positions for people with severe disabilities. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 12(2), 103-119]. While research has accumulated that has examined predictors of successful employment, this research assessed longitudinal outcomes of employment. Data were obtained from an existing data set of all known persons receiving services from the Developmental Disabilities Division of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (N=2760). Results indicated that as people moved to employment, scores on adaptive skills increased, that as people moved

Adaptation of Professional Skills in the Unit Operations Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Rende, Deniz; Rende, Sevinc; Baysal, Nihat

2012-01-01

We introduce the design of three consecutive unit operations laboratory (UOL) courses that retain the academic rigor of the course while incorporating skills essential for professional careers, such as ability to propose ideas, develop practical solutions, participate in teamwork, meet deadlines, establish communication between technical support…

Motor adaptation in complex sports - the influence of visual context information on the adaptation of the three-point shot to altered task demands in expert basketball players.

Science.gov (United States)

Stöckel, Tino; Fries, Udo

2013-01-01

We examined the influence of visual context information on skilled motor behaviour and motor adaptation in basketball. The rules of basketball in Europe have recently changed, such that that the distance for three-point shots increased from 6.25 m to 6.75 m. As such, we tested the extent to which basketball experts can adapt to the longer distance when a) only the unfamiliar, new three-point line was provided as floor markings (NL group), or b) the familiar, old three-point line was provided in addition to the new floor markings (OL group). In the present study 20 expert basketball players performed 40 three-point shots from 6.25 m and 40 shots from 6.75 m. We assessed the percentage of hits and analysed the landing position of the ball. Results showed better adaptation of throwing performance to the longer distance when the old three-point line was provided as a visual landmark, compared to when only the new three-point line was provided. We hypothesise that the three-point line delivered relevant information needed to successfully adapt to the greater distance in the OL group, whereas it disturbed performance and ability to adapt in the NL group. The importance of visual landmarks on motor adaptation in basketball throwing is discussed relative to the influence of other information sources (i.e. angle of elevation relative to the basket) and sport practice.

Individual differences in implicit motor learning: task specificity in sensorimotor adaptation and sequence learning.

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Stark-Inbar, Alit; Raza, Meher; Taylor, Jordan A; Ivry, Richard B

2017-01-01

In standard taxonomies, motor skills are typically treated as representative of implicit or procedural memory. We examined two emblematic tasks of implicit motor learning, sensorimotor adaptation and sequence learning, asking whether individual differences in learning are correlated between these tasks, as well as how individual differences within each task are related to different performance variables. As a prerequisite, it was essential to establish the reliability of learning measures for each task. Participants were tested twice on a visuomotor adaptation task and on a sequence learning task, either the serial reaction time task or the alternating reaction time task. Learning was evident in all tasks at the group level and reliable at the individual level in visuomotor adaptation and the alternating reaction time task but not in the serial reaction time task. Performance variability was predictive of learning in both domains, yet the relationship was in the opposite direction for adaptation and sequence learning. For the former, faster learning was associated with lower variability, consistent with models of sensorimotor adaptation in which learning rates are sensitive to noise. For the latter, greater learning was associated with higher variability and slower reaction times, factors that may facilitate the spread of activation required to form predictive, sequential associations. Interestingly, learning measures of the different tasks were not correlated. Together, these results oppose a shared process for implicit learning in sensorimotor adaptation and sequence learning and provide insight into the factors that account for individual differences in learning within each task domain. We investigated individual differences in the ability to implicitly learn motor skills. As a prerequisite, we assessed whether individual differences were reliable across test sessions. We found that two commonly used tasks of implicit learning, visuomotor adaptation and the

The Gravity of High-Skilled Migration Policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Czaika, Mathias; Parsons, Christopher R

2017-04-01

Combining unique, annual, bilateral data on labor flows of highly skilled immigrants for 10 OECD destinations between 2000 and 2012, with new databases comprising both unilateral and bilateral policy instruments, we present the first judicious cross-country assessment of policies aimed to attract and select high-skilled workers. Points-based systems are much more effective in attracting and selecting high-skilled migrants than requiring a job offer, labor market tests, and shortage lists. Offers of permanent residency, while attracting the highly skilled, overall reduce the human capital content of labor flows because they prove more attractive to non-high-skilled workers. Bilateral recognition of diploma and social security agreements foster greater flows of high-skilled workers and improve the skill selectivity of immigrant flows. Conversely, double taxation agreements deter high-skilled migrants, although they do not alter overall skill selectivity. Our results are robust to a variety of empirical specifications that account for destination-specific amenities, multilateral resistance to migration, and the endogeneity of immigration policies.

Not Just Wanna Have Fun: Teaching Listening Skills with Songs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amalia Qistina Abdullah

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Teaching listening skills is very challenging to ESL teachers. It involves active participation from both teachers and students to ensure the objectives of teaching listening skills can be achieved. Hence, this presentation provides interesting and exciting strategies to teach listening skills using selected songs.  It is hoped that this would motivate ESL teachers to apply and adapt these strategies in their English language classrooms.

The effectiveness of the Geritalk communication skills course: a real-time assessment of skill acquisition and deliberate practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Gelfman, Laura P; Lindenberger, Elizabeth; Fernandez, Helen; Goldberg, Gabrielle R; Lim, Betty B; Litrivis, Evgenia; O'Neill, Lynn; Smith, Cardinale B; Kelley, Amy S

2014-10-01

Communication skills are critical in Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine because these patients confront complex clinical scenarios. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Geritalk communication skills course by comparing pre- and post-course real-time assessment of the participants leading family meetings. We also evaluated the participants' sustained skills practice. We compare the participants' skill acquisition before and after Geritalk using a direct observation Family Meeting Communication Assessment Tool and assess their deliberate practice at follow-up. First-year Geriatrics or Palliative Medicine fellows at Mount Sinai Medical Center and the James J. Peters Bronx VA Medical Center participated in Geritalk. Pre- and post-course family meeting assessments were compared. An average net gain of 6.8 skills represented a greater than 20% improvement in use of applicable skills. At two month follow-up, most participants reported deliberate practice of fundamental and advanced skills. This intensive training and family meeting assessment offers evidence-based communication skills training. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Measurement of Employability Skills on Teaching Factory Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Subekti, S.; Ana, A.

2018-02-01

Vocational High Schools as one of the educational institutions that has the responsibility in preparing skilled labors has a challenge to improve the quality of human resources as a candidate for skilled labors, to compete and survive in a changing climate of work. BPS noted an increase in the number of non-worker population (BAK) in 2015-2017 on vocational graduates as many as 564,272 people. The ability to adapt and maintain jobs in a variety of conditions is called employability skills. This study purpose to measure the development of employability skills of communication skills, problem-solving skills and teamwork skills on the implementation of teaching factory learning in SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak, THPH Skills Program on bakery competency. This research uses mixed method, with concurrent triangulation mix methods research design. Data collection techniques used interviews and questionnaires. The result shows that there are increasing students’ employability skills in communication skills, problem solving skills, and teamwork skills in teaching factory learning. Principles of learning that apply learning by doing student centering and learning arrangements such as situations and conditions in the workplace have an impact on improving student employability skills.

Basic School Skills Inventory-3: Validity and Reliability Study

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Yildiz, F. Ülkü; Çagdas, Aysel; Kayili, Gökhan

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to perform the validity-reliability analysis of the three subtests of Basic School Skills Inventory 3--Mathematics, Classroom Behavior and Daily Life skills--and do its adaptation for four to six year-old Turkish children. The sample of the study included 595 four to six year-old Turkish children attending public and…

Development of an Integrated Team Training Design and Assessment Architecture to Support Adaptability in Healthcare Teams

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

provision of training is not a major focus of this project, trainees were able to practice trauma management skills as well as leadership skills...SUBJECT TERMS Military healthcare team; Trauma teams; Team training; Teamwork; Adaptive performance; Leadership ; Simulation; Modeling; Bayesian belief...ABBREVIATIONS Healthcare team Trauma Trauma teams Team training Teamwork Adaptability Adaptive performance Leadership Simulation Modeling

Metabolic Pathways Visualization Skills Development by Undergraduate Students

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dos Santos, Vanessa J. S. V.; Galembeck, Eduardo

2015-01-01

We have developed a metabolic pathways visualization skill test (MPVST) to gain greater insight into our students' abilities to comprehend the visual information presented in metabolic pathways diagrams. The test is able to discriminate students' visualization ability with respect to six specific visualization skills that we identified as key to…

Wheeled mobility skills of wheelchair basketball players: a randomized controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Saltan, Asuman; Bakar, Yeşim; Ankarali, Handan

2017-05-01

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of wheelchair basketball sport on the functional abilities of wheelchair users. This is a randomized controlled study. Wheelchair basketball players (n = 111) and non-player (n = 85) were included in this study. We administered the questionnaire version of the wheelchair skills test questionnaire (WST_Q), recording the participants' capacity and performance scores on each of 32 skills. Player group have the baseline values of WST_Q higher than control group. The mean total percentage score of player group was significantly greater than control group (p skills-sports relationship is reciprocal. With increased wheelchair skills, people may be more inclined to engage in sports; subsequently, with greater sports, wheelchair skills could improve. Wheelchair mobility skills during clinical rehabilitation should reflect the daily activities and needs of each wheelchair user. WST-Q provides advantages in terms of requiring less time and material in using of clinical.

SWEBOS – The Software Engineering Body of Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yvonne Sedelmaier

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The development of complex software systems requires a mixture of various technical and non-technical competencies. While some guidelines exist which technical knowledge is required to make a good software engineer, there is a lack of insight as to which non-technical or soft skills are necessary to master complex software projects. This paper proposes a body of skills (SWEBOS for soft-ware engineering. The collection of necessary skills is developed on the basis of a clear, data-driven research design. The resulting required soft skills for software engineering are described precisely and semantically rich in a three-level structure. This approach guarantees that skills are not just characterized in a broad and general manner, but rather they are specifically adapted to the domain of software engineering.

Correlations among Social-Cognitive Skills in Adolescents Involved in Acting or Arts Classes

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Goldstein, Thalia R.

2011-01-01

Empathy, theory of mind, and adaptive emotion regulation are critical skills for social functioning. However, the ways in which these skills may co- or differentially develop has thus far been understudied. We explored how these social-cognitive skills converge and diverge across a year of development in early adolescence, and with different kinds…

Improvisation as an adaptive strategy for occupational therapy practice.

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Krusen, Nancy E

2012-01-01

ABSTRACT As health care environments become increasingly complex, practitioners must develop new adaptive skills to master practice. The idea of using theatrical improvisation (improv) in health care is relatively new. Occupational therapy students were taught a module of improvisational techniques as part of an academic seminar, learning improvisation rules, and enacting solutions to typical daily professional challenges. The purpose of this article is to recommend improvisational techniques as an adaptive skill to effectively blend art and science for occupational therapy practice in fast-paced and unpredictable health care environments.

Use of electronic games by young children and fundamental movement skills?

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Lisa M; Hinkley, Trina; Okely, Anthony D; Hesketh, Kylie; Salmon, Jo

2012-06-01

This study investigated associations between pre-school children's time spent playing electronic games and their fundamental movement skills. In 2009, 53 children had physical activity (Actigraph accelerometer counts per minute), parent proxy-report of child's time in interactive and non-interactive electronic games (min./week), and movement skill (Test of Gross Motor Development-2) assessed. Hierarchical linear regression, adjusting for age (range = 3-6 years), sex (Step 1), and physical activity (cpm; M=687, SD=175.42; Step 2), examined the relationship between time in (a) non-interactive and (b) interactive electronic games and locomotor and object control skill. More than half (59%, n=31) of the children were female. Adjusted time in interactive game use was associated with object control but not locomotor skill. Adjusted time in non-interactive game use had no association with object control or locomotor skill. Greater time spent playing interactive electronic games is associated with higher object control skill proficiency in these young children. Longitudinal and experimental research is required to determine if playing these games improves object control skills or if children with greater object control skill proficiency prefer and play these games.

Nontechnical skill training and the use of scenarios in modern surgical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Brunckhorst, Oliver; Khan, Muhammad S; Dasgupta, Prokar; Ahmed, Kamran

2017-07-01

Nontechnical skills are being increasingly recognized as a core reason of surgical errors. Combined with the changing nature of surgical training, there has therefore been an increase in nontechnical skill research in the literature. This review therefore aims to: define nontechnical skillsets, assess current training methods, explore assessment modalities and suggest future research aims. The literature demonstrates an increasing understanding of the components of nontechnical skills within surgery. This has led to a greater availability of validated training methods for its training, including the use of didactic teaching, e-learning and simulation-based scenarios. In addition, there are now various extensively validated assessment tools for nontechnical skills including NOTSS, the Oxford NOTECHS and OTAS. Finally, there is now more focus on the development of tools which target individual nontechnical skill components and an attempt to understand which of these play a greater role in specific procedures such as laparoscopic or robotic surgery. Current evidence demonstrates various training methods and tools for the training of nontechnical skills. Future research is likely to focus increasingly on individual nontechnical skill components and procedure-specific skills.

The Greater Sekhukhune-CAPABILITY outreach project.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregersen, Nerine; Lampret, Julie; Lane, Tony; Christianson, Arnold

2013-07-01

The Greater Sekhukhune-CAPABILITY Outreach Project was undertaken in a rural district in Limpopo, South Africa, as part of the European Union-funded CAPABILITY programme to investigate approaches for capacity building for the translation of genetic knowledge into care and prevention of congenital disorders. Based on previous experience of a clinical genetic outreach programme in Limpopo, it aimed to initiate a district clinical genetic service in Greater Sekhukhune to gain knowledge and experience to assist in the implementation and development of medical genetic services in South Africa. Implementing the service in Greater Sekhukhune was impeded by a developing staff shortage in the province and pressure on the health service from the existing HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics. This situation underscores the need for health needs assessment for developing services for the care and prevention of congenital disorders in middle- and low-income countries. However, these impediments stimulated the pioneering of innovate ways to offer medical genetic services in these circumstances, including tele-teaching of nurses and doctors, using cellular phones to enhance clinical care and adapting and assessing the clinical utility of a laboratory test, QF-PCR, for use in the local circumstances.

Adaptation Finance: Linking Research, Policy, and Business | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

While many developing countries are formulating policies and systems to scale up adaptation initiatives, they have limited knowledge. They do not have the skills to design and implement tailored interventions to mobilize finance for adaptation, and many are not aware of new and innovative approaches to climate financing.

Human Adaptive Mechatronics and Human-System Modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoshi Suzuki

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Several topics in projects for mechatronics studies, which are 'Human Adaptive Mechatronics (HAM' and 'Human-System Modelling (HSM', are presented in this paper. The main research theme of the HAM project is a design strategy for a new intelligent mechatronics system, which enhances operators' skills during machine operation. Skill analyses and control system design have been addressed. In the HSM project, human modelling based on hierarchical classification of skills was studied, including the following five types of skills: social, planning, cognitive, motion and sensory-motor skills. This paper includes digests of these research topics and the outcomes concerning each type of skill. Relationships with other research activities, knowledge and information that will be helpful for readers who are trying to study assistive human-mechatronics systems are also mentioned.

Communication skills training in orthopaedics.

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Lundine, Kristopher; Buckley, Richard; Hutchison, Carol; Lockyer, Jocelyn

2008-06-01

Communication skills play a key role in many aspects of both medical education and clinical patient care. The objectives of this study were to identify the key components of communication skills from the perspectives of both orthopaedic residents and their program directors and to understand how these skills are currently taught. This study utilized a mixed methods design. Quantitative data were collected with use of a thirty-item questionnaire distributed to all Canadian orthopaedic residents. Qualitative data were collected through focus groups with orthopaedic residents and semistructured interviews with orthopaedic program directors. One hundred and nineteen (37%) of 325 questionnaires were completed, twelve residents participated in two focus groups, and nine of sixteen program directors from across the country were interviewed. Both program directors and residents identified communication skills as being the accurate and appropriate use of language (i.e., content skills), not how the communication was presented (i.e., process skills). Perceived barriers to effective communication included time constraints and the need to adapt to the many personalities and types of people encountered daily in the hospital. Residents rarely have explicit training in communication skills. They rely on communication training implicitly taught through observation of their preceptors and clinical experience interacting with patients, peers, and other health-care professionals. Orthopaedic residents and program directors focus on content and flexibility within communication skills as well as on the importance of being concise. They value the development of communication skills in the clinical environment through experiential learning and role modeling. Education should focus on developing residents' process skills in communication. Care should be taken to avoid large-group didactic teaching sessions, which are perceived as ineffective.

Skill Learning and Skill Transfer Mediated by Cooperative Haptic Interaction.

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Avila Mireles, Edwin Johnatan; Zenzeri, Jacopo; Squeri, Valentina; Morasso, Pietro; De Santis, Dalia

2017-07-01

It is known that physical coupling between two subjects may be advantageous in joint tasks. However, little is known about how two people mutually exchange information to exploit the coupling. Therefore, we adopted a reversed, novel perspective to the standard one that focuses on the ability of physically coupled subjects to adapt to cooperative contexts that require negotiating a common plan: we investigated how training in pairs on a novel task affects the development of motor skills of each of the interacting partners. The task involved reaching movements in an unstable dynamic environment using a bilateral non-linear elastic tool that could be used bimanually or dyadically. The main result is that training with an expert leads to the greatest performance in the joint task. However, the performance in the individual test is strongly affected by the initial skill level of the partner. Moreover, practicing with a peer rather than an expert appears to be more advantageous for a naive; and motor skills can be transferred to a bimanual context, after training with an expert, only if the non-expert subject had prior experience of the dynamics of the novel task.

Gender and Acquisition of science process skills among junior

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PROF. BARTH EKWEME

the UBE scheme should be actively involved in classroom activities, and that activity-based methods of instruction be employed in teaching Basic sciences to enable a greater percentage of students to acquire Science Process Skills with higher scores for effective learning of Science subjects. INTRODUCTION. Science Skill ...

Delegation skills and nurse job satisfaction.

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Parsons, L C

1998-01-01

In this study, the mean age was 41 and these nurses had been out of school for approximately 13 years. Over half of these RNs had never been taught delegation skills in nursing school. Of those who were exposed to the concept of delegation, their skills were not adequate to meet the patient care demands in the restructured health care system. During these challenging periods in health care, it is imperative that nursing service administrators provide RNs with the continuing education necessary to develop delegation strategies to adapt to their evolving professional roles. Continuing education classes on delegation skills are requisite for RNs practicing in a competitive managed care environment. As we approach the year 2000, the economic climate will dictate that RNs be skilled not only as clinicians, but also as leaders of the health care team. The findings of this study support that delegation decision-making skills enhance job satisfaction in the areas of decision making and promotional opportunity. Delegation knowledge is crucial to the successful direction of the health care team in the managed care environment.

Can virtual science foster real skills? A study of inquiry skills in a virtual world

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Dodds, Heather E.

Online education has grown into a part of the educational market answering the demand for learning at the learner's choice of time and place. Inquiry skills such as observing, questioning, collecting data, and devising fair experiments are an essential element of 21st-century online science coursework. Virtual immersive worlds such as Second Life are being used as new frontiers in science education. There have been few studies looking specifically at science education in virtual worlds that foster inquiry skills. This quantitative quasi-experimental nonrandomized control group pretest and posttest study explored what affect a virtual world experience had on inquiry skills as measured by the TIPS (Test of Integrated Process Skills) and TIPS II (Integrated Process Skills Test II) instruments. Participants between the ages of 18 and 65 were recruited from educator mailing lists and Second Life discussion boards and then sorted into the experimental group, which received instructions to utilize several displays in Mendelian genetics at the Genome Island location within Second Life, or the control group, which received text-based PDF documents of the same genetics course content. All participants, in the form of avatars, were experienced Second Life residents to reduce any novelty effect. This study found a greater increase in inquiry skills in the experimental group interacting using a virtual world to learn science content (0.90 points) than a control group that is presented only with online text-based content (0.87 points). Using a mixed between-within ANOVA (analysis of variance), with an alpha level of 0.05, there was no significant interaction between the control or experimental groups and inquiry skills, F (1, 58) = .783, p = .380, partial eta squared = .013, at the specified .05 alpha level suggesting no significant difference as a result of the virtual world exercise. However, there is not enough evidence to state that there was no effect because there was a

Exploring the relationship between anaesthesiologists' non-technical and technical skills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gjeraa, K; Jepsen, R M H G; Rewers, M

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: A combination of non-technical skills (NTS) and technical skills (TS) is crucial for anaesthetic patient management. However, a deeper understanding of the relationship between these two skills remains to be explored. We investigated the characteristics of trainee anaesthesiologists...... the customised version of the Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills System, ANTSdk, and an adapted TS checklist for calculating the correlation between NTS and TS. Written descriptions of the observed NTS were analysed using directed content analysis. RESULTS: The correlation between the NTS and the TS ratings......, concrete NTS were developed to aid the understanding, training and use of NTS....

Effects of tDCS on Bimanual Motor Skills: A Brief Review.

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Pixa, Nils H; Pollok, Bettina

2018-01-01

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that allows the modulation of cortical excitability as well as neuroplastic reorganization using a weak constant current applied through the skull on the cerebral cortex. TDCS has been found to improve motor performance in general and motor learning in particular. However, these effects have been reported almost exclusively for unimanual motor tasks such as serial reaction time tasks, adaptation tasks, or visuo-motor tracking. Despite the importance of bimanual actions in most activities of daily living, only few studies have investigated the effects of tDCS on bimanual motor skills. The objectives of this review article are: (i) to provide a concise overview of the few existing studies in this area; and (ii) to discuss the effects of tDCS on bimanual motor skills in healthy volunteers and patients suffering from neurological diseases. Despite considerable variations in stimulation protocols, the bimanual tasks employed, and study designs, the data suggest that tDCS has the potential to enhance bimanual motor skills. The findings imply that the effects of tDCS vary with task demands, such as complexity and the level of expertise of the participating volunteers. Nevertheless, optimized stimulation protocols tailored to bimanual tasks and individual performance considering the underlying neural substrates of task execution are required in order to probe the effectiveness of tDCS in greater detail, thus creating an opportunity to support motor recovery in neuro-rehabilitation.

The Master's Thesis: An Opportunity for Fostering Presentation Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Arias, Manuel; Pando, Pablo; Rodríguez, Alberto; Miaja, Pablo F.; Vázquez, Aitor; Fernández, Marcos; Lamar, Diego G.

2014-01-01

Presentation skills, such as oral expression and public speaking, have normally been relegated to the background in engineering degree programs. In recent years, however, the labor market has specifically demanded these kinds of skills in engineers. Accordingly, new engineering degrees, adapted to the goals of the Bologna Declaration or ABET…

The Social Skills and Attachment to Dogs of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Carlisle, Gretchen K.

2015-01-01

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have deficits in social skills, and interaction with service dogs has been associated with increased social skills for children with ASD. In this telephone survey of 70 parents of children with ASD, children owning dogs had greater Mean scores for social skills, using the Social Skills Improvement…

Teaching Mathematical Biology in High School Using Adapted Primary Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Stephen P.; Stelnicki, Nathan; de Vries, Gerda

2012-01-01

The study compared the effect of two adaptations of a scientific article on students' comprehension and use of scientific inquiry skills. One adaptation preserved as much as possible the canonical form of the original article (APL, Adapted Primary Literature) and the other was written in a more narrative mode typical of secondary literature (SL).…

PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS USAGE AND THE COMPETITIVE ANXIETY RESPONSE AS A FUNCTION OF SKILL LEVEL IN RUGBY UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Neil

2006-09-01

Full Text Available This study examined the intensity and direction of competitive anxiety symptoms and psychological skill usage in rugby union players of different skill levels. Elite (n=65 and nonelite (n=50 participants completed measures of competitive anxiety, self- confidence, and psychological skills. The elite group reported more facilitative interpretations of competitive anxiety symptoms, higher levels of self-confidence, lower relaxation usage, and greater imagery and self-talk use than their nonelite counterparts. The findings suggest that nonelite performers primarily use relaxation strategies to reduce anxiety intensity. In contrast, elite athletes appear to maintain intensity levels and adopt a combination of skills to interpret symptoms as facilitative to performance. Potential mechanisms for this process include the use of imagery and verbal persuasion efficacy-enhancement techniques to protect against debilitating symptom interpretations

Longitudinal Profiles of Adaptive Behavior in Fragile X Syndrome

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Quintin, Eve-Marie; Jo, Booil; Lightbody, Amy A.; Hazlett, Heather Cody; Piven, Joseph; Hall, Scott S.; Reiss, Allan L.

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine longitudinally the adaptive behavior patterns in fragile X syndrome. METHOD: Caregivers of 275 children and adolescents with fragile X syndrome and 225 typically developing children and adolescents (2–18 years) were interviewed with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales every 2 to 4 years as part of a prospective longitudinal study. RESULTS: Standard scores of adaptive behavior in people with fragile X syndrome are marked by a significant decline over time in all domains for males and in communication for females. Socialization skills are a relative strength as compared with the other domains for males with fragile X syndrome. Females with fragile X syndrome did not show a discernible pattern of developmental strengths and weaknesses. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first large-scale longitudinal study to show that the acquisition of adaptive behavior slows as individuals with fragile X syndrome age. It is imperative to ensure that assessments of adaptive behavior skills are part of intervention programs focusing on childhood and adolescence in this condition. PMID:25070318

Practical skills of the future innovator

Science.gov (United States)

Kaurov, Vitaliy

2015-03-01

Physics graduates face and often are disoriented by the complex and turbulent world of startups, incubators, emergent technologies, big data, social network engineering, and so on. In order to build the curricula that foster the skills necessary to navigate this world, we will look at the experiences at the Wolfram Science Summer School that gathers annually international students for already more than a decade. We will look at the examples of projects and see the development of such skills as innovative thinking, data mining, machine learning, cloud technologies, device connectivity and the Internet of things, network analytics, geo-information systems, formalized computable knowledge, and the adjacent applied research skills from graph theory to image processing and beyond. This should give solid ideas to educators who will build standard curricula adapted for innovation and entrepreneurship education.

Understanding the leaky engineering pipeline: Motivation and job adaptability of female engineers

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Saraswathiamma, Manjusha Thekkedathu

This dissertation is a mixed-method study conducted using qualitative grounded theory and quantitative survey and correlation approaches. This study aims to explore the motivation and adaptability of females in the engineering profession and to develop a theoretical framework for both motivation and adaptability issues. As a result, this study endeavors to design solutions for the low enrollment and attenuation of female engineers in the engineering profession, often referred to as the "leaky female engineering pipeline." Profiles of 123 female engineers were studied for the qualitative approach, and 98 completed survey responses were analyzed for the quantitative approach. The qualitative, grounded-theory approach applied the constant comparison method; open, axial, and selective coding was used to classify the information in categories, sub-categories, and themes for both motivation and adaptability. The emergent themes for decisions motivating female enrollment include cognitive, emotional, and environmental factors. The themes identified for adaptability include the seven job adaptability factors: job satisfaction, risk- taking attitude, career/skill development, family, gender stereotyping, interpersonal skills, and personal benefit, as well as the self-perceived job adaptability factor. Illeris' Three-dimensional Learning Theory was modified as a model for decisions motivating female enrollment. This study suggests a firsthand conceptual parallelism of McClusky's Theory of Margin for the adaptability of female engineers in the profession. Also, this study attempted to design a survey instrument to measure job adaptability of female engineers. The study identifies two factors that are significantly related to job adaptability: interpersonal skills (related.

Measuring use of positive thinking skills: psychometric testing of a new scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Bekhet, Abir K; Zauszniewski, Jaclene A

2013-09-01

Positive thinking interventions improve adaptive functioning and quality of life in many populations. However, no direct measure of positive thinking skills taught during intervention exists. This psychometric study of a convenience sample of 109 autism spectrum disorder (ASD) caregivers examined a new eight-item Positive Thinking Skills Scale (PTSS), which measures the frequency of use of positive thinking skills. The PTSS was found to be internally consistent (α = .90). Construct validity was supported by significant correlations (p thinking skills could provide direction for future intervention.

Mental skills training with basic combat training soldiers: A group-randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Amy B; Bliese, Paul D; Pickering, Michael A; Hammermeister, Jon; Williams, Jason; Harada, Coreen; Csoka, Louis; Holliday, Bernie; Ohlson, Carl

2015-11-01

Cognitive skills training has been linked to greater skills, self-efficacy, and performance. Although research in a variety of organizational settings has demonstrated training efficacy, few studies have assessed cognitive skills training using rigorous, longitudinal, randomized trials with active controls. The present study examined cognitive skills training in a high-risk occupation by randomizing 48 platoons (N = 2,432 soldiers) in basic combat training to either (a) mental skills training or (b) an active comparison condition (military history). Surveys were conducted at baseline and 3 times across the 10-week course. Multilevel mixed-effects models revealed that soldiers in the mental skills training condition reported greater use of a range of cognitive skills and increased confidence relative to those in the control condition. Soldiers in the mental skills training condition also performed better on obstacle course events, rappelling, physical fitness, and initial weapons qualification scores, although effects were generally moderated by gender and previous experience. Overall, effects were small; however, given the rigor of the design, the findings clearly contribute to the broader literature by providing supporting evidence that cognitive training skills can enhance performance in occupational and sports settings. Future research should address gender and experience to determine the need for targeting such training appropriately. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Teaching reading in a multi-grade class: Teachers’ adaptive skills and teacher agency in teaching across grade R and grade 1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Labby Ramrathan

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The skill of reading is regarded as the cornerstone of literacy learning in the foundation phase. Although it is the most complex skill to master, it forms part of literacy teaching. Most learners begin schooling without having any kind of exposure to reading. This lack of exposure introduces a number of challenges, which are consequently exacerbated if teachers have to teach in multi-grade classes. This case study was conducted in two primary schools in the Ndwedwe Circuit in KwaZulu-Natal. It is framed within the interpretive epistemology embedded in a qualitative research methodology. Empirical data were generated from two rural schools where multi-grade teaching was undertaken. To produce data, two teachers teaching multi-grade classes (incorporating both grade R and grade 1 were observed during an isiZulu Home Language reading period. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were used to elicit more data for corroboration of findings. The findings show that teacher agency is crucial in making adaptive decisions. These decisions are based on the intersection of formal knowledge, situational knowledge and experiential knowledge that the teachers have acquired over time.

Sexual differences in post-hatching Saunders's gulls: size, locomotor activity, and foraging skill.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Jongmin; Lee, Seung-Hee; Joo, Eun-Jin; Na, Ki-Jeong; Park, Shi-Ryong

2013-04-01

Various selection pressures induce the degree and direction of sexual size dimorphism in animals. Selection favors either larger males for contests over mates or resources, or smaller males are favored for maneuverability; whereas larger females are favored for higher fecundity, or smaller females for earlier maturation for reproduction. In the genus of Larus (seagulls), adult males are generally known to be larger in size than adult females. However, the ontogeny of sexual size dimorphism is not well understood, compared to that in adults. The present study investigates the ontogeny of sexual size dimorphism in Saunders's gulls (Larus saundersi) in captivity. We artificially incubated fresh eggs collected in Incheon, South Korea, and measured body size, locomotor activity, and foraging skill in post-hatching chicks in captivity. Our results indicated that the sexual differences in size and locomotor activity occurred with the post-hatching development. Also, larger males exhibited greater foraging skills for food acquisition than smaller females at 200 days of age. Future studies should assess how the adaptive significance of the sexual size dimorphism in juveniles is linked with sexual divergence in survival rates, intrasexual contests, or parental effort in sexes.

Assessing Nurse Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills in the operating room.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyk-Jensen, H T; Jepsen, R M H G; Spanager, L; Dieckmann, P; Østergaard, D

2014-08-01

Incident reporting and fieldwork in operating rooms have shown that some of the errors that arise in anaesthesia relate to inadequate use of non-technical skills. To provide a tool for training and feedback on nurse anaesthetists' non-technical skills, this study aimed to adapt the Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) as a behavioural marker system for the formative assessment of nurse anaesthetists' non-technical skills in the operating room. A qualitative approach with focus group interviews was used to identify the non-technical skills of nurse anaesthetists in the operating room. The interview data were transcribed verbatim. Directed content analysis was used to code and sort data deductively into the ANTS categories: task management, team working, situation awareness and decision making. The prototype named Nurse Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills (N-ANTS) was presented and discussed in a group of subject matter experts to ensure face validity. The N-ANTS system consists of the same four categories as ANTS and 15 underlying elements. Three to five good and poor behavioural markers for each element were identified. The headings and definitions of the categories and elements were adjusted to encompass the behavioural markers in N-ANTS. The differences that emerged mainly reflected statements regarding the establishment of role, competence, and task delegation. A behavioural marker system, N-ANTS, for nurse anaesthetists was adapted from a behavioural marker system, ANTS, for anaesthesiologists. © 2014 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A DBT Skills Training Group for Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia

Science.gov (United States)

Drossel, Claudia; Fisher, Jane E.; Mercer, Victoria

2011-01-01

A Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills training manual (DBT Skills) was adapted for use with caregivers of individuals with dementia. Implementation occurred in a community clinic with a heterogeneous caregiver group at risk for elder abuse. Sixteen caregivers completed the 9-week group. The results point to improved psychosocial adjustment,…

Conceptualizing Skill within a Participatory Ecological Approach to Outdoor Adventure

Science.gov (United States)

Mullins, Philip M.

2014-01-01

To answer calls for an ecological approach to outdoor adventure that can respond to the crisis of sustainability, this paper suggests greater theoretical and empirical attention to skill and skill development as shaping participant interactions with and experiences of environments, landscapes, places, and inhabitants. The paper reviews calls for…

FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN NORTHWEST ENGLAND.

Science.gov (United States)

Foulkes, J D; Knowles, Z; Fairclough, S J; Stratton, G; O'Dwyer, M; Ridgers, N D; Foweather, L

2015-08-01

This cross-sectional study examined fundamental movement skill competency among deprived preschool children in Northwest England and explored sex differences. A total of 168 preschool children (ages 3-5 yr.) were included in the study. Twelve skills were assessed using the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Motor Skills Protocol and video analysis. Sex differences were explored at the subtest, skill, and component levels. Overall competence was found to be low among both sexes, although it was higher for locomotor skills than for object-control skills. Similar patterns were observed at the component level. Boys had significantly better object-control skills than girls, with greater competence observed for the kick and overarm throw, while girls were more competent at the run, hop, and gallop. The findings of low competency suggest that developmentally appropriate interventions should be implemented in preschool settings to promote movement skills, with targeted activities for boys and girls.

Facilitation Processes and Skills Supporting EcoCity Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen Antuña-Rozado

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Ecocities can provide solutions for the improvement of human settlements around the world and the living conditions therein, but in the authors’ experience, only as long as they are able to address the following questions correctly: How to formulate an ecocity concept that, considering issues of general concern, can be at the same time adapted to different local conditions? What are the instruments supporting the development and implementation of ecocity solutions? VTT’s EcoCity concept for sustainable community and neighbourhood regeneration and development has been designed in response to the first question. Likewise, specific methodologies and effective facilitation processes and skills have been developed in response to the second question. Since the methodologies have been discussed in a previous scientific article, the present one focuses on the facilitation processes and skills, and also on other related, fundamental aspects like participation, adaptation, capacity building, etc. Facilitation processes supporting EcoCity development require matching “hard” and “soft” skills in a fluid way. The main findings are discussed with the help of two case studies: one in Medellín (Colombia, and the other one in Zambia.

Educating Tomorrow’s STEM Leaders in Third-Space Skills

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Ravi Pradhan

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Companies worldwide are facing an acute shortage of qualified graduates in STEM disciplines, in particular those with more non-technical skills, such as teamwork, innovative thinking, communication, adaptability and emotional intelligence. A top U.S. university calls it the missing “third space” set of skills beyond hard business and technical knowledge. Recent findings of neuroscience affirm the critical role of emotions, “heart” intelligence and mind-body links in learning and cognition. A core foundation of the “third skills set” is mindfulness based emotional intelligence, consistent with ancient Eastern wisdom traditions. The author passionately believes we have to think outside-the-box to bring such skills into the education of STEM graduates in Asia as well as around the world.

Attitudes towards transferable skills in medical undergraduates.

Science.gov (United States)

Whittle, S R; Eaton, D G

2001-02-01

Changes to the style of medical teaching will place a greater responsibility on individual medical students to manage their own learning, highlighting the need for students to develop good so-called 'transferable' skills at an early stage in their undergraduate career. To assess the attitudes of first year undergraduates towards transferable skills, and investigate the gender difference in these attitudes. To assess the contribution of their first year course to skills development. First year students, enrolled on a traditional-style course. A questionnaire asking the students to consider: (a) the importance of named transferable skills for medicine; (b) their own ability in these areas; and (c) the influence of their first year course. All students, irrespective of gender, regarded transferable skills as very important to medicine, rating organizational skills and self-learning skills as most important. Overall, students have a high level of confidence in their own skills. Male students rated their overall level of skills more highly than women. In particular they rated their information handling, managing self-learning and technical skills more highly. Students feel that their first year course has enhanced their skills in most areas. Our results suggest that students will feel equipped to succeed in a learning system which places the onus on them to take responsibility for their own learning. They clearly believe that they have the necessary skills for independent learning. The study highlights the need to enhance students' self-evaluation skills.

A Comparison of Error-Correction Procedures on Skill Acquisition during Discrete-Trial Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Regina A.; Joachim, Brad T.; St. Peter, Claire C.; Robinson, Nicole

2015-01-01

Previous research supports the use of a variety of error-correction procedures to facilitate skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction. We used an adapted alternating treatments design to compare the effects of 4 commonly used error-correction procedures on skill acquisition for 2 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder…

Perfecting social skills a guide to interpersonal behavior development

CERN Document Server

Eisler, Richard M

1980-01-01

That man is a social being is almost axiomatic. Our interpersonal relation­ ships can be sources of the most rewarding or the most painful of human experiences. To a large measure our accomplishments in life depend on the facility with which we interact with others-our social skill. The acquisition of social skills is, of course, a natural part of the overall socialization process. However, in many instances it becomes necessary or desirable to develop further an individual's social facilities. Such skill development is the topic of this book. Two major goals were kept in mind in the writing of this book. The first was to provide a conceptual framework within which to view social skills. Such a framework allows one to understand why it is important to develop social skills, and the effects that such skill development should have. If the reader has a thorough understanding of the concept of social skills and their development, it becomes possible to make appropriate innovations and adaptions to his or her own...

Oncology clinicians' defenses and adherence to communication skills training with simulated patients: an exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernard, Mathieu; de Roten, Yves; Despland, Jean-Nicolas; Stiefel, Friedrich

2012-06-01

The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the impact of clinicians' defense mechanisms-defined as self-protective psychological mechanisms triggered by the affective load of the encounter with the patient-on adherence to a communication skills training (CST). The population consisted of oncology clinicians (N=31) who participated in a CST. An interview with simulated cancer patients was recorded prior and 6 months after CST. Defenses were measured before and after CST and correlated with a prototype of an ideally conducted interview based on the criteria of CST-teachers. Clinicians who used more adaptive defense mechanisms showed better adherence to communication skills after CST than clinicians with less adaptive defenses (F(1, 29) =5.26, p=0.03, d=0.42). Improvement in communication skills after CST seems to depend on the initial levels of defenses of the clinician prior to CST. Implications for practice and training are discussed. Communication has been recognized as a central element of cancer care [1]. Ineffective communication may contribute to patients' confusion, uncertainty, and increased difficulty in asking questions, expressing feelings, and understanding information [2, 3], and may also contribute to clinicians' lack of job satisfaction and emotional burnout [4]. Therefore, communication skills trainings (CST) for oncology clinicians have been widely developed over the last decade. These trainings should increase the skills of clinicians to respond to the patient's needs, and enhance an adequate encounter with the patient with efficient exchange of information [5]. While CSTs show a great diversity with regard to their pedagogic approaches [6, 7], the main elements of CST consist of (1) role play between participants, (2) analysis of videotaped interviews with simulated patients, and (3) interactive case discussion provided by participants. As recently stated in a consensus paper [8], CSTs need to be taught in small groups (up to 10

Generic Skills from Qur'anic Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siddig Ahmad

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Generic skills are defined as a set of skills that are directly related and needed for the working environment. Employers prefer to recruit officials who are competent in interpersonal communication, leadership skill, team work, oral and written skills. They are reluctant to employ graduates lacking certain necessary skills. This reveals the fact that there is a serious gap between the skills that are required by the employers and the skills that the graduates possess. Therefore, this research is focused on five aspects of generic skills namely; communication, team work, problem solving, lifelong learning and self-esteem. From Qur’anic perspective, the same terms have been used except minor differences in using various terms. The thematic approach is used when discussing these aspects from the Qur’an. The findings showed that the ways of effective communication are represented by terms of qawl sadid, qawl ma`ruf, qawl baligh, qawl maysur, qawl karim and qawl layyin. For collective work, ta`aruf and tafahum, as the pre-requisites, should be practiced via ta`awun and takaful. For problem solving, four methods are adapted from the Qur’an such as reflection of the past, observation, demonstration and asking questions. For lifelong learning, the establishment of learning institutions and the self-motivation of learners are two pre-requisites that should be undertaken for its accomplishment. They could be practiced through open learning system, consultation and hands-on learning. Last but not least, for personality development could be built up through physical training, spiritual training and mental training.

Reconceptualised life skills in secondary education in the African context: Lessons learnt from reforms in Ghana

Science.gov (United States)

Akyeampong, Kwame

2014-04-01

Early notions of life skills in Africa did not take into account the importance of a flexible and portable set of skills that would enable youth to adapt to changes in the world of work and lay the foundations for productive well-being and behaviour. Rather, life skills education in many secondary education curricula in Africa started with an emphasis on developing specific technical vocational skills considered essential for employability or self-employment. Using Ghana as an example, this paper shows how secondary education curriculum reformers recommended shifts that embraced a new interpretation of life skills focused on 21st-century skills. This gradual move also reflected the difficulty that secondary education in general has had in networking with the world of work to provide work experience that would lead to the development of work-related skills and enhance employability. The author's main argument is that although the reconceptualisation of life skills in secondary education to reflect 21st-century skills is a welcome shift in the African context, this needs to be accompanied by reforms in teacher education. Classroom teaching and learning need to be adapted in a fundamental way in order to ensure that youth fully benefit from the inclusion of 21st-century life skills in secondary education curricula. Such reforms must include pedagogical practices which nurture communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills.

Differential Relationships of Anxiety and Autism Symptoms on Social Skills in Young Boys With Fragile X Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Reisinger, Debra L; Roberts, Jane E

2017-09-01

Social skills are critical for academic, social, and psychological success of children with both typical and atypical development. Boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS) are at high risk for social skill impairments, given intellectual impairments and secondary conditions. The present study examines the impact of adaptive behavior, autism symptoms, and anxiety symptoms to social skills at the composite and subdomain level in boys with FXS across age. This cross-sectional study included boys with FXS (3-14 years) contrasted to age-matched typical control boys. Results revealed that social skills are generally within developmental expectations, with adaptive behavior as the primary predictor. Anxiety and autism symptoms emerged as additive risk factors, particularly in the areas of responsibility and self-control.

Neuroplasticity-based Cognitive and Linguistic Skills Training Improves Reading and Writing Skills in College Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beth eRogowsky

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This study reports an evaluation of the effect of computer-based cognitive and linguistic training on college students’ reading and writing skills. The computer-based training included a series of increasingly challenging software programs that were designed to strengthen students’ foundational cognitive skills (memory, attention span, processing speed, and sequencing in the context of listening and higher level reading tasks. Twenty-five college students (12 native English language; 13 English Second Language who demonstrated poor writing skills participated in the training group. The training group received daily training during the spring semester (11 weeks with the Fast ForWord Literacy (FFW-L and upper levels of the Fast ForWord Reading series (Levels 3, 4 and 5. The comparison group (n=28 selected from the general college population did not receive training. Both the training and comparison groups attended the same university. All students took the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT and the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS Written Expression Scale at the beginning (Time 1 and end (Time 2 of the spring college semester. Results from this study showed that the training group made a statistically greater improvement from Time 1 to Time 2 in both their reading skills and their writing skills than the comparison group. The group who received training began with statistically lower writing skills before training, but exceeded the writing skills of the comparison group after training.

Recommended observational skills training for IAEA safeguards inspections. Final report: Recommended observational skills training for IAEA safeguards inspections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toquam, J.L.; Morris, F.A.

1994-09-01

This is the second of two reports prepared to assist the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA or Agency) in enhancing the effectiveness of its international safeguards inspections through inspector training in {open_quotes}Observational Skills{close_quotes}. The first (Phase 1) report was essentially exploratory. It defined Observational Skills broadly to include all appropriate cognitive, communications, and interpersonal techniques that have the potential to help IAEA safeguards inspectors function more effectively. It identified 10 specific Observational Skills components, analyzed their relevance to IAEA safeguards inspections, and reviewed a variety of inspection programs in the public and private sectors that provide training in one or more of these components. The report concluded that while it should be possible to draw upon these other programs in developing Observational Skills training for IAEA inspectors, the approaches utilized in these programs will likely require significant adaption to support the specific job requirements, policies, and practices that define the IAEA inspector`s job. The overall objective of this second (Phase 2) report is to provide a basis for the actual design and delivery of Observational Skills training to IAEA inspectors. The more specific purposes of this report are to convey a fuller understanding of the potential application of Observational Skills to the inspector`s job, describe inspector perspectives on the relevance and importance of particular Observational Skills, identify the specific Observational Skill components that are most important and relevant to enhancing safeguards inspections, and make recommendations as to Observational Skills training for the IAEA`s consideration in further developing its Safeguards training program.

A driver-adaptive stability control strategy for sport utility vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Shenjin; He, Yuping

2017-08-01

Conventional vehicle stability control (VSC) systems are designed for average drivers. For a driver with a good driving skill, the VSC systems may be redundant; for a driver with a poor driving skill, the VSC intervention may be inadequate. To increase safety of sport utility vehicles (SUVs), this paper proposes a novel driver-adaptive VSC (DAVSC) strategy based on scaling the target yaw rate commanded by the driver. The DAVSC system is adaptive to drivers' driving skills. More control effort would be exerted for drivers with poor driving skills, and vice versa. A sliding mode control (SMC)-based differential braking (DB) controller is designed using a three degrees of freedom (DOF) yaw-plane model. An eight DOF nonlinear yaw-roll model is used to simulate the SUV dynamics. Two driver models, namely longitudinal and lateral, are used to 'drive' the virtual SUV. By integrating the virtual SUV, the DB controller, and the driver models, the performance of the DAVSC system is investigated. The simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the DAVSC strategy.

Developing Adaptive Proficiency in Special Forces Officers

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

White, Susan S; Mueller-Hanson, Rose A; Dorsey, David W; Pulakos, Elaine D; Wisecarver, Michelle M; Deagle, Edwin A., III; Mendini, Kip G

2005-01-01

Adaptive proficiency is critical for operating in the dynamic Special Forces (SF) mission environment and a recent focus on this requirement has resulted in a greater emphasis on adaptability in current training for SF...

Motor modules during adaptation to walking in a powered ankle exoskeleton.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Daniel A; Koller, Jeffrey R; Steele, Katherine M; Ferris, Daniel P

2018-01-03

Modules of muscle recruitment can be extracted from electromyography (EMG) during motions, such as walking, running, and swimming, to identify key features of muscle coordination. These features may provide insight into gait adaptation as a result of powered assistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes (module size, module timing and weighting patterns) of surface EMG data during assisted and unassisted walking in an powered, myoelectric, ankle-foot orthosis (ankle exoskeleton). Eight healthy subjects wore bilateral ankle exoskeletons and walked at 1.2 m/s on a treadmill. In three training sessions, subjects walked for 40 min in two conditions: unpowered (10 min) and powered (30 min). During each session, we extracted modules of muscle recruitment via nonnegative matrix factorization (NNMF) from the surface EMG signals of ten muscles in the lower limb. We evaluated reconstruction quality for each muscle individually using R 2 and normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE). We hypothesized that the number of modules needed to reconstruct muscle data would be the same between conditions and that there would be greater similarity in module timings than weightings. Across subjects, we found that six modules were sufficient to reconstruct the muscle data for both conditions, suggesting that the number of modules was preserved. The similarity of module timings and weightings between conditions was greater then random chance, indicating that muscle coordination was also preserved. Motor adaptation during walking in the exoskeleton was dominated by changes in the module timings rather than module weightings. The segment number and the session number were significant fixed effects in a linear mixed-effect model for the increase in R 2 with time. Our results show that subjects walking in a exoskeleton preserved the number of modules and the coordination of muscles within the modules across conditions. Training (motor adaptation within the session and

Undergraduate basic surgical skills education: impact on attitudes to a career in surgery and surgical skills acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

McAnena, P F; O'Halloran, N; Moloney, B M; Courtney, D; Waldron, R M; Flaherty, G; Kerin, M J

2018-05-01

Basic surgical skills modules in medical education are effective in teaching skills and increasing confidence among students approaching surgery. However, these modules are not delivered universally and their effect on the professional development of graduates has not been established. We aimed to assess the impact of a 10-week basic surgical skills module on attitudes and technical skills of first year medical students compared to interns. Eighteen students participated and were assessed using a 4-part questionnaire. Technical skills were assessed by observing students perform a basic interrupted suture, using the objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) tool. Fourteen interns were recruited. Students were more confident in surgical scrubbing (mean score 4.0 vs. 2.86, p = 0.001), and performing a basic suture (4.05 vs. 1.93, p = 0.000), more enthusiastic about assisting with an operation (4.5 vs. 3.0, p = 0.001) and more likely to consider a career in surgery (4.16 vs. 2.28, p = 0.000). Technical skills were greater in the student group (mean score 30.8 vs. 19.6, p = 0.001). Five interns had taken part in surgical skills modules as undergraduates. Their technical skills were significantly higher compared to interns who had not (n = 9) (28.8 vs. 14.5, p = 0.006), and they were more likely to consider a career in surgery (3.6 vs. 1.5, p = 0.036). The introduction of surgical skills teaching to the undergraduate medical curriculum has a positive impact on students' attitudes towards surgery and accelerates basic technical skills development. Consideration should be given to development of a standardised undergraduate core curriculum in basic surgical skills teaching.

Expectations and outcome skills of a generalist health care administrator.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, V B; Taylor, L C

1990-01-01

The question of the degree of technical versus managerial competence to be found in future graduates from health administration programs is not easily resolved. In the HIMSS 1988 survey of CIOs the attributes needed for success are listed in descending rank order as follows: leadership ability, vision/imagination, knowledge of hospital systems, business acumen, decisiveness, and technical competence. CIOs ranked technical competence as less important than other attributes associated with general management success. The expectations for attitudes, knowledge, and skills presented in this article support the greater importance of management abilities relative to pure technical competence. However, it is vital that an appropriate level of technical knowledge and skill be maintained to enable future alumni of health administration programs to function effectively as administrators. Depending on their role in a health care organization, greater or lesser technical knowledge may be needed. Those pursuing a career path toward CIO must, of necessity, have greater technical knowledge and skill. We have discussed necessary and expected attitudes, knowledge, and skills that will be needed by the generalist health administration graduate in the future. It will be important to develop and maintain an attitude that MIS is a strategic tool, that health care technology is a corporate asset, and that information is power. Graduates must recognize the necessity of maintaining and enhancing their knowledge and skills through continuing education. The knowledge base of MIS education should focus on determining information needs to support strategic goals, understanding of general systems theory, principles of systems analysis, design, implementation and maintenance, awareness and exposure to standard application software, and an awareness of external sources of data.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Assessing students' communication skills: validation of a global rating.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheffer, Simone; Muehlinghaus, Isabel; Froehmel, Annette; Ortwein, Heiderose

2008-12-01

Communication skills training is an accepted part of undergraduate medical programs nowadays. In addition to learning experiences its importance should be emphasised by performance-based assessment. As detailed checklists have been shown to be not well suited for the assessment of communication skills for different reasons, this study aimed to validate a global rating scale. A Canadian instrument was translated to German and adapted to assess students' communication skills during an end-of-semester-OSCE. Subjects were second and third year medical students at the reformed track of the Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin. Different groups of raters were trained to assess students' communication skills using the global rating scale. Validity testing included concurrent validity and construct validity: Judgements of different groups of raters were compared to expert ratings as a defined gold standard. Furthermore, the amount of agreement between scores obtained with this global rating scale and a different instrument for assessing communication skills was determined. Results show that communication skills can be validly assessed by trained non-expert raters as well as standardised patients using this instrument.

Adaptive Behavior in Young Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bonita P. Klein-Tasman

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Neurofibromatosis-1 is the most common single gene disorder affecting 1 in 3000. In children, it is associated not only with physical features but also with attention and learning problems. Research has identified a downward shift in intellectual functioning as well, but to date, there are no published studies about the everyday adaptive behavior of children with NF1. In this study, parental reports of adaptive behavior of 61 children with NF1 ages 3 through 8 were compared to an unaffected contrast group (n=55 that comprised siblings and community members. Significant group differences in adaptive skills were evident and were largely related to group differences in intellectual functioning. In a subsample of children with average-range intellectual functioning, group differences in parent-reported motor skills were apparent even after controlling statistically for group differences in intellectual functioning. The implications of the findings for the care of children with NF1 are discussed.

Recommended observational skills training for IAEA safeguards inspections. Final report: Recommended observational skills training for IAEA safeguards inspections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toquam, J.L.; Morris, F.A.

1994-09-01

This is the second of two reports prepared to assist the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA or Agency) in enhancing the effectiveness of its international safeguards inspections through inspector training in open-quotes Observational Skillsclose quotes. The first (Phase 1) report was essentially exploratory. It defined Observational Skills broadly to include all appropriate cognitive, communications, and interpersonal techniques that have the potential to help IAEA safeguards inspectors function more effectively. It identified 10 specific Observational Skills components, analyzed their relevance to IAEA safeguards inspections, and reviewed a variety of inspection programs in the public and private sectors that provide training in one or more of these components. The report concluded that while it should be possible to draw upon these other programs in developing Observational Skills training for IAEA inspectors, the approaches utilized in these programs will likely require significant adaption to support the specific job requirements, policies, and practices that define the IAEA inspector's job. The overall objective of this second (Phase 2) report is to provide a basis for the actual design and delivery of Observational Skills training to IAEA inspectors. The more specific purposes of this report are to convey a fuller understanding of the potential application of Observational Skills to the inspector's job, describe inspector perspectives on the relevance and importance of particular Observational Skills, identify the specific Observational Skill components that are most important and relevant to enhancing safeguards inspections, and make recommendations as to Observational Skills training for the IAEA's consideration in further developing its Safeguards training program

Teaching and testing basic surgical skills without using patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razavi M

2004-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Nowadays, clinical skills centers are important structural components of authentic universities in the world. These centers can be use for tuition of cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills. In this study we have designed a surgical course, consist of 19 theoretical knowledge (cognitive skills and 10 procedural skills. Purpose: teaching and testing the designed course. Methods: This study has been conducted on 678 medical students at clerkship stage. Pre and post-self assessment technique has been used to assess learning progress. A multivariate statistical comparison were adapted for Judgments of learning achievement, Hotelling’s T-square has been used to ascertain the differences between pre and post tests score. For measuring the reliability of the test items. Cronbach's Alpha has been used to measure the reliability of test item. Results: The reliability of the test was 0.84 for cognitive skills and 0.92 for procedural skills. The two tailed test for comparing each pairs of score of 19 cognitive items showed a significant statistical difference between 13 items (P=0.000. For procedural skills the differences between the mean score of 9 items were significant (P=0.000. These results indicate learning achievements by students. Conclusion: This study suggests that, the ability of trainees in both cognitive and psychomotor skills can be improved by tuition of basic surgical skills in skill Lab. (without use of patients. Key words: BASIC SURGICAL SKILLS, CSC, (CLINICAL SKILLS CENTER PRE AND POST SELF-ASSESSMENT

Interacting Learning Processes during Skill Acquisition: Learning to control with gradually changing system dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ludolph, Nicolas; Giese, Martin A; Ilg, Winfried

2017-10-16

There is increasing evidence that sensorimotor learning under real-life conditions relies on a composition of several learning processes. Nevertheless, most studies examine learning behaviour in relation to one specific learning mechanism. In this study, we examined the interaction between reward-based skill acquisition and motor adaptation to changes of object dynamics. Thirty healthy subjects, split into two groups, acquired the skill of balancing a pole on a cart in virtual reality. In one group, we gradually increased the gravity, making the task easier in the beginning and more difficult towards the end. In the second group, subjects had to acquire the skill on the maximum, most difficult gravity level. We hypothesized that the gradual increase in gravity during skill acquisition supports learning despite the necessary adjustments to changes in cart-pole dynamics. We found that the gradual group benefits from the slow increment, although overall improvement was interrupted by the changes in gravity and resulting system dynamics, which caused short-term degradations in performance and timing of actions. In conclusion, our results deliver evidence for an interaction of reward-based skill acquisition and motor adaptation processes, which indicates the importance of both processes for the development of optimized skill acquisition schedules.

Psychosocial adaptation in female partners of men with prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Street, A F; Couper, J W; Love, A W; Bloch, S; Kissane, D W; Street, B C

2010-03-01

The objective was to explore the psychosocial adaptation of female partners living with men with a diagnosis of either localized or metastatic prostate cancer. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 50 women at two time points (baseline and 6 months later). The interviews examined emotions, experiences, attitudes to sexual and continence issues and treatment decision making. As part of a larger prospective observational study, demographic data and scores for depression and anxiety were collected. Initial analysis demonstrated that the group of 11 women assessed as distressed on the anxiety and depression measures described reduced coping skills and poorer adaptation after 6 months. In contrast, the 39 women in the non-distressed group reported emotional adaptation that fitted the Lazarus and Folkman pattern of coping through appraisal of the impact of the diagnosis on their partner and themselves, appraisal of coping strategies and reappraisal of the situation. A surprise finding was the high level of resilience displayed by majority of these women. Results suggest that a psychosocial intervention could strengthen healthy adaptation and provide better coping skills for distressed couples.

Helping fluid teams work: A research agenda for effective team adaptation in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Bedwell, Wendy L; Ramsay, P Scott; Salas, Eduardo

2012-12-01

Although membership changes within teams are a common practice, research into this phenomenon is relatively nascent (Summers et al.; Acad Manag J 55:314-338, 2012). The small literature base, however, does provide insight into skills required for effective adaptation. The purpose of this effort is to provide a brief research synopsis, leading to research hypotheses about medical team training. By generalizing previous scientific findings regarding skills required for effective membership adaptation in different kinds of teams, we posit mechanisms whereby teamwork training might also support adaptation among medical teams (Burke et al.; Qual & Saf Health Care 13:i96-i104, 2004 and Salas et al.; Theor Issues Ergon Sci 8:381-394, 2007). We provide an overview of the membership change literature. Drawing upon literature from both within and outside of the medical domain, we suggest a framework and research propositions to aid in research efforts designed to determine the best content for helping to create adaptable medical teams through team training efforts. For effective adaptation, we suggest ad hoc teams should be trained on generalizable teamwork skills, to share just "enough" and the "right" information, to engage in shared leadership, and to shift from explicit to implicit coordination. Our overarching goal was to present what is known from the general research literature on successful team adaptation to membership changes, and to propose a research agenda to evaluate whether findings generalize to member changes in medical teams.

Getting Skills Right: Good Practice in Adapting to Changing Skill Needs. A Perspective on France, Italy, Spain, South Africa and the United Kingdom

Science.gov (United States)

OECD Publishing, 2017

2017-01-01

This report identifies effective strategies to tackle skills imbalances, based on five country-specific policy notes for France, Italy, Spain, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It provides a comparative assessment of practices and policies in the following areas: the collection and use of information on skill needs to foster a better alignment…

Effects of Visual Feedback Distortion on Gait Adaptation: Comparison of Implicit Visual Distortion Versus Conscious Modulation on Retention of Motor Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seung-Jae; Ogilvie, Mitchell; Shimabukuro, Nathan; Stewart, Trevor; Shin, Joon-Ho

2015-09-01

Visual feedback can be used during gait rehabilitation to improve the efficacy of training. We presented a paradigm called visual feedback distortion; the visual representation of step length was manipulated during treadmill walking. Our prior work demonstrated that an implicit distortion of visual feedback of step length entails an unintentional adaptive process in the subjects' spatial gait pattern. Here, we investigated whether the implicit visual feedback distortion, versus conscious correction, promotes efficient locomotor adaptation that relates to greater retention of a task. Thirteen healthy subjects were studied under two conditions: (1) we implicitly distorted the visual representation of their gait symmetry over 14 min, and (2) with help of visual feedback, subjects were told to walk on the treadmill with the intent of attaining the gait asymmetry observed during the first implicit trial. After adaptation, the visual feedback was removed while subjects continued walking normally. Over this 6-min period, retention of preserved asymmetric pattern was assessed. We found that there was a greater retention rate during the implicit distortion trial than that of the visually guided conscious modulation trial. This study highlights the important role of implicit learning in the context of gait rehabilitation by demonstrating that training with implicit visual feedback distortion may produce longer lasting effects. This suggests that using visual feedback distortion could improve the effectiveness of treadmill rehabilitation processes by influencing the retention of motor skills.

Relationships among Middle-School Adolescents' Vocational Skills, Motivational Approaches, and Interests

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Sherri L.; Conkel, Julia; Starkey, Michael T.; Landgraf, Rachel

2010-01-01

This study examined gender differences in relationships among vocational skills, motivational approaches, and same-gender and cross-gender interests for urban adolescents. Results showed gender differences in interests, with males having greater Realistic interests and females having greater Artistic and Social interests, based on Holland's (1997)…

Language-specific skills in intercultural healthcare communication: Comparing perceived preparedness and skills in nurses' first and second languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Gasiorek, Jessica; van de Poel, Kris

2018-02-01

Interactions between people from different cultures are becoming increasingly commonplace in contemporary healthcare settings. To date, most research evaluating cross-cultural preparedness has assumed that medical professionals are speaking their first language (L1). However, as healthcare workers are increasingly mobile and patient populations are increasingly diverse, more and more interactions are likely to occur in a professional's non-native language (L2). This study assessed and compared nurses' perceived cross-cultural preparedness and skillfulness in their interactions with patients from other cultures when speaking both their L1 and L2. The goal of this project was to inform the creation of a communication skills training program. Nurses reported their perceived cross-cultural preparedness and skillfulness (scales adapted from Park et al., 2009) in their L1 and L2 via an online questionnaire. This questionnaire was distributed among nurses working in Vienna, Austria, through the Vienna Hospital Association (VHA). Nurses and nurses-in-training working in VHA hospitals participated. Most participants who provided demographic information were currently nurses (n=179) with an average of 16.88years (SD=11.50) of professional experience (range: 0-40); n=40 were nurses-in-training with an average of 2.13years (SD=0.88) of experience (range: 1-5). Descriptive statistics for each cross-cultural preparedness and skillfulness (in each language) are reported; comparisons between L1 and L2 responses were also conducted. Multiple regression analyses were used to identify predictors of preparedness and L1/L2 skillfulness. Nurses reported feeling significantly less confident in their skills when working in an L2, across a range of culture-related issues. Having had previous communication skills training predicted (better) self-reported L2 skillfulness, although it did not predict L1 skillfulness. These results indicate that there is a language-specific component to cross

Physiological and skill demands of 'on-side' and 'off-side' games.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabbett, Tim J; Jenkins, David G; Abernethy, Bruce

2010-11-01

This study investigated the physiological and skill demands of 'on-side' and 'off-side' games in elite rugby league players. Sixteen male rugby league players participated in 'on-side' and 'off-side' games. Both small-sided games were played in a 40- × 40-m playing area. The 'off-side' game permitted players to have 3 'plays' while in possession of the ball. Players were permitted to pass backward or forward (to an 'off-side' player). The 'on-side' game also permitted players to have 3 'plays' while in possession of the ball. However, players were only permitted to pass backward to players in an 'on-side' position. Heart rate and movement patterns (via global positioning system) were recorded continuously throughout both games. Data were collected on the distance covered, number of high-acceleration and velocity efforts, and recovery between efforts. Video footage was also taken to track the performance of the players. Post hoc inspection of the footage was undertaken to count the number of possessions and the number and quality of disposals. In comparison to 'on-side' games, 'off-side' games had a greater number of involvements ("touches"), passes, and effective passes. However, the cognitive demands of 'on-side' games were greater than 'off-side' games. 'Off-side' games resulted in a greater total distance covered, greater distance covered in mild and moderate accelerations, and greater distance covered in low, moderate, and high-velocity efforts. There were also a greater number of short duration recovery periods between efforts in 'off-side' games. The results of this study demonstrate that 'off-side' games provide greater physiological and skill demands than 'on-side' games. 'Off-side' games may provide a practical alternative to 'on-side' games for the development of skill and fitness in elite rugby league players.

Training of leadership skills in medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiesewetter, Jan; Schmidt-Huber, Marion; Netzel, Janine; Krohn, Alexandra C; Angstwurm, Matthias; Fischer, Martin R

2013-01-01

Effective team performance is essential in the delivery of high-quality health-care. Leadership skills therefore are an important part of physicians' everyday clinical life. To date, the development of leadership skills are underrepresented in medical curricula. Appropriate training methods for equipping doctors with these leadership skills are highly desirable. The review aims to summarize the findings in the current literature regarding training in leadership skills in medicine and tries to integrate the findings to guide future research and training development. The PubMED, ERIC, and PsycArticles, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX and Academic search complete of EBSCOhost were searched for training of leadership skills in medicine in German and English. Relevant articles were identified and findings were integrated and consolidated regarding the leadership principles, target group of training and number of participants, temporal resources of the training, training content and methods, the evaluation design and trainings effects. Eight studies met all inclusion criteria and no exclusion criteria. The range of training programs is very broad and leadership skill components are diverse. Training designs implied theoretical reflections of leadership phenomena as well as discussions of case studies from practice. The duration of training ranged from several hours to years. Reactions of participants to trainings were positive, yet no behavioral changes through training were examined. More research is needed to understand the factors critical to success in the development of leadership skills in medical education and to adapt goal-oriented training methods. Requirements analysis might help to gain knowledge about the nature of leadership skills in medicine. The authors propose a stronger focus on behavioral training methods like simulation-based training for leadership skills in medical education.

Differences between girls and boys in emerging language skills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Mårten; Marschik, Peter B; Tulviste, Tiia

2012-01-01

The present study explored gender differences in emerging language skills in 13,783 European children from 10 non-English language communities. It was based on a synthesis of published data assessed with adapted versions of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) from age 0.......08 to 2.06. The results showed that girls are slightly ahead of boys in early communicative gestures, in productive vocabulary, and in combining words. The difference increased with age. Boys were not found to be more variable than girls. Despite extensive variation in language skills between language...

Long-term outcome of social skills intervention based on interactive LEGO play.

Science.gov (United States)

Legoff, Daniel B; Sherman, Michael

2006-07-01

LEGO building materials have been adapted as a therapeutic modality for increasing motivation to participate in social skills intervention, and providing a medium through which children with social and communication handicaps can effectively interact. A 3 year retrospective study of long-term outcome for autistic spectrum children participating in LEGO therapy (N = 60) compared Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale socialization domain (VABS-SD) and Gilliam Autism Rating Scale social interaction subscale (GARS-SI) scores preand post-treatment with a matched comparison sample (N = 57) who received comparable non-LEGO therapy. Although both groups made significant gains on the two outcome measures, LEGO participants improved significantly more than the comparison subjects. Diagnosis and pre-treatment full-scale IQ scores did not predict outcome scores; however, Vineland adaptive behavior composite, Vineland communication domain, and verbal IQ all predicted outcome on the VABS-SD, especially for the LEGO therapy group. Results are discussed in terms of implications for methods of social skills intervention for autistic spectrum disorders.

Assessing the applicability of WRF optimal parameters under the different precipitation simulations in the Greater Beijing Area

Science.gov (United States)

Di, Zhenhua; Duan, Qingyun; Wang, Chen; Ye, Aizhong; Miao, Chiyuan; Gong, Wei

2018-03-01

Forecasting skills of the complex weather and climate models have been improved by tuning the sensitive parameters that exert the greatest impact on simulated results based on more effective optimization methods. However, whether the optimal parameter values are still work when the model simulation conditions vary, which is a scientific problem deserving of study. In this study, a highly-effective optimization method, adaptive surrogate model-based optimization (ASMO), was firstly used to tune nine sensitive parameters from four physical parameterization schemes of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to obtain better summer precipitation forecasting over the Greater Beijing Area in China. Then, to assess the applicability of the optimal parameter values, simulation results from the WRF model with default and optimal parameter values were compared across precipitation events, boundary conditions, spatial scales, and physical processes in the Greater Beijing Area. The summer precipitation events from 6 years were used to calibrate and evaluate the optimal parameter values of WRF model. Three boundary data and two spatial resolutions were adopted to evaluate the superiority of the calibrated optimal parameters to default parameters under the WRF simulations with different boundary conditions and spatial resolutions, respectively. Physical interpretations of the optimal parameters indicating how to improve precipitation simulation results were also examined. All the results showed that the optimal parameters obtained by ASMO are superior to the default parameters for WRF simulations for predicting summer precipitation in the Greater Beijing Area because the optimal parameters are not constrained by specific precipitation events, boundary conditions, and spatial resolutions. The optimal values of the nine parameters were determined from 127 parameter samples using the ASMO method, which showed that the ASMO method is very highly-efficient for optimizing WRF

Procedural Skills Education – Colonoscopy as a Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maitreyi Raman

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Traditionally, surgical and procedural apprenticeship has been an assumed activity of students, without a formal educational context. With increasing barriers to patient and operating room access such as shorter work week hours for residents, and operating room and endoscopy time at a premium, alternate strategies to maximizing procedural skill development are being considered. Recently, the traditional surgical apprenticeship model has been challenged, with greater emphasis on the need for surgical and procedural skills training to be more transparent and for alternatives to patient-based training to be considered. Colonoscopy performance is a complex psychomotor skill requiring practioners to integrate multiple sensory inputs, and involves higher cortical centres for optimal performance. Colonoscopy skills involve mastery in the cognitive, technical and process domains. In the present review, we propose a model for teaching colonoscopy to the novice trainee based on educational theory.

Functional relationship between cognitive representations of movement directions and visuomotor adaptation performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Lex, Heiko; Weigelt, Matthias; Knoblauch, Andreas; Schack, Thomas

2012-12-01

The aim of our study was to explore whether or not different types of learners in a sensorimotor task possess characteristically different cognitive representations. Participants' sensorimotor adaptation performance was measured with a pointing paradigm which used a distortion of the visual feedback in terms of a left-right reversal. The structure of cognitive representations was assessed using a newly established experimental method, the Cognitive Measurement of Represented Directions. A post hoc analysis revealed inter-individual differences in participants' adaptation performance, and three different skill levels (skilled, average, and poor adapters) have been defined. These differences in performance were correlated with the structure of participants' cognitive representations of movement directions. Analysis of these cognitive representations revealed performance advantages for participants possessing a global cognitive representation of movement directions (aligned to cardinal movement axes), rather than a local representation (aligned to each neighboring direction). Our findings are evidence that cognitive representation structures play a functional role in adaptation performance.

Balancing the Yin and Yang: The Role of Universities in Developing Softer Skills in Accountancy

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Evans, Carl; Gbadamosi, Gbolahan; Wells, Jamie; Scott, Ian

2012-01-01

This paper presents an examination of the importance of softer skills in the accountancy profession and a discussion of the contribution that universities can make in supporting the development of these skills. With employers increasingly demanding a greater range of softer skills such as effective communication, the paper is intended to challenge…

Unleashing Creativity in Linguistic Discourses through Advertising Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Suneetha, Y.

2015-01-01

Creative fluency is positively correlated with the quantity and quality of talk as well. The fluency gives an indication of the learner's ability to cope with real-time communication. This paper makes a correlative study on nurturing narrative tasks through advertising skills. English advertising exploits from the high adaptability of the English…

Professional performance attributes according to accounting entrepreneurs from greater São Paulo

OpenAIRE

Ivam Ricardo Peleias; Rafael Augusto Lourenço; Marcos Reinaldo Severino Peters; Carlos Eduardo Farcin Lavarda

2015-01-01

Accounting has a broad activity universe, which requires skilled professionals who are prepared to practice the profession. One possibility is to be an accounting entrepreneur, whose profile requires specific attributes and attitudes. The results reported on in this paper derive from a research developed using the oral history technique, concerning the identification and analysis of attributes valued in the performance of the profession by accounting entrepreneurs from greater São Paulo. A fi...

21st centuries skill implication on educational system

Science.gov (United States)

Wrahatnolo, T.; Munoto

2018-01-01

The purpose of this article is to identify skill needed in 21st centuries and its implication on Indonesia’s educational system. This research found that the 21st centuries skill application has more measurable benefits in some sections of life, such as critical thinking and problem solving, initiative, creativity, and entrepreneurship, communication, teamwork, metacognition (change of mindset), digital literature. This study applied qualitative data analysis. The data were taken from different sources and literature. The analysis showed that The 21st centuries education concept’s implementation can be applied in the curriculum of the required subject that is addressed to achieve learning and innovation skills competence and also technology and information media skills competence. While supporting subject group directed to achieve life and career skills competence. All subjects are the derivation from core subject 3R, which are reading, writing, and arithmetic. Based on the description above, it can be concluded that 21st centuries skill needs; (1) a life planning; (2) flexibility and adaptability; (3) initiative and self-management (4) entrepreneurship; (5) social and cultural interaction; (6) productivity and accountability; (7) leadership; (8) critical thinking, (9) problem solving; (10) communication; (11) collaboration and teamwork; (12) lifelong learning; and (13) digital literation.

Communication skills training: describing a new conceptual model.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Richard F; Bylund, Carma L

2008-01-01

Current research in communication in physician-patient consultations is multidisciplinary and multimethodological. As this research has progressed, a considerable body of evidence on the best practices in physician-patient communication has been amassed. This evidence provides a foundation for communication skills training (CST) at all levels of medical education. Although the CST literature has demonstrated that communication skills can be taught, one critique of this literature is that it is not always clear which skills are being taught and whether those skills are matched with those being assessed. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Comskil Model for CST seeks to answer those critiques by explicitly defining the important components of a consultation, based on Goals, Plans, and Actions theories and sociolinguistic theory. Sequenced guidelines as a mechanism for teaching about particular communication challenges are adapted from these other methods. The authors propose that consultation communication can be guided by an overarching goal, which is achieved through the use of a set of predetermined strategies. Strategies are common in CST; however, strategies often contain embedded communication skills. These skills can exist across strategies, and the Comskil Model seeks to make them explicit in these contexts. Separate from the skills are process tasks and cognitive appraisals that need to be addressed in teaching. The authors also describe how assessment practices foster concordance between skills taught and those assessed through careful coding of trainees' communication encounters and direct feedback.

Wheelchair users' experience of non-adapted and adapted clothes during sailing, quad rugby or wheel-walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Kratz, G; Söderback, I; Guidetti, S; Hultling, C; Rykatkin, T; Söderström, M

1997-01-01

The purpose of the present quasi-experimental post-test-design study was to compare 32 wheelchair users' (mostly para/tetraplegics) experience of wearing specially adapted clothes and non-adapted clothes for sailing, quad rugby or wheel-walking. Four existing assessment instruments were used: the Klein-Bell Activities of Daily Living Scale; a two-part Basic Information Questionnaire eliciting experience of effort, comfort and feeling of physical condition; the Experience Sampling Form for investigating the individuals' attitudes in terms of involvement and affective and activity mood states, and the Occupational Therapy Assessment of Leisure Time interview framework for collecting data about experience of leisure time. The wheelchair users all associated significantly greater comfort with use of the adapted clothes and, particularly the 'sailors', better physical condition. Overall, significantly greater involvement and more positive affect states were associated with the adapted clothes than with conventional garments, and mood state changed for the better. The wheelchair users set a higher priority upon work or leisure activities than upon independence in activities of daily living, and for this reason the Klein-Bell ratings showed great variation between the 'sailors' and the 'quad rugby players' (range 57%-93%), though these groups demonstrated more independence than the 'wheel-walkers'. The results of the study confirm the value of adapting sportswear for handicapped people. Such adaptations should also be of benefit for other activities than those studied.

Rel8: demonstrating the feasibility of delivering an 8-week social skills program in a public mental health setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Wauchope, Bronwyn; Terlich, Alissa; Lee, Stuart

2016-06-01

As community mental health services integrate recovery-oriented practices, treatments that focus on skills development and social integration are desirable. This study aimed to examine the feasibility of implementing "Rel8", an 8-week social skills training group adapted to suit a public community mental health setting. A retrospective audit was conducted of quantitative and qualitative data from four groups run between 2011 and 2013. Pre- and post-group measures were collected, assessing self-rated friendships and confidence with social skills and clinician-rated social skill performance. Qualitative feedback about group participation was also collected through use of a developed questionnaire. Analysis revealed significant improvements in participants' confidence with their social skills following group participation, with a trend also found for improved social skill performance. "Rel8", an adapted 8-week social skills training group, is a feasible program in the context of community mental health services. The program added to the recovery-centred practice of the community mental health service while also adding to the diversity of clinician skills for psychosocial-oriented practice. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Interprofessional non-technical skills for surgeons in disaster response: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Willems, Anneliese; Waxman, Bruce; Bacon, Andrew K; Smith, Julian; Kitto, Simon

2013-09-01

Natural disasters impose a significant burden on society. Current disaster training programmes do not place an emphasis on equipping surgeons with non-technical skills for disaster response. This literature review sought to identify non-technical skills required of surgeons in disaster response through an examination of four categories of literature: "disaster"; "surgical"; "organisational management"; and "interprofessional". Literature search criteria included electronic database searches, internet searches, hand searching, ancestry searching and networking strategies. Various potential non-technical skills for surgeons in disaster response were identified including: interpersonal skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership; cognitive strategies such flexibility, adaptability, innovation, improvisation and creativity; physical and psychological self-care; conflict management, collaboration, professionalism, health advocacy and teaching. Such skills and the role of interprofessionalism should be considered for inclusion in surgical disaster response training course curricula.

A comparison of functional academic and daily living skills in males with fragile X syndrome with and without autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Raspa, Melissa; Franco, Vitor; Bishop, Ellen; Wheeler, Anne C; Wylie, Amanda; Bailey, Donald B

2018-05-03

Adaptive behaviors, such as functional academic and daily living skills, are critical for independence in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, little is known about these skills in fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. The purposes of this study were to describe the functional academic and daily living skills of males diagnosed with FXS across different age groups and compare skill attainment by autism status and other common co-occurring conditions. We used survey methods to assess parent-reported functional academic and daily living skills in 534 males with FXS. Functional academic skills included time and schedules, money, math, reading, and writing skills. Daily living skills included hygiene, cooking, laundry and housekeeping, transportation, and safety skills. Analyses examined functional academic and daily living skills in a cross-sectional sample of males between ages 5 and 67. Differences in skill attainment were found by child age, co-morbid autism status, total number of co-occurring conditions, and respondent education. Functional academic and daily living skills were predictive of community employment and independent living. These data provide important information on the mastery of both foundational and more complex adaptive skills in males with FXS. Both functional academic and daily living skills were predictive of measures of independence above and beyond other child and family characteristics. These findings point to the need to focus interventions to support the attainment of independence in males with FXS. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inhibitory control as a factor of adaptive functioning of children with mild intellectual disability

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Gligorović Milica

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Bearing in mind that the adaptive behaviour is one of the defining parameters of intellectual disability, determining of the influence of inhibitory control on adaptive functioning in children with mild intellectual disability was defined as a basic aim of this research. The sample covered 95 children with mild intellectual disability (MID, of both genders, from 10 to 14 years of age. By analysis of the data of schools' pedagogical-psychological departments, data on age and intellectual abilities of participants were collected. Inhibitory control was estimated by Go no Go task, consisted of Conflict Response and Response Delay sets. Adaptive skills data were gained on the basis of a standardized interview with special education teachers, by applying of AAMR Scale of adaptive functioning. On the basis of factor analysis, Scale scores were grouped in five factors: Personal independence, Social Independence, Personal and Social Responsibility, Social Adaptability and Personal Adaptability. Significance of relations among the observed variables was established by Pearson's correlation coefficient, by partial correlation coefficient and multifactorial variance analysis. Based on the analysis of results a statistically significant relationship between errors in the execution of tasks that belong to the set of conflict motor responses and adaptive functioning (p≤0.000 was established. The relationship between errors that belong to the set of the response delay, and adaptive functioning is not statistically significant (p=0.324. Inhibition of the interference response is a significant factor of practical (partial η2=0.227, conceptual (partial η2=0.341 and social (partial η2=0.131 adaptive skills, while the response delay is significantly associated with the conceptual skills (p=0.029 only. Inhibitory control did not prove itself a significant factor in behaviour problems of externalizing and internalized type.

How Early Experiences in a Kindergarten Classroom Shape the Development of Self-Regulation Skills of Children

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Darcy, Eloisa; Sarette, Sarah; Boghigian, Anna; Martin, Marley

2017-01-01

Providing the support that children need to build self-regulation skills has come to the forefront for educators today. This study investigated how kindergarten students (N=19) improved their self-regulation skills through direct instruction and effective scaffolding techniques. Selfregulated instruction was adapted to behavior activities for…

Toward Personalized Vibrotactile Support When Learning Motor Skills

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Olga C. Santos

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Personal tracking technologies allow sensing of the physical activity carried out by people. Data flows collected with these sensors are calling for big data techniques to support data collection, integration and analysis, aimed to provide personalized support when learning motor skills through varied multisensorial feedback. In particular, this paper focuses on vibrotactile feedback as it can take advantage of the haptic sense when supporting the physical interaction to be learnt. Despite each user having different needs, when providing this vibrotactile support, personalization issues are hardly taken into account, but the same response is delivered to each and every user of the system. The challenge here is how to design vibrotactile user interfaces for adaptive learning of motor skills. TORMES methodology is proposed to facilitate the elicitation of this personalized support. The resulting systems are expected to dynamically adapt to each individual user’s needs by monitoring, comparing and, when appropriate, correcting in a personalized way how the user should move when practicing a predefined movement, for instance, when performing a sport technique or playing a musical instrument.

Tracing the development of typewriting skills in an adaptive e-learning environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Bergh, J.M.; Schmittmann, V.D.; Hofman, Abe D.; van der Maas, Han L. J.

2015-01-01

Typewriting studies which compare novice and expert typists have suggested that highly trained typing skills involve cognitive process with an inner and outer loop, which regulate keystrokes and words, respectively. The present study investigates these loops longitudinally, using multi-level

Humor Style and Motor Skills: Understanding Vulnerability to Bullying

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Stephanie Plenty

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the role of humor style and motor skills in vulnerability to bullying. 729 adults responded to the Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ and items retrospectively addressing their motor skills and bullying experiences during childhood. Consistent with recent research, poorer motor skills were associated with a greater extent of having been bullied. An association between stronger motor skills and affiliative humor was found, lending support to a shared biological basis theory underlying social and motor competency processes. Most importantly, being bullied was associated with higher self-defeating humor and lower affiliative humor. This supports earlier theoretical work by Klein and Kuiper (2006 and highlights the role that humor styles play in social interactions that can promote positive peer acceptance and wellbeing.

An Adaptive Robot Game

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Søren Tranberg; Svenstrup, Mikael; Dalgaard, Lars

2010-01-01

The goal of this paper is to describe an adaptive robot game, which motivates elderly people to do a regular amount of physical exercise while playing. One of the advantages of robot based games is that the initiative to play can be taken autonomously by the robot. In this case, the goal is to im......The goal of this paper is to describe an adaptive robot game, which motivates elderly people to do a regular amount of physical exercise while playing. One of the advantages of robot based games is that the initiative to play can be taken autonomously by the robot. In this case, the goal...... is to improve the mental and physical state of the user by playing a physical game with the robot. Ideally, a robot game should be simple to learn but difficult to master, providing an appropriate degree of challenge for players with different skills. In order to achieve that, the robot should be able to adapt...

Segmented socioeconomic adaptation of New Eastern European professionals in the United States.

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Michalikova, Nina

2018-01-01

This study examines the socioeconomic adaptation of post-1991 Eastern European professionals in the United States. The data were obtained from the pooled 2006-2010 American Community Surveys. The analysis includes recent immigrants between ages of 25-65 who have at least an associate's degree. Skilled immigrants in professional or managerial occupations are compared with non-professionals or managers to examine and compare socioeconomic outcomes. The findings presented in this study support the segmented assimilation theory and reveal cross-group and cross-country disparities in socioeconomic adaptation. Despite the high amount of human capital, Eastern European skilled immigrants tend to have a lower share of professionals and managers than other groups. Their average income is lower than the income of some other groups in the analysis, especially immigrants from Northern and Western Europe, suggesting these immigrants experience difficulties in transferring human capital. Among the three largest Eastern European groups - Russia, Ukraine, and Poland - there is a clear hierarchy in socioeconomic status with Russian professionals having the highest educational attainment and income, followed by immigrants from Ukraine and Poland. Results also revealed gender differences in socioeconomic adaptation. Women from Eastern Europe are highly professional, but they tend to be concentrated in different occupations than men, leading to a significant gender-wage gap. The effect of selected individual and country-level characteristics on skilled immigrants' socioeconomic adaptation is discussed.

Microeconomic determinants of skilled migration: The case of Suriname

NARCIS (Netherlands)

T.W. Dulam (Tina); Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ Suriname witnesses a brain drain, in particular to the Netherlands. We study the determinants of this brain drain for skilled individuals, where we rely on an adaptation of the survey proposed in Gibson and McKenzie (2011). We managed to interview a unique set of 286

Neural predictors of sensorimotor adaptation rate and savings.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassady, Kaitlin; Ruitenberg, Marit; Koppelmans, Vincent; Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia; De Dios, Yiri; Gadd, Nichole; Wood, Scott; Riascos Castenada, Roy; Kofman, Igor; Bloomberg, Jacob; Mulavara, Ajitkumar; Seidler, Rachael

2018-04-01

In this study, we investigate whether individual variability in the rate of visuomotor adaptation and multiday savings is associated with differences in regional gray matter volume and resting-state functional connectivity. Thirty-four participants performed a manual adaptation task during two separate test sessions, on average 9 days apart. Functional connectivity strength between sensorimotor, dorsal cingulate, and temporoparietal regions of the brain was found to predict the rate of learning during the early phase of the adaptation task. In contrast, default mode network connectivity strength was found to predict both the rate of learning during the late adaptation phase and savings. As for structural predictors, greater gray matter volume in temporoparietal and occipital regions predicted faster early learning, whereas greater gray matter volume in superior posterior regions of the cerebellum predicted faster late learning. These findings suggest that the offline neural predictors of early adaptation may facilitate the cognitive aspects of sensorimotor adaptation, supported by the involvement of temporoparietal and cingulate networks. The offline neural predictors of late adaptation and savings, including the default mode network and the cerebellum, likely support the storage and modification of newly acquired sensorimotor representations. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIFE BUILDING SKILLS AND SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF STUDENTS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNSELING

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Samuel O. ADENIYI

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction Hearing impairment contributes greatly to social and psychological deficits of the affected individuals, which can affect their interpersonal relation. The inability to hear and communicate effectively results in adjustment problem that leads to social isolation. Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between life building skills and social adjustment of students with hearing impairment. Methods: The study employed descriptive survey research design. The samples consisted of 150 students with hearing impairment purposively selected from two inclusive schools in Lagos state, Nigeria. The samples comprised of 65 boys and 85 girls with age range between 15 and 18 years in the Senior Secondary School. The instruments used for data collection were Life building skills inventory (adapted with reliability of 0.80 and Social adjustment scale (Self developed. The instruments consisted of two sections namely: A&B. Section A of Life building skills contained bio- data of the respondents, while B contained 3 subscales: Self-efficacy inventory adapted from Schwarzer and Jerusalem 1995 with reliability of 0.85, Decision-making inventory adapted from Rowe 1997 with reliability of 0.75, Assertiveness inventory adapted from Aberti and Emmons 1995 with reliability of 0.80. The self-constructed Social Adjustment scale contained 10 items probing questions with reliability of 0.69. Data collected was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression. Results: The results revealed relative contributions of some life building skills to social adjustment of students with hearing impairment. There were joint contributions of the independent variables to dependent variable, while decision-making contributed mostly. Conclusion: This study examined relationship between life building skills and social adjustment of students with hearing impairment with a bid to provide adequate counseling services. It was

Dynamic Difficulty Adaptation for Heterogeneously Skilled Player Groups in Multiplayer Collaborative Games

OpenAIRE

Greciano, Miguel Cristian

2016-01-01

This work focuses on the combination of two key concepts: Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment/Adaptation (video games adapting their difficulty according to the in-game performance of players, making themselves easier if the player performs poorly or more difficult if the player performs well) and Collaborative Multiplayer Games (video games where two or more human players work together to achieve a common goal). It considers and analyzes the challenges, potential and possibilities of Dynamic Diffi...

Effectiveness of a Fundamental Motor Skill Intervention for 4-Year-Old Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bremer, Emily; Balogh, Robert; Lloyd, Meghann

2015-01-01

A wait-list control experimental design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of a fundamental motor skill intervention at improving the motor skills, adaptive behavior, and social skills of 4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (experimental n?=?5, control n?=?4); the impact of intervention intensity was also explored. The…

Evaluation of a coping skills group following traumatic brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Anson, Katie; Ponsford, Jennie

2006-02-01

To examine the impact of a cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) based intervention programme, termed the Coping Skills Group (CSG), on coping strategy use and emotional adjustment. Thirty-one individuals with TBI participated and a wait-list control design was used. The CSG ran twice a week, for 5 weeks and focused on developing adaptive coping skills for the management of emotional and adjustment issues. Following the CSG, the majority of participants subjectively reported that they had a better understanding of emotional issues and an improved ability to implement strategies to manage these issues. Adaptive coping, as measured on the Coping Scale for Adults, increased significantly immediately following intervention. However, no significant changes in anxiety, depression, self-esteem and psychosocial function were observed on the measures used. The results suggest that it may be possible to modify coping strategy use following brain injury, through CBT.

Training of Leadership Skills in Medical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kiesewetter, Jan; Schmidt-Huber, Marion; Netzel, Janine; Krohn, Alexandra C.; Angstwurm, Matthias; Fischer, Martin R.

2013-01-01

Background: Effective team performance is essential in the delivery of high-quality health-care. Leadership skills therefore are an important part of physicians’ everyday clinical life. To date, the development of leadership skills are underrepresented in medical curricula. Appropriate training methods for equipping doctors with these leadership skills are highly desirable. Objective: The review aims to summarize the findings in the current literature regarding training in leadership skills in medicine and tries to integrate the findings to guide future research and training development. Method: The PubMED, ERIC, and PsycArticles, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX and Academic search complete of EBSCOhost were searched for training of leadership skills in medicine in German and English. Relevant articles were identified and findings were integrated and consolidated regarding the leadership principles, target group of training and number of participants, temporal resources of the training, training content and methods, the evaluation design and trainings effects. Results: Eight studies met all inclusion criteria and no exclusion criteria. The range of training programs is very broad and leadership skill components are diverse. Training designs implied theoretical reflections of leadership phenomena as well as discussions of case studies from practice. The duration of training ranged from several hours to years. Reactions of participants to trainings were positive, yet no behavioral changes through training were examined. Conclusions: More research is needed to understand the factors critical to success in the development of leadership skills in medical education and to adapt goal-oriented training methods. Requirements analysis might help to gain knowledge about the nature of leadership skills in medicine. The authors propose a stronger focus on behavioral training methods like simulation-based training for leadership skills in medical education. PMID:24282452

Climate change adaptation strategies by small-scale farmers in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mburu

SPSS) ... were financial constraints (93.4%), lack of relevant skills (74.5%) and lack of ... Key words: Climate change, small-scale farmers, adaptation strategies. ... investment in irrigation infrastructure, high post-harvest ..... 72.0 School drop out.

Participation in Job-Related Training in European Countries: The Impact of Skill Supply and Demand Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Saar, Ellu; Räis, Mari Liis

2017-01-01

Ageing populations and accelerating economic change make it increasingly important to update the skill levels of populations over the whole life course. Adult education is believed to allow adults' skills to adapt continuously to constantly changing economic requirements. Both research into adult education, and discussions on lifelong learning…

Skill ontogeny among Tsimane forager-horticulturalists.

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Schniter, Eric; Gurven, Michael; Kaplan, Hillard S; Wilcox, Nathaniel T; Hooper, Paul L

2015-09-01

We investigate whether age profiles of Tsimane forager-horticulturalists' reported skill development are consistent with predictions derived from life history theory about the timing of productivity and reproduction. Previous studies of forager skill development have often focused on a few abilities (e.g. hunting), and neglected the broad range of skills and services typical of forager economies (e.g. childcare, craft production, music performance, story-telling). By systematically examining age patterns in reported acquisition, proficiency, and expertise across a broad range of activities including food production, childcare, and other services, we provide the most complete skill development study of a traditional subsistence society to date. Our results show that: (1) most essential skills are acquired prior to first reproduction, then developed further so that their productive returns meet the increasing demands of dependent offspring during adulthood; (2) as postreproductive adults age beyond earlier years of peak performance, they report developing additional conceptual and procedural proficiency, and despite greater physical frailty than younger adults, are consensually regarded as the most expert (especially in music and storytelling), consistent with their roles as providers and educators. We find that adults have accurate understandings of their skillsets and skill levels -an important awareness for social exchange, comparison, learning, and pedagogy. These findings extend our understanding of the evolved human life history by illustrating how changes in embodied capital and the needs of dependent offspring predict the development of complementary skills and services in a forager-horticulturalist economy. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Motor Skill Abilities in Toddlers with Autistic Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, and Atypical Development

Science.gov (United States)

Matson, Johnny L.; Mahan, Sara; Fodstad, Jill C.; Hess, Julie A.; Neal, Daniene

2010-01-01

Motor skills were assessed in 397 toddlers, and it was demonstrated that atypically developing toddlers exhibited significantly greater motor skill abilities than toddlers with autistic disorder. No significant difference on gross or fine motor skill abilities were found between atypically developing toddlers and toddlers with pervasive…

Modeling adaptation of carbon use efficiency in microbial communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven D Allison

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In new microbial-biogeochemical models, microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE is often assumed to decline with increasing temperature. Under this assumption, soil carbon losses under warming are small because microbial biomass declines. Yet there is also empirical evidence that CUE may adapt (i.e. become less sensitive to warming, thereby mitigating negative effects on microbial biomass. To analyze potential mechanisms of CUE adaptation, I used two theoretical models to implement a tradeoff between microbial uptake rate and CUE. This rate-yield tradeoff is based on thermodynamic principles and suggests that microbes with greater investment in resource acquisition should have lower CUE. Microbial communities or individuals could adapt to warming by reducing investment in enzymes and uptake machinery. Consistent with this idea, a simple analytical model predicted that adaptation can offset 50% of the warming-induced decline in CUE. To assess the ecosystem implications of the rate-yield tradeoff, I quantified CUE adaptation in a spatially-structured simulation model with 100 microbial taxa and 12 soil carbon substrates. This model predicted much lower CUE adaptation, likely due to additional physiological and ecological constraints on microbes. In particular, specific resource acquisition traits are needed to maintain stoichiometric balance, and taxa with high CUE and low enzyme investment rely on low-yield, high-enzyme neighbors to catalyze substrate degradation. In contrast to published microbial models, simulations with greater CUE adaptation also showed greater carbon storage under warming. This pattern occurred because microbial communities with stronger CUE adaptation produced fewer degradative enzymes, despite increases in biomass. Thus the rate-yield tradeoff prevents CUE adaptation from driving ecosystem carbon loss under climate warming.

Multiple systems for motor skill learning

OpenAIRE

Clark, Dav; Ivry, Richard B.

2010-01-01

Motor learning is a ubiquitous feature of human competence. This review focuses on two particular classes of model tasks for studying skill acquisition. The serial reaction time (SRT) task is used to probe how people learn sequences of actions, while adaptation in the context of visuomotor or force field perturbations serves to illustrate how preexisting movements are recalibrated in novel environments. These tasks highlight important issues regarding the representational changes that occur d...

Assessment procedure for the soft skills requested by Industry 4.0

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Cotet Gabriela Beatrice

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the context of an increasingly more performant global and informational environment, as the one found in the virtual organization, the process of selecting and evaluating the human resources holds a particular important role. The premise behind this article is that of the need to adapt the human resource performance to the requests of the industry 4.0 being supported by the organizational culture. Following the analysis of the state of the art literature we concluded that there is no clear procedure for the assessment of the constellation of skills and personal qualities – soft skills requested by industry 4.0. These capabilities should complete professional technical hard-skills; the procedure should provide a map for the constellation of capabilities necessary to adapt and perform, in specific industry 4.0 activities. Current psychological evaluation systems consider only some of such requested capabilities not always the most relevant. To solve this problem, we tried to identify and evaluate what we considered as the core of the complex various skills required. Our research was centred on the use of a psychological instrument for evaluating transversal capabilities. The capabilities map needed for the evaluation and selection of the human resource fit to work in the industry 4.0 environment was designed after the application of this complex system of evaluation on successive series of students from the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest.

Peer Learning as a Tool to Strengthen Math Skills in Introductory Chemistry Laboratories

Science.gov (United States)

Srougi, Melissa C.; Miller, Heather B.

2018-01-01

Math skills vary greatly among students enrolled in introductory chemistry courses. Students with weak math skills (algebra and below) tend to perform poorly in introductory chemistry courses, which is correlated with increased attrition rates. Previous research has shown that retention of main ideas in a peer learning environment is greater when…

Behavior and adaptive functioning in adolescents with Down syndrome: specifying targets for intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacola, Lisa M; Hickey, Francis; Howe, Steven R; Esbensen, Anna; Shear, Paula K

2014-01-01

Research suggests that adolescents with Down syndrome experience increased behavior problems as compared to age matched peers; however, few studies have examined how these problems relate to adaptive functioning. The primary aim of this study was to characterize behavior in a sample of adolescents with Down syndrome using two widely-used caregiver reports: the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, 2 nd Edition (BASC-2) and Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL). The clinical utility of the BASC-2 as a measure of behavior and adaptive functioning in adolescents with Down syndrome was also examined. Fifty-two adolescents with Down syndrome between the ages of 12 and 18 (24 males) completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4 th Edition (PPVT-IV) as an estimate of cognitive ability. Caregivers completed the BASC-2 and the CBCL for each participant. A significant proportion of the sample was reported to demonstrate behavior problems, particularly related to attention and social participation. The profile of adaptive function was variable, with caregivers most frequently rating impairment in skills related to activities of daily living and functional communication. Caregiver ratings did not differ by gender and were not related to age or estimated cognitive ability. Caregiver ratings of attention problems on the BASC-2 accounted for a significant proportion of variance in Activities of Daily Living ( Adj R 2 = 0.30) , Leadership ( Adj R 2 = 0.30) Functional Communication ( Adj R 2 = 0.28, Adaptability ( Adj R 2 = 0.29), and Social Skills ( Adj R 2 = 0.17). Higher frequencies of symptoms related to social withdrawal added incremental predictive validity for Functional Communication, Leadership, and Social Skills. Convergent validity between the CBCL and BASC-2 was poor when compared with expectations based on the normative sample. Our results confirm and extend previous findings by describing relationships between specific behavior problems and targeted areas of

Behavior and adaptive functioning in adolescents with Down syndrome: specifying targets for intervention

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Jacola, Lisa M.; Hickey, Francis; Howe, Steven R.; Esbensen, Anna; Shear, Paula K.

2016-01-01

Background Research suggests that adolescents with Down syndrome experience increased behavior problems as compared to age matched peers; however, few studies have examined how these problems relate to adaptive functioning. The primary aim of this study was to characterize behavior in a sample of adolescents with Down syndrome using two widely-used caregiver reports: the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, 2nd Edition (BASC-2) and Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL). The clinical utility of the BASC-2 as a measure of behavior and adaptive functioning in adolescents with Down syndrome was also examined. Methods Fifty-two adolescents with Down syndrome between the ages of 12 and 18 (24 males) completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th Edition (PPVT-IV) as an estimate of cognitive ability. Caregivers completed the BASC-2 and the CBCL for each participant. Results A significant proportion of the sample was reported to demonstrate behavior problems, particularly related to attention and social participation. The profile of adaptive function was variable, with caregivers most frequently rating impairment in skills related to activities of daily living and functional communication. Caregiver ratings did not differ by gender and were not related to age or estimated cognitive ability. Caregiver ratings of attention problems on the BASC-2 accounted for a significant proportion of variance in Activities of Daily Living (Adj R2 = 0.30), Leadership (Adj R2 = 0.30) Functional Communication (Adj R2 = 0.28, Adaptability (Adj R2 = 0.29), and Social Skills (Adj R2 = 0.17). Higher frequencies of symptoms related to social withdrawal added incremental predictive validity for Functional Communication, Leadership, and Social Skills. Convergent validity between the CBCL and BASC-2 was poor when compared with expectations based on the normative sample. Conclusion Our results confirm and extend previous findings by describing relationships between specific behavior problems

Farming System Evolution and Adaptive Capacity: Insights for Adaptation Support

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Jami L. Dixon

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Studies of climate impacts on agriculture and adaptation often provide current or future assessments, ignoring the historical contexts farming systems are situated within. We investigate how historical trends have influenced farming system adaptive capacity in Uganda using data from household surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus-group discussions and observations. By comparing two farming systems, we note three major findings: (1 similar trends in farming system evolution have had differential impacts on the diversity of farming systems; (2 trends have contributed to the erosion of informal social and cultural institutions and an increasing dependence on formal institutions; and (3 trade-offs between components of adaptive capacity are made at the farm-scale, thus influencing farming system adaptive capacity. To identify the actual impacts of future climate change and variability, it is important to recognize the dynamic nature of adaptation. In practice, areas identified for further adaptation support include: shift away from one-size-fits-all approach the identification and integration of appropriate modern farming method; a greater focus on building inclusive formal and informal institutions; and a more nuanced understanding regarding the roles and decision-making processes of influential, but external, actors. More research is needed to understand farm-scale trade-offs and the resulting impacts across spatial and temporal scales.

Computer-Adaptive Testing in Second Language Contexts.

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Chalhoub-Deville, Micheline; Deville, Craig

1999-01-01

Provides a broad overview of computerized testing issues with an emphasis on computer-adaptive testing (CAT). A survey of the potential benefits and drawbacks of CAT are given, the process of CAT development is described; and some L2 instruments developed to assess various language skills are summarized. (Author/VWL)

Strengthening the Social Information-Processing Skills of Children: A Controlled Test of the "Let's Be Friends" Program in China

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Wu, Fan; Fraser, Mark W.; Guo, Shenyang; Day, Steven H.; Galinsky, Maeda J.

2016-01-01

Objective: The study had two objectives (a) to adapt for Chinese children an intervention designed to strengthen the social information--processing (SIP) skills of children in the United States, and (b) to pilot test the adapted intervention in China. Methods: Adaptation of the "Making Choices" program involved reviewing Chinese…

Cerebellar direct current stimulation enhances on-line motor skill acquisition through an effect on accuracy.

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Cantarero, Gabriela; Spampinato, Danny; Reis, Janine; Ajagbe, Loni; Thompson, Tziporah; Kulkarni, Kopal; Celnik, Pablo

2015-02-18

The cerebellum is involved in the update of motor commands during error-dependent learning. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a form of noninvasive brain stimulation, has been shown to increase cerebellar excitability and improve learning in motor adaptation tasks. Although cerebellar involvement has been clearly demonstrated in adaptation paradigms, a type of task that heavily relies on error-dependent motor learning mechanisms, its role during motor skill learning, a behavior that likely involves error-dependent as well as reinforcement and strategic mechanisms, is not completely understood. Here, in humans, we delivered cerebellar tDCS to modulate its activity during novel motor skill training over the course of 3 d and assessed gains during training (on-line effects), between days (off-line effects), and overall improvement. We found that excitatory anodal tDCS applied over the cerebellum increased skill learning relative to sham and cathodal tDCS specifically by increasing on-line rather than off-line learning. Moreover, the larger skill improvement in the anodal group was predominantly mediated by reductions in error rate rather than changes in movement time. These results have important implications for using cerebellar tDCS as an intervention to speed up motor skill acquisition and to improve motor skill accuracy, as well as to further our understanding of cerebellar function. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/353285-06$15.00/0.

Teaching the skills that enable employees to manage change at Syncrude Canada Ltd. : case study March 2005

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Kitagawa, K.

2005-03-01

Details of Syncrude's Effective Reading in Context (ERIC) workplace literacy program were presented as part of a series of case studies addressing best practices in the development of essential skills in the workplace. ERIC was designed to enhance supervisors' key essential skills, including reading comprehension, writing and the ability to deal with organizational changes and technological advances. Due to its success, Syncrude now offers ERIC to all of its employees and has made it available to a variety of businesses and institutions across Canada. ERIC was implemented due to a shortage of skilled workers, and concerns that a lack of essential skills in the workforce was affecting productivity. ERIC is delivered in 2 phases: a curriculum adaptation phase and a pilot workshop phase where the skills of all participants are assessed individually. Participants are given samples of printed materials they regularly encounter in their jobs. They are then assessed on how well they can generalize, synthesize and analyze the material. Program evaluations are reviewed to ensure that participants can transfer learned skills into new areas, including work tasks. It costs between $6000 and $12,000 to adapt ERIC for a specific workplace. Details of instructor training methods and course manuals were presented. Over the past 16 years, 6 large industry partners and 9 educational partners have been involved in the delivery of ERIC, which has been adapted to a variety of settings, including an Aboriginal pre-trades program at Keyano College. It was concluded that the implementation of ERIC in organizations has led to increased productivity and a decrease in work-related incidents. The Syncrude Essential Skills training program has now been expanded to include a math and writing component.

Kansas nurse leader residency programme: advancing leader knowledge and skills.

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Shen, Qiuhua; Peltzer, Jill; Teel, Cynthia; Pierce, Janet

2018-03-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of the Kansas Nurse Leader Residency (KNLR) programme in improving nurses' leadership knowledge and skills and its acceptability, feasibility and fidelity. The Future of Nursing Report (Institute of Medicine, 2011) calls for nurses to lead change and advance health. The 6-month KNLR programme was developed by the Kansas Action Coalition to support nurses' leadership development. Nurses (n = 36) from four nursing specialties (acute care, long-term care, public health and school health) participated in the programme. The adapted Leader Knowledge and Skill Inventory was used to assess leadership knowledge and skills. Programme acceptability, feasibility and implementation fidelity also were evaluated. The programme completion rate was 67.7% (n = 24). Programme completers had significantly improved self-assessed and mentor-assessed leadership knowledge and skills (p leaders are critical for successful transition into management positions. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Motor skills and calibrated autism severity in young children with autism spectrum disorder.

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MacDonald, Megan; Lord, Catherine; Ulrich, Dale A

2014-04-01

In addition to the core characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), motor skill deficits are present, persistent, and pervasive across age. Although motor skill deficits have been indicated in young children with autism, they have not been included in the primary discussion of early intervention content. One hundred fifty-nine young children with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD (n = 110), PDD-NOS (n = 26), and non-ASD (n = 23) between the ages of 14-33 months participated in this study.1 The univariate general linear model tested the relationship of fine and gross motor skills and social communicative skills (using calibrated autism severity scores). Fine motor and gross motor skills significantly predicted calibrated autism severity (p motor skills have greater social communicative skill deficits. Future directions and the role of motor skills in early intervention are discussed.

Engineering Job Skills in Croatian Economy: Employers’ Perspective

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Nikša Dubreta

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Different actors, or stakeholders, are interested and want to participate in discussions and interventions related to the topic of skills as an important outcome of engineering education. In the Croatian context, the entire process is still predominantly internally driven and determined by academic evaluations while the involvement of the alumni and employers as external stakeholders is sporadic and under researched. Since Croatian employers are not sufficiently familiar with the levels and structures of reformed study programs, the main objective of this research was to assess to what extent the current and largely accepted set of engineering skills fit their expectations. By reviewing available literature, 36 key skills were identified and used in a questionnaire administrated to Croatian employers, resulting in 418 completed and usable responses. Results show that employers find every assessed skill as somewhat/extremely valuable. However, it is found that employers most valued skills related to the wider set of transferable skills with somewhat greater emphases on skills that reflect professionalism and work ethic. In general, it turned out that employers approach transferable skills in terms of their functionality. Mean comparison within subgroups has shown statistically significant differences with regard to respondent’s gender. In general, women fit the theorized dimensions more than their male counterparts, perhaps indicating that they understand all skills, and transferable skills in particular, more holistically than men. Finally, in order to understand the underlying structure of the explored items, exploratory factor analysis was employed, resulting in 8 clear dimensions suggesting engineering “employability skills” in the Croatian context.

A qualitative analysis of the concepts of fidelity and adaptation in the implementation of an evidence-based HIV prevention intervention.

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Owczarzak, Jill; Broaddus, Michelle; Pinkerton, Steven

2016-04-01

Continued debate about the relative value of fidelity versus adaptation, and lack of clarity about the meaning of fidelity, raise concerns about how frontline service providers resolve similar issues in their daily practice. We use SISTA ('Sisters Informing Sisters on Topics about acquired immune deficiency syndrome'), an evidence-based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention intervention for African American women, to understand how facilitators and program directors interpret and enact implementation fidelity with the need for adaptation in real-world program delivery. We conducted 22 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with service providers from four agencies implementing SISTA. Facilitators valued their skills as group leaders and ability to emotionally engage participants as more critical to program effectiveness than delivering the intervention with strict fidelity. Consequently, they saw program manuals as guides rather than static texts that should never be changed and, moreover, viewed the prescriptive nature of manuals as undermining their efforts to fully engage with participants. Our findings suggest that greater consideration should be given to understanding the role of facilitators in program effectiveness over and above the question of whether they implement the program with fidelity. Moreover, training curricula should provide facilitators with transferable skills through general facilitator training rather than only program-specific or manual-specific training. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Can an aversive, extinction-resistant memory trigger impairments in walking adaptability? An experimental study using adult rats.

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Medeiros, Filipe Mello; de Carvalho Myskiw, Jociane; Baptista, Pedro Porto Alegre; Neves, Laura Tartari; Martins, Lucas Athaydes; Furini, Cristiane Regina Guerino; Izquierdo, Iván; Xavier, Léder Leal; Hollands, Kristen; Mestriner, Régis Gemerasca

2018-02-05

Cognitive demands can influence the adaptation of walking, a crucial skill to maintain body stability and prevent falls. Whilst previous research has shown emotional load tunes goal-directed movements, little attention has been given to this finding. This study sought to assess the effects of suffering an extinction-resistant memory on skilled walking performance in adult rats, as an indicator of walking adaptability. Thus, 36 Wistar rats were divided in a two-part experiment. In the first part (n=16), the aversive, extinction-resistance memory paradigm was established using a fear-conditioning chamber. In the second, rats (n=20) were assessed in a neutral room using the ladder rung walking test before and tree days after inducing an extinction-resistance memory. In addition, the elevated plus-maze test was used to control the influence of the anxiety-like status on gait adaptability. Our results revealed the shock group exhibited worse walking adaptability (lower skilled walking score), when compared to the sham group. Moreover, the immobility time in the ladder rung walking test was similar to the controls, suggesting that gait adaptability performance was not a consequence of the fear generalization. No anxiety-like behavior was observed in the plus maze test. Finally, correlation coefficients also showed the skilled walking performance score was positively correlated with the number of gait cycles and trial time in the ladder rung walking test and the total crossings in the plus maze. Overall, these preliminary findings provide evidence to hypothesize an aversive, extinction-resistant experience might change the emotional load, affecting the ability to adapt walking. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Adapting to the Online Teaching Environment: Using Literature To Develop Experiential Exercises for International Management.

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Rusinko, Cathy A.

2003-01-01

Proposes that literature may be a valuable tool in adapting teaching methods to the online environment, particularly developing experiential exercises, and in helping students become better international managers by building communication skills, team building skills, and contextual understanding of cultural diversity issues. Includes an example…

Are Gross Motor Skills and Sports Participation Related in Children with Intellectual Disabilities?

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Westendorp, Marieke; Houwen, Suzanne; Hartman, Esther; Visscher, Chris

2011-01-01

This study compared the specific gross motor skills of 156 children with intellectual disabilities (ID) (50 less than or equal to IQ greater than or equal to 79) with that of 255 typically developing children, aged 7-12 years. Additionally, the relationship between the specific gross motor skills and organized sports participation was examined in…

A theoretical adaptive model of thermal comfort - Adaptive Predicted Mean Vote (aPMV)

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Yao, Runming [School of Construction Management and Engineering, The University of Reading (United Kingdom); Faculty of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University (China); Li, Baizhan [Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region' s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), Chongqing University (China); Faculty of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University (China); Liu, Jing [School of Construction Management and Engineering, The University of Reading (United Kingdom)

2009-10-15

This paper presents in detail a theoretical adaptive model of thermal comfort based on the ''Black Box'' theory, taking into account factors such as culture, climate, social, psychological and behavioural adaptations, which have an impact on the senses used to detect thermal comfort. The model is called the Adaptive Predicted Mean Vote (aPMV) model. The aPMV model explains, by applying the cybernetics concept, the phenomena that the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) is greater than the Actual Mean Vote (AMV) in free-running buildings, which has been revealed by many researchers in field studies. An Adaptive coefficient ({lambda}) representing the adaptive factors that affect the sense of thermal comfort has been proposed. The empirical coefficients in warm and cool conditions for the Chongqing area in China have been derived by applying the least square method to the monitored onsite environmental data and the thermal comfort survey results. (author)

Future Directions for The Math You Need, When You Need It: Adaptation and Implementation of Online Student-Centered Tutorials that Remediate Introductory Geoscience-Related Mathematical Skills

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Wenner, J. M.; Burn, H.; Baer, E. M.

2009-12-01

Requiring introductory geoscience students to apply mathematical concepts and solve quantitative problems can be an arduous task because these courses tend to attract students with diverse levels of mathematical preparedness. Perhaps more significantly, geoscience instructors grapple with quantitative content because of the difficulties students have transferring their prior mathematical learning to common geological problems. As a result, instructors can choose to eliminate the mathematics, spend valuable class time teaching basic mathematical skills or let students flounder in the hope that they will learn on their own. None of these choices are ideal. Instead, research suggests that introductory geoscience courses are opportune places to increase students’ quantitative abilities but that students need effective support at their own skill level. To provide such support, we developed The Math You Need, When You Need It (TMYN): a set of online geoscience context-rich tutorials that students complete just before they encounter a mathematical or numerical skill in their introductory course. The tutorials are modular; each mathematical topic has a set of pages that students work through toward a final assessment. The 11 modules currently available, including unit conversions, graphing, calculating density, and rearranging equations, touch on quantitative topics that cross a number of geologic contexts. TMYN modules are designed to be stand-alone and flexible - faculty members can choose modules appropriate for their courses and implement them at any time throughout the term. The flexible and adaptable nature of TMYN enables faculty to provide a supportive learning environment that remediates math for those who need it without taking significant classroom time. Since spring 2008, seven instructors at Highline Community College and University of Wisconsin Oshkosh successfully implemented TMYN in six geoscience courses with diverse student audiences. Evaluation of

Psychological skills usage and the competitive anxiety response as a function of skill level in rugby union.

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Neil, Richard; D Mellalieu, Stephen; Hanton, Sheldon

2006-01-01

This study examined the intensity and direction of competitive anxiety symptoms and psychological skill usage in rugby union players of different skill levels. Elite (n=65) and nonelite (n=50) participants completed measures of competitive anxiety, self- confidence, and psychological skills. The elite group reported more facilitative interpretations of competitive anxiety symptoms, higher levels of self-confidence, lower relaxation usage, and greater imagery and self-talk use than their nonelite counterparts. The findings suggest that nonelite performers primarily use relaxation strategies to reduce anxiety intensity. In contrast, elite athletes appear to maintain intensity levels and adopt a combination of skills to interpret symptoms as facilitative to performance. Potential mechanisms for this process include the use of imagery and verbal persuasion efficacy-enhancement techniques to protect against debilitating symptom interpretations. Key PointsNonelite performers primarily use relaxation strategies to reduce anxiety intensity.Elite athletes maintain intensity levels and adopt a combination of psychological skills to interpret symptoms as facilitative.This process occurs through imagery and verbal persuasion efficacy-enhancement techniques.Nonelite performers who are debilitators should implement relaxation-based programs. However, in high activation level sports performers should reduce symptom intensity, restructure cognitions, and then raise activation states again to appropriate levels.Elite performers who are debilitators should implement cognitive restructuring techniques to interpret their anxiety as facilitative via a combination of goal setting, self-talk, and imagery.

The Relation between Intellectual Functioning and Adaptive Behavior in the Diagnosis of Intellectual Disability

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Tassé, Marc J.; Luckasson, Ruth; Schalock, Robert L.

2016-01-01

Intellectual disability originates during the developmental period and is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. In this article, we present a brief history of the diagnostic criteria of intellectual disability for both…

Essential people management skills necessary in today's workplace ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This presentation will show how technical managers can achieve greater success if provided with adequate people skills. Most times, managers are trained in the technical aspects of their field, however, the success of any organization often rests on the understanding of related people and management issues, rather than ...

Conducting Psychological Assessments in Schools: Adapting for Converging Skills and Expanding Knowledge

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Bowles, Terry; Scull, Janet; Hattie, John; Clinton, Janet; Larkins, Geraldine; Cicconi, Vincent; Kumar, Doreen; Arnup, Jessica L.

2016-01-01

In this paper we argue for a revision of the knowledge, skills and competencies of school psychologists and specialist teachers. Evidence-based practice of psychologists and teachers, the accountability movement, and calls for improved service delivery have led to changes in the practice of both professions. The changes in technology and the…

77 FR 2996 - National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy

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2012-01-20

... opportunities to integrate climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. Act now: Time is of the essence. In late... conservation communities to harness collective expertise, authority, and skills in order to define and...

Surgical skill and complication rates after bariatric surgery.

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Birkmeyer, John D; Finks, Jonathan F; O'Reilly, Amanda; Oerline, Mary; Carlin, Arthur M; Nunn, Andre R; Dimick, Justin; Banerjee, Mousumi; Birkmeyer, Nancy J O

2013-10-10

Clinical outcomes after many complex surgical procedures vary widely across hospitals and surgeons. Although it has been assumed that the proficiency of the operating surgeon is an important factor underlying such variation, empirical data are lacking on the relationships between technical skill and postoperative outcomes. We conducted a study involving 20 bariatric surgeons in Michigan who participated in a statewide collaborative improvement program. Each surgeon submitted a single representative videotape of himself or herself performing a laparoscopic gastric bypass. Each videotape was rated in various domains of technical skill on a scale of 1 to 5 (with higher scores indicating more advanced skill) by at least 10 peer surgeons who were unaware of the identity of the operating surgeon. We then assessed relationships between these skill ratings and risk-adjusted complication rates, using data from a prospective, externally audited, clinical-outcomes registry involving 10,343 patients. Mean summary ratings of technical skill ranged from 2.6 to 4.8 across the 20 surgeons. The bottom quartile of surgical skill, as compared with the top quartile, was associated with higher complication rates (14.5% vs. 5.2%, Pbariatric surgeons varied widely, and greater skill was associated with fewer postoperative complications and lower rates of reoperation, readmission, and visits to the emergency department. Although these findings are preliminary, they suggest that peer rating of operative skill may be an effective strategy for assessing a surgeon's proficiency.

Differential Relationships of Anxiety and Autism Symptoms on Social Skills in Young Boys with Fragile X Syndrome

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Reisinger, Debra L.; Roberts, Jane E.

2017-01-01

Social skills are critical for academic, social, and psychological success of children with both typical and atypical development. Boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS) are at high risk for social skill impairments, given intellectual impairments and secondary conditions. The present study examines the impact of adaptive behavior, autism symptoms,…

Pre-registration dietetic students' attitudes to learning communication skills.

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Power, B T; Lennie, S C

2012-04-01

  Communication is a core skill and a prerequisite for dietitians' clinical competence. It is generally acknowledged that communication skills can be taught and learned. There is a paucity of published work identifying dietetic students' attitudes towards learning communication skills, and understanding this is important.   The present cross-sectional study aimed to address this issue using an adapted version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS), which was designed to capture information concerning positive and negative attitudes to learning communication skills. An online questionnaire was sent to all undergraduate and post-graduate dietetic programmes in the UK.   Of the students' solicited for enrolment in the study, 33.4% (n = 300) completed the questionnaire. A one-way analysis of variance showed attitudes to learning communication skills differed significantly between years of study on both subscales of the CSAS. Subsequent analyses indicated that first-year students' attitudes to learning communication skills were significantly more positive than those of fourth-year students (P = 0.042). Third-year students had significantly more positive attitudes to learning communication skills than fourth-year students (P = 0.028). Negative attitudes were also linked to the year of study with fourth-year students having significantly more negative attitudes than third-year students (P = 0.046). Sex, practice placement experience and parental occupation did not significantly influence attitudes to learning communication skills.   These findings indicate that efforts are required to maintain positive attitudes to learning communication skills. Further longitudinal studies are recommended in this respect. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics © 2012 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Supporting learning skills in visual art classes: The benefits of teacher awareness

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Helen Arov

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study focused on middle school art teachers supporting the development of students learning skills, specifically their awareness of the framework of learning skills. It also looked at the relations between the teaching practices teachers use for supporting learning skills and students' learning motivation in art classes. The study combined qualitative and quantitative research methods. The class observations and interviews were conducted with ten Estonian middle school art teachers. One hundred and forty-eight students from the observed classes filled out the learning motivation questionnaire about their interest and achievement goals in visual arts. The study draws attention to the importance of teachers being aware of and valuing learning skills alongside subject specific knowledge, as it could enhance students autonomous motivation and support adaptive goal setting.

Do young novice drivers overestimate their driving skills more than experienced drivers? : different methods lead to different conclusions.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Craen, S. de Twisk, D.A.M. Hagenzieker, M.P. Elffers, H. & Brookhuis, K.A.

2011-01-01

In this study the authors argue that drivers have to make an assessment of their own driving skills, in order to sufficiently adapt to their task demands in traffic. There are indications that drivers in general, but novice drivers in particular, overestimate their driving skills. However, study

Effect of Delayed Reinforcement on Skill Acquisition during Discrete-Trial Instruction: Implications for Treatment-Integrity Errors in Academic Settings

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Carroll, Regina A.; Kodak, Tiffany; Adolf, Kari J.

2016-01-01

We used an adapted alternating treatments design to compare skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction using immediate reinforcement, delayed reinforcement with immediate praise, and delayed reinforcement for 2 children with autism spectrum disorder. Participants acquired the skills taught with immediate reinforcement; however, delayed…

Collaborative Approaches Needed to Close the Big Data Skills Gap

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Steven Miller

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The big data and analytics talent discussion has largely focused on a single role – the data scientist. However, the need is much broader than data scientists. Data has become a strategic business asset. Every professional occupation must adapt to this new mindset. Universities in partnership with industry must move quickly to ensure that the graduates they produce have the required skills for the age of big data. Existing curricula should be reviewed and adapted to ensure relevance. New curricula and degree programs are needed to meet the needs of industry.

Writing Skill and Categorical Error Analysis: A Study of First Year Undergraduate University Students

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Adnan Satariyan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract This study identifies and analyses the common errors in writing skill of the first year students of Azad University of South Tehran Branch in relation to their first language (L1, the type of high school they graduated, and their exposure to media and technology in order to learn English. It also determines the categories in which the errors are committed (content, organisation/discourse, vocabulary, mechanics, or syntax and whether or not there is a significant difference in the percentage of errors committed and these categories. Participants of this study are 190 first year students that are asked to write an essay. An error analysis model adapted from Brown (2001 and Gayeta (2002 is then used to evaluate the essay writings in terms of content, organisation, vocabulary, mechanics, and syntax or language use. The results of the study show that the students have greater difficulties in organisation, content, and vocabulary and experience less difficulties in mechanics and syntax.

The effect of Problem/Project-Based Learning on a desired skill set for construction professionals

Science.gov (United States)

Sirotiak, Todd L.

The purpose of this study was to investigate if a Problem/Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach can affect certain non-technical, "soft" skills of construction engineers. Such skills include leadership, adaptability, and stress management. In mixed design research, quantitative and qualitative data are assembled and analyzed collectively. For this study, two separate assessment tools were used for the quantitative portion, while open-ended written reflections and a partially closed-ended senior questionnaire were implemented for the qualitative portion. A hypothetical model was used to investigate certain soft skills based on prior research documenting need. Skills investigated were confidence, stress coping, leadership, communication skills, adaptability, and management skills. Descriptive statistics, open-ended final written reflections, and a partially closed-ended senior questionnaire were used to analyze the data. PBL is a process in which the students are challenged to develop realistic solutions on open, less structured, real world type problems. The results of this study performed with the combined count of nearly 60 students suggest that PBL can influence several soft skills of senior construction engineers. Specifically, these findings demonstrate the following: (a) PBL appears to affect students' soft skills; (b) students appear to recognize the realism and "real world" applicability that PBL brings to their skill development; and (c) the data suggest that the experience is holistic and offers opportunities for balanced growth in several ways. Some key competencies such as communication and leadership indicated significant enhancements. Although this study was limited to one academic year of the university's construction engineering program, it provides interesting insight to changes within the time period investigated. This study should be replicated in other construction engineering environments to investigate a larger population sample. In addition

Sleep benefits consolidation of visuo-motor adaptation learning in older adults.

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Mantua, Janna; Baran, Bengi; Spencer, Rebecca M C

2016-02-01

Sleep is beneficial for performance across a range of memory tasks in young adults, but whether memories are similarly consolidated in older adults is less clear. Performance benefits have been observed following sleep in older adults for declarative learning tasks, but this benefit may be reduced for non-declarative, motor skill learning tasks. To date, studies of sleep-dependent consolidation of motor learning in older adults are limited to motor sequence tasks. To examine whether reduced sleep-dependent consolidation in older adults is generalizable to other forms of motor skill learning, we examined performance changes over intervals of sleep and wake in young (n = 62) and older adults (n = 61) using a mirror-tracing task, which assesses visuo-motor adaptation learning. Participants learned the task either in the morning or in evening, and performance was assessed following a 12-h interval containing overnight sleep or daytime wake. Contrary to our prediction, both young adults and older adults exhibited sleep-dependent gains in visuo-motor adaptation. There was a correlation between performance improvement over sleep and percent of the night in non-REM stage 2 sleep. These results indicate that motor skill consolidation remains intact with increasing age although this relationship may be limited to specific forms of motor skill learning.

SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCATIONAL TEACHER CANDIDATES

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I Made Sudana

2015-02-01

talent themselves, (2 environmental adaptation, (3 involvement in the organization and (4 development of social life and soul of educational. There needs to be a policy of the leaders of institutions to incorporate soft skills as part of the curriculum and study for the development of the model and test to kwoning the effectiveness of the model.

Recommendation System for Adaptive Learning.

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Chen, Yunxiao; Li, Xiaoou; Liu, Jingchen; Ying, Zhiliang

2018-01-01

An adaptive learning system aims at providing instruction tailored to the current status of a learner, differing from the traditional classroom experience. The latest advances in technology make adaptive learning possible, which has the potential to provide students with high-quality learning benefit at a low cost. A key component of an adaptive learning system is a recommendation system, which recommends the next material (video lectures, practices, and so on, on different skills) to the learner, based on the psychometric assessment results and possibly other individual characteristics. An important question then follows: How should recommendations be made? To answer this question, a mathematical framework is proposed that characterizes the recommendation process as a Markov decision problem, for which decisions are made based on the current knowledge of the learner and that of the learning materials. In particular, two plain vanilla systems are introduced, for which the optimal recommendation at each stage can be obtained analytically.

Skills Development for Poverty Reduction (SDPR): The Case of Tajikistan

Science.gov (United States)

Wallenborn, Manfred

2009-01-01

Vocational education and training (VET) can contribute to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. A key to economic and social progress is the training of better-qualified individuals and skilled enterprise staff who will be more productive, improving goods, increasing incomes and adapting to changing markets. Experts…

College Student Narratives about Learning and Using Self-Advocacy Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Daly-Cano, Meada; Vaccaro, Annemarie; Newman, Barbara

2015-01-01

Self-advocacy is the ability to communicate one's needs and wants and to make decisions about the supports needed to achieve them (Stodden, Conway, & Chang, 2003). Research shows self-advocacy skills are related to academic performance and successful adaptation to college (Adams & Proctor, 2010; Getzel & Thoma, 2008; Hadley, 2006;…

Adaptation to altered balance conditions in unilateral amputees due to atherosclerosis: a randomized controlled study

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Bretz Éva

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Amputation impairs the ability to balance. We examined adaptation strategies in balance following dysvascularity-induced unilateral tibial amputation in skilled prosthetic users (SPU and first fitted amputees (FFA (N = 28. Methods Excursions of center of pressure (COP were determined during 20 s quiet standing using a stabilometry system with eyes-open on both legs or on the non-affected leg(s. Main measures: COP trajectories and time functions; distribution of reaction forces between the two legs; inclination angles obtained through second order regression analysis using stabilogram data. Results FFA vs SPU demonstrated 27.8% greater postural sway in bilateral stance (p = 0.0004. Postural sway area was smaller in FFA standing on the non-affected leg compared with SPU (p = 0.028. The slope of the regression line indicating postural stability was nearly identical in FFA and SPU and the direction of regression line was opposite for the left and right leg amputees. Conclusion Of the two adaptation strategies in balance, the first appears before amputation due to pain and fatigue in the affected leg. This strategy appears in the form of reduced postural sway while standing on the non-affected leg. The second adaptation occurs during rehabilitation and regular use of the prosthesis resulting in normal weightbearing associated with reduced postural sway on two legs and return to the normal postural stability on one leg.

Adapting tests of sign language assessment for other sign languages--a review of linguistic, cultural, and psychometric problems.

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Haug, Tobias; Mann, Wolfgang

2008-01-01

Given the current lack of appropriate assessment tools for measuring deaf children's sign language skills, many test developers have used existing tests of other sign languages as templates to measure the sign language used by deaf people in their country. This article discusses factors that may influence the adaptation of assessment tests from one natural sign language to another. Two tests which have been adapted for several other sign languages are focused upon: the Test for American Sign Language and the British Sign Language Receptive Skills Test. A brief description is given of each test as well as insights from ongoing adaptations of these tests for other sign languages. The problems reported in these adaptations were found to be grounded in linguistic and cultural differences, which need to be considered for future test adaptations. Other reported shortcomings of test adaptation are related to the question of how well psychometric measures transfer from one instrument to another.

Assessing employability capacities and career adaptability in a sample of human resource professionals

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Melinde Coetzee

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Orientation: Employers have come to recognise graduates’ employability capacities and their ability to adapt to new work demands as important human capital resources for sustaining a competitive business advantage. Research purpose: The study sought (1 to ascertain whether a significant relationship exists between a set of graduate employability capacities and a set of career adaptability capacities and (2 to identify the variables that contributed the most to this relationship. Motivation for the study: Global competitive markets and technological advances are increasingly driving the demand for graduate knowledge and skills in a wide variety of jobs. Contemporary career theory further emphasises career adaptability across the lifespan as a critical skill for career management agency. Despite the apparent importance attached to employees’ employability and career adaptability, there seems to be a general lack of research investigating the association between these constructs. Research approach, design and method: A cross-sectional, quantitative research design approach was followed. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlations and canonical correlation analysis were performed to achieve the objective of the study. The participants (N = 196 were employed in professional positions in the human resource field and were predominantly early career black people and women. Main findings: The results indicated positive multivariate relationships between the variables and showed that lifelong learning capacities and problem solving, decision-making and interactive skills contributed the most to explaining the participants’ career confidence, career curiosity and career control. Practical/managerial implications: The study suggests that developing professional graduates’ employability capacities may strengthen their career adaptability. These capacities were shown to explain graduates’ active engagement in career management

Transfer of communication skills to the workplace: impact of a 38-hour communication skills training program designed for radiotherapy teams.

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Merckaert, Isabelle; Delevallez, France; Gibon, Anne-Sophie; Liénard, Aurore; Libert, Yves; Delvaux, Nicole; Marchal, Serge; Etienne, Anne-Marie; Bragard, Isabelle; Reynaert, Christine; Slachmuylder, Jean-Louis; Scalliet, Pierre; Van Houtte, Paul; Coucke, Philippe; Razavi, Darius

2015-03-10

This study assessed the efficacy of a 38-hour communication skills training program designed to train a multidisciplinary radiotherapy team. Four radiotherapy teams were randomly assigned to a training program or a waiting list. Assessments were scheduled at baseline and after training for the training group and at baseline and 4 months later for the waiting list group. Assessments included an audio recording of a radiotherapy planning session to assess team members' communication skills and expression of concerns of patients with breast cancer (analyzed with content analysis software) and an adapted European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer satisfaction with care questionnaire completed by patients at the end of radiotherapy. Two hundred thirty-seven radiotherapy planning sessions were recorded. Compared with members of the untrained teams, members of the trained teams acquired, over time, more assessment skills (P = .003) and more supportive skills (P = .050) and provided more setting information (P = .010). Over time, patients interacting with members of the trained teams asked more open questions (P = .022), expressed more emotional words (P = .025), and exhibited a higher satisfaction level regarding nurses' interventions (P = .028). The 38-hour training program facilitated transfer of team member learned communication skills to the clinical practice and improved patients' satisfaction with care. © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Translation and adaptation of functional auditory performance indicators (FAPI

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Karina Ferreira

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Work with deaf children has gained new attention since the expectation and goal of therapy has expanded to language development and subsequent language learning. Many clinical tests were developed for evaluation of speech sound perception in young children in response to the need for accurate assessment of hearing skills that developed from the use of individual hearing aids or cochlear implants. These tests also allow the evaluation of the rehabilitation program. However, few of these tests are available in Portuguese. Evaluation with the Functional Auditory Performance Indicators (FAPI generates a child's functional auditory skills profile, which lists auditory skills in an integrated and hierarchical order. It has seven hierarchical categories, including sound awareness, meaningful sound, auditory feedback, sound source localizing, auditory discrimination, short-term auditory memory, and linguistic auditory processing. FAPI evaluation allows the therapist to map the child's hearing profile performance, determine the target for increasing the hearing abilities, and develop an effective therapeutic plan. Objective: Since the FAPI is an American test, the inventory was adapted for application in the Brazilian population. Material and Methods: The translation was done following the steps of translation and back translation, and reproducibility was evaluated. Four translated versions (two originals and two back-translated were compared, and revisions were done to ensure language adaptation and grammatical and idiomatic equivalence. Results: The inventory was duly translated and adapted. Conclusion: Further studies about the application of the translated FAPI are necessary to make the test practicable in Brazilian clinical use.

Global trends, local impact: the new era of skilled worker migration and the implications for nursing mobility.

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Nelson, Sioban

2013-01-01

The global movement towards free trade and market integration has enabled greater mobility for skilled professionals, including nurses. As of 2015, newly graduated Canadian nurses will enter the register with an exam prepared by the US-based National Council of State Boards of Nursing, making Canadian nurses possibly the most mobile skilled workers in North America. But given the fragmentation of Canada's internal labour market, it is the United States that stands to benefit most from greater nurse mobility.

The Association Between Social Skills and Mental Health in School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, With and Without Intellectual Disability.

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Ratcliffe, Belinda; Wong, Michelle; Dossetor, David; Hayes, Susan

2015-08-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with social skills deficits and co-occurring mental health difficulties. ASD frequently co-occurs with Intellectual Disability (ID). There is scant literature exploring the association between social skills and mental health in children with ASD, with or without ID. Participants were 292 children aged six to 13 with ASD (217 without ID; 76 with Mild ID). Parents and teachers rated social skills and mental health using standardised questionnaires. Greater mental health difficulties were associated with greater social responsiveness difficulties and poorer social skills across the sample. Effect sizes were large. Social skills explained a significant proportion of the variance in mental health scores across the sample. The study has important implications for treatment and future research.

Building resilience: how the urban poor can drive climate adaptation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swalheim, Sarah; Dodman, David

2008-11-15

Adaptation – preparing for and coping with climate impacts – is now a key issue in climate negotiations. This is real progress from a decade ago, when mitigation alone dominated the climate agenda. But adaptation itself needs to move on. The 900 million urban dwellers living in poverty worldwide will likely be among the worst affected by climate change, yet they hardly feature in adaptation policies and practices. These people, most living in the world's poorer countries, urgently need efficient, cost-effective solutions. Community-based adaption is one. Now widely used in rural areas, CBA allows local people to identify and address adaptation issues, building a lasting legacy of skills and ownership. But for CBA to work in urban areas, adaptation funding needs to reach the grassroots organisations and city governments that will initiate and deliver it.

'Skills for growing up': supporting autonomy in young people with kidney disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dr. A.L. van Staa; MSc M.A.C. Peeters; Dr. J.N.T. Sattoe; Dr. S.R. Hilberink

2014-01-01

End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) may interfere with children’s developmental task of acquiringautonomy and participation. The Skills for Growing Up tool encourages normal development towards independence andautonomy during paediatric rehabilitation. This study aimed to adapt this self-management tool

Self-assessment of intercultural communication skills: a survey of physicians and medical students in Geneva, Switzerland.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudelson, Patricia; Perron, Noelle Junod; Perneger, Thomas

2011-09-01

Physicians working with multicultural populations need to know how to elicit the patient's understanding of the illness; determine the patient's sociocultural context and identify any issues that might affect care; communicate effectively across patient-provider social and cultural differences; and collaborate effectively with an interpreter. Skills self-assessment can contribute to identifying training needs and monitoring skills development in these areas. As part of a larger study exploring the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Geneva physicians and medical students regarding the care of immigrant patients, we asked respondents to self-rate their ability to perform a range of common yet challenging intercultural communication tasks. Overall, respondents rated themselves less competent at intercultural tasks than at basic medical skills and less competent at specific intercultural communication skills than at general intercultural skills. Qualified doctors (as opposed to students), those with greater interest in caring for immigrants, and those who rarely encountered difficulties with immigrants rated themselves significantly more competent for all clinical tasks. Having a higher percentage of immigrant patients and previous cultural competence training predicted greater self-rated intercultural communication skills. Our self-assessment results suggest that students and physicians should be provided with the opportunity to practice intercultural skills with immigrant patients as part of their cultural competence training. To strengthen the validity of self-assessment measures, they should ideally be combined with more objective methods to assess actual skills.

Visuomotor adaptation in head-mounted virtual reality versus conventional training

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Anglin, J. M.; Sugiyama, T.; Liew, S.-L.

2017-01-01

Immersive, head-mounted virtual reality (HMD-VR) provides a unique opportunity to understand how changes in sensory environments affect motor learning. However, potential differences in mechanisms of motor learning and adaptation in HMD-VR versus a conventional training (CT) environment have not been extensively explored. Here, we investigated whether adaptation on a visuomotor rotation task in HMD-VR yields similar adaptation effects in CT and whether these effects are achieved through similar mechanisms. Specifically, recent work has shown that visuomotor adaptation may occur via both an implicit, error-based internal model and a more cognitive, explicit strategic component. We sought to measure both overall adaptation and balance between implicit and explicit mechanisms in HMD-VR versus CT. Twenty-four healthy individuals were placed in either HMD-VR or CT and trained on an identical visuomotor adaptation task that measured both implicit and explicit components. Our results showed that the overall timecourse of adaption was similar in both HMD-VR and CT. However, HMD-VR participants utilized a greater cognitive strategy than CT, while CT participants engaged in greater implicit learning. These results suggest that while both conditions produce similar results in overall adaptation, the mechanisms by which visuomotor adaption occurs in HMD-VR appear to be more reliant on cognitive strategies. PMID:28374808

Physiological Self-Regulation and Adaptive Automation

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Prinzell, Lawrence J.; Pope, Alan T.; Freeman, Frederick G.

2007-01-01

Adaptive automation has been proposed as a solution to current problems of human-automation interaction. Past research has shown the potential of this advanced form of automation to enhance pilot engagement and lower cognitive workload. However, there have been concerns voiced regarding issues, such as automation surprises, associated with the use of adaptive automation. This study examined the use of psychophysiological self-regulation training with adaptive automation that may help pilots deal with these problems through the enhancement of cognitive resource management skills. Eighteen participants were assigned to 3 groups (self-regulation training, false feedback, and control) and performed resource management, monitoring, and tracking tasks from the Multiple Attribute Task Battery. The tracking task was cycled between 3 levels of task difficulty (automatic, adaptive aiding, manual) on the basis of the electroencephalogram-derived engagement index. The other two tasks remained in automatic mode that had a single automation failure. Those participants who had received self-regulation training performed significantly better and reported lower National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index scores than participants in the false feedback and control groups. The theoretical and practical implications of these results for adaptive automation are discussed.

The Relationships among Writing Skills, Writing Anxiety and Metacognitive Awareness

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Balta, Elif Emine

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among students' argumentative text writing skills, writing anxiety, and metacognitive awareness. The participants were composed of 375 8th graders in six middle schools in Sivas. Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (B Form) which was adapted in to Turkish by Karakelle & Saraç (2007)…

Sleep deprivation reduces perceived emotional intelligence and constructive thinking skills.

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Killgore, William D S; Kahn-Greene, Ellen T; Lipizzi, Erica L; Newman, Rachel A; Kamimori, Gary H; Balkin, Thomas J

2008-07-01

Insufficient sleep can adversely affect a variety of cognitive abilities, ranging from simple alertness to higher-order executive functions. Although the effects of sleep loss on mood and cognition are well documented, there have been no controlled studies examining its effects on perceived emotional intelligence (EQ) and constructive thinking, abilities that require the integration of affect and cognition and are central to adaptive functioning. Twenty-six healthy volunteers completed the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQi) and the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) at rested baseline and again after 55.5 and 58 h of continuous wakefulness, respectively. Relative to baseline, sleep deprivation was associated with lower scores on Total EQ (decreased global emotional intelligence), Intrapersonal functioning (reduced self-regard, assertiveness, sense of independence, and self-actualization), Interpersonal functioning (reduced empathy toward others and quality of interpersonal relationships), Stress Management skills (reduced impulse control and difficulty with delay of gratification), and Behavioral Coping (reduced positive thinking and action orientation). Esoteric Thinking (greater reliance on formal superstitions and magical thinking processes) was increased. These findings are consistent with the neurobehavioral model suggesting that sleep loss produces temporary changes in cerebral metabolism, cognition, emotion, and behavior consistent with mild prefrontal lobe dysfunction.

Clinical skills assessment of procedural and advanced communication skills: performance expectations of residency program directors

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Langenau, Erik E.; Zhang, Xiuyuan; Roberts, William L.; DeChamplain, Andre F.; Boulet, John R.

2012-01-01

Background High stakes medical licensing programs are planning to augment and adapt current examinations to be relevant for a two-decision point model for licensure: entry into supervised practice and entry into unsupervised practice. Therefore, identifying which skills should be assessed at each decision point is critical for informing examination development, and gathering input from residency program directors is important. Methods Using data from previously developed surveys and expert panels, a web-delivered survey was distributed to 3,443 residency program directors. For each of the 28 procedural and 18 advanced communication skills, program directors were asked which clinical skills should be assessed, by whom, when, and how. Descriptive statistics were collected, and Intraclass Correlations (ICC) were conducted to determine consistency across different specialties. Results Among 347 respondents, program directors reported that all advanced communication and some procedural tasks are important to assess. The following procedures were considered ‘important’ or ‘extremely important’ to assess: sterile technique (93.8%), advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) (91.1%), basic life support (BLS) (90.0%), interpretation of electrocardiogram (89.4%) and blood gas (88.7%). Program directors reported that most clinical skills should be assessed at the end of the first year of residency (or later) and not before graduation from medical school. A minority were considered important to assess prior to the start of residency training: demonstration of respectfulness (64%), sterile technique (67.2%), BLS (68.9%), ACLS (65.9%) and phlebotomy (63.5%). Discussion Results from this study support that assessing procedural skills such as cardiac resuscitation, sterile technique, and phlebotomy would be amenable to assessment at the end of medical school, but most procedural and advanced communications skills would be amenable to assessment at the end of the first

Computerization and skill bifurcation: the role of of task complexity in creating skill gains and losses

OpenAIRE

Ben-Ner, Avner; Urtasun Alonso, Ainhoa

2013-01-01

Does computerization increase or reduce the extent of skills that workers are required to have? Autor, Levy and Murnane (2003) show empirically that adoption of computer-based technologies (CBT) was greater in industries historically intensive in routine tasks, and that computerization increased complex problem-solving and communication activities and reduced routine cognitive and manual activities. We extend this argument and argue that the effects of CBT are neither universal nor uniform, b...

Small cities face greater impact from automation

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Lijun; Cebrian, Manuel; Rahwan, Iyad

2018-01-01

The city has proved to be the most successful form of human agglomeration and provides wide employment opportunities for its dwellers. As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence revive concerns about the impact of automation on jobs, a question looms: how will automation affect employment in cities? Here, we provide a comparative picture of the impact of automation across US urban areas. Small cities will undertake greater adjustments, such as worker displacement and job content substitutions. We demonstrate that large cities exhibit increased occupational and skill specialization due to increased abundance of managerial and technical professions. These occupations are not easily automatable, and, thus, reduce the potential impact of automation in large cities. Our results pass several robustness checks including potential errors in the estimation of occupational automation and subsampling of occupations. Our study provides the first empirical law connecting two societal forces: urban agglomeration and automation's impact on employment. PMID:29436514

Small cities face greater impact from automation.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Morgan R; Sun, Lijun; Cebrian, Manuel; Youn, Hyejin; Rahwan, Iyad

2018-02-01

The city has proved to be the most successful form of human agglomeration and provides wide employment opportunities for its dwellers. As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence revive concerns about the impact of automation on jobs, a question looms: how will automation affect employment in cities? Here, we provide a comparative picture of the impact of automation across US urban areas. Small cities will undertake greater adjustments, such as worker displacement and job content substitutions. We demonstrate that large cities exhibit increased occupational and skill specialization due to increased abundance of managerial and technical professions. These occupations are not easily automatable, and, thus, reduce the potential impact of automation in large cities. Our results pass several robustness checks including potential errors in the estimation of occupational automation and subsampling of occupations. Our study provides the first empirical law connecting two societal forces: urban agglomeration and automation's impact on employment. © 2018 The Authors.

ENHANCING WRITING SKILL THROUGH WRITING PROCESS APPROACH

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M. Zaini Miftah

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The study is aimed at developing the implementation of Writing Process Approach (WPA to enhance the students’ skill in writing essay. The study employed Classroom Action Research. The subjects of the study were 15 university students enrolled in the writing class. The data were gained from writing task, observation and field notes. The findings show that the implementation of WPA with the proper model procedures developed can enhance the students’ skill in writing essay. Before the strategy was implemented, the percentage of the students achieving the score greater than or equal to C (56-70 was 40.00% (6 students of the class. However, after the strategy was implemented in Cycle I, it enhanced enough to 60.00% (9 students of the class, but this result did not meet the criteria of success set up in the study. Next, in Cycle II it increased slightly to 86.67% (13 students of the class. Thus, the enhancement of the students’ skill in writing essay can be reached but it should follow the proper model procedures of the implementation of WPA developed. Keywords: writing process approach, writing skill, essay writing

Management skills as competitive advantage. The case of public sector in Córdoba (Spain

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Francisco Javier Pereda Pérez

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To analyze the assessment of management skills in the public sector of Cordoba (Spain, trying to find out the possible relationship or influence between the administration of belonging to a set of management skills.Design/methodology/approach: Initial Theoretical study on the public sector, public management and managerial skills, conducting fieldwork affecting four administrations and application of statistical techniques contrast, which, finally, the analysis of their results and the conclusions drawn from them.Findings and Originality/value: The findings of an investigation into the management skills in the context of the public sector in the Province of Córdoba (Spain are presented. At present the personal, interpersonal and managerial skills to manage, are becoming increasingly important in companies and organizations. The strong commitment to the development of management skills becomes a true competitive advantage capable of leading business improvement processes in organizations, especially those in which the human resource is crucial, as is the case of the public sector.Research limitations/implications: To progress in research on management skills in the public sector, it would be desirable to develop more sector research to comparative studies the results of which lead to the establishment of specific labor policies aimed at improving the selection of public employees, developing training policies that emphasize the enhancement of skills and a true career based on merit and efficient performance.Social implications: The selection, training and development of public employees, and greater give greater importance to human resource processes in which the skills and competencies should fill the role they need.Originality / value: The better knowledge of the public sector, the importance of having competent public managers , and basically point out the critical importance of developing leadership skills at all levels

Older adults learn less, but still reduce metabolic cost, during motor adaptation

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Huang, Helen J.

2013-01-01

The ability to learn new movements and dynamics is important for maintaining independence with advancing age. Age-related sensorimotor changes and increased muscle coactivation likely alter the trial-and-error-based process of adapting to new movement demands (motor adaptation). Here, we asked, to what extent is motor adaptation to novel dynamics maintained in older adults (≥65 yr)? We hypothesized that older adults would adapt to the novel dynamics less well than young adults. Because older adults often use muscle coactivation, we expected older adults to use greater muscle coactivation during motor adaptation than young adults. Nevertheless, we predicted that older adults would reduce muscle activity and metabolic cost with motor adaptation, similar to young adults. Seated older (n = 11, 73.8 ± 5.6 yr) and young (n = 15, 23.8 ± 4.7 yr) adults made targeted reaching movements while grasping a robotic arm. We measured their metabolic rate continuously via expired gas analysis. A force field was used to add novel dynamics. Older adults had greater movement deviations and compensated for just 65% of the novel dynamics compared with 84% in young adults. As expected, older adults used greater muscle coactivation than young adults. Last, older adults reduced muscle activity with motor adaptation and had consistent reductions in metabolic cost later during motor adaptation, similar to young adults. These results suggest that despite increased muscle coactivation, older adults can adapt to the novel dynamics, albeit less accurately. These results also suggest that reductions in metabolic cost may be a fundamental feature of motor adaptation. PMID:24133222

Human whole body cold adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Daanen, Hein A M; Van Marken Lichtenbelt, Wouter D

2016-01-01

Reviews on whole body human cold adaptation generally do not distinguish between population studies and dedicated acclimation studies, leading to confusing results. Population studies show that indigenous black Africans have reduced shivering thermogenesis in the cold and poor cold induced vasodilation in fingers and toes compared to Caucasians and Inuit. About 40,000 y after humans left Africa, natives in cold terrestrial areas seems to have developed not only behavioral adaptations, but also physiological adaptations to cold. Dedicated studies show that repeated whole body exposure of individual volunteers, mainly Caucasians, to severe cold results in reduced cold sensation but no major physiological changes. Repeated cold water immersion seems to slightly reduce metabolic heat production, while repeated exposure to milder cold conditions shows some increase in metabolic heat production, in particular non-shivering thermogenesis. In conclusion, human cold adaptation in the form of increased metabolism and insulation seems to have occurred during recent evolution in populations, but cannot be developed during a lifetime in cold conditions as encountered in temperate and arctic regions. Therefore, we mainly depend on our behavioral skills to live in and survive the cold.

An Investigation of Problem-Solving Skills of Preservice Science Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Bahtiyar, Asiye; Can, Bilge

2016-01-01

Advancements in science and technology have created problems for some people who have difficulties adapting to the new environment. Improving problem solving skills of these people is very important for them to so have the ability to cope with new problems. From the education perspective, it is believed that teachers should help students by not…

Graduate students' teaching experiences improve their methodological research skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Feldon, David F; Peugh, James; Timmerman, Briana E; Maher, Michelle A; Hurst, Melissa; Strickland, Denise; Gilmore, Joanna A; Stiegelmeyer, Cindy

2011-08-19

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate students are often encouraged to maximize their engagement with supervised research and minimize teaching obligations. However, the process of teaching students engaged in inquiry provides practice in the application of important research skills. Using a performance rubric, we compared the quality of methodological skills demonstrated in written research proposals for two groups of early career graduate students (those with both teaching and research responsibilities and those with only research responsibilities) at the beginning and end of an academic year. After statistically controlling for preexisting differences between groups, students who both taught and conducted research demonstrate significantly greater improvement in their abilities to generate testable hypotheses and design valid experiments. These results indicate that teaching experience can contribute substantially to the improvement of essential research skills.

Nuancing the role of social skills- a longitudinal study of early maternal psychological distress and adolescent depressive symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsen, Wendy; Karevold, Evalill Bølstad; Kaasbøll, Jannike; Kjeldsen, Anne

2018-04-10

Social skills might play an important role for the relationship between maternal psychological distress and subsequent development of depressive symptoms. The majority perspective is that social skills is adaptive and protective, but there is a need to also highlight the potential maladaptive effect of social skills in some settings or for some sub groups. The current study examined the longitudinal interplay between maternal-reported psychological distress in early childhood (age 1.5), and offspring reports on social skills and depressive symptoms in early (age 12.5) and middle adolescence (age 14.5). We used data from the Tracking Opportunities and Problems Study (TOPP), a community-based longitudinal study following Norwegian families to examine direct links and interactions between early maternal distress (measured with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist) and early adolescent offspring social skills (measured with the Social Skills Rating System) and middle adolescent depressive symptoms (measured with the Moods and Feelings Questionnaire) in 370 families (in total 740 mothers and adolescents). Exposure to childhood maternal distress predicted offspring depressive symptoms in middle adolescence. Higher social skills in early adolescence predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms for girls, but not for boys, in middle adolescence. An interaction effect was found in which adolescents exposed to early maternal distress who reported high social skills in early adolescence had the highest level of depressive symptoms in middle adolescence. The findings highlight the nuances in the role of social skills for adolescent depressive symptoms - having the potential to be both adaptive as well as maladaptive for some subgroups (those experiencing maternal psychological distress). This has important implications for social skill programs.

Parental management of peer relationships and early adolescents' social skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Mounts, Nina S

2011-04-01

Despite a growing body of research on parental management of peer relationships, little is known about the relationship between parental management of peers and early adolescents' social skills or the precursors to parental management of peer relationships. The goals of this short-term longitudinal investigation were to examine the relationship between parental management of peers (consulting and guiding), conflict about peers, and adolescents' social skills (cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control) and to examine potential precursors (goals of improving peer relationships and beliefs about authority over peer relationships) to parental management of peer relationships. A predominantly White sample (71%) of 75 seventh-graders (57% female) and their primary caregivers participated in the 9-month investigation. Caregivers completed questionnaires regarding goals of improving their adolescents' peer relationships, beliefs about parental authority over peer relationships, parental management of peers, and adolescents' social skills. Adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their social skills. Path analyses suggest that a greater number of caregivers' goals of improving peer relationships and higher beliefs about parental authority over peers were related to higher levels of consulting, guiding, and conflict about peers. Higher levels of conflict about peers in conjunction with higher levels of consulting were related to lower levels of assertion and responsibility in peer relationships over time. When parents reported having a greater number of goals of improving peer relationships, adolescents reported higher levels of cooperation, assertion, empathy, and self control over time. Findings suggest that caregivers' goals and beliefs are important in predicting parental management of peer relationships and adolescents' social skills over time, and that conflict about peers undermines caregivers' efforts to be positively involved in

Learner-Controlled Self-Observation is Advantageous for Motor Skill Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Ste-Marie, Diane M.; Vertes, Kelly A.; Law, Barbi; Rymal, Amanda M.

2013-01-01

There were two main objectives of this research. First, we wanted to examine whether video feedback of the self (self-observation) was more effective for motor skill learning when the choice to view the video was provided to the learner (learner-controlled, LC) as opposed to an experimenter-controlled (EC) delivery. Secondly, we explored whether there were differences in the self-regulatory processes of self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation, as well as perceived choice between the LC and EC conditions. Two groups (LC and EC) of children (M age of 11.2 years; SD = 1.89) attempted to learn a progression of trampoline skills during a 2-day acquisition phase in which video self-observation was available. The second acquisition day was followed by a no self-observation retention test 1 day later. It was hypothesized that, during retention, the LC group would be more self-efficacious about their ability to progress through the trampoline skills, show greater intrinsic motivation and perceived choice, and go further in skill progression than the EC group. Analysis of the acquisition data showed the LC group had greater increases in self-efficacy as compared to the EC group. Results of the retention test showed that the participants in the LC group obtained higher scores on the intrinsic motivation and perceived choice measures and had higher skill progression scores as compared to the EC group. Regression analysis showed that group assignment and self-efficacy were significant predictors of the physical performance benefits noted in retention. These findings are discussed within Zimmerman’s (2004) self-regulation of learning model. PMID:23355826

Learner-controlled self-observation is advantageous for motor skill acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diane M Ste-Marie

2013-01-01

Full Text Available There were two main objectives of this research. First, we wanted to examine whether video feedback of the self (self-observation was more effective for motor skill learning when the choice to view the video was provided to the learner (learner-controlled; LC as opposed to an experimenter-controlled (EC delivery. Secondly, we explored whether there were differences in the self-regulatory processes of self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation, as well as perceived choice between the LC and EC conditions. Two groups (LC and EC of children (M age of 11.2 years; SD = 1.89 attempted to learn a progression of trampoline skills during a two-day acquisition phase in which video self-observation was available. The second acquisition day was followed by a no self-observation retention test one day later. It was hypothesized that, during retention, the LC group would be more self-efficacious about their ability to progress through the trampoline skills, show greater intrinsic motivation and perceived choice, and go further in skill progression than the EC group. Analysis of the acquisition data showed the LC group had greater increases in self-efficacy as compared to the EC group. Results of the retention test showed that the participants in the LC group obtained higher scores on the intrinsic motivation and perceived choice measures and had higher skill progression scores as compared to the EC group. Regression analysis showed that group assignment and self-efficacy were significant predictors of the physical performance benefits noted in retention. These findings are discussed within Zimmerman’s (2004 self-regulation of learning model.

Automated Motor Skills Training Optimized for Individual Differences.

Science.gov (United States)

1980-11-01

Several preliminary applications of adaptive training to I complex synthetic flight trainers have been attempted (Loses, I ,5 I Ellis, Norman , and Matheny...Association, San Francisco, 1976. Lowes, A. H., Ellis, N. C., Norman , D. A., and Matheny, W. 3. Improving piloting skills in turbulent air using a self...intercept observer. Orlando, Florida: Naval Training Equipment Center, NAVTRAEQUIPCEN 71-C-6219-1, 1973. Smallwood , R. D. A decision structure for

Youth survival: addressing the role of promoting the acquisition of the prosocial triad and other survival skills in youth.

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Pratt, Helen D; Pratt, Brandy M; Sackett, Mila

2007-06-01

This article addresses the issue of teaching youth skills that will help them to maximize opportunities and positive consequences and minimize exposure to negative consequences in their lives. These skills will allow them to mature into mentally healthy, productive members of society. Essential skills that are critical to allow this maturational process include developing prosocial skills; the ability to recognize, discriminate the level of threat, and use strategies to avoid danger; and the ability to adapt to the changing demands of his or her environment.

Extrarenal potassium adaptation: role of skeletal muscle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blachley, J.D.; Crider, B.P.; Johnson, J.H.

1986-01-01

Following the ingestion of a high-potassium-content diet for only a few days, the plasma potassium of rats rises only modestly in response to a previously lethal dose of potassium salts. This acquired tolerance, termed potassium adaptation, is principally the result of increased capacity to excrete potassium into the urine. However, a substantial portion of the acute potassium dose is not immediately excreted and is apparently translocated into cells. Previous studies have failed to show an increase in the content of potassium of a variety of tissues from such animals. Using 86 Rb as a potassium analogue, we have shown that the skeletal muscle of potassium-adapted rats takes up significantly greater amounts of potassium in vivo in response to an acute challenge than does that of control animals. Furthermore, the same animals exhibit greater efflux of 86 Rb following the termination of the acute infusion. We have also shown that the Na+-K+-ATPase activity and ouabain-binding capacity of skeletal muscle microsomes are increased by the process of potassium adaptation. We conclude that skeletal muscle is an important participant in potassium adaptation and acts to temporarily buffer acute increases in the extracellular concentration of potassium

Work stressors, Chinese coping strategies, and job performance in Greater China.

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Lu, Luo; Kao, Shu-Fang; Siu, Oi-Ling; Lu, Chang-Qin

2010-08-01

The aim of this research was to jointly test effects of work stressors and coping strategies on job performance among employees in the Greater China region. A self-administered survey was conducted to collect data from three major cities in the region, namely Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei (N = 380). Four important work stressors were assessed: heavy workload, organizational constraints, lack of work autonomy, and interpersonal conflict. We used a four-factor model of Chinese coping strategies composed of hobbies/relaxation, active action, seeking social support, and passive adaptation. Job performance was indicated by both task performance (quantity of work, quality of work, job knowledge) and contextual performance (attendance, getting along with others). We found that: (1) work stressors were related to job performance. Specifically, workload had a positive relation with quantity of work, whereas organizational constraints had negative relations with quantity of work and attendance. In addition, interpersonal conflict had a negative relation with getting along with others. (2) Chinese positive coping strategies were positively related to job performance. Specifically, seeking social support had positive relations with quantity of work and getting along with others, whereas active action had positive relations with attendance and job knowledge. (3) Chinese passive adaptation coping behaviors were negatively related to job performance. Specifically, passive adaptation had negative relations with quantity of work, quality of work, and getting along with others. The present study thus found joint effects of work stressors and coping behaviors among Chinese employees in the Greater China region, encompassing three sub-societies of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Differential effects of Chinese positive and passive coping strategies were also noted. Most importantly, all these effects were demonstrated on multiple indicators of job performance, a rarely studied

Teaching communication skills to hospice teams: comparing the effectiveness of a communication skills laboratory with in-person, second life, and phone role-playing.

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Hamilton, Gillian; Ortega, Rosio; Hochstetler, Vicki; Pierson, Kristen; Lin, Peiyi; Lowes, Susan

2014-09-01

Communication skills are critical in hospice care but challenging to teach. Therefore, a hospice agency developed a communication skills laboratory for nurses and social workers. Learners role-played 3 common hospice scenarios. The role-play modalities were in-person, Second Life, and telephone. Learners were scored on 4 communication aspects. Learners in all modalities rated the laboratory as very effective. However, learners in the Second Life and phone modality showed greater improvements from scene 1 to 3 than those in the in-person modality. There were no significant differences in improvement between the Second Life and phone modalities. Results support the effectiveness of this communication skills laboratory while using different teaching modalities and show phone and Second Life role-plays were more effective than an in-person role-play. © The Author(s) 2013.

Transfer of Skill from a Virtual Reality Trainer to Real Juggling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gopher Daniel

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to evaluate transfer of training from a virtual reality environment that captures visual and temporal-spatial aspects of juggling, but not the motor demands of juggling. Transfer of skill to real juggling was examined by comparing juggling performance of novices that either experienced both the virtual training protocol and real juggling practice, or only practiced real juggling. After ten days of training, participants who have alternated between real and virtual training demonstrated comparable performance to those who only practiced real juggling. Moreover, they adapted better to instructed changes in temporal-spatial constraints. These results imply that juggling relevant skill subcomponents can be trained in the virtual environment, and support the notion that cognitive aspects of a skill can be separately trained to enhance the acquisition of a complex perceptual-motor task. This study was performed within the SKILLS integrated project of the EC 6th framework.

Recruitment of prefrontal-striatal circuit in response to skilled motor challenge.

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Guo, Yumei; Wang, Zhuo; Prathap, Sandhya; Holschneider, Daniel P

2017-12-13

A variety of physical fitness regimens have been shown to improve cognition, including executive function, yet our understanding of which parameters of motor training are important in optimizing outcomes remains limited. We used functional brain mapping to compare the ability of two motor challenges to acutely recruit the prefrontal-striatal circuit. The two motor tasks - walking in a complex running wheel with irregularly spaced rungs or walking in a running wheel with a smooth internal surface - differed only in the extent of skill required for their execution. Cerebral perfusion was mapped in rats by intravenous injection of [C]-iodoantipyrine during walking in either a motorized complex wheel or in a simple wheel. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was quantified by whole-brain autoradiography and analyzed in three-dimensional reconstructed brains by statistical parametric mapping and seed-based functional connectivity. Skilled or simple walking compared with rest, increased rCBF in regions of the motor circuit, somatosensory and visual cortex, as well as the hippocampus. Significantly greater rCBF increases were noted during skilled walking than for simple walking. Skilled walking, unlike simple walking or the resting condition, was associated with a significant positive functional connectivity in the prefrontal-striatal circuit (prelimbic cortex-dorsomedial striatum) and greater negative functional connectivity in the prefrontal-hippocampal circuit. Our findings suggest that the level of skill of a motor training task determines the extent of functional recruitment of the prefrontal-corticostriatal circuit, with implications for a new approach in neurorehabilitation that uses circuit-specific neuroplasticity to improve motor and cognitive functions.

Improved Retention of Chest Compression Psychomotor Skills With Brief "Rolling Refresher" Training.

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Niles, Dana E; Nishisaki, Akira; Sutton, Robert M; Elci, Okan U; Meaney, Peter A; OʼConnor, Kathleen A; Leffelman, Jessica; Kramer-Johansen, Jo; Berg, Robert A; Nadkarni, Vinay

2017-08-01

High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is critical to improve survival from cardiac arrest. However, cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and psychomotor skill proficiency are transient. We hypothesized that brief, in situ refresher training will improve chest compression (CC) psychomotor skill retention for bedside providers. Nurses completed a baseline skill evaluation of CC quality 6 months after traditional basic life support recertification. Data collected using ResusciAnne with SkillReporter included the following: CC depth, rate, complete release, and correct hand position. Total compliance was defined as 100% CC with depth of 50 mm or greater, rate of 100/min or greater, and more than 90% complete release. After the baseline evaluation, the subjects completed "Rolling Refresher" (RR) CC psychomotor training using audiovisual feedback every 2 to 3 months for 12 months until 30 seconds of CCs fulfilling total compliance criteria was achieved. Chest compression quality evaluations were repeated twice ("RR 6 month" and "RR 12 month" evaluation) after implementation of RR program. Thirty-seven providers enrolled and completed the baseline evaluation. Mean depth was 36.3 (9.7) mm, and 8% met criteria for depth, 35% for rate, and 5% for total compliance. After RRs were implemented, CC quality improved significantly at RR 6-month evaluation: odds ratio for meeting criteria were the following: depth of 35.1 (95% confidence interval = 2.5496, P = 0.009) and total compliance of 22.3 (95% confidence interval = 2.1239, P = 0.010). There was no difference in CC quality at RR 12-month versus RR 6-month evaluation. Retention of CC psychomotor skill quality is limited to 6 months after traditional basic life support recertification. Rolling Refresher CC training can significantly improve retention of CC psychomotor skills. Whether CC skills are improved, maintained, or deteriorate after 12 months of Refresher training and optimal frequency of Refreshers is

Recruitment of the prefrontal cortex and cerebellum in Parkinsonian rats following skilled aerobic exercise.

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Wang, Zhuo; Guo, Yumei; Myers, Kalisa G; Heintz, Ryan; Holschneider, Daniel P

2015-05-01

Exercise modality and complexity play a key role in determining neurorehabilitative outcome in Parkinson's disease (PD). Exercise training (ET) that incorporates both motor skill training and aerobic exercise has been proposed to synergistically improve cognitive and automatic components of motor control in PD patients. Here we introduced such a skilled aerobic ET paradigm in a rat model of dopaminergic deafferentation. Rats with bilateral, intra-striatal 6-hydroxydopamine lesions were exposed to forced ET for 4weeks, either on a simple running wheel (non-skilled aerobic exercise, NSAE) or on a complex wheel with irregularly spaced rungs (skilled aerobic exercise, SAE). Cerebral perfusion was mapped during horizontal treadmill walking or at rest using [(14)C]-iodoantipyrine 1week after the completion of ET. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was quantified by autoradiography and analyzed in 3-dimensionally reconstructed brains by statistical parametric mapping. SAE compared to NSAE resulted in equal or greater recovery in motor deficits, as well as greater increases in rCBF during walking in the prelimbic area of the prefrontal cortex, broad areas of the somatosensory cortex, and the cerebellum. NSAE compared to SAE animals showed greater activation in the dorsal caudate-putamen and dorsal hippocampus. Seed correlation analysis revealed enhanced functional connectivity in SAE compared to NSAE animals between the prelimbic cortex and motor areas, as well as altered functional connectivity between midline cerebellum and sensorimotor regions. Our study provides the first evidence for functional brain reorganization following skilled aerobic exercise in Parkinsonian rats, and suggests that SAE compared to NSAE results in enhancement of prefrontal cortex- and cerebellum-mediated control of motor function. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Haptic virtual reality for skill acquisition in endodontics.

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Suebnukarn, Siriwan; Haddawy, Peter; Rhienmora, Phattanapon; Gajananan, Kugamoorthy

2010-01-01

Haptic virtual reality (VR) has revolutionized the skill acquisition in dentistry. The strength of the haptic VR system is that it can automatically record the outcome and associated kinematic data on how each step of the task is performed, which are not available in the conventional skill training environments. The aim of this study was to assess skill acquisition in endodontics and to identify process and outcome variables for the quantification of proficiency. Twenty novices engaged in the experimental study that involved practicing the access opening task with the haptic VR system. Process (speed, force utilization, and bimanual coordination) and outcome variables were determined for assessing skill performance. These values were compared before and after training. Significant improvements were observed through training in all variables. A unique force used pattern and bimanual coordination were observed in each step of the access opening in the posttraining session. The novices also performed the tasks considerably faster with greater outcome within the first two to three training sessions. The study objectively showed that the novices could learn to perform access opening tasks faster and with more consistency, better bimanual dexterity, and better force utilization. The variables examined showed great promise as objective indicators of proficiency and skill acquisition in haptic VR.

Dealing with Change in Hong Kong Schools Using Strategic Thinking Skills

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Pang, Nicholas Sun-Keung; Pisapia, John

2012-01-01

This paper reports an investigation into the strategic thinking skills of school leaders in Hong Kong. By adapting the Strategic Thinking Questionnaire in the school context and based on data self-reported from 543 Hong Kong school leaders, three cognitive capabilities with strategic thinking were identified: reflection, systems thinking and…

The Role of Grit in College Student Health Care Management Skills and Health-Related Quality of Life.

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Sharkey, Christina M; Bakula, Dana M; Gamwell, Kaitlyn L; Mullins, Alexandria J; Chaney, John M; Mullins, Larry L

2017-10-01

To examine the relationship of grit, an intrapersonal characteristic defined by perseverance and passion for long-term goals, to health care management skills and adolescent and young adult (AYA) health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Higher levels of grit were expected to relate to greater health care management skills and HRQoL, and skills were predicted to mediate the relationship between grit and HRQoL. Four hundred seventy undergraduates (Mdnage=19, interquartile range = 2) completed online questionnaires, including the short Grit Scale, Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire, and 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) (HRQoL). Higher grit related to greater health care management skills (R2=0.15 p.05). This preliminary investigation illustrates the role of grit in AYA health, suggesting that it may be a target for interventions aimed at improving skills and HRQoL outcomes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Self-assessment of intercultural communication skills: a survey of physicians and medical students in Geneva, Switzerland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perneger Thomas

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Physicians working with multicultural populations need to know how to elicit the patient's understanding of the illness; determine the patient's sociocultural context and identify any issues that might affect care; communicate effectively across patient-provider social and cultural differences; and collaborate effectively with an interpreter. Skills self-assessment can contribute to identifying training needs and monitoring skills development in these areas. Methods As part of a larger study exploring the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Geneva physicians and medical students regarding the care of immigrant patients, we asked respondents to self-rate their ability to perform a range of common yet challenging intercultural communication tasks. Results Overall, respondents rated themselves less competent at intercultural tasks than at basic medical skills and less competent at specific intercultural communication skills than at general intercultural skills. Qualified doctors (as opposed to students, those with greater interest in caring for immigrants, and those who rarely encountered difficulties with immigrants rated themselves significantly more competent for all clinical tasks. Having a higher percentage of immigrant patients and previous cultural competence training predicted greater self-rated intercultural communication skills. Conclusion Our self-assessment results suggest that students and physicians should be provided with the opportunity to practice intercultural skills with immigrant patients as part of their cultural competence training. To strengthen the validity of self-assessment measures, they should ideally be combined with more objective methods to assess actual skills.

Parenting in 2 Worlds: Effects of a Culturally Adapted Intervention for Urban American Indians on Parenting Skills and Family Functioning

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Kulis, Stephen S.; Ayers, Stephanie L.; Harthun, Mary L.; Jager, Justin

2016-01-01

Parenting in 2 Worlds (P2W) is a culturally grounded parenting intervention that addresses the distinctive social and cultural worlds of urban American Indian (AI) families. P2W was culturally adapted through community-based participatory research in three urban AI communities with diverse tribal backgrounds. This paper reports the immediate outcomes of P2W in a randomized controlled trial, utilizing data from 575 parents of AI children (ages 10–17). Parents were assigned to P2W or to the comparison group, an informational family health curriculum, Healthy Families in 2 Worlds (HF2W). Both the P2W and HF2W curricula consisted of 10 workshops delivered weekly by AI community facilitators. Pretests were administered at the first workshop and a post-test at the last workshop. Tests of the efficacy of P2W versus HF2W on parenting skills and family functioning were analyzed with pairwise t-tests, within intervention type, and by baseline adjusted path models using FIML estimation in Mplus. Intervention effect sizes were estimated with Cohen’s d. Participants in P2W reported significant improvements in parental agency, parenting practices, supervision and family cohesion, and decreases in discipline problems and parent-child conflict. Compared to HF2W, P2W participants reported significantly larger increases in parental self-agency and positive parenting practices, and fewer child discipline problems. Most of these desired program effects for P2W approached medium size. Culturally adapted parenting interventions like P2W can effectively strengthen parenting practices and family functioning among urban AI families and help address their widespread need for targeted, culturally grounded programs. PMID:27129476

Personal Skills. Facilitator's Skill Packets 1-7. Social Skills Training.

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Model Classrooms, Bellevue, WA.

This document contains the following seven facilitators' skill packets on personal skills: (1) personal hygiene; (2) personal appearance; (3) locker hygiene; (4) dorm cleanliness; (5) punctuality and attendance; (6) responding to supervision; and (7) teamwork. Each packet contains the following sections: definition of personal skills; objective;…

Differences in learning volitional (manual and non-volitional (posture aspects of a complex motor skill in young adult dyslexic and skilled readers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itamar Sela

Full Text Available The 'Cerebellar Deficit Theory' of developmental dyslexia proposes that a subtle developmental cerebellar dysfunction leads to deficits in attaining 'automatic' procedures and therefore manifests as subtle motor impairments (e.g., balance control, motor skill learning in addition to the reading and phonological difficulties. A more recent version of the theory suggests a core deficit in motor skill acquisition. This study was undertaken to compare the time-course and the nature of practice-related changes in volitional (manual and non-volitional (posture motor performance in dyslexic and typical readers while learning a new movement sequence. Seventeen dyslexic and 26 skilled young adult readers underwent a three-session training program in which they practiced a novel sequence of manual movements while standing in a quiet stance position. Both groups exhibited robust and well-retained gains in speed, with no loss of accuracy, on the volitional, manual, aspects of the task, with a time-course characteristic of procedural learning. However, the dyslexic readers exhibited a pervasive slowness in the initiation of volitional performance. In addition, while typical readers showed clear and well-retained task-related adaptation of the balance and posture control system, the dyslexic readers had significantly larger sway and variance of sway throughout the three sessions and were less efficient in adapting the posture control system to support the acquisition of the novel movement sequence. These results support the notion of a non-language-related deficit in developmental dyslexia, one related to the recruitment of motor systems for effective task performance rather than to a general motor learning disability.

Transferring skills in quality collaboratives focused on improving patient logistics.

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Weggelaar-Jansen, Anne Marie; van Wijngaarden, Jeroen

2018-04-02

A quality improvement collaborative, often used by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is used to educate healthcare professionals and improve healthcare at the same time. However, no prior research has been done on the knowledge and skills healthcare professionals need to achieve improvements or the extent to which quality improvement collaboratives help enhance both knowledge and skills. Our research focused on quality improvement collaboratives aiming to improve patient logistics and tried to identify which knowledge and skills are required and to what extent these were enhanced during the QIC. We defined skills important for logistic improvements in a three-phase Delphi study. Based on the Delphi results we made a questionnaire. We surveyed participants in a national quality improvement collaborative to assess the skills rated as 1) important, 2) available and 3) improved during the collaborative. At two sense-making meetings, experts reflected on our findings and hypothesized on how to improve (logistics) collaboratives. The Delphi study found 18 skills relevant for reducing patient access time and 21 for reducing throughput time. All skills retrieved from the Delphi study were scored as 'important' in the survey. Teams especially lacked soft skills connected to project and change management. Analytical skills increased the most, while more reflexive skills needed for the primary goal of the collaborative (reduce access and throughput times) increased modestly. At two sense-making meetings, attendees suggested four improvements for a quality improvement collaborative: 1) shift the focus to project- and change management skills; 2) focus more on knowledge transfer to colleagues; 3) teach participants to adapt the taught principles to their own situations; and 4) foster intra-project reflexive learning to translate gained insights to other projects (inter-project learning). Our findings seem to suggest that Quality collaboratives could benefit if more

School Physical Activity Programming and Gross Motor Skills in Children.

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Burns, Ryan D; Fu, You; Hannon, James C; Brusseau, Timothy A

2017-09-01

We examined the effect of a comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) on gross motor skills in children. Participants were 959 children (1st-6th grade; Mean age = 9.1 ± 1.5 years; 406 girls, 553 boys) recruited from 5 low-income schools receiving a year-long CSPAP intervention. Data were collected at the beginning of the school year and at a 36-week follow-up. Gross motor skills were assessed using the Test for Gross Motor Development (3rd ed.) (TGMD-3) instrument. Multi-level mixed effects models were employed to examine the effect of CSPAP on TGMD-3 scores, testing age and sex as effect modifiers and adjusting for clustering of observations within the data structure. There were statistically significant coefficients for time (β = 8.1, 95% CI [3.9, 12.3], p skills and ball skills sub-test scores. Children showed improved gross motor skill scores at the end of the 36-week CSPAP that were modified by age, as younger children displayed greater improvements in TGMD-3 scores compared to older children.

Reward and punishment enhance motor adaptation in stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Quattrocchi, Graziella; Greenwood, Richard; Rothwell, John C; Galea, Joseph M; Bestmann, Sven

2017-09-01

The effects of motor learning, such as motor adaptation, in stroke rehabilitation are often transient, thus mandating approaches that enhance the amount of learning and retention. Previously, we showed in young individuals that reward and punishment feedback have dissociable effects on motor adaptation, with punishment improving adaptation and reward enhancing retention. If these findings were able to generalise to patients with stroke, they would provide a way to optimise motor learning in these patients. Therefore, we tested this in 45 patients with chronic stroke allocated in three groups. Patients performed reaching movements with their paretic arm with a robotic manipulandum. After training (day 1), day 2 involved adaptation to a novel force field. During the adaptation phase, patients received performance-based feedback according to the group they were allocated: reward, punishment or no feedback (neutral). On day 3, patients readapted to the force field but all groups now received neutral feedback. All patients adapted, with reward and punishment groups displaying greater adaptation and readaptation than the neutral group, irrespective of demographic, cognitive or functional differences. Remarkably, the reward and punishment groups adapted to similar degree as healthy controls. Finally, the reward group showed greater retention. This study provides, for the first time, evidence that reward and punishment can enhance motor adaptation in patients with stroke. Further research on reinforcement-based motor learning regimes is warranted to translate these promising results into clinical practice and improve motor rehabilitation outcomes in patients with stroke. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Medical students on the value of role models for developing 'soft skills'

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Adele

of medical students, especially their doctor-patient interaction skills and .... how they adapted their own personalities with patients…] ... students learning from role models. Students .... Role models and the learning environment: essential elements in ... Paice E, Heard S, Moss F. How important are role models in making.

Social skills: a factor of protection against eating disorders in adolescentes.

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Uzunian, Laura Giron; Vitalle, Maria Sylvia de Souza

2015-11-01

The purpose of this study is to provide a review of the literature on the relationship between eating disorders and social skills in adolescents. A search was made on the Medline, SciELO and Lilacs databases, for items combining the terms 'eating disorders', 'anorexia nervosa', 'bulimia nervosa' and 'food behavior', with the terms 'social psychology' and 'social isolation', and with the keywords 'social competence', 'social skill' and 'interpersonal relations'. The following were included: studies on adolescents; in Portuguese, English and Spanish; published in the years 2007 through 2012. The search resulted in 63 articles, and 50 were included in this review. The majority of the studies were made in Brazil and the United States. Of the total, 43 were original articles. The studies aimed to understand how emotional state could influence the establishment of eating disorders, interpersonal relationships and peer relationship. The articles also discussed the influence of the media and of society in this process. Based on the analysis of the studies, it was observed that the greater an adolescent's repertory of social skills, the greater his or her factor of protection against the development of eating disorders.

A comparison of students' self-assessments with faculty evaluations of their communication skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundquist, Lisa M; Shogbon, Angela O; Momary, Kathryn M; Rogers, Hannah K

2013-05-13

To compare students' self-assessment of their communication skills with faculty members' formal evaluation of their skills in a therapeutics course. Over a 3-year period, faculty members evaluated second-year pharmacy students' communication skills as part of a requirement in a therapeutics course. Immediately following an individual oral assessment and again following a group oral assessment, students self-assessed their communication skills using the same rubric the faculty members had used. Students' self-assessments were then compared with faculty members' evaluation of students' communication skills. Four hundred one (97.3%) students consented to participate in this study. Faculty evaluation scores of students for both the individual and group oral assessments were significantly higher than students' self-assessment scores. Students' self-assessment scores of their communication skills increased from the individual to the group oral assessment. Students' self-assessments of communication skills were consistently lower than faculty members' evaluations. Greater use of oral assessments throughout the pharmacy curriculum may help to improve students' confidence in and self-assessment of their communication skills.

Effects of Germline Mutations in the Ras/MAPK Signaling Pathway on Adaptive Behavior: Cardiofaciocutaneous Syndrome and Noonan Syndrome

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Pierpont, Elizabeth I.; Pierpont, Mary Ella; Mendelsohn, Nancy J.; Roberts, Amy E.; Tworog-Dube, Erica; Rauen, Katherine A.; Seidenberg, Mark S.

2011-01-01

Cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome (CFC) and Noonan syndrome (NS) are two phenotypically overlapping genetic disorders whose underlying molecular etiologies affect a common signaling pathway. Mutations in the BRAF, MEK1 and MEK2 genes cause most cases of CFC and mutations in PTPN11, SOS1, KRAS and RAF1 typically cause NS. Although both syndromes are associated with developmental delays of varying severity, the extent to which the behavioral profiles differ may shed light on the different roles these respective genes play in development of skills necessary for everyday functioning. In this study, profiles of adaptive behavior of individuals with CFC and NS who had confirmed pathogenic mutations in Ras/MAPK pathway genes were investigated. Patterns of strengths and weaknesses, age-related differences, and risk factors for difficulties in adaptive skills were assessed. Although genes acting more downstream in the Ras/MAPK pathway were associated with more difficulties in adaptive functioning than genes more upstream in the pathway, several inconsistencies highlight the wide spectrum of possible developmental courses in CFC and NS. Along with clinical and genetic factors, variables such as chronological age, gestational age at birth and parental education levels accounted for significant variance in adaptive skills. Results indicate that there is wide heterogeneity in adaptive ability in CFC and NS, but that these abilities are correlated to some extent with the specific disease-causing genes. PMID:20186801

Faster Movement Speed Results in Greater Tendon Strain during the Loaded Squat Exercise

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Earp, Jacob E.; Newton, Robert U.; Cormie, Prue; Blazevich, Anthony J.

2016-01-01

Introduction: Tendon dynamics influence movement performance and provide the stimulus for long-term tendon adaptation. As tendon strain increases with load magnitude and decreases with loading rate, changes in movement speed during exercise should influence tendon strain. Methods: Ten resistance-trained men [squat one repetition maximum (1RM) to body mass ratio: 1.65 ± 0.12] performed parallel-depth back squat lifts with 60% of 1RM load at three different speeds: slow fixed-tempo (TS: 2-s eccentric, 1-s pause, 2-s concentric), volitional-speed without a pause (VS) and maximum-speed jump (JS). In each condition joint kinetics, quadriceps tendon length (LT), patellar tendon force (FT), and rate of force development (RFDT) were estimated using integrated ultrasonography, motion-capture, and force platform recordings. Results: Peak LT, FT, and RFDT were greater in JS than TS (p < 0.05), however no differences were observed between VS and TS. Thus, moving at faster speeds resulted in both greater tendon stress and strain despite an increased RFDT, as would be predicted of an elastic, but not a viscous, structure. Temporal comparisons showed that LT was greater in TS than JS during the early eccentric phase (10–14% movement duration) where peak RFDT occurred, demonstrating that the tendon's viscous properties predominated during initial eccentric loading. However, during the concentric phase (61–70 and 76–83% movement duration) differing FT and similar RFDT between conditions allowed for the tendon's elastic properties to predominate such that peak tendon strain was greater in JS than TS. Conclusions: Based on our current understanding, there may be an additional mechanical stimulus for tendon adaptation when performing large range-of-motion isoinertial exercises at faster movement speeds. PMID:27630574

Gauging Skills of Hospital Security Personnel: a Statistically-driven, Questionnaire-based Approach.

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Rinkoo, Arvind Vashishta; Mishra, Shubhra; Rahesuddin; Nabi, Tauqeer; Chandra, Vidha; Chandra, Hem

2013-01-01

This study aims to gauge the technical and soft skills of the hospital security personnel so as to enable prioritization of their training needs. A cross sectional questionnaire based study was conducted in December 2011. Two separate predesigned and pretested questionnaires were used for gauging soft skills and technical skills of the security personnel. Extensive statistical analysis, including Multivariate Analysis (Pillai-Bartlett trace along with Multi-factorial ANOVA) and Post-hoc Tests (Bonferroni Test) was applied. The 143 participants performed better on the soft skills front with an average score of 6.43 and standard deviation of 1.40. The average technical skills score was 5.09 with a standard deviation of 1.44. The study avowed a need for formal hands on training with greater emphasis on technical skills. Multivariate analysis of the available data further helped in identifying 20 security personnel who should be prioritized for soft skills training and a group of 36 security personnel who should receive maximum attention during technical skills training. This statistically driven approach can be used as a prototype by healthcare delivery institutions worldwide, after situation specific customizations, to identify the training needs of any category of healthcare staff.

[Attitudes of freshman medical students towards education in communication skills].

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Tóth, Ildikó; Bán, Ildikó; Füzesi, Zsuzsanna; Kesztyüs, Márk; Nagy, Lajos

2011-09-18

In their institute authors teach medical communication skills in three languages (Hungarian, English and German) for medical students in the first year of their studies. In order to improve teaching methods, authors wanted to explore the attitudes of students towards the communication skills learning. For this purpose authors applied the Communication Skills Attitudes Scale created by Rees et al., which is an internationally accepted and well adaptable instrument. In this survey authors wanted to validate the Hungarian and German version of the Communication Skills Attitudes Scale. In addition, their aim was to analyze possible differences between the attitudes of each of the three medical teaching programs. Questionnaires were filled anonymously at the beginning of the practices. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed to evaluate the attitudes using the SPSS 10.5 version for analysis. Authors created a model consisting of 7 factors. Factors were the following: 1: respect and interpersonal skills; 2: learning; 3: importance of communication within medical profession; 4: excuse; 5: counter; 6: exam; 7: overconfidence. It was found that students had mainly positive attitudes. Except the learning factor, all other factors showed significant differences between the three medical teaching programs. although students had mainly positive attitudes toward learning communication skills, there were negative attitudes which can be partly modified by improving the teaching methods. However, results may create a proper base for further research to help improving communication skills teaching methods of the authors.

Implementation of new skills to support lifestyle changes - what helps and what hinders?

Science.gov (United States)

Tinati, Tannaze; Lawrence, Wendy; Ntani, Georgia; Black, Christina; Cradock, Sue; Jarman, Megan; Pease, Anna; Inskip, Hazel; Cooper, Cyrus; Baird, Janis; Barker, Mary

2013-01-01

Effective communication is necessary for good relationships between healthcare practitioners and clients. This study examined barriers and facilitators to implementing new communication skills. One hundred and one Sure Start Children’s Centre staff attended one of 13 follow-up workshops to reflect on the use of new skills following a training course in communication, reflection and problem-solving. Barriers and facilitators were assessed with an adapted Problematic Experiences of Therapy scale (PETS). Staff reported frequency of skill use, and described what made it more difficult or easier to use the skills. The PETS indicated that staff had confidence in using the skills, but felt there were practical barriers to using them, such as lack of time. Skills were used less often when staff perceived parents not to be engaging with them (rs=−0.42, puse the skills (rs =−0.37, pskills. Facilitators included seeing the benefits of using the skills, finding opportunities and having good relationships with parents. Understanding the range of barriers and facilitators to implementation is essential when developing training to facilitate on-going support and sustain skill use. Special attention should be given to exploring trainees’ perceptions of time, in order to be able to address this significant barrier to skill implementation. Staff training requires a multifaceted approach to address the range of perceived barriers. PMID:22452549

Soft skills, hard skills, and individual innovativeness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hendarman, Achmad Fajar; Cantner, Uwe

2018-01-01

of Indonesian firms from different industries are used from an online survey on manager and worker perceptions related to individual innovation performance on the one hand and individual skills on the other hand. The results show that soft skills and hard skills are significantly and positively associated...... with individual level innovativeness. However, no complementarity (positive interaction effect) is found between soft skills and hard skills....

Social Skills Deficits in a Virtual Environment Among Spanish Children With ADHD.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Castellar, Rosa; Jara-Jiménez, Pilar; Sánchez-Chiva, Desirée; Mikami, Amori Y

2018-06-01

Research assessing the social skills of children with ADHD has predominantly relied upon North American samples. In addition, most existing work has been conducted using methodology that fails to use a controlled peer stimulus; such methods may be more vulnerable to cultural influence. We examined the social skills of 52 Spanish children (ages 8-12) with and without ADHD using a controlled Chat Room Task, which simulates a virtual social environment where peers' responses are held constant, so that participants' social skills may be assessed. After statistical control of typing and reading comprehension skills, Spanish children with ADHD gave fewer prosocial comments and had greater difficulty remembering central details from the conversation between the peers, relative to comparison children. The virtual Chat Room Task may be useful to assess social skills deficits using a controlled paradigm, resulting in the identification of common social deficiencies cross-culturally.

Sustaining the employability of the low skilled worker: Development, mobility and work redesign

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanders, J.M.A.S.

2016-01-01

Sustainable employability has recently become a topical issue in HR literature. Two major developments are responsible for this increased attention. The first is contextual change, requiring businesses to adapt to faster changing markets, causing rapid shifts in the demand for labour and skills.

Incorporating Interpersonal Skills into Otolaryngology Resident Selection and Training.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu-Myers, Yemeng; Myers, Christopher G

2018-01-01

Increasing attention has been paid to the selection of otolaryngology residents, a highly competitive process but one with room for improvement. A recent commentary in this journal recommended that residency programs more thoroughly incorporate theory and evidence from personnel psychology (part of the broader field of organizational science) in the resident selection process. However, the focus of this recommendation was limited to applicants' cognitive abilities and independent work-oriented traits (eg, conscientiousness). We broaden this perspective to consider critical interpersonal skills and traits that enhance resident effectiveness in interdependent health care organizations and we expand beyond the emphasis on selection to consider how these skills can be honed during residency. We advocate for greater use of standardized team-based care simulations, which can aid in assessing and developing the key interpersonal leadership skills necessary for success as an otolaryngology resident.

Mathematical Skills and Motor Life Skills in Toddlers: Do Differences in Mathematical Skills Reflect Differences in Motor Skills?

Science.gov (United States)

Reikerås, Elin; Moser, Thomas; Tønnessen, Finn Egil

2017-01-01

This study examines possible relations between early mathematical skills and motor life skills in 450 toddlers aged two years and nine months. The study employs baseline data from the longitudinal Stavanger Project--The Learning Child. The children's mathematical skills and motor life skills were assessed by structured observation in the natural…

Ecological specialization and morphological diversification in Greater Antillean boas.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, R Graham; Collar, David C; Pasachnik, Stesha A; Niemiller, Matthew L; Puente-Rolón, Alberto R; Revell, Liam J

2016-08-01

Colonization of islands can dramatically influence the evolutionary trajectories of organisms, with both deterministic and stochastic processes driving adaptation and diversification. Some island colonists evolve extremely large or small body sizes, presumably in response to unique ecological circumstances present on islands. One example of this phenomenon, the Greater Antillean boas, includes both small (<90 cm) and large (4 m) species occurring on the Greater Antilles and Bahamas, with some islands supporting pairs or trios of body-size divergent species. These boas have been shown to comprise a monophyletic radiation arising from a Miocene dispersal event to the Greater Antilles, though it is not known whether co-occurrence of small and large species is a result of dispersal or in situ evolution. Here, we provide the first comprehensive species phylogeny for this clade combined with morphometric and ecological data to show that small body size evolved repeatedly on separate islands in association with specialization in substrate use. Our results further suggest that microhabitat specialization is linked to increased rates of head shape diversification among specialists. Our findings show that ecological specialization following island colonization promotes morphological diversity through deterministic body size evolution and cranial morphological diversification that is contingent on island- and species-specific factors. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Social skills as resources for the development of strengths in childhood

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Ana Betina Lacunza

2015-09-01

Full Text Available A strong relationship between social competence during childhood and the subsequent psychological functioning has been found. Therefore, learning and practising social skills contribute to the development of psychological strengths in children. The aims of this paper were a to describe a series of social skills in pre-school children from San Miguel de Tucuman (Argentina who live under poverty conditions, and b to identify if the presence of social skills reduces the frequency of occurrence of disruptive behaviour. We worked with a sample of 120 5- year olds from outskirts of San Miguel de Tucumán who attend public schools kindergartens. In the research their parents were administered the Scale of Social Skills (Lacunza, 2005, the Guide for Behaviour Observation (Ison & Fachinelli, 1993 and a sociodemographic survey. The results showed significant statistical differences in the social skills according to the gender and in the dimensions of physical and/or verbal aggression and transgression in the behavioural scale. Children with disruptive behaviour showed fewer social skills, according to their parents’ perception. These results show that social skills in children prevent the occurrence of dysfunctional behaviour, particularly aggressiveness and negativism. These data show that the practice of social behaviour contributes to adaptation, acceptance of others, positive reinforcement, well-being, among other salugenic resources. 

Developing Skills for Youth in the 21st Century: The Role of Elite International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Schools in China

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Ewan; Lee, Moosung

2014-01-01

There is a growing body of research suggesting that schools need to respond to changing social and economic dynamics by prioritising "21st-century skills". Proponents of this view, who have been termed "the 21st century skills movement", have called for greater emphasis on cognitive and non-cognitive skills development,…

Optimal skill distribution under convex skill costs

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Tin Cheuk Leung

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper studies optimal distribution of skills in an optimal income tax framework with convex skill constraints. The problem is cast as a social planning problem where a redistributive planner chooses how to distribute a given amount of aggregate skills across people. We find that optimal skill distribution is either perfectly equal or perfectly unequal, but an interior level of skill inequality is never optimal.

A randomized controlled trial to increase information, motivation, and behavioral skills in Ugandan adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Ybarra, Michele L.; Korchmaros, Josephine D.; Prescott, Tonya L.; Birungi, Ruth

2015-01-01

Background One in twenty-five Ugandan adolescents is HIV positive. Purpose Examine the impact of an Internet-based HIV prevention program on Information-Motivation-Behavior Skills Model-related constructs. Methods Three hundred and sixty-six sexually experienced and inexperienced students 12-18+ years-old in Mbarara, Uganda were randomly assigned to: the five-lesson CyberSenga program or treatment-as-usual. Half of the intervention participants were further randomized to a booster session. Assessments were collected at three and six months post-baseline. Results Participants’ HIV-related information improved over time at a greater rate for the intervention groups compared to the control group. Motivation for condom use changed to a greater degree over time for the intervention group – especially those in the intervention+booster group - compared to the control group. Behavioral skills for condom use, and motivation and behavioral skills for abstinence were statistically similar over time for both groups. Conclusions CyberSenga improves HIV preventive information and motivation to use condoms. PMID:25633626

Does Intervening in Childcare Settings Impact Fundamental Movement Skill Development?

Science.gov (United States)

Adamo, Kristi B; Wilson, Shanna; Harvey, Alysha L J; Grattan, Kimberly P; Naylor, Patti-Jean; Temple, Viviene A; Goldfield, Gary S

2016-05-01

Knowing that motor skills will not develop to their full potential without opportunities to practice in environments that are stimulating and supportive, we evaluated the effect of a physical activity (PA)-based intervention targeting childcare providers on fundamental movement skills (FMS) in preschoolers attending childcare centers. In this two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial, six licensed childcare centers in Ottawa, Canada, were randomly allocated into one of two groups (three controls, n = 43; three interventions, n = 40). Participants were between the ages of 3 and 5 yr. Childcare providers in the experimental condition received two 3-h workshops and a training manual at program initiation aimed at increasing PA through active play and several in-center "booster" sessions throughout the 6-month intervention. Control childcare centers implemented their standard curriculum. FMS were measured at baseline and 6 months using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2. Groups did not differ on sociodemographic variables. Compared with control, children in the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvement in their standardized gross motor quotient (score, 5.70; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.74-10.67; P = 0.025 and gross motor quotient percentile, 13.33; 95% CI, 2.17-24.49; P = 0.020). Over the 6-month study period, the intervention group showed a significantly greater increase in locomotor skills score (1.20; 95% CI, 0.18-2.22; P = 0.022) than the control group. There was a significant decrease in the object control scores in the control group over the study period. A childcare provider-led PA-based intervention increased the FMS in preschoolers, driven by the change in locomotor skills. The childcare environment may represent a viable public health approach for promoting motor skill development to support future engagement in PA.

Pilot study of a brief dialectical behavior therapy skills group for jail inmates.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Kelly E; Folk, Johanna B; Boren, Emily A; Tangney, June P; Fischer, Sarah; Schrader, Shannon W

2018-02-01

Regulating emotions, refraining from impulsive, maladaptive behavior, and communicating effectively are considered primary treatment needs among jail inmates. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993a) skills address these deficits and have been implemented in long-term correctional settings, but have yet to be adapted for general population inmates in short-term jail settings. This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a DBT skills group in a jail setting, as well as its utility in improving coping skills and emotional/behavioral dysregulation. Male jail inmates participated in an 8-week DBT skills group and completed pre- and posttest assessments of coping skills, emotional/behavioral dysregulation, and measures of treatment acceptability. Out of 27 who started therapy, 16 completed it, primarily due to involuntary attrition such as transfer to another correctional facility. Although several logistical issues arose during this pilot study, preliminary results suggest that a brief DBT skills group is feasible and acceptable in a jail setting, and may improve coping skills and reduce externalization of blame among general population jail inmates. This study lays the groundwork for larger, controlled trials of abbreviated DBT skills groups for general population inmates in short-term jail settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Preventing adolescent pregnancy with social and cognitive skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Barth, R P; Fetro, J V; Leland, N; Volkan, K

1992-04-01

A 15-session sex education program was delivered by teachers to 586 10th graders using techniques based on social learning theory, including modeling, in-class and out-of-class practice of skills for abstaining from sexual intercourse, and for contraception. Knowledge about reproduction and birth control, intentions to use skills to avoid pregnancy, and communication with parents about pregnancy prevention were significantly greater at posttest and 6-month follow-up for the trained group than for the control group. Members of the trained group tended to use birth control more often, especially those who started to have sexual intercourse subsequent to the program. No differences in the frequency of sexual intercourse, pregnancy scares, or pregnancies were found. Satisfaction with the program was high. Although skill training by itself may not be sufficient to significantly prevent pregnancies, this program offers promise of being a useful component of combined school, home, and community activities to prevent pregnancy.

Open knot-tying skills: residents skills assessed

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Empel, P.J.; Verdam, M.G.E.; Huirne, J.A.; Bonjer, H.J.; Meijerink, W.J.; Scheele, F.

2013-01-01

Aim: Open knot-tying and suturing skills are fundamental surgical skills, founding many alternative knot-tying techniques. It is therefore mandatory for residents to possess adequate basic open knot-tying skills. The aim of this study was to compare an objective assessment of open knot-tying skills

Rural Livelihoods, Climate Change and Micro-Level Adaptive Capacity in the Greater Mekong Subregion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiao, Xi

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is one of the fastest developing regions in the world, experiencing significant economic, environmental and social transformations. There is an increasing demand for policy relevant and decision support information at micro level. This PhD research contributes...... and Laos, two of the poorest countries in the GMS. Structured household surveys and participatory focus group discussions were the primary data collection methods. The findings provide new, additional and much needed quantitative information in the region, and several policy implications for rural...

Level of Soft Skill in the Implementation of Work-Based Learning among Community College Students

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Ali Azita Binti

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The issue of graduate unemployment often crops up in the mass media; and more often than not, the discussions have centred on the failure of tertiary educational institutions to churn out quality graduates. Thus, the method of work-based learning (WBL is seen as a way to improve the soft skills of the graduates. The study was conducted using quantitative research survey; the design of the study used an adapted questionnaire as an instrument. Data were analysed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS version 20. The respondents consisted of 97 students who attended WBL programmes at a community college. Descriptive statistics was used to extract data from the questionnaires for the calculation of mean. The findings reveal that the level of soft skills among community college students was high, and they include these abilities: communication skills, problem-solving skills, learning and information management, professional ethics skills and leadership skills.

PROMOTING GROSS MOTOR SKILLS IN TODDLERS: THE ACTIVE BEGINNINGS PILOT CLUSTER RANDOMIZED TRIAL.

Science.gov (United States)

Veldman, Sanne L C; Okely, Anthony D; Jones, Rachel A

2015-12-01

This study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a gross motor skill program for toddlers. An 8-wk. skills program in which children practiced three skills was implemented for 10 min. daily in two randomly designated childcare centers. Two other centers served as the control group. Recruitment and retention rates were collected for feasibility. Data on professional development, children's participation, program duration, and appropriateness of the lessons were collected for acceptability, and the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 and Get Skilled, Get Active (total of 28 points) were used to look at the potential efficacy. The participants were 60 toddlers (M age=2.5 yr., SD=0.4; n=29 boys), and the retention rate was 95%. Overall participation was 76%, and educators rated 98% of the lessons as appropriate. Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed significantly greater improvements in motor skills (pmotor skills among toddlers.

Differences in visuo-motor control in skilled vs. novice martial arts athletes during sustained and transient attention tasks: a motor-related cortical potential study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Lopez, Javier; Fernandez, Thalia; Silva-Pereyra, Juan; Martinez Mesa, Juan A; Di Russo, Francesco

2014-01-01

Cognitive and motor processes are essential for optimal athletic performance. Individuals trained in different skills and sports may have specialized cognitive abilities and motor strategies related to the characteristics of the activity and the effects of training and expertise. Most studies have investigated differences in motor-related cortical potential (MRCP) during self-paced tasks in athletes but not in stimulus-related tasks. The aim of the present study was to identify the differences in performance and MRCP between skilled and novice martial arts athletes during two different types of tasks: a sustained attention task and a transient attention task. Behavioral and electrophysiological data from twenty-two martial arts athletes were obtained while they performed a continuous performance task (CPT) to measure sustained attention and a cued continuous performance task (c-CPT) to measure transient attention. MRCP components were analyzed and compared between groups. Electrophysiological data in the CPT task indicated larger prefrontal positive activity and greater posterior negativity distribution prior to a motor response in the skilled athletes, while novices showed a significantly larger response-related P3 after a motor response in centro-parietal areas. A different effect occurred in the c-CPT task in which the novice athletes showed strong prefrontal positive activity before a motor response and a large response-related P3, while in skilled athletes, the prefrontal activity was absent. We propose that during the CPT, skilled athletes were able to allocate two different but related processes simultaneously according to CPT demand, which requires controlled attention and controlled motor responses. On the other hand, in the c-CPT, skilled athletes showed better cue facilitation, which permitted a major economy of resources and "automatic" or less controlled responses to relevant stimuli. In conclusion, the present data suggest that motor expertise

Enhancing communication skills for pediatric visits through on-line training using video demonstrations

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Wissow Larry

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Training in communication skills for health professionals is important, but there are substantial barriers to individual in-person training for practicing clinicians. We evaluated the feasibility and desirability of on-line training and sought suggestions for future courses. Methods Based on successful in-person curricula for communication skills and our previous on-line curricula, we created an on-line course consisting of 28 modules (4.75 hours CME credit about communication skills during pediatric visits that included a mental health concern; each module included a brief case, a multiple choice question, an explanation, and a 1–2 minute video demonstrating key skills. Specific communication skills included: greeting, setting an agenda, discussing diagnosis and treatment, and managing negative interactions. The course was announced by emails in spring, 2007; the course was available on-line for 60 days; we aimed to enroll 50 clinicians. Outcomes were analyzed for those who evaluated the course within 75 days of its initial availability. Results Overall, 61 clinicians registered, of whom most were nurses (N = 24, physicians (N = 22, or psychologists or social workers (N = 12. Of the 36 (59% clinicians who evaluated the course, over 85% agreed that all course objectives had been met; over 90% reported greater confidence in greetings and agenda-setting; and over 80% reported greater confidence in discussing diagnosis and treatment and managing negative interactions. Nearly all, 97% would recommend the course to other clinicians and trainees. Suggestions for improvement included a library of additional video vignettes and written materials to accompany the on-line training. Conclusion On-line training in communication skills for pediatric mental health visits is feasible, desirable and associated with increased confidence in key skills. Positive feedback from clinicians suggests that a comparison of on-line versus in

Self-esteem and communication skills as predictors of psychological resilience for Turkish vocational school students

OpenAIRE

Özlem TAGAY; Sibel Karakelle

2014-01-01

This study analyzes whether or not communication skills and self-esteem of vocational school students can predict their psychological resilience. The data of the study were collected from a total of 295 vocational school students including 147 female and 148 male in Burdur and Isparta. The study benefited from the Ego Resiliency Scale developed by Block and Kremen (1996) and adapted by Karaırmak (2007), the Communication Skills Evaluation Scale developed by Korkut (1996), and the Rosenberg Se...

Adapting online learning for Canada's Northern public health workforce

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Marnie Bell

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Background . Canada's North is a diverse, sparsely populated land, where inequalities and public health issues are evident, particularly for Aboriginal people. The Northern public health workforce is a unique mix of professional and paraprofessional workers. Few have formal public health education. From 2009 to 2012, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC collaborated with a Northern Advisory Group to develop and implement a strategy to strengthen public health capacity in Canada's 3 northern territories. Access to relevant, effective continuing education was identified as a key issue. Challenges include diverse educational and cultural backgrounds of public health workers, geographical isolation and variable technological infrastructure across the north. Methods . PHAC's Skills Online program offers Internet-based continuing education modules for public health professionals. In partnership with the Northern Advisory Group, PHAC conducted 3 pilots between 2008 and 2012 to assess the appropriateness of the Skills Online program for Northern/Aboriginal public health workers. Module content and delivery modalities were adapted for the pilots. Adaptations included adding Inuit and Northern public health examples and using video and teleconference discussions to augment the online self-study component. Results . Findings from the pilots were informative and similar to those from previous Skills Online pilots with learners in developing countries. Online learning is effective in bridging the geographical barriers in remote locations. Incorporating content on Northern and Aboriginal health issues facilitates engagement in learning. Employer support facilitates the recruitment and retention of learners in an online program. Facilitator assets included experience as a public health professional from the north, and flexibility to use modified approaches to support and measure knowledge acquisition and application, especially for First Nations, Inuit and

Adapting online learning for Canada's Northern public health workforce.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Marnie; MacDougall, Karen

2013-01-01

Canada's North is a diverse, sparsely populated land, where inequalities and public health issues are evident, particularly for Aboriginal people. The Northern public health workforce is a unique mix of professional and paraprofessional workers. Few have formal public health education. From 2009 to 2012, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) collaborated with a Northern Advisory Group to develop and implement a strategy to strengthen public health capacity in Canada's 3 northern territories. Access to relevant, effective continuing education was identified as a key issue. Challenges include diverse educational and cultural backgrounds of public health workers, geographical isolation and variable technological infrastructure across the north. PHAC's Skills Online program offers Internet-based continuing education modules for public health professionals. In partnership with the Northern Advisory Group, PHAC conducted 3 pilots between 2008 and 2012 to assess the appropriateness of the Skills Online program for Northern/Aboriginal public health workers. Module content and delivery modalities were adapted for the pilots. Adaptations included adding Inuit and Northern public health examples and using video and teleconference discussions to augment the online self-study component. Findings from the pilots were informative and similar to those from previous Skills Online pilots with learners in developing countries. Online learning is effective in bridging the geographical barriers in remote locations. Incorporating content on Northern and Aboriginal health issues facilitates engagement in learning. Employer support facilitates the recruitment and retention of learners in an online program. Facilitator assets included experience as a public health professional from the north, and flexibility to use modified approaches to support and measure knowledge acquisition and application, especially for First Nations, Inuit and Metis learners. Results demonstrate that

Peer-assisted learning model enhances clinical clerk's procedural skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chia-Chang; Hsu, Hui-Chi; Yang, Ling-Yu; Chen, Chen-Huan; Yang, Ying-Ying; Chang, Ching-Chih; Chuang, Chiao-Lin; Lee, Wei-Shin; Lee, Fa-Yauh; Hwang, Shinn-Jang

2018-05-17

Failure to transfer procedural skills learned in a laboratory to the bedside is commonly due to a lack of peer support/stimulation. A digital platform (Facebook) allows new clinical clerks to share experiences and tips that help augment their procedural skills in a peer-assisted learning/teaching method. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the innovation of using the digital platform to support the transfer of laboratory-trained procedural skills in the clinical units. Volunteer clinical clerks (n = 44) were enrolled into the peer-assisted learning (PAL) group, which was characterized by the peer-assisted learning of procedural skills during their final 3-month clinical clerkship block. Other clerks (n = 51) did not join the procedural skills-specific Facebook group and served as the self-directed learning regular group. The participants in both the PAL and regular groups completed pre- and post-intervention self-assessments for general self-assessed efficiency ratings (GSER) and skills specific self-assessed efficiency ratings (SSSER) for performing vein puncture, intravenous (IV) catheter and nasogastric (NG) tube insertion. Finally, all clerks received the post-intervention 3-station Objective Structured Clinical Skills Examination (OSCE) to test their proficiency for the abovementioned three procedural skills. Higher cumulative numbers of vein punctures, IV catheter insertions and NG tube insertions at the bedside were carried out by the PAL group than the regular group. A greater improvement in GSERs and SSSERs for medical procedures was found in the PAL group than in the regular group. The PAL group obtained higher procedural skills scores in the post-intervention OSCEs than the regular group. Our study suggested that the implementation of a procedural skill-specific digital platform effectively helps clerks to transfer laboratory-trained procedural skills into the clinical units. In comparison with the regular self-directed learning

Retention of tracheal intubation skills by novice personnel: a comparison of the Airtraq and Macintosh laryngoscopes.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Maharaj, C H

2007-03-01

Direct laryngoscopic tracheal intubation is a potentially lifesaving manoeuvre, but it is a difficult skill to acquire and to maintain. These difficulties are exacerbated if the opportunities to utilise this skill are infrequent, and by the fact that the consequences of poorly performed intubation attempts may be severe. Novice users find the Airtraq laryngoscope easier to use than the conventional Macintosh laryngoscope. We therefore wished to determine whether novice users would have greater retention of intubation skills with the Airtraq rather than the Macintosh laryngoscope. Twenty medical students who had no prior airway management experience participated in this study. Following brief didactic instruction, each took turns performing laryngoscopy and intubation using the Macintosh and Airtraq devices in easy and simulated difficult laryngoscopy scenarios. The degree of success with each device, the time taken to perform intubation and the assistance required, and the potential for complications were then assessed. Six months later, the assessment process was repeated. No didactic instruction or practice attempts were provided on this latter occasion. Tracheal intubation skills declined markedly with both devices. However, the Airtraq continued to provide better intubating conditions, resulting in greater success of intubation, with fewer optimisation manoeuvres required, and reduced potential for dental trauma, particularly in the difficult laryngoscopy scenarios. The substantial decline in direct laryngoscopy skills over time emphasise the need for continued reinforcement of this complex skill.

Hard skills or soft skills? Findings about importance of various skills in work

OpenAIRE

Niva, Anu

2016-01-01

Getting a job requires many things: hard skills, soft skills, the right attitude and motivation. To develop the degree programme in Business Information Systems in Oulu university of Applied Sciences (Oulu UAS), three surveys were conducted, to study importance of skills and knowledge in professional life: a graduate career survey in 2013, an employer survey in 2014, and a student survey in 2015. According to the results, readiness for change, learning skills and basic ICT skills seem to be t...

Teachers’ Attitudes Regarding the Development of Socio -Emotional Skills in Elementary Schools in Greece

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Ioannis Raptis

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ attitudes regarding the development of socio-emotional skills of students in primary general schools and the implementation of programs concerning the development of these skills within the school context. Socio-emotional skills are of particular importance in children's lives, as they help to develop appropriate codes of behavior, which would allow them to survive in the contemporary demands of society. Students should be able to communicate in acceptable ways, both with their peers and with other members of their family and society. An important contributor to the development of socio-emotional skills is the teacher (Elias & Arnold, 2006. The contemporary teacher must be thoroughly informed about techniques and approaches that should be followed to develop and strengthen the cultivation of these skills to all students and particularly to those who experience difficulties of social adaptation and show disruptive behavioral disorders.

Stress management skills, neuroimmune processes and fatigue levels in persons with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Lattie, Emily G; Antoni, Michael H; Fletcher, Mary Ann; Penedo, Frank; Czaja, Sara; Lopez, Corina; Perdomo, Dolores; Sala, Andreina; Nair, Sankaran; Fu, Shih Hua; Klimas, Nancy

2012-08-01

Stressors and emotional distress responses impact chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) symptoms, including fatigue. Having better stress management skills might mitigate fatigue by decreasing emotional distress. Because CFS patients comprise a heterogeneous population, we hypothesized that the role of stress management skills in decreasing fatigue may be most pronounced in the subgroup manifesting the greatest neuroimmune dysfunction. In total, 117 individuals with CFS provided blood and saliva samples, and self-report measures of emotional distress, perceived stress management skills (PSMS), and fatigue. Plasma interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and diurnal salivary cortisol were analyzed. We examined relations among PSMS, emotional distress, and fatigue in CFS patients who did and did not evidence neuroimmune abnormalities. Having greater PSMS related to less fatigue (p=.019) and emotional distress (pfatigue levels most strongly in CFS patients in the top tercile of IL-6, and emotional distress mediated the relationship between PSMS and fatigue most strongly in patients with the greatest circulating levels of IL-6 and a greater inflammatory (IL-6):anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokine ratio. CFS patients having greater PSMS show less emotional distress and fatigue, and the influence of stress management skills on distress and fatigue appear greatest among patients who have elevated IL-6 levels. These findings support the need for research examining the impact of stress management interventions in subgroups of CFS patients showing neuroimmune dysfunction. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effect of science learning integrated with local potential to improve science process skills

Science.gov (United States)

Rahardini, Riris Riezqia Budy; Suryadarma, I. Gusti Putu; Wilujeng, Insih

2017-08-01

This research was aimed to know the effectiveness of science learning that integrated with local potential to improve student`s science process skill. The research was quasi experiment using non-equivalent control group design. The research involved all student of Muhammadiyah Imogiri Junior High School on grade VII as a population. The sample in this research was selected through cluster random sampling, namely VII B (experiment group) and VII C (control group). Instrument that used in this research is a nontest instrument (science process skill observation's form) adapted Desak Megawati's research (2016). The aspect of science process skills were making observation and communication. The data were using univariat (ANOVA) analyzed at 0,05 significance level and normalized gain score for science process skill increase's category. The result is science learning that integrated with local potential was effective to improve science process skills of student (Sig. 0,00). This learning can increase science process skill, shown by a normalized gain score value at 0,63 (medium category) in experiment group and 0,29 (low category) in control group.

Improve Problem Solving Skills through Adapting Programming Tools

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Shaykhian, Linda H.; Shaykhian, Gholam Ali

2007-01-01

There are numerous ways for engineers and students to become better problem-solvers. The use of command line and visual programming tools can help to model a problem and formulate a solution through visualization. The analysis of problem attributes and constraints provide insight into the scope and complexity of the problem. The visualization aspect of the problem-solving approach tends to make students and engineers more systematic in their thought process and help them catch errors before proceeding too far in the wrong direction. The problem-solver identifies and defines important terms, variables, rules, and procedures required for solving a problem. Every step required to construct the problem solution can be defined in program commands that produce intermediate output. This paper advocates improved problem solving skills through using a programming tool. MatLab created by MathWorks, is an interactive numerical computing environment and programming language. It is a matrix-based system that easily lends itself to matrix manipulation, and plotting of functions and data. MatLab can be used as an interactive command line or a sequence of commands that can be saved in a file as a script or named functions. Prior programming experience is not required to use MatLab commands. The GNU Octave, part of the GNU project, a free computer program for performing numerical computations, is comparable to MatLab. MatLab visual and command programming are presented here.

The Interaction of Procedural Skill, Conceptual Understanding and Working Memory in Early Mathematics Achievement

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Camilla Gilmore

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Large individual differences in children’s mathematics achievement are observed from the start of schooling. Previous research has identified three cognitive skills that are independent predictors of mathematics achievement: procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory. However, most studies have only tested independent effects of these factors and failed to consider moderating effects. We explored the procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory capacity of 75 children aged 5 to 6 years as well as their overall mathematical achievement. We found that, not only were all three skills independently associated with mathematics achievement, but there was also a significant interaction between them. We found that levels of conceptual understanding and working memory moderated the relationship between procedural skill and mathematics achievement such that there was a greater benefit of good procedural skill when associated with good conceptual understanding and working memory. Cluster analysis also revealed that children with equivalent levels of overall mathematical achievement had differing strengths and weaknesses across these skills. This highlights the importance of considering children’s skill profile, rather than simply their overall achievement.

Family adaptation 18 months after traumatic brain injury in early childhood.

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Stancin, Terry; Wade, Shari L; Walz, Nicolay C; Yeates, Keith Owen; Taylor, H Gerry

2010-05-01

The purpose of this study was to examine family adaptation to a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children during the first 18-month postinjury, when compared with children who had an orthopedic injury. A concurrent cohort/prospective research design was used with repeated assessments of children aged 3 to 6 years with TBI or orthopedic injury requiring hospitalization and their families. Shortly after injury and at 6-, 12-, and 18-month postinjury, parents of 99 children with TBI (20 severe, 64 moderate, 15 mild) and 117 with orthopedic injury completed standardized assessments of family functioning, parental distress and coping, injury-related burden, and noninjury-related parent stressors and resources. Mixed models analyses examined group differences in parental burden and distress adjusted for race and social demographic factors. Both moderate and severe TBI were associated with higher levels of injury-related stress than orthopedic injury, with stress levels diminishing over time in all groups. Severe TBI was also associated with greater psychological distress on the Brief Symptom Inventory but not with more depressive symptoms. Family functioning and social resources moderated the relationship of TBI severity to injury-related burden and caregiver distress, respectively. Lower child adaptive skills were associated with poorer family outcome but group differences remained even when controlling for this effect. Severe TBI in young children has adverse consequences for parents and families during the first 18-month postinjury. The consequences lessen over time for many families and vary as a function of social resources.

Women's role in adapting to climate change and variability

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Carvajal-Escobar, Y.; Quintero-Angel, M.; García-Vargas, M.

2008-04-01

Given that women are engaged in more climate-related change activities than what is recognized and valued in the community, this article highlights their important role in the adaptation and search for safer communities, which leads them to understand better the causes and consequences of changes in climatic conditions. It is concluded that women have important knowledge and skills for orienting the adaptation processes, a product of their roles in society (productive, reproductive and community); and the importance of gender equity in these processes is recognized. The relationship among climate change, climate variability and the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals is considered.

Adaptive Skills, Behavior Problems, and Parenting Stress in Mothers of Boys with Fragile X Syndrome

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Sarimski, Klaus

2010-01-01

The relationship of temperament, atypical behaviors, and adaptive behavior of young boys with Fragile X syndrome on mothers' parenting stress was analyzed. Twenty-six boys with Fragile X syndrome (30-88 months of age) participated. The overall development of the participants was significantly delayed with a specific profile of adaptive behaviors…

Use of relaxation skills in differentially skilled athletes.

OpenAIRE

Kudlackova, K.; Eccles, D. W.; Dieffenbach, K.

2013-01-01

Objectives: To examine the use of relaxation skills by differentially skilled athletes in relation to the deliberate practice framework. Design: Differentially skilled athletes completed a survey about their use of relaxation skills. Method: 150 athletes representing three skill levels (recreational, college, and professional) completed the deliberate relaxation for sport survey, which assessed relaxation on three deliberate practice dimensions (relevancy, concentration, and ...

Treating Adaptive Living Skills of Persons with Autism Using Applied Behavior Analysis: A Review

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Matson, Johnny L.; Hattier, Megan A.; Belva, Brian

2012-01-01

Work, self-help, leisure, and hygiene skill deficits are often associated with Autistic Disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by pervasive impairments in socialization, communication, and repetitive and restricted behaviors or interests. A number of interventions have been established to assist individuals with these impairments.…

Fundamental arthroscopic skill differentiation with virtual reality simulation.

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Rose, Kelsey; Pedowitz, Robert

2015-02-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use and validity of virtual reality modules as part of the educational approach to mastering arthroscopy in a safe environment by assessing the ability to distinguish between experience levels. Additionally, the study aimed to evaluate whether experts have greater ambidexterity than do novices. Three virtual reality modules (Swemac/Augmented Reality Systems, Linkoping, Sweden) were created to test fundamental arthroscopic skills. Thirty participants-10 experts consisting of faculty, 10 intermediate participants consisting of orthopaedic residents, and 10 novices consisting of medical students-performed each exercise. Steady and Telescope was designed to train centering and image stability. Steady and Probe was designed to train basic triangulation. Track and Moving Target was designed to train coordinated motions of arthroscope and probe. Metrics reflecting speed, accuracy, and efficiency of motion were used to measure construct validity. Steady and Probe and Track a Moving Target both exhibited construct validity, with better performance by experts and intermediate participants than by novices (P virtual reality modules developed through task deconstruction. Participants with the most arthroscopic experience performed better and were more consistent than novices on all 3 virtual reality modules. Greater arthroscopic experience correlates with more symmetry of ambidextrous performance. However, further adjustment of the modules may better simulate fundamental arthroscopic skills and discriminate between experience levels. Arthroscopy training is a critical element of orthopaedic surgery resident training. Developing techniques to safely and effectively train these skills is critical for patient safety and resident education. Copyright © 2015 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Divergence of fine and gross motor skills in prelingually deaf children: implications for cochlear implantation.

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Horn, David L; Pisoni, David B; Miyamoto, Richard T

2006-08-01

The objective of this study was to assess relations between fine and gross motor development and spoken language processing skills in pediatric cochlear implant users. The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of longitudinal data. Prelingually deaf children who received a cochlear implant before age 5 and had no known developmental delay or cognitive impairment were included in the study. Fine and gross motor development were assessed before implantation using the Vineland Adaptive Behavioral Scales, a standardized parental report of adaptive behavior. Fine and gross motor scores reflected a given child's motor functioning with respect to a normative sample of typically developing, normal-hearing children. Relations between these preimplant scores and postimplant spoken language outcomes were assessed. In general, gross motor scores were found to be positively related to chronologic age, whereas the opposite trend was observed for fine motor scores. Fine motor scores were more strongly correlated with postimplant expressive and receptive language scores than gross motor scores. Our findings suggest a disassociation between fine and gross motor development in prelingually deaf children: fine motor skills, in contrast to gross motor skills, tend to be delayed as the prelingually deaf children get older. These findings provide new knowledge about the links between motor and spoken language development and suggest that auditory deprivation may lead to atypical development of certain motor and language skills that share common cortical processing resources.

Impact of organizational socialization towards employees' social adaptation

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Ratković-Njegovan Biljana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the importance of organizational socialization as a process of gaining knowledge on the organizational success of employees' social adaptation and encouraging their social competence. Organizational socialization as a scientific discipline as well as practically oriented adjustment activity towards employees' working environment has developed methodology and tactics of socio-cognitive, behavioural and motivational encouragement of employees to the acceptance of organizational culture. It is assumed that in the process of organizational socialization, in addition to professional and organizational adaptation, the focus is on the development of employees' social competences. Although within the evaluated performance appraisal of social competence is only estimated, and also neglected in the overall assessment of employees' work performance, organizational climate for good social skills is of great importance due to the fact that enhanced social and interpersonal communication and interaction can increase operating synergies and contribute to better business results. Although social skills are an important element of human capital, they are still insufficiently recognized as a form of intangible resources that participate in the long-term value creation. The deficit in this area can lead to the problems in performance of human relations at the workplace.

Let your communication skills equal your clinical skills.

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Demarais, Ann; Baum, Neil

2012-01-01

Relating effectively with patients is among the most valued skills of clinical care. Honing your communication skills is an art that every physician needs to learn and understand. In this era of increased volume of patients there is a tendency to lose sight of the importance of having good communication skills. This article will review 11 suggestions for letting your communication skills equal your clinical skills.

The conscious city II: traffic congestion and the tipping point in greater Vancouver

OpenAIRE

Holt, Rebecca

2007-01-01

The Conscious City II explores how broad, long-term change toward sustainability in cities can be fostered, nurtured and facilitated. Using a qualitative, mixed-method approach, this research adapts a model from Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point framework to explore how social consciousness can be mobilized to achieve change toward sustainability through an analysis of traffic congestion in Greater Vancouver. The results demonstrate the important influence of leadership, context and message on...

The autistic phenotype in Down syndrome: differences in adaptive behaviour versus Down syndrome alone and autistic disorder alone.

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Dressler, Anastasia; Perelli, Valentina; Bozza, Margherita; Bargagna, Stefania

2011-01-01

The autistic phenotype in Down syndrome (DS) is marked by a characteristic pattern of stereotypies, anxiety and social withdrawal. Our aim was to study adaptive behaviour in DS with and without autistic comorbidity using the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales (VABS), the Childhood Autism Rating Scales (CARS) and the DSM IV-TR criteria. We assessed 24 individuals and established three groups: Down syndrome (DS), DS and autistic disorder (DS-AD), and autistic disorder (AD). The DS and DS-AD groups showed statistically significantly similar strengths on the VABS (in receptive and domestic skills). The DS and DS-AD subjects also showed similar strengths on the CARS (in imitation and relating), differing significantly from the AD group. The profile of adaptive functioning and symptoms in DS-AD seemed to be more similar to that found in DS than to the profile emerging in AD. We suggest that the comorbidity of austistic symptoms in DS hampered the acquisition of adaptive skills more than did the presence of DS alone.

Soft Skills assessment through virtual environments in the university sector : A narrative review

OpenAIRE

Ruiz Morales, Yovanni; Biencinto López, Chantal; García García, Mercedes; Carpintero Molina, Elvira

2017-01-01

The paper presents a narrative on the state of the question about the teaching and assessment of generic soft skills through Virtual Environments (VEs) in universities, based on consultation of scientific journals in electronic and printed format published between 2000 and 2014, as well as research projects focused on the development of generic skills through VEs. The paper summarises the theoretical and empirical contributions as a way of providing a greater insight into a line of research t...

Salinity Adaptation and the Contribution of Parental Environmental Effects in Medicago truncatula.

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Ken S Moriuchi

Full Text Available High soil salinity negatively influences plant growth and yield. Some taxa have evolved mechanisms for avoiding or tolerating elevated soil salinity, which can be modulated by the environment experienced by parents or offspring. We tested the contribution of the parental and offspring environments on salinity adaptation and their potential underlying mechanisms. In a two-generation greenhouse experiment, we factorially manipulated salinity concentrations for genotypes of Medicago truncatula that were originally collected from natural populations that differed in soil salinity. To compare population level adaptation to soil salinity and to test the potential mechanisms involved we measured two aspects of plant performance, reproduction and vegetative biomass, and phenological and physiological traits associated with salinity avoidance and tolerance. Saline-origin populations had greater biomass and reproduction under saline conditions than non-saline populations, consistent with local adaptation to saline soils. Additionally, parental environmental exposure to salt increased this difference in performance. In terms of environmental effects on mechanisms of salinity adaptation, parental exposure to salt spurred phenological differences that facilitated salt avoidance, while offspring exposure to salt resulted in traits associated with greater salt tolerance. Non-saline origin populations expressed traits associated with greater growth in the absence of salt while, for saline adapted populations, the ability to maintain greater performance in saline environments was also associated with lower growth potential in the absence of salt. Plastic responses induced by parental and offspring environments in phenology, leaf traits, and gas exchange contribute to salinity adaptation in M. truncatula. The ability of plants to tolerate environmental stress, such as high soil salinity, is likely modulated by a combination of parental effects and within

Respiratory adaptations in different types of sport.

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Lazovic, B; Mazic, S; Suzic-Lazic, J; Djelic, M; Djordjevic-Saranovic, S; Durmic, T; Zikic, D; Zugic, V

2015-06-01

Recent studies demonstrated that current European Respiratory Society/American Thoracic Society spirometric reference equations, used in general population, may not be applicable in population of elite athletes. Althought it is well known that physical activity may affect lung volumes, the effect of sporting activity on pulmonary function testing indices was never examined. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in functional respiratory parameters in various types of sports by measuring lung volumes and to extend the existing factors as well as sport disciplines which affect respiratory function the most. A total of 1639 elite male athletes, aged 18-35 years were divided in 4 groups according to the predominant characteristics of training: skill, power, mixed and endurance athletes. They performed basic anthropometric measurements and spirometry. Groups were compared, and Pearson's simple correlation was performed to test the relation between anthropometric and spirometric characteristics of athletes. All anthropometric characteristics significantly differed among groups and correlate with respiratory parameters. The highest correlation was found for body height and weight. Sports participation is associated with respiratory adaptation, and the extent of adaptation depends on type of activity. Endurance sports athletes have higher lung volumes in comparison with skill, mixed and power group of sport.

Adaptive leadership curriculum for Indian paramedic trainees.

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Mantha, Aditya; Coggins, Nathaniel L; Mahadevan, Aditya; Strehlow, Rebecca N; Strehlow, Matthew C; Mahadevan, S V

2016-12-01

Paramedic trainees in developing countries face complex and chaotic clinical environments that demand effective leadership, communication, and teamwork. Providers must rely on non-technical skills (NTS) to manage bystanders and attendees, collaborate with other emergency professionals, and safely and appropriately treat patients. The authors designed a NTS curriculum for paramedic trainees focused on adaptive leadership, teamwork, and communication skills critical to the Indian prehospital environment. Forty paramedic trainees in the first academic year of the 2-year Advanced Post-Graduate Degree in Emergency Care (EMT-paramedic equivalent) program at the GVK-Emergency Management and Research Institute campus in Hyderabad, India, participated in the 6-day leadership course. Trainees completed self-assessments and delivered two brief video-recorded presentations before and after completion of the curriculum. Independent blinded observers scored the pre- and post-intervention presentations delivered by 10 randomly selected paramedic trainees. The third-party judges reported significant improvement in both confidence (25 %, p leadership (2.6 vs. 4.6, p confidence (3.0 vs. 4.8, p leadership curriculum for prehospital providers demonstrated significant improvement in self-reported NTS commonly required of paramedics in the field. The authors recommend integrating focused NTS development curriculum into Indian paramedic education and further evaluation of the long term impacts of this adaptive leadership training.

PsT1: A Low-Cost Optical Simulator for Psychomotor Skills Training in Neuroendoscopy.

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Espinoza, Daniel Lorias; González Carranza, Vicente; Chico-Ponce de León, Fernando; Martinez, Arturo Minor

2015-06-01

Well-developed psychomotor skills are important for competence in minimally invasive surgery. Neuroendoscopy is no exception, and adaptation to different visual perspectives and careful handling of the surgical instruments are mandatory. Few training systems, however, focus on developing psychomotor skills for neuroendoscopy. Here, we introduce a new training system called PsT1 that provides visual feedback via the use of simple optics that emulate the endoscope at 0° and 30°. Time and error metrics are generated automatically with integrated software to ensure objective assessment. Neuroendoscopic optics were emulated with a low-cost, commercially available universal serial bus 2.0 camera and a light-emitting diode light source. Visual feedback of 30° was obtained by displacing the optical axis of the universal serial bus camera by 30°, and metrics (time, precision, and errors) were generated automatically by the software. Three evaluation modules were developed (spatial adaptation, depth adaptation, and dissection), and 35 expert and nonexpert neurosurgeons performed an initial evaluation of the system. A total of 81% and 90% of surgeons agreed that the visuals were satisfactory and movement and control were accurately replicated, respectively. The advantages and disadvantages of the system were compared. Here, we present a novel, low-cost, and easy-to-implement training system for developing basic neuroendoscopic psychomotor skills. The use of objective metrics, surgical instruments, and emulation of the neuroendoscope at 0° and 30° are competitive advantages of the current system. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Wages and Skills Utilization: Effect of Broad Skills and Generic Skills on Wages in Singapore

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Catherine R.; Ng, Michael Chi Man; Sung, Johnny; Loke, Fiona

2013-01-01

Many people go for training to upgrade their skills which is hoped to pave the way for better pay. But what are the kinds of skills that really affect wages? Employers have emphasized the value of generic skills such as interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork and problem solving. Does possession of these skills translate to at least the…

Long-Term Outcome of Social Skills Intervention Based on Interactive LEGO[C] Play

Science.gov (United States)

Legoff, Daniel B.; Sherman, Michael

2006-01-01

LEGO[C] building materials have been adapted as a therapeutic modality for increasing motivation to participate in social skills intervention, and providing a medium through which children with social and communication handicaps can effectively interact. A 3 year retrospective study of long-term outcome for autistic spectrum children participating…

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression Using Mind Over Mood: CBT Skill Use and Differential Symptom Alleviation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawley, Lance L; Padesky, Christine A; Hollon, Steven D; Mancuso, Enza; Laposa, Judith M; Brozina, Karen; Segal, Zindel V

2017-01-01

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression is highly effective. An essential element of this therapy involves acquiring and utilizing CBT skills; however, it is unclear whether the type of CBT skill used is associated with differential symptom alleviation. Outpatients (N = 356) diagnosed with a primary mood disorder received 14 two-hour group sessions of CBT for depression, using the Mind Over Mood protocol. In each session, patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory and throughout the week they reported on their use of CBT skills: behavioral activation (BA), cognitive restructuring (CR), and core belief (CB) strategies. Bivariate latent difference score (LDS) longitudinal analyses were used to examine patterns of differential skill use and subsequent symptom change, and multigroup LDS analyses were used to determine whether longitudinal associations differed as a function of initial depression severity. Higher levels of BA use were associated with a greater subsequent decrease in depressive symptoms for patients with mild to moderate initial depression symptoms relative to those with severe symptoms. Higher levels of CR use were associated with a greater subsequent decrease in depressive symptoms, whereas higher levels of CB use were followed by a subsequent increase in depressive symptoms, regardless of initial severity. Results indicated that the type of CBT skill used is associated with differential patterns of subsequent symptom change. BA use was associated with differential subsequent change as a function of initial severity (patients with less severe depression symptoms demonstrated greater symptom improvement), whereas CR use was associated with symptom alleviation and CB use with an increase in subsequent symptoms as related to initial severity. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Farmer Health and Adaptive Capacity in the Face of Climate Change and Variability. Part 1: Health as a Contributor to Adaptive Capacity and as an Outcome from Pressures Coping with Climate Related Adversities

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Anne Parkinson

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the role farmers’ health plays as an element of adaptive capacity. The study examines which of twenty aspects of adaptation may be related to overall health outcomes, controlling for demographic and on-farm-factors in health problems. The analysis is based on 3,993 farmers’ responses to a national survey of climate risk and adaptation. Hierarchical linear regression modelling was used examine the extent to which, in a multivariate analysis, the use of adaptive practices was predictively associated with self-assessed health, taking into account the farmer’s rating of whether their health was a barrier to undertaking farm work. We present two models, one excluding pre-existing health (model 1 and one including pre-existing health (model 2. The first model accounted for 21% of the variance. In this model better health was most strongly predicted by an absence of on-farm risk, greater financial viability, greater debt pressures, younger age and a desire to continue farming. Social capital (trust and reciprocity was moderately associated with health as was the intention to adopt more sustainable practices. The second model (including the farmers’ health as a barrier to undertaking farm work accounted for 43% of the variance. Better health outcomes were most strongly explained, in order of magnitude, by the absence of pre-existing health problems, greater access to social support, greater financial viability, greater debt pressures, a desire to continue farming and the condition of on-farm resources. Model 2 was a more parsimonious model (only nine predictors, compared with 15 in model 1, and explained twice as much variance in health outcomes. These results suggest that (i pre-existing health problems are a very important factor to consider when designing adaptation programs and policies and (ii these problems may mediate or modify the relationship between adaptation and health.

An Overview of Recent Developments in Cognitive Diagnostic Computer Adaptive Assessments

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Alan Huebner

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Cognitive diagnostic modeling has become an exciting new field of psychometric research. These models aim to diagnose examinees' mastery status of a group of discretely defined skills, or attributes, thereby providing them with detailed information regarding their specific strengths and weaknesses. Combining cognitive diagnosis with computer adaptive assessments has emerged as an important part of this new field. This article aims to provide practitioners and researchers with an introduction to and overview of recent developments in cognitive diagnostic computer adaptive assessments.

Contribution of Oral Language Skills, Linguistic Skills, and Transcription Skills to Chinese Written Composition among Fourth-Grade Students

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Yeung, Pui-sze; Ho, Connie Suk-han; Chan, David Wai-ock; Chung, Kevin Kien-hoa

2013-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate the contribution of oral language skills, linguistic skills, and transcription skills to Chinese written composition among Grade 4 students in Hong Kong. Measures assessing verbal working memory, oral language skills, linguistic skills (i.e., syntactic skills and discourse skills), transcription skills (i.e.,…

Transgenerational plasticity is adaptive in the wild.

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Galloway, Laura F; Etterson, Julie R

2007-11-16

Plants exhibit adaptive responses to light, but it is not known whether parental plants transmit environmental cues that elicit adaptive responses in offspring. We show that offspring life history (annual versus biennial) is influenced by the maternal light environment (understory versus light gap). This transgenerational plasticity is adaptive when offspring are grown in their maternal light environment, where seeds typically disperse. Projections of population growth show that plants that are appropriately cued for their light environment through maternal effects have 3.4 times greater fitness than otherwise. Transgenerational plasticity has evolved in response to natural variation in light and provides a flexible mechanism by which sedentary organisms cope with heterogeneous environments.

The ADaptation and Anticipation Model (ADAM) of sensorimotor synchronization

Science.gov (United States)

van der Steen, M. C. (Marieke); Keller, Peter E.

2013-01-01

A constantly changing environment requires precise yet flexible timing of movements. Sensorimotor synchronization (SMS)—the temporal coordination of an action with events in a predictable external rhythm—is a fundamental human skill that contributes to optimal sensory-motor control in daily life. A large body of research related to SMS has focused on adaptive error correction mechanisms that support the synchronization of periodic movements (e.g., finger taps) with events in regular pacing sequences. The results of recent studies additionally highlight the importance of anticipatory mechanisms that support temporal prediction in the context of SMS with sequences that contain tempo changes. To investigate the role of adaptation and anticipatory mechanisms in SMS we introduce ADAM: an ADaptation and Anticipation Model. ADAM combines reactive error correction processes (adaptation) with predictive temporal extrapolation processes (anticipation) inspired by the computational neuroscience concept of internal models. The combination of simulations and experimental manipulations based on ADAM creates a novel and promising approach for exploring adaptation and anticipation in SMS. The current paper describes the conceptual basis and architecture of ADAM. PMID:23772211

Adapting Digital Libraries to Continual Evolution

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Barkstrom, Bruce R.; Finch, Melinda; Ferebee, Michelle; Mackey, Calvin

2002-01-01

In this paper, we describe five investment streams (data storage infrastructure, knowledge management, data production control, data transport and security, and personnel skill mix) that need to be balanced against short-term operating demands in order to maximize the probability of long-term viability of a digital library. Because of the rapid pace of information technology change, a digital library cannot be a static institution. Rather, it has to become a flexible organization adapted to continuous evolution of its infrastructure.

The effect of student self-video of performance on clinical skill competency: a randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Maloney, Stephen; Storr, Michael; Morgan, Prue; Ilic, Dragan

2013-03-01

Emerging technologies and student information technology literacy are enabling new methods of teaching and learning for clinical skill performance. Facilitating experiential practice and reflection on performance through student self-video, and exposure to peer benchmarks, may promote greater levels of skill competency. This study examines the impact of student self-video on the attainment of clinical skills. A total of 60 Physiotherapy students (100%) consented to participate in the randomised controlled trial. One group (50%) was taught a complex clinical skill with regular practical tutoring, whilst the other group (50%) supplemented the tutoring with a self-video task aimed at promoting reflection on performance. Student skill performance was measured in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Students also completed an anonymous questionnaire, which explored their perception of their learning experiences. Students received significantly higher scores in the OSCE when the examined clinical skill had been supplemented with a self-video of performance task (P = 0.048). Descriptive analysis of the questionnaires relating to student perceptions on the teaching methods identified that the self-video of performance task utilised contributed to improvement in their clinical performance and their confidence for future clinical practice. Students identified a number of aspects of the submission process that contributed to this perception of educational value. The novel results of this study demonstrate that greater clinical skill competency is achieved when traditional tutoring methods are supplemented with student self-video of performance tasks. Additional benefits included the ability of staff and students to monitor longitudinal performance, and an increase in feedback opportunities.

Management and organisational barriers in the acquisition of computer usage skills by mature age workers.

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Keogh, Mark

2009-09-01

To investigate workplace cultures in the acquisition of computer usage skills by mature age workers. Data were gathered through focus groups conducted at job network centres in the Greater Brisbane metropolitan region. Participants who took part were a mixture of workers and job-seekers. The results suggest that mature age workers can be exposed to inappropriate computer training practices and age-insensitive attitudes towards those with low base computer skills. There is a need for managers to be observant of ageist attitudes in the work place and to develop age-sensitive strategies to help mature age workers learn computer usage skills. Mature age workers also need to develop skills in ways which are practical and meaningful to their work.

Role of simulator training in developing teamwork and diagnostic skills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grimme, W.E.

1987-01-01

A review of the evolution of the control room team is necessary to understand team training needs. As control room responsibilities have increased and members have been added to the operating crews, teamwork and strong leadership has become crucial to the efficiency of these operating crews. In order to conduct effective team training in a simulated control room, it is essential that the fundamental principles of role definition and common team values are fully developed. The diagnostics model used to develop problem-solving skills must be adaptable to the dynamic environment of the control room. Once the fundamental principles of team building and a good diagnostics model are mastered, many training techniques using a simulator are available to perfect the development of team building and diagnostic skills

Teaching Literacy Skills to French Minimally Verbal School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders with the Serious Game SEMA-TIC: An Exploratory Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Serret, Sylvie; Hun, Stéphanie; Thümmler, Susanne; Pierron, Prescillia; Santos, Andreia; Bourgeois, Jérémy; Askenazy, Florence

2017-01-01

Learning to read is very challenging for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), but also very important, as it can give them access to new knowledge. This is even more challenging in minimally verbal children, who do not have the verbal abilities to learn through usual methods. To address the learning of literacy skills in French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD, we designed the serious game SEMA-TIC, which relies on non-verbal cognitive skills and uses specific learning strategies adapted to the features of autistic individuals. This study investigated the usability of SEMA-TIC (in terms of adaptability, efficiency, and effectiveness) for the acquisition of literacy skills in French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD. Twenty-five children with ASD and no functional language participated in the study. Children in the training group received the SEMA-TIC training over 23 weeks (on average), while no intervention was provided to children in the non-training group. Results indicated that SEMA-TIC presents a suitable usability, as all participants were able to play (adaptability), to complete the training (efficiency) and to acquire significant literacy skills (effectiveness). Indeed, the literacy skills in the training group significantly improved after the training, as measured by specific experimental tasks (alphabet knowledge, word reading, word-non-word discrimination, sentence reading and word segmentation; all p ≤ 0.001) compared to the non-training group. More importantly, 3 out of 12 children of the training group could be considered as word decoders at the end of the intervention, whereas no children of the non-training group became able to decode words efficiently. The present study thus brings preliminary evidence that French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD are able to learn literacy skills through SEMA-TIC, a specific computerized intervention consisting in a serious game based on non-verbal cognitive

Teaching Literacy Skills to French Minimally Verbal School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders with the Serious Game SEMA-TIC: An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Serret, Sylvie; Hun, Stéphanie; Thümmler, Susanne; Pierron, Prescillia; Santos, Andreia; Bourgeois, Jérémy; Askenazy, Florence

2017-01-01

Learning to read is very challenging for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), but also very important, as it can give them access to new knowledge. This is even more challenging in minimally verbal children, who do not have the verbal abilities to learn through usual methods. To address the learning of literacy skills in French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD, we designed the serious game SEMA-TIC, which relies on non-verbal cognitive skills and uses specific learning strategies adapted to the features of autistic individuals. This study investigated the usability of SEMA-TIC (in terms of adaptability, efficiency, and effectiveness) for the acquisition of literacy skills in French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD. Twenty-five children with ASD and no functional language participated in the study. Children in the training group received the SEMA-TIC training over 23 weeks (on average), while no intervention was provided to children in the non-training group. Results indicated that SEMA-TIC presents a suitable usability, as all participants were able to play (adaptability), to complete the training (efficiency) and to acquire significant literacy skills (effectiveness). Indeed, the literacy skills in the training group significantly improved after the training, as measured by specific experimental tasks (alphabet knowledge, word reading, word-non-word discrimination, sentence reading and word segmentation; all p ≤ 0.001) compared to the non-training group. More importantly, 3 out of 12 children of the training group could be considered as word decoders at the end of the intervention, whereas no children of the non-training group became able to decode words efficiently. The present study thus brings preliminary evidence that French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD are able to learn literacy skills through SEMA-TIC, a specific computerized intervention consisting in a serious game based on non-verbal cognitive

Teaching Literacy Skills to French Minimally Verbal School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders with the Serious Game SEMA-TIC: An Exploratory Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sylvie Serret

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Learning to read is very challenging for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD, but also very important, as it can give them access to new knowledge. This is even more challenging in minimally verbal children, who do not have the verbal abilities to learn through usual methods. To address the learning of literacy skills in French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD, we designed the serious game SEMA-TIC, which relies on non-verbal cognitive skills and uses specific learning strategies adapted to the features of autistic individuals. This study investigated the usability of SEMA-TIC (in terms of adaptability, efficiency, and effectiveness for the acquisition of literacy skills in French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD. Twenty-five children with ASD and no functional language participated in the study. Children in the training group received the SEMA-TIC training over 23 weeks (on average, while no intervention was provided to children in the non-training group. Results indicated that SEMA-TIC presents a suitable usability, as all participants were able to play (adaptability, to complete the training (efficiency and to acquire significant literacy skills (effectiveness. Indeed, the literacy skills in the training group significantly improved after the training, as measured by specific experimental tasks (alphabet knowledge, word reading, word-non-word discrimination, sentence reading and word segmentation; all p ≤ 0.001 compared to the non-training group. More importantly, 3 out of 12 children of the training group could be considered as word decoders at the end of the intervention, whereas no children of the non-training group became able to decode words efficiently. The present study thus brings preliminary evidence that French minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD are able to learn literacy skills through SEMA-TIC, a specific computerized intervention consisting in a serious game based on non

Effect of a 6-Week Active Play Intervention on Fundamental Movement Skill Competence of Preschool Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Foulkes, J D; Knowles, Z; Fairclough, S J; Stratton, G; O'Dwyer, M; Ridgers, N D; Foweather, L

2017-04-01

This study examined the effectiveness of an active play intervention on fundamental movement skills of 3- to 5-year-old children from deprived communities. In a cluster randomized controlled trial design, six preschools received a resource pack and a 6-week local authority program involving staff training with help implementing 60-minute weekly sessions and postprogram support. Six comparison preschools received a resource pack only. Twelve skills were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and at a 6-month follow-up using the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol. One hundred and sixty-two children (Mean age = 4.64 ± 0.58 years; 53.1% boys) were included in the final analyses. There were no significant differences between groups for total fundamental movement skill, object-control skill or locomotor skill scores, indicating a need for program modification to facilitate greater skill improvements.

A Model for the Transfer of Perceptual-Motor Skill Learning in Human Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Rosalie, Simon M.; Muller, Sean

2012-01-01

This paper presents a preliminary model that outlines the mechanisms underlying the transfer of perceptual-motor skill learning in sport and everyday tasks. Perceptual-motor behavior is motivated by performance demands and evolves over time to increase the probability of success through adaptation. Performance demands at the time of an event…

Parents Perceive Improvements in Socio-emotional Functioning in Adolescents with ASD Following Social Skills Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

N Lordo, Danielle; Bertolin, Madison; L Sudikoff, Eliana; Keith, Cierra; Braddock, Barbara; Kaufman, David A S

2017-01-01

The current study examined the effectiveness of a social skills treatment (PEERS) for improving socio-emotional competencies in a sample of high-functioning adolescents with ASD. Neuropsychological and self- and parent-report measures assessing social, emotional, and behavioral functioning were administered before and after treatment. Following social skills treatment, adolescents with ASD exhibited decreased aggression, anxiety, and withdrawal, as well as improvements in emotional responsiveness, adaptability, leadership, and participation in activities of daily living, though no change was found in affect recognition abilities. These findings suggest that PEERS social skills treatment improves particular aspects of emotional, behavioral, and social functioning that may be necessary for developing and maintaining quality peer relationships and remediating social isolation in adolescents with ASD.

The sequential structure of brain activation predicts skill.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, John R; Bothell, Daniel; Fincham, Jon M; Moon, Jungaa

2016-01-29

In an fMRI study, participants were trained to play a complex video game. They were scanned early and then again after substantial practice. While better players showed greater activation in one region (right dorsal striatum) their relative skill was better diagnosed by considering the sequential structure of whole brain activation. Using a cognitive model that played this game, we extracted a characterization of the mental states that are involved in playing a game and the statistical structure of the transitions among these states. There was a strong correspondence between this measure of sequential structure and the skill of different players. Using multi-voxel pattern analysis, it was possible to recognize, with relatively high accuracy, the cognitive states participants were in during particular scans. We used the sequential structure of these activation-recognized states to predict the skill of individual players. These findings indicate that important features about information-processing strategies can be identified from a model-based analysis of the sequential structure of brain activation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pilot evaluation of the Frankfurt Social Skills Training for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Herbrecht, Evelyn; Poustka, Fritz; Birnkammer, Sabine; Duketis, Eftichia; Schlitt, Sabine; Schmötzer, Gabriele; Bölte, Sven

2009-06-01

The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a group-based intervention aiming at improving social and communication skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Over a period of 11 months, N = 17 children and adolescents received treatment according to the manualised Frankfurt Social Skills Training (KONTAKT). Parent, teacher, expert and blind expert ratings were assessed to judge outcome regarding peer interaction, autistic behaviours, adaptive functioning and family burden. The participants exhibited improvements pre to follow-up treatment, particularly in the area of autistic symptomatology. Effect sizes (partial eta squared) ranged from 0.02 to 0.69. Among other things, regression models showed a positive influence of IQ and language skills on gains in social skills. Findings indicate that KONTAKT might be useful for enhancing social skills and reducing autism-related psychopathology over time in different contexts. Nevertheless, controlled trials are needed to reassure its effectiveness.

A Methodology for Investigating Adaptive Postural Control

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, P. V.; Riccio, G. E.

1999-01-01

Our research on postural control and human-environment interactions provides an appropriate scientific foundation for understanding the skill of mass handling by astronauts in weightless conditions (e.g., extravehicular activity or EVA). We conducted an investigation of such skills in NASA's principal mass-handling simulator, the Precision Air-Bearing Floor, at the Johnson Space Center. We have studied skilled movement-body within a multidisciplinary context that draws on concepts and methods from biological and behavioral sciences (e.g., psychology, kinesiology and neurophysiology) as well as bioengineering. Our multidisciplinary research has led to the development of measures, for manual interactions between individuals and the substantial environment, that plausibly are observable by human sensory systems. We consider these methods to be the most important general contribution of our EVA investigation. We describe our perspective as control theoretic because it draws more on fundamental concepts about control systems in engineering than it does on working constructs from the subdisciplines of biomechanics and motor control in the bio-behavioral sciences. At the same time, we have attempted to identify the theoretical underpinnings of control-systems engineering that are most relevant to control by human beings. We believe that these underpinnings are implicit in the assumptions that cut across diverse methods in control-systems engineering, especially the various methods associated with "nonlinear control", "fuzzy control," and "adaptive control" in engineering. Our methods are based on these theoretical foundations rather than on the mathematical formalisms that are associated with particular methods in control-systems engineering. The most important aspects of the human-environment interaction in our investigation of mass handling are the functional consequences that body configuration and stability have for the pick up of information or the achievement of

Adaptive coordination in surgical teams: an interview study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogdanovic, Jasmina; Perry, Juliana; Guggenheim, Merlin; Manser, Tanja

2015-04-01

Effective teamwork has been recognised as a major contributor to safe patient care in surgery. Previous research has highlighted the importance of adaptive coordination for effective performance in acute care settings. Expanding this line of research this study explores the coordination behaviours and adaptive coordination strategies employed by surgical teams and identifies relevant situational characteristics influencing those coordination processes. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews with 33 surgical team members (nurses and physicians) from different specialties and hospitals. We identified coordination behaviours (i.e. task management, information management, teaching and leadership) and adaptive coordination strategies triggered by varying requirements due to non-routine events, intraoperative complications and differing level of experience among operating room staff. Interviewees highlighted the importance of effectively managing challenging moments and the supporting effect of positive climate on teamwork. This study complements previous research on the non-technical skills underpinning safe performance in surgical teams. It highlights the central role of coordination and points out the ways in which situational variability requires the team to behave adaptively.

The Role of Couples’ Interactions in Application of Communication Skills

OpenAIRE

منصوره‌السادات صادقی; محمدعلی مظاهری; فرشته موتابی

2014-01-01

The aim of this research was to predict the role of couples’ interactions in application of communication skills based on observing their positive and negative interactions. A sample of 31 couples [adapted (15) and maladapted (16)] who were living in Tehran, were selected via accessible sampling. The couples’ interactions were videotaped through a designed scenario including problem solving, decision making, and reviewing conversation about a shared pleasure event. Participants also completed...

Hemispheric surgery for refractory epilepsy in children and adolescents: outcome regarding seizures, motor skills and adaptive function.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamad, Ana Paula; Caboclo, Luís Otávio; Centeno, Ricardo; Costa, Livia Vianez; Ladeia-Frota, Carol; Junior, Henrique Carrete; Gomez, Nicolas Garofalo; Marinho, Murilo; Yacubian, Elza Márcia Targas; Sakamoto, Américo Ceiki

2013-11-01

The aim of the study was to report the seizure outcome, motor skills and adaptive motor functions in a series of children and adolescents who underwent hemispheric surgery, analysing the risk-benefits of surgery. The clinical course, seizure and motor function outcomes of 15 patients who underwent hemispheric surgery were reviewed. The mean age at surgery was 9.5, with 1-9 years follow-up. The underlying pathologies were Rasmussen encephalitis, vascular disorders, and hemimegalencephaly. All the patients presented with severe epilepsy and different degrees of hemiparesis, although motor functionality was preserved in 80% of the patients. At last follow-up, 67% were seizure free, and 20% rarely experienced seizures. Antiepileptic drugs were reduced in 60%, and complete withdrawal from such drugs was successful in 20% of the patients. The motor outcome following the surgery varied between the patients. Despite the motor deficit after surgery, the post-operative motor function showed unchanged for gross motor function in most (60%), while 27% improved. Similar results were obtained for the ability to handle objects in daily life activities. Sixty percent of the children were capable of handling objects, with somewhat reduced coordination and/or motor speed. Pre-surgical motor function continues to play a role in the pre-surgical evaluation process in order to provide a baseline for outcome. Hemispheric surgery, once regarded as a radical intervention and last treatment resource, may become routinely indicated for refractory hemispheric epilepsy in children and adolescents, with oftentime favourable motor outcomes. Copyright © 2013 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing Patients’ Cognitive Therapy Skills: Initial Evaluation of the Competencies of Cognitive Therapy Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Strunk, Daniel R.; Hollars, Shannon N.; Adler, Abby D.; Goldstein, Lizabeth A.; Braun, Justin D.

2014-01-01

In Cognitive Therapy (CT), therapists work to help patients develop skills to cope with negative affect. Most current methods of assessing patients’ skills are cumbersome and impractical for clinical use. To address this issue, we developed and conducted an initial psychometric evaluation of self and therapist reported versions of a new measure of CT skills: the Competencies of Cognitive Therapy Scale (CCTS). We evaluated the CCTS at intake and post-treatment in a sample of 67 patients participating in CT. The CCTS correlated with a preexisting measure of CT skills (the Ways of Responding Questionnaire) and was also related to concurrent depressive symptoms. Across CT, self-reported improvements in CT competencies were associated with greater changes in depressive symptoms. These findings offer initial evidence for the validity of the CCTS. We discuss the CCTS in comparison with other measures of CT skills and suggest future research directions. PMID:25408560

Investigating the social behavioral dynamics and differentiation of skill in a martial arts technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Caron, Robert R; Coey, Charles A; Dhaim, Ashley N; Schmidt, R C

2017-08-01

Coordinating interpersonal motor activity is crucial in martial arts, where managing spatiotemporal parameters is emphasized to produce effective techniques. Modeling arm movements in an Aikido technique as coupled oscillators, we investigated whether more-skilled participants would adapt to the perturbation of weighted arms in different and predictable ways compared to less-skilled participants. Thirty-four participants ranging from complete novice to veterans of more than twenty years were asked to perform an Aikido exercise with a repeated attack and response, resulting in a period of steady-state coordination, followed by a take down. We used mean relative phase and its variability to measure the steady-state dynamics of both the inter- and intrapersonal coordination. Our findings suggest that interpersonal coordination of less-skilled participants is disrupted in highly predictable ways based on oscillatory dynamics; however, more-skilled participants overcome these natural dynamics to maintain critical performance variables. Interestingly, the more-skilled participants exhibited more variability in their intrapersonal dynamics while meeting these interpersonal demands. This work lends insight to the development of skill in competitive social motor activities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring Early Childhood Preservice Teachers' Problem-Solving Skills through Socioscientific Inquiry Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Fadzil, Hidayah Mohd

2017-01-01

Developing problem solving skills is often accepted as a desirable goal in many educational settings. However, there is little evidence to support that students are better problem solvers after graduating. The students can solve routine problems but they confronted difficulties when adapting their prior knowledge for the solution of new problems.…

The relationship between job search skills and employability for persons with mild mental retardation.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Y

1998-01-01

Persons with mental retardation who possess applicable adaptive skills are usually able to obtain jobs in labor markets. However, some persons who show high scores with social and prevocational skills are unable to obtain jobs and the reasons for their unemployability are unknown. Twelve subjects with mild retardation who failed to obtain jobs were evaluated for their social and prevocational skills at the Tokyo Metropolitan Rehabilitation Center for the Physically and Mentally Handicapped. The evaluation was performed using the Social and Prevocational Information Battery-Revised which was developed by Halpen and Irvin. The results showed 12 subjects presented lower scores either in the Job Search Skills area or in other areas in spite of their high scores on the Total Battery. Moreover, these subjects also showed behavior problems. The study suggests that those with high scores on the Total Battery, but low scores in Job Search Skills, show a tendency to fail to obtain a job in competitive job placement. It seems that these persons have adjustment problems and need special support services to secure their employability.

Can genetically based clines in plant defence explain greater herbivory at higher latitudes?

Science.gov (United States)

Anstett, Daniel N; Ahern, Jeffrey R; Glinos, Julia; Nawar, Nabanita; Salminen, Juha-Pekka; Johnson, Marc T J

2015-12-01

Greater plant defence is predicted to evolve at lower latitudes in response to increased herbivore pressure. However, recent studies question the generality of this pattern. In this study, we tested for genetically based latitudinal clines in resistance to herbivores and underlying defence traits of Oenothera biennis. We grew plants from 137 populations from across the entire native range of O. biennis. Populations from lower latitudes showed greater resistance to multiple specialist and generalist herbivores. These patterns were associated with an increase in total phenolics at lower latitudes. A significant proportion of the phenolics were driven by the concentrations of two major ellagitannins, which exhibited opposing latitudinal clines. Our analyses suggest that these findings are unlikely to be explained by local adaptation of herbivore populations or genetic variation in phenology. Rather greater herbivory at high latitudes can be explained by latitudinal clines in the evolution of plant defences. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Toward Adaptive X-Ray Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dell, Stephen L.; Atkins, Carolyn; Button, Tim W.; Cotroneo, Vincenzo; Davis, William N.; Doel, Peer; Feldman, Charlotte H.; Freeman, Mark D.; Gubarev, Mikhail V.; Kolodziejczak, Jeffrey J.;

Leadership Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchison, Cathleen; And Others

1988-01-01

Lists skills identified by the Leadership Development Task Force as being critical skills for a leader. Discussion focuses on information managing skills, including problem solving, decision making, setting goals and objectives; project management; and people managing skills, including interpersonal communications, conflict management, motivation,…

Environmental impacts of climate change adaptation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Enríquez-de-Salamanca, Álvaro, E-mail: aenriquez@draba.org [Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)/Draba Ingeniería y Consultoría Medioambiental, Cañada Nueva, 13, 28200 San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain); Díaz-Sierra, Rubén, E-mail: sierra@dfmf.uned.es [Departamento de Física Matemática y de Fluidos, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Paseo Senda del Rey, 9, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Martín-Aranda, Rosa M., E-mail: rmartin@ccia.uned.es [Departamento de Química Inorgánica y Química Técnica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Paseo Senda del Rey, 9, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Santos, Maria J., E-mail: M.J.FerreiraDosSantos@uu.nl [Department of Innovation, Environmental and Energy Sciences, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3572 TC Utrecht (Netherlands)

2017-05-15

Climate change adaptation reduces adverse effects of climate change but may also have undesirable environmental impacts. However, these impacts are yet poorly defined and analysed in the existing literature. To complement this knowledge-gap, we reviewed the literature to unveil the relationship between climate change adaptation and environmental impact assessment, and the degree to which environmental impacts are included in climate change adaptation theory and practice. Our literature review showed that technical, social and economic perspectives on climate change adaptation receive much more attention than the environmental perspective. The scarce interest on the environmental impacts of adaptation may be attributed to (1) an excessive sectoral approach, with dominance of non-environmental perspectives, (2) greater interest in mitigation and direct climate change impacts rather than in adaptation impacts, (3) a tendency to consider adaptation as inherently good, and (4) subjective/preconceived notions on which measures are good or bad, without a comprehensive assessment. Environmental Assessment (EA) has a long established history as an effective tool to include environment into decision-making, although it does not yet guarantee a proper assessment of adaptation, because it is still possible to postpone or even circumvent the processes of assessing the impacts of climate adaptation. Our results suggest that there is a need to address adaptation proactively by including it in EA, to update current policy frameworks, and to demand robust and reliable evaluation of alternatives. Only through the full EA of adaptation measures can we improve our understanding of the primary and secondary impacts of adaptation to global environmental change. - Highlights: • Climate change adaptation may have undesirable environmental impacts. • The impacts of adaptation are yet poorly analysed in the literature. • There is an excessive sectoral approach to adaptation, mainly

Environmental impacts of climate change adaptation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enríquez-de-Salamanca, Álvaro; Díaz-Sierra, Rubén; Martín-Aranda, Rosa M.; Santos, Maria J.

2017-01-01

Climate change adaptation reduces adverse effects of climate change but may also have undesirable environmental impacts. However, these impacts are yet poorly defined and analysed in the existing literature. To complement this knowledge-gap, we reviewed the literature to unveil the relationship between climate change adaptation and environmental impact assessment, and the degree to which environmental impacts are included in climate change adaptation theory and practice. Our literature review showed that technical, social and economic perspectives on climate change adaptation receive much more attention than the environmental perspective. The scarce interest on the environmental impacts of adaptation may be attributed to (1) an excessive sectoral approach, with dominance of non-environmental perspectives, (2) greater interest in mitigation and direct climate change impacts rather than in adaptation impacts, (3) a tendency to consider adaptation as inherently good, and (4) subjective/preconceived notions on which measures are good or bad, without a comprehensive assessment. Environmental Assessment (EA) has a long established history as an effective tool to include environment into decision-making, although it does not yet guarantee a proper assessment of adaptation, because it is still possible to postpone or even circumvent the processes of assessing the impacts of climate adaptation. Our results suggest that there is a need to address adaptation proactively by including it in EA, to update current policy frameworks, and to demand robust and reliable evaluation of alternatives. Only through the full EA of adaptation measures can we improve our understanding of the primary and secondary impacts of adaptation to global environmental change. - Highlights: • Climate change adaptation may have undesirable environmental impacts. • The impacts of adaptation are yet poorly analysed in the literature. • There is an excessive sectoral approach to adaptation, mainly

Industry 4.0 and digitalization call for vocational skills, applied industrial engineering, and less for pure academics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Erik Skov; Bilberg, Arne; Grube Hansen, David

2016-01-01

This paper demonstrates how the industrial revolution of the future, Industry 4.0, will dramatically increase technological complexity, and how the vocational skills needed in today’s Industry 2.0 and 3.0 will require significant augmentation. Based on statements from policy makers and data from...... empirical studies, the paper concludes that future complex manufacturing facilities will demand much greater vocational skills. Such advanced skills will be necessary for corporations to handle the complex technology related to manufacturing facilities predicted for Industry 4.0....

Two Variations of Video Modeling Interventions for Teaching Play Skills to Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Sancho, Kimberly; Sidener, Tina M.; Reeve, Sharon A.; Sidener, David W.

2010-01-01

The current study employed an adapted alternating treatments design with reversal and multiple probe across participants components to compare the effects of traditional video priming and simultaneous video modeling on the acquisition of play skills in two children diagnosed with autism. Generalization was programmed across play sets, instructors,…

Estudo das habilidades adaptativas desenvolvidas por jovens com Síndrome de Down incluídos e não incluídos no mercado de trabalho Adaptive skills developed by young people with Down Syndrome included and not included in the labor market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Luiza Gomes-Machado

2009-12-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar a relação entre o desenvolvimento de habilidades adaptativas por pessoas portadoras de síndrome de Down (SD e sua inclusão no mercado de trabalho. Este estudo analisou as habilidades desenvolvidas por pessoas incluídas e não incluídas no mercado de trabalho. A pesquisa revelou que as pessoas portadoras de habilidades adaptativas prévias são favorecidas na seleção para o trabalho, em detrimento das demais. Em seguida analisaremos tais resultados, confrontando-os com alguns fatores condicionantes do desenvolvimento de tais habilidades prévias, tais como o ambiente familiar, assim como as influências socioculturais. Por fim, apontaremos a necessidade de inclusão das demais pessoas com SD.The aim of this paper is to present the relationship between the development of adaptive skills by people with Down syndrome (DS and their inclusion in the labor market. This study examined the skills developed by people included and not included in the labor market. The research showed that people with prior adaptive abilities are favored in the work selection to the detriment of the others. In the following pages, we will analyze these results, comparing them with some of the factors that condition the development of such prior skills, such as family environment and sociocultural influences. Finally, we will indicate the need to include the other people with DS.

Adaptive scenarios: a training model for today's public health workforce.

Science.gov (United States)

Uden-Holman, Tanya; Bedet, Jennifer; Walkner, Laurie; Abd-Hamid, Nor Hashidah

2014-01-01

With the current economic climate, money for training is scarce. In addition, time is a major barrier to participation in trainings. To meet the public health workforce's rising demand for training, while struggling with less time and fewer resources, the Upper Midwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center has developed a model of online training that provides the public health workforce with individually customized, needs-based training experiences. Adaptive scenarios are rooted in case-based reasoning, a learning approach that focuses on the specific knowledge needed to solve a problem. Proponents of case-based reasoning argue that learners benefit from being able to remember previous similar situations and reusing information and knowledge from that situation. Adaptive scenarios based on true-to-life job performance provide an opportunity to assess skills by presenting the user with choices to make in a problem-solving context. A team approach was used to develop the adaptive scenarios. Storylines were developed that incorporated situations aligning with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes outlined in the Public Health Preparedness and Response Core Competency Model. This article examines 2 adaptive scenarios: "Ready or Not? A Family Preparedness Scenario" and "Responding to a Crisis: Managing Emotions and Stress Scenario." The scenarios are available on Upper Midwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center's Learning Management System, the Training Source (http://training-source.org). Evaluation data indicate that users' experiences have been positive. Integrating the assessment and training elements of the scenarios so that the training experience is uniquely adaptive to each user is one of the most efficient ways to provide training. The opportunity to provide individualized, needs-based training without having to administer separate assessments has the potential to save time and resources. These adaptive scenarios continue to be

Childhood Depression: Relation to Adaptive, Clinical and Predictor Variables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maite Garaigordobil

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The study had two goals: (1 to explore the relations between self-assessed childhood depression and other adaptive and clinical variables (2 to identify predictor variables of childhood depression. Participants were 420 students aged 7–10 years old (53.3% boys, 46.7% girls. Results revealed: (1 positive correlations between depression and clinical maladjustment, school maladjustment, emotional symptoms, internalizing and externalizing problems, problem behaviors, emotional reactivity, and childhood stress; and (2 negative correlations between depression and personal adaptation, global self-concept, social skills, and resilience (sense of competence and affiliation. Linear regression analysis including the global dimensions revealed 4 predictors of childhood depression that explained 50.6% of the variance: high clinical maladjustment, low global self-concept, high level of stress, and poor social skills. However, upon introducing the sub-dimensions, 9 predictor variables emerged that explained 56.4% of the variance: many internalizing problems, low family self-concept, high anxiety, low responsibility, low personal self-assessment, high social stress, few aggressive behaviors toward peers, many health/psychosomatic problems, and external locus of control. The discussion addresses the importance of implementing prevention programs for childhood depression at early ages.

Do adaptive comanagement processes lead to adaptive comanagement outcomes? A multicase study of long-term outcomes associated with the national riparian service team's place-based riparian assistance

Science.gov (United States)

Jill A. Smedstad; Hannah. Gosnell

2013-01-01

Adaptive comanagement (ACM) is a novel approach to environmental governance that combines the dynamic learning features of adaptive management with the linking and network features of collaborative management. There is growing interest in the potential for ACM to resolve conflicts around natural resource management and contribute to greater social and ecological...

A New Approach to Teaching Biomechanics Through Active, Adaptive, and Experiential Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Anita

2017-07-01

Demand of biomedical engineers continues to rise to meet the needs of healthcare industry. Current training of bioengineers follows the traditional and dominant model of theory-focused curricula. However, the unmet needs of the healthcare industry warrant newer skill sets in these engineers. Translational training strategies such as solving real world problems through active, adaptive, and experiential learning hold promise. In this paper, we report our findings of adding a real-world 4-week problem-based learning unit into a biomechanics capstone course for engineering students. Surveys assessed student perceptions of the activity and learning experience. While students, across three cohorts, felt challenged to solve a real-world problem identified during the simulation lab visit, they felt more confident in utilizing knowledge learned in the biomechanics course and self-directed research. Instructor evaluations indicated that the active and experiential learning approach fostered their technical knowledge and life-long learning skills while exposing them to the components of adaptive learning and innovation.

Adaptive Management of Environmental Flows

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, J. Angus; Watts, Robyn J.; Allan, Catherine; Conallin, John C.

2018-03-01

Adaptive management enables managers to work with complexity and uncertainty, and to respond to changing biophysical and social conditions. Amid considerable uncertainty over the benefits of environmental flows, governments are embracing adaptive management as a means to inform decision making. This Special Issue of Environmental Management presents examples of adaptive management of environmental flows and addresses claims that there are few examples of its successful implementation. It arose from a session at the 11th International Symposium on Ecohydraulics held in Australia, and is consequently dominated by papers from Australia. We classified the papers according to the involvement of researchers, managers and the local community in adaptive management. Five papers report on approaches developed by researchers, and one paper on a community-led program; these case studies currently have little impact on decision making. Six papers provide examples involving water managers and researchers, and two papers provide examples involving water managers and the local community. There are no papers where researchers, managers and local communities all contribute equally to adaptive management. Successful adaptive management of environmental flows occurs more often than is perceived. The final paper explores why successes are rarely reported, suggesting a lack of emphasis on reflection on management practices. One major challenge is to increase the documentation of successful adaptive management, so that benefits of learning extend beyond the project where it takes place. Finally, moving towards greater involvement of all stakeholders is critical if we are to realize the benefits of adaptive management for improving outcomes from environmental flows.

Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NOTSS): Critical appraisal of its measurement properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, James J; Borkhoff, Cornelia M; Jüni, Peter; Grantcharov, Teodor P

2018-02-17

To critically appraise the development and measurement properties, including sensibility, reliability, and validity of the Non-Technical Skills of Surgeons (NOTSS) system. Articles that described development process of the NOTSS system were identified. Relevant primary studies that presented evidence of reliability and validity were identified through a comprehensive literature review. NOTSS was developed through robust item generation and reduction strategies. It was shown to have good content validity, acceptability, and feasibility. Inter-rater reliability increased with greater expertise and number of assessors. Studies demonstrated evidence of cross-sectional construct validity, in that the tool was able to differentiate known groups of varied non-technical skill levels. Evidence of longitudinal construct validity also existed to demonstrate that NOTSS detected changes in non-technical skills before and after targeted training. In populations and settings presented in our critical appraisal, NOTSS provided reliable and valid measurements of intraoperative non-technical skills of surgeons. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Skill effort: A new theoretical perspective on the relation between skills, skill use, mismatches, and wages

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van der Velden, Rolf; Bijlsma, Ineke

2017-01-01

Mismatches between workers’ skills and job demands have large negative effects on productivity, job satisfaction, and other outcomes. Current approaches to measure the impact of skills and skill mismatches on wages fail to specify the mechanism through which skills and mismatches may affect

Error Argumentation Enhance Adaptability in Adults With Low Motor Ability.

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Lee, Chi-Mei; Bo, Jin

2016-01-01

The authors focused on young adults with varying degrees of motor difficulties and examined their adaptability in a visuomotor adaptation task where the visual feedback of participants' movement error was presented with either 1:1 ratio (i.e., regular feedback schedule) or 1:2 ratio (i.e., enhanced feedback schedule). Within-subject design was used with two feedback schedules counter-balanced and separated for 10 days. Results revealed that participants with greater motor difficulties showed less adaptability than those with normal motor abilities in the regular feedback schedule; however, all participants demonstrated similar level of adaptability in the enhanced feedback schedule. The results suggest that error argumentation enhances adaptability in adults with low motor ability.

Effectiveness of Adaptive Contextual Learning Model of Integrated Science by Integrating Digital Age Literacy on Grade VIII Students

Science.gov (United States)

Asrizal, A.; Amran, A.; Ananda, A.; Festiyed, F.

2018-04-01

Educational graduates should have good competencies to compete in the 21st century. Integrated learning is a good way to develop competence of students in this century. Besides that, literacy skills are very important for students to get success in their learning and daily life. For this reason, integrated science learning and literacy skills are important in 2013 curriculum. However, integrated science learning and integration of literacy in learning can’t be implemented well. Solution of this problem is to develop adaptive contextual learning model by integrating digital age literacy. The purpose of the research is to determine the effectiveness of adaptive contextual learning model to improve competence of grade VIII students in junior high school. This research is a part of the research and development or R&D. Research design which used in limited field testing was before and after treatment. The research instruments consist of three parts namely test sheet of learning outcome for assessing knowledge competence, observation sheet for assessing attitudes, and performance sheet for assessing skills of students. Data of student’s competence were analyzed by three kinds of analysis, namely descriptive statistics, normality test and homogeneity test, and paired comparison test. From the data analysis result, it can be stated that the implementation of adaptive contextual learning model of integrated science by integrating digital age literacy is effective to improve the knowledge, attitude, and literacy skills competences of grade VIII students in junior high school at 95% confidence level.

The Effectiveness of Emotional Intelligence Training on Communication Skills in Students with Intellectual Disabilities

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Maryam Sheydaei

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Emotional intelligence skills begin at home, and with positive interactions with parents and other children. Parents can help children recognize their emotions, name them, and learn how to respect their feelings and adapt to social situations. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of emotional intelligence training on the communication skills of students with intellectual disabilities. Methods: This study was quasi-experimental, with a pre-test, post-test design and a control group. The sample consisted of 32 educable students with intellectual disabilities (14-18 years old. Results: The results showed that the intervention program had created a significant difference between the scores of the experimental and control groups (P<0.05, and that the scores for communication skills were increased, both post-test and also in the experimental group follow-up (P<0.05. Discussion: Emotional intelligence training enhanced the communication skills of students with intellectual disabilities. Teachers, professionals, and clinicians could use these training in their practices.

Development of e-module combining science process skills and dynamics motion material to increasing critical thinking skills and improve student learning motivation senior high school

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Fengky Adie Perdana

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Learning media is one of the most components in the teaching and learning process. This research was conducted to design and develop the electronic modules combining science process skills and dynamics motion content for increasing critical thinking skills and improve student learning motivation for senior high school. The Methods used in this research is Research and Development (R&D. Model research and development using a research 4D Thiagarajan model. Physics module was developed using science process skills approach: observing, formulating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, identify variables, conduct experiments, analyse the data, summarise and communicate. The results showed that: 1 the electronics module has been developed by integrating the science process skills for enhancing critical thinking skills and student motivation. 2 Electronic Module Physics-based science process skills meet the criteria very well, judging from the results of validation content, validation media, validation of peer education and practitioners, with an average value of 3.80 is greater than the minimum eligibility 3.78. 3 effectiveness the modules of science process skills got N-gain value obtained from a large trial in grade samples of 0.67 and 0.59 in the control group were categorised as moderate. 4 Implementation of electronic modules Physics-based science process skills is considered an effective to enhance the students' motivation. Statistical analysis showed a significance value of 0.027 is lower than the significance level α = 0.05, this means that there are significant differences between learning motivation grade sample and the control class. As a result of analysis data obtained from the research, it was seen that the students' motivation that uses Physics module based science process skills better than conventional learning.

Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible in Austria?

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R. Veenhoven (Ruut)

2011-01-01

textabstractWhat is the final goal of public policy? Jeremy Bentham (1789) would say: greater happiness for a greater number. He thought of happiness as subjective enjoyment of life; in his words as “the sum of pleasures and pains”. In his time the happiness of the great number could not be measured

Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible in Germany?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Veenhoven (Ruut)

2009-01-01

textabstractWhat is the final goal of public policy? Jeremy Bentham (1789) would say: greater happiness for a greater number. He thought of happiness as subjective enjoyment of life; in his words as “the sum of pleasures and pains”. In his time the Happiness of the great number could not be measured

Factor analysis of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory: structure and validity.

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Bohac, D L; Malec, J F; Moessner, A M

1997-07-01

Principal-components (PC) factor analysis of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (MPAI) was conducted using a sample of outpatients (n = 189) with acquired brain injury (ABI) to evaluate whether outcome after ABI is multifactorial or unifactorial in nature. An eight-factor model was derived which explained 64-4% of the total variance. The eight factors were interpreted as representing Activities of Daily Living, Social Initiation, Cognition, Impaired-Self-awareness/Distress, Social Skills/ Support, Independence, Visuoperceptual, and Psychiatric, respectively. Validation of the Cognition factor was supported when factor scores were correlated with various neuropsychological measures. In addition, 117 patient self-rating total scores were used to evaluate the Impaired Self-awareness/Distress factor. An inverse relationship was observed, supporting this factor's ability to capture the two-dimensional phenomena of diminished self-awareness or enhanced emotional distress. A new subscale structure is suggested, that may allow greater clinical utility in understanding how ABI manifests in patients, and may provide clinicians with a better structure for implementing treatment strategies to address specific areas of impairment and disability for specific patients. Additionally, more precise measurement of treatment outcomes may be afforded by this reorganization.

PENGEMBANGAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN SOFT SKILLS DAN HARD SKILLS UNTUK SISWA SMK

OpenAIRE

Widarto Noto Widodo, Pardjono

2013-01-01

Abstrak: Pengembangan Model Pembelajaran Soft Skills dan Hard Skills untuk Siswa SMK. Era global menuntut sumber daya manusia yang memiliki daya saing, adaptif dan antisipatif, mampu belajar, terampil, mudah beradaptasi dengan teknologi baru. Profil tenaga kerja yang dibutuhkan pasar adalah yang kuat pada aspek soft skills dan hard skills. Ada tiga alternatif model pendidikan yang memadukan hard skills dan soft skills, yaitu (1) aspek soft skills dan hard skills dilaksanakan di sekolah; (2) a...

Family Adaptation 18 Months After Traumatic Brain Injury in Early Childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Stancin, Terry; Wade, Shari L.; Walz, Nicolay C.; Yeates, Keith Owen; Taylor, H. Gerry

2014-01-01

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine family adaptation to a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children during the first 18-month postinjury, when compared with children who had an orthopedic injury. Methods A concurrent cohort/prospective research design was used with repeated assessments of children aged 3 to 6 years with TBI or orthopedic injury requiring hospitalization and their families. Shortly after injury and at 6-, 12-, and 18-month postinjury, parents of 99 children with TBI (20 severe, 64 moderate, 15 mild) and 117 with orthopedic injury completed standardized assessments of family functioning, parental distress and coping, injury-related burden, and noninjury-related parent stressors and resources. Mixed models analyses examined group differences in parental burden and distress adjusted for race and social demographic factors. Results Both moderate and severe TBI were associated with higher levels of injury-related stress than orthopedic injury, with stress levels diminishing over time in all groups. Severe TBI was also associated with greater psychological distress on the Brief Symptom Inventory but not with more depressive symptoms. Family functioning and social resources moderated the relationship of TBI severity to injury-related burden and caregiver distress, respectively. Lower child adaptive skills were associated with poorer family outcome but group differences remained even when controlling for this effect. Conclusions Severe TBI in young children has adverse consequences for parents and families during the first 18-month postinjury. The consequences lessen over time for many families and vary as a function of social resources. PMID:20431399

Simple and Effective Algorithms: Computer-Adaptive Testing.

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Linacre, John Michael

Computer-adaptive testing (CAT) allows improved security, greater scoring accuracy, shorter testing periods, quicker availability of results, and reduced guessing and other undesirable test behavior. Simple approaches can be applied by the classroom teacher, or other content specialist, who possesses simple computer equipment and elementary…

A study of first-year students’ adaptation difficulties as the basis to promote their personal development in university education

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Aleksandr A. Orlov

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background. The relevance of the paper is determined by the study of types, structure of adaptive difficulties and their impact on the student’s personal development in the process of professionalization in the university. Objective. To examine the psychological characteristics of difficulties that arise in the process of students’ adaptation to university instruction. Design. The authors divide the difficulty in adaptation into four categories: motivational, communicational, cognitive, and regulatory. For each category, the authors offer pedagogical technologies that promote the personal development of students on the basis of their prevailing difficulties. Results. Motivational difficulties are related to poor cognitive motivation, poor motivation to master a profession. Communication difficulties are attributed by the authors to poor communication skills. Cognitive difficulties are defined by insufficient general learning skills and a poor capacity for reflection and self-esteem. The source of regulatory difficulties is a lack of self-organization skills and poor self-control. Conclusion. Correlation analysis confirmed that there are significant connections between, on the one hand, students’ adaptability to the educational process and to their study group, and on the other, the investigated parameters that show their motivational, communicative, cognitive, and regulatory difficulties. Using cluster analysis of the empirical data, the authors identified four main student subgroups with different graphic profiles reflecting their personal difficulties in adaptation to university education; their psychological characteristics are given. Analysis of these difficulties has allowed the authors to offer an optimal psychological and educational strategy for the interactions of each of the subgroups, to optimize their personal development in the educational process.

Correlations between technical skills and behavioral skills in simulated neonatal resuscitations.

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Sawyer, T; Leonard, D; Sierocka-Castaneda, A; Chan, D; Thompson, M

2014-10-01

Neonatal resuscitation requires both technical and behavioral skills. Key behavioral skills in neonatal resuscitation have been identified by the Neonatal Resuscitation Program. Correlations and interactions between technical skills and behavioral skills in neonatal resuscitation were investigated. Behavioral skills were evaluated via blinded video review of 45 simulated neonatal resuscitations using a validated assessment tool. These were statistically correlated with previously obtained technical skill performance data. Technical skills and behavioral skills were strongly correlated (ρ=0.48; P=0.001). The strongest correlations were seen in distribution of workload (ρ=0.60; P=0.01), utilization of information (ρ=0.55; P=0.03) and utilization of resources (ρ=0.61; P=0.01). Teams with superior behavioral skills also demonstrated superior technical skills, and vice versa. Technical and behavioral skills were highly correlated during simulated neonatal resuscitations. Individual behavioral skill correlations are likely dependent on both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Differentiation of initial skills in 1st grade and the relative age effect in 3rd grade

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KRZYSZTOF KONARZEWSKI

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to verify two hypotheses. The first states that the differentiation of initial 1st grade pupil skills is negatively correlated with age at entry to school. This was tested according to findings from the ERI study Six and seven year olds at the start of school. The variation of reading and writing scores of 1164 pupils aged 5.9–7.9 years who were beginning 1st grade decreased in subsequent age quartiles. The second hypothesis – that classroom differentiation of pupils’ initial skills in 1st grade is positively correlated with the birthdate effect in 3rd grade – was tested on data of 4838 pupils from 254 classrooms drawn from the 2011 PIRLS and TIMSS studies in Poland. Skills were evaluated on the basis of parental reports. Hierarchical linear analysis (gender, SES and school location controlled showed that the greater the differentiation of language skills in 1st grade, the greater the birthdate effect in mathematics in 3rd grade. This result suggests that school entry age is of lesser importance than the methods used to reduce differences in children’s school readiness at the onset of education.

Social Support Provisions as Differential Predictors of Adaptive Outcomes in Young Adolescents

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Warren, Jared S.; Jackson, Yo; Sifers, Sarah K.

2009-01-01

Social support provisions were examined in relation to negative life events, adaptive skills, hope, and grade point average in a sample of 103 inner-city youth (ages 11-14). Analyses focused on seven support provisions: social integration, attachment, guidance and information, reliable alliance, reassurance of worth, nurturance, and instrumental…

The Adaptive Consequences of Pride in Personal Selling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

W.J.M.I. Verbeke (Willem); F.D. Belschak (Frank); R.P. Bagozzi (Richard)

2004-01-01

textabstractStudy 1 investigates the beneficial effects of experiencing pride. Pride was found to have two different effects. First, it increases salespersons' performance-related motivations. Specifically, it promotes adaptive selling strategies, greater effort, and self-efficacy. Secondly, it

Match score affects activity profile and skill performance in professional Australian Football players.

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Sullivan, Courtney; Bilsborough, Johann C; Cianciosi, Michael; Hocking, Joel; Cordy, Justin; Coutts, Aaron J

2014-05-01

To examine the influence of quarter outcome and the margin of the score differential on both the physical activity profile and skill performance of players during professional Australian Football matches. Prospective, longitudinal. Physical activity profiles were assessed via microtechnology (Global Positioning System and accelerometer) from 40 professional AF players from the same team during 15 Australian Football League games. Skill performance measures (involvement and effectiveness) and player rank scores (Champion Data(©) Rank) were provided by a commercial statistical provider. The physical performance variables, skill involvements and individual player performance scores were expressed relative to playing time for each quarter. The influence of the quarter result (i.e. win vs. loss) and score margin (i.e. small: 19 points) on activity profile and skill involvements and skill efficiency performance of players were examined. Skill involvements (total disposals/min, long kicks/min, marks/min, running bounces/min and player rank/min) were greater in quarters won (all p14.5 km h(-1), HSR/min), sprints/min and peak speed were higher in losing quarters (all pProfessional AF players are likely to have an increased physical activity profile and decreased skill involvement and proficiency when their team is less successful. Copyright © 2013 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Natural pedagogy as evolutionary adaptation.

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Csibra, Gergely; Gergely, György

2011-04-12

We propose that the cognitive mechanisms that enable the transmission of cultural knowledge by communication between individuals constitute a system of 'natural pedagogy' in humans, and represent an evolutionary adaptation along the hominin lineage. We discuss three kinds of arguments that support this hypothesis. First, natural pedagogy is likely to be human-specific: while social learning and communication are both widespread in non-human animals, we know of no example of social learning by communication in any other species apart from humans. Second, natural pedagogy is universal: despite the huge variability in child-rearing practices, all human cultures rely on communication to transmit to novices a variety of different types of cultural knowledge, including information about artefact kinds, conventional behaviours, arbitrary referential symbols, cognitively opaque skills and know-how embedded in means-end actions. Third, the data available on early hominin technological culture are more compatible with the assumption that natural pedagogy was an independently selected adaptive cognitive system than considering it as a by-product of some other human-specific adaptation, such as language. By providing a qualitatively new type of social learning mechanism, natural pedagogy is not only the product but also one of the sources of the rich cultural heritage of our species.

Natural pedagogy as evolutionary adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Csibra, Gergely; Gergely, György

2011-01-01

We propose that the cognitive mechanisms that enable the transmission of cultural knowledge by communication between individuals constitute a system of ‘natural pedagogy’ in humans, and represent an evolutionary adaptation along the hominin lineage. We discuss three kinds of arguments that support this hypothesis. First, natural pedagogy is likely to be human-specific: while social learning and communication are both widespread in non-human animals, we know of no example of social learning by communication in any other species apart from humans. Second, natural pedagogy is universal: despite the huge variability in child-rearing practices, all human cultures rely on communication to transmit to novices a variety of different types of cultural knowledge, including information about artefact kinds, conventional behaviours, arbitrary referential symbols, cognitively opaque skills and know-how embedded in means-end actions. Third, the data available on early hominin technological culture are more compatible with the assumption that natural pedagogy was an independently selected adaptive cognitive system than considering it as a by-product of some other human-specific adaptation, such as language. By providing a qualitatively new type of social learning mechanism, natural pedagogy is not only the product but also one of the sources of the rich cultural heritage of our species. PMID:21357237

Responsive parenting: establishing early foundations for social, communication, and independent problem-solving skills.

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Landry, Susan H; Smith, Karen E; Swank, Paul R

2006-07-01

Mothers whose infants varied in early biological characteristics (born at term, n = 120; born at very low birth weight [VLBW], n = 144) were randomized to a target group (n = 133) or developmental feedback comparison group (n = 131) to determine whether learning responsive behaviors would facilitate infant development. The target condition included videotaped examples, problem-solving activities, and mothers' critique of their own behaviors through video procedures across 10 home visits. All target versus comparison mothers showed greater increases across multiple responsiveness behaviors observed in 4 assessments conducted across 6-13 months of age; changes in emotionally supportive behaviors were strongest for target mothers of infants born at VLBW. Increased maternal responsiveness facilitated greater growth in target infants' social, emotional, communication, and cognitive competence, supporting a causal role for responsiveness on infant development. Although benefits were generally comparable across risk groups, aspects of social and emotional skills showed greater change for those born at VLBW. Evidence for responsiveness as a multidimensional construct was provided as well as the importance of different aspects of responsiveness mediating the effect of the intervention on different infant skill domains.

Assessing Thinking Skills in Astro 101: Do We Make an Impact?

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Bruning, D.

2005-12-01

Most instructors agree that a major goal of "Astronomy 101" is to develop thinking skills in our students (Partridge and Greenstein, AER 2, 46, 2003). Much educational research in astronomy has initially concentrated on "best practices" for improving student learning (development of "think-pair-share", lecture tutorials, peer tutoring, etc.). Little has been done to date to assess our efforts to improve student thinking skills and students' desire to think more deeply about the cognitively rich ideas offered in the typical astronomy class. This study surveys several astronomy and physics courses to determine whether general analytical thinking skills increase because of the science course and whether students' attitudes toward cognition improve. Cacioppo, Petty and Kao's "Need for Cognition" scale is used for the latter assessment (J. Personality Assessment 48, 306, 1984). A shortened version of Whimbey and Lochhead's ASI skills instrument is used to assess analytical skills ("Problem Solving and Comprehension," 1986). Preliminary results suggest that students need for cognition does not change in general, although there may be a correlation between increasing need for cognition and improvement in grades through the semester. There is a suggestion that need for cognition is slightly predictive of course performance, but a greater correlation exists between the post-course survey and grades. Gains in general analytical skills have been seen in initial surveys, but correlations with course performance appear elusive.

Modulation of neuronal dynamic range using two different adaptation mechanisms

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Lei Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The capability of neurons to discriminate between intensity of external stimulus is measured by its dynamic range. A larger dynamic range indicates a greater probability of neuronal survival. In this study, the potential roles of adaptation mechanisms (ion currents in modulating neuronal dynamic range were numerically investigated. Based on the adaptive exponential integrate-and-fire model, which includes two different adaptation mechanisms, i.e. subthreshold and suprathreshold (spike-triggered adaptation, our results reveal that the two adaptation mechanisms exhibit rather different roles in regulating neuronal dynamic range. Specifically, subthreshold adaptation acts as a negative factor that observably decreases the neuronal dynamic range, while suprathreshold adaptation has little influence on the neuronal dynamic range. Moreover, when stochastic noise was introduced into the adaptation mechanisms, the dynamic range was apparently enhanced, regardless of what state the neuron was in, e.g. adaptive or non-adaptive. Our model results suggested that the neuronal dynamic range can be differentially modulated by different adaptation mechanisms. Additionally, noise was a non-ignorable factor, which could effectively modulate the neuronal dynamic range.