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Mastery

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	26%
Psychology	24%
Humanities and Social Sciences	24%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	12%
Education	8%
2 Other Domains	6%

Distribution within Medical Sciences

Psychiatry	23%
Nursing General	7%

Terms modified by Mastery

mastery experience

Selected Abstracts

Metacognition as a mediator of the effects of impairments in neurocognition on social function in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2010
P. H. Lysaker
Lysaker PH, Shea AM, Buck KD, Dimaggio G, Nicolò G, Procacci M, Salvatore G, Rand KL. Metacognition as a mediator of the effects of impairments in neurocognition on social function in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Objective:, This study explored whether Mastery, a domain of metacognition that reflects the ability to use knowledge about mental states to respond to psychological challenges, mediated the effects of neurocognition on the frequency of social contact and persons' capacity for social relatedness. Method:, Participants were 102 adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Neurocognition was represented by a single factor score produced by a principal components analysis of a neurocognitive test battery. Mastery was assessed using the metacognitive assessment scale and social functioning by the quality of life scale. Results:, Using structural equation modeling, specifically measured-variable path analysis, a mediational model consisting of neurocognitive capacity linked to mastery and capacity for social relationships and mastery linked with frequency of social contact and capacity for social relatedness showed acceptable fit to the observed data. This persisted after controlling for negative and cognitive symptoms. Conclusion:, Results suggest that certain forms of metacognition mediate the influence of neurocognition upon function in schizophrenia. [source]

The Education-Contingent Association Between Religiosity and Health: The Differential Effects of Self-Esteem and the Sense of Mastery

JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 4 2008
SCOTT SCHIEMAN
Using data from a representative sample of adults in Toronto, Canada, I examine the education-contingent association between religiosity (subjective religiosity and religious attendance) and four health-related outcomes: depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and self-rated health. I also test the extent that two personal resources,the sense of mastery and self-esteem,contribute to those associations. Findings indicate that subjective religiosity and attendance are generally associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and poor health. Moreover, although not entirely uniform, subjective religiosity and attendance tend to be associated more negatively with these outcomes among individuals with fewer years of education. While the sense of mastery suppresses the education-contingent influence of religiosity on distress outcomes, self-esteem generally contributes to those patterns. On balance, the suppression effects of mastery are offset by the explanatory effects of self-esteem. These findings elaborate on the well-established association between religiosity and health by illustrating education-contingent effects and potential counterbalancing roles of personal resources in these processes. [source]

Inventing Mastery: Patriarchal Precedents and the Legal Status of Indigenous People in Australia

JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2000
Pavla Miller
The paper discusses some aspects of Aboriginal legal status in Australia from the perspective of survival, transformation and reinvention of early modern legal codifications of household mastery. Traces of masters' and husbands' entitlement to the labour of servants, children and wives, as well as their magistracy over household dependents, not only survive in today's laws and social relations; at times, they have been reinvented in a process which reversed the presumed movement from contract to status. The original dispossession of Australia's Indigenous peoples by British settlers set the stage for a particularly destructive instance of such process. Its legacy continues to shape contemporary struggles for Aboriginal rights. [source]

Procrastination, conscientiousness, anxiety, and goals: Exploring the measurement and correlates of procrastination among school-aged children

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 4 2002
Steven J. Scher
We explore the reliability and validity of a self-report measure of procrastination and conscientiousness designed for use with third- to fifth-grade students. The responses of 120 students are compared with teacher and parent ratings of the student. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were also used to examine the structure of the scale. Procrastination and conscientiousness are highly correlated (inversely); evidence suggests that procrastination and conscientiousness are aspects of the same construct. Procrastination and conscientiousness are correlated with the Physiological Anxiety subscale of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and with the Task (Mastery) and Avoidance (Task Aversiveness) subscales of Skaalvik's (1997) Goal Orientation Scales. Both theoretical implications and implications for interventions are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Situated Learning for an Innovation Economy: E-Commerce and Technology as a Mediator for Rural High School Students' Sense of Mastery and Self-Efficacy

ANTHROPOLOGY OF WORK REVIEW, Issue 2 2005
Karen L. Michaelson
Abstract Practitioners focusing on technology and workforce development reference the need to prepare individuals for an Innovation Economy. Yet innovation is socially constructed, as much social as it is technical. Observation of 160 high school students from very rural schools participating in a school-based e-commerce curriculum indicates that there are knowledge sets acquired through carefully constructed experiential learning that foster a context for innovation. This counters factors in the traditional education/workforce development system that impede the development of innovators, including a narrows skills-based focus and the demonization of failure. Situating innovation in historical context and in the lived experience of individual networks helps to understand the innovation process and provides a framework for the development of effective educational experiences. [source]

Notes on Designing Surficial Elegance

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Issue 1 2007
Benjamin H Bratton
Abstract Mastery of technique is as essential as design ability to the production of elegant works. Elegant features can only be realised through an understanding of the systemic logics of the digital environment and a full working knowledge of generative techniques. Benjamin H Bratton of The Culture Industry and Hernan Diaz Alonso of Xefirotarch describe Xefirotarch's wholly visceral, but exacting, approach to the design process. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Deficits in Psychological Well-Being and Quality-of-Life in Minor Depression: Implications for DSM-V

CNS: NEUROSCIENCE AND THERAPEUTICS, Issue 4 2010
Andrew A. Nierenberg
Objective: To examine deficits in psychological well-being (PWB) and quality-of-life (QOL) in minor depressive disorder (Min D). Method: Ninety-three subjects entering a treatment study for Min D were assessed using the QOL, Enjoyment and satisfaction questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), and the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS). Scores were compared with major depressive disorder (MDD) and normative community samples. Results: Even though subjects had mild depressive severity, Q-LES-Q total scores for the Min D sample averaged nearly two standard deviations below the community norm. Almost 40% of Min D cases had Q-LES-Q scores in the lowest 1% of the population. Responses to most Q-LES-Q items were closer to subjects with MDD than to community norms. Mean standardized PWB scores were extremely low for subscales of Environmental Mastery and Self-Acceptance, low for Purpose in Life and Positive Relations with others, but within the normal range for Personal Growth and Autonomy. QOL and PWB measures had low correlations with depressive symptom severity, and scores were similar in the presence or absence of a prior history of MDD. Conclusions: Mild depressive symptoms with Min D are associated with major deficits in QOL and PWB measures of environmental mastery and poor self-acceptance. Our findings suggest that diminished QOL and PWB may be intrinsic cognitive aspects of Min D with or without a history of MDD. It may be unnecessary in the DSM IV-TR to exclude the diagnosis of Min D if a subject has had a past episode of MDD. ,,Minor depression exists along a continuum of depression. ,,Deficits in psychological well-being and quality-of-life in minor depression are severe. ,,No difference in these measures if minor depression existed with or without a history of major depression. [source]

Comparing Multiple Paths to Mastery: What is Learned?

COGNITIVE SCIENCE - A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, Issue 5 2005
Timothy J. Nokes
Abstract Contemporary theories of learning postulate one or at most a small number of different learning mechanisms. However, people are capable of mastering a given task through qualitatively different learning paths such as learning by instruction and learning by doing. We hypothesize that the knowledge acquired through such alternative paths differs with respect to the level of abstraction and the balance between declarative and procedural knowledge. In a laboratory experiment we investigated what was learned about patterned letter sequences via either direct instruction in the relevant patterns or practice in solving letter-sequence extrapolation problems. Results showed that both types of learning led to mastery of the target task as measured by accuracy performance. However, behavioral differences emerged in how participants applied their knowledge. Participants given instruction showed more variability in the types of strategies they used to articulate their knowledge as well as longer solution times for generating the action implications of that knowledge as compared to the participants given practice. Results are discussed regarding the implications for transfer, generalization, and procedural application. Learning theories that claim generality should be tested against cross-scenario phenomena, not just parametric variations of a single learning scenario. [source]

Metacognition as a mediator of the effects of impairments in neurocognition on social function in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Self-rated importance of religion predicts one-year outcome of patients with panic disorder

DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 5 2006
F.R.C.P.(C.), Rudy Bowen M.D.C.M.
Abstract Cognitive-behavioral therapy and medication are efficacious treatments for panic disorder, but individual attributes such as coping and motivation are important determinants of treatment response. A sample of 56 patients with panic disorder, treated with group cognitive-behavioral therapy, were reassessed 6 months and 12 months after initial assessment. We studied the effect of self-rated importance of religion, perceived stress, self-esteem, mastery, and interpersonal alienation on outcome as measured by the General Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI.GSI). Importance of religion was a predictor of BSI.GSI symptom improvement at 1 year. Over time, improvement was seen for the religion is very important subgroup in the BSI.GSI and Perceived Stress Scales. This study suggests that one mechanism by which high importance of religion reduces psychiatric symptoms is through reducing perceived stress. Depression and Anxiety 23:266,273, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Identifying target groups for the prevention of anxiety disorders in the general population

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2010
N. M. Batelaan
Batelaan NM, Smit F, de Graaf R, van Balkom AJLM, Vollebergh WAM, Beekman ATF. Identifying target groups for the prevention of anxiety disorders in the general population. Objective:, To avert the public health consequences of anxiety disorders, prevention of their onset and recurrence is necessary. Recent studies have shown that prevention is effective. To maximize the health gain and minimize the effort, preventive strategies should focus on high-risk groups. Method:, Using data from a large prospective national survey, high-risk groups were selected for i) the prevention of first ever (n = 4437) and ii) either first-ever or recurrent incident anxiety disorders (n = 4886). Indices used were: exposure rate, odds ratio, population attributable fraction and number needed to be treated. Risk indicators included sociodemographic, psychological and illness-related factors. Results:, Recognition of a few patient characteristics enables efficient identification of high-risk groups: (subthreshold) panic attacks; an affective disorder; a history of depressed mood; a prior anxiety disorder; chronic somatic illnesses and low mastery. Conclusion:, Preventive efforts should be undertaken in the selected high-risk groups. [source]

Incidence of social phobia and identification of its risk indicators: a model for prevention

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2009
C. Acarturk
Objective:, This study seeks to examine the incidence of social phobia in the general population and to establish a number of risk indicators. Method:, Data were derived from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS) which is a population based prospective study (n = 7076). A sample of adults aged 18,64 years (n = 5618) were re-interviewed 1 year later using Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Results:, The 12-month incidence of DSM-III-R social phobia was 1.0%. Low education, low mastery, low self-esteem, emotional neglect in childhood and ongoing difficulties were found to be risk indicators. After including other mental disorders as risk indicators in the model, the incidence was found to be more common among those with low mastery, major depression, subthreshold social phobia, emotional neglect, negative life events, and low education. Conclusion:, The incidence of social phobia can be predicted relatively well with psychosocial variables and comorbidity. [source]

Education: From telos to technique?

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AND THEORY, Issue 2 2008
Anoop Gupta
Abstract A preoccupation with technology has helped bury the philosophical question: What is the point of education? I attempt to answer this question. Various answers to the question are surveyed and it is shown that they depend upon different conceptions of the self. For example, the devotional-self of the 12th century (which was about becoming master of the self) gave way to the liberal-self (which was to facilitate social change). Education can only be satisfactorily justified, I argue, by appeal to transcendent values such as mastery of the self, which is incipient in liberal education. [source]

Social Functioning, Psychological Functioning, and Quality of Life in Epilepsy

EPILEPSIA, Issue 9 2001
Theo P. B. M. Suurmeijer
Summary: ,Purpose: Part of our research intended to explain "Quality of Life" (QoL) differences between people with epilepsy. To this end, a series of already existing generic and disease-specific health status measures were used. In this study, they were considered as determinants of people's QoL, whereas QoL itself was conceived as a general "value judgment" about one's life. Methods: From the records of four outpatient clinics, 210 persons with epilepsy were randomly selected. During their visit to the outpatient clinic, they completed a questionnaire assessing, among other things, health perceptions and social and psychological functioning. Additional information about their medical and psychosocial status was gathered from the patient files. Data were analysed by using a hierarchical regression analysis. Results: In decreasing order of importance, "psychological distress,""loneliness,""adjustment and coping," and "stigma perception" appeared to contribute most significantly to the outcome QoL as judged by the patients themselves, regardless of their physical status. In the final model, none of the clinical variables (onset, seizure frequency, side effects of antiepileptic drugs) contributed significantly anymore to the patients' "quality-of-life judgement." Apparently the effect of other variables such as seizure frequency and health perceptions, medication and side effects, life fulfilment, self-esteem, and mastery is mediated by these variables. Conclusions: Because all of the variance in QoL of the patients was explained by the psychosocial variables included in this study, health professionals should be aware of the significance of the psychosocial functioning of the patients and the role it plays in the achievement of a good QoL. Both informal and professional support may be an adjunct to conventional treatment. In future research, this issue should be given high priority. [source]

On the reliability of a dental OSCE, using SEM: effect of different days

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2008
M. Schoonheim-Klein
Abstract Aim:, The first aim was to study the reliability of a dental objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) administered over multiple days, and the second was to assess the number of test stations required for a sufficiently reliable decision in three score interpretation perspectives of a dental OSCE administered over multiple days. Materials and methods:, In four OSCE administrations, 463 students of the year 2005 and 2006 took the summative OSCE after a dental course in comprehensive dentistry. The OSCE had 16,18 5-min stations (scores 1,10), and was administered per OSCE on four different days of 1 week. ANOVA was used to test for examinee performance variation across days. Generalizability theory was used for reliability analyses. Reliability was studied from three interpretation perspectives: for relative (norm) decisions, for absolute (domain) and pass,fail (mastery) decisions. As an indicator of reproducibility of test scores in this dental OSCE, the standard error of measurement (SEM) was used. The benchmark of SEM was set at <0.51. This is corresponding to a 95% confidence interval (CI) of <1 on the original scoring scale that ranged from 1 to 10. Results:, The mean weighted total OSCE score was 7.14 on a 10-point scale. With the pass,fail score set at 6.2 for the four OSCE, 90% of the 463 students passed. There was no significant increase in scores over the different days the OSCE was administered. ,Wished' variance owing to students was 6.3%. Variance owing to interaction between student and stations and residual error was 66.3%, more than two times larger than variance owing to stations' difficulty (27.4%). The SEM norm was 0.42 with a CI of ±0.83 and the SEM domain was 0.50, with a CI of ±0.98. In order to make reliable relative decisions (SEM <0.51), the use of minimal 12 stations is necessary, and for reliable absolute and pass,fail decisions, the use of minimal 17 stations is necessary in this dental OSCE. Conclusions:, It appeared reliable, when testing large numbers of students, to administer the OSCE on different days. In order to make reliable decisions for this dental OSCE, minimum 17 stations are needed. Clearly, wide sampling of stations is at the heart of obtaining reliable scores in OSCE, also in dental education. [source]

The influence of success and failure experiences on agency

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2008
Andrea E. Abele
Agency is,besides communion,a basic dimension of traits. It can be specifically linked to behavioral outcomes, to status, mastery, self-esteem and to success. The present paper analyzes the situational malleability of agency. Two studies tested whether an individual's agency (but not communion) is situationally influenced by the experience of success versus failure at a task, as well as whether this effect is the same for men and women. Supporting our hypotheses, the induction of success versus failure experiences led to changes in agency that were independent of actual performance, independent of type of task (memorizing vs. face recognition), independent of induction methodology (easy vs. difficult task vs. manipulated performance feedback), and independent of self-esteem, initial level of agency and of the participants' gender. Communion was not influenced by this kind of experience. Implications for both the basic dimension of agency and for theories on gender and gender stereotypes are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

,A Very Sensible Man': Imagining Fatherhood in England c.1750,1830

HISTORY, Issue 319 2010
JOANNE BAILEY
Fathers are at once everywhere and nowhere in the historiography of eighteenth-century England. They interact with children in family history, bear authority in histories of women, gender and marriage, use the role to demonstrate virility, and the capacity for household mastery and citizenship in the history of masculinity, and are metaphors in political culture. Yet there is little sustained work on what constituted the key attributes of fatherhood before 1830. This article shows that the ideal father in the period c.1750 to 1830 was tenderly affectionate, sensitized and moved by babies; he provided hugs, material support and a protective guiding hand. Engrossed in his offspring to the exclusion of much else apart from his wife and national duties, he offered his children a moral example and instruction and possessed a deep understanding of his children's personalities. The genesis of this imagined fatherhood lay in fundamental eighteenth-century concerns about social, class, gender and familial relationships, and national strength. His form and the language used to describe him owed much to the combined forces of the culture of sensibility and of general Christian ideals antedating Evangelical revival. [source]

Self-awareness of mastery and improvability of entrepreneurial competence in small businesses in the agrifood sector

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2010
Thomas Lans
An important assumption of entrepreneurial competence is that (at least part of) it can be learned and developed. However, human resources development (HRD) practices aimed at further strengthening and developing small-business owner,managers' entrepreneurial competence are complex and underdeveloped. A multisource assessment of owner,managers' entrepreneurial competence in a well-defined sector was conducted to provide an answer to the research question: How do self-assessments about mastery and improvability of entrepreneurial competence made by owner,managers relate to the same assessments made by significant others in the small-business work environment? The data show that owner,managers rate their own mastery of entrepreneurial competence significantly lower than internal assessors in their work environment do. Furthermore, the assessors indicate many possible areas for improvement of owner,managers' entrepreneurial competence. Nonetheless, mastery and improvability patterns differ considerably between the assessors. Multisource assessments as adopted in this study can help owner,managers raise their self-awareness, and consequently help them bypass some of their often costly trial-and-error learning. [source]

Active versus passive teaching styles: An empirical study of student learning outcomes

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2009
Norbert Michel
This study compares the impact of an active teaching approach and a traditional (or passive) teaching style on student cognitive outcomes. Across two sections of an introductory business course, one class was taught in an active or "nontraditional" manner, with a variety of active learning exercises. The second class was taught in a passive or "traditional" manner, emphasizing daily lectures. Although the active learning approach does not appear to have improved overall mastery of the subject, we did find evidence that active learning can lead to improved cognitive outcomes in class-specific materials. The discussion emphasizes the role of delivery style on learning outcomes. [source]

Children's performance on the ,give x' task: a microgenetic analysis of ,counting' and ,grabbing' behaviour

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2007
Elizabeth Chetland
Abstract Children's understanding of the cardinal significance of counting is often assessed by the ,give x' task, in which they are categorized as ,counters' or ,grabbers'. Previous research indicates a sudden stage-like shift, implying insight into a principle. Employing a microgenetic approach, the present study was designed to explore whether this dichotomy masks a more subtle pattern. Fifty-five 39- to 58-month-olds received five ,give x' trials, involving 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10 objects, within a single session counterbalanced across individuals, each child participating in two similar sessions one week apart. Children's spontaneous strategies were recorded. They also completed a simple verbal counting test. Participants seldom simply ,grabbed'; even those who never counted gave items one-by-one. Some gave correct amounts by starting off counting then taking the remainder silently, suggesting internal counting. There was also evidence of children taking correct non -subitizable quantities without overtly counting. Individuals' strategy choice and the way they employed particular strategies varied, both within and between sessions. Furthermore, after achieving procedural mastery, children continued to refine their use of strategies. The results are discussed in relation to Karmiloff-Smith's RR model and Siegler's overlapping waves model. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Maternal expectations about infant development of pre-term and full-term infants: a cross-national comparison

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2006
Y. van Beek
Abstract In three European regions (The Netherlands, Northern Italy and Southern Italy) we investigated whether mothers of healthy pre-term infants (n=92) adjust their expectations for the timing of developmental milestones in the first years of life as compared to mothers of full-term infants (n=140). We examined whether these adjustments could be seen as reflecting a pessimistic view, as would be predicted from the ,prematurity stereotype' perspective. Partial corrections for prematurity were regularly made, but no indications were found for an overly pessimistic view. Moreover, the differences between the regions in the anticipated timing of mastery of milestones were larger than the effects of prematurity. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The rhetoric of conference presentation introductions: context, argument and interaction

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, Issue 1 2005
Elizabeth Rowley-Jolivet
The process of socialisation into the academic discourse community involves acquiring mastery of its established genres. While written academic genres have been intensively studied, spoken genres are relatively under-researched. This study focuses on one such spoken research genre, the scientific conference presentation (CP) in English, and specifically on the introduction section, a sub-genre which often poses particular problems for presenters. A move analysis of the CP introductions shows that their rhetorical structure is markedly different from that of the research article, and that these differences are closely related to the contextual and epistemological characteristics of the genre. The interpersonal relations set up by the allocation of speaker and addressee roles through the use of personal pronouns are also discussed. Through a contrastive analysis of the CP introductions and those of the corresponding proceedings papers, the article examines how speakers facilitate information processing and create rapport with the audience. The data comprise video recordings of 44 CPs from 3 scientific fields (geology, medicine, and physics) and a smaller corpus of 13 corresponding articles from the physics conference proceedings. [source]

Supporting Pupils with Dyspraxia in the Visual Arts Does Drawing from Observation Function as an Official and Discriminatory Discourse?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 2 2007
Claire Penketh
This article examines the demands that pupils with dyspraxia may face when engaging with the secondary art and design curriculum in a mainstream secondary school. It explores the possibility that there is an exclusive approach to art and design, prioritising a formalist approach to the teaching of specific skills and mastery of techniques, and considers the implications that this may have for such pupils. Specific attention is paid to the role of observational drawing and the demands that this may make for pupils with dyspraxia. The article will explore existing guidance offered for subject-based practitioners and aims to contextualise this within the current debates on art and design education and the recollections of individual experiences of art and design. It will outline the hypothesis that pupils with dyspraxia may be one group of pupils amongst many for whom their art and design experience does not offer an inclusive experience, and it seeks to question the existence of a hierarchy of practice and its subsequent relevance. [source]

The role of competence level in the self-efficacy,skills relationship: an empirical examination of the skill acquisition process and its implications for information technology training

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2009
James P. Downey
The role of computer training has long been critical in organizations as reliance on technology for strategic advantage increases in importance. How to most effectively conduct such training has clear implications for organizations. This study examines one area of training which is not well understood: the role that competence level plays in the self-efficacy,competence relationship (if indeed it plays a role at all) during skill acquisition. Two opposing conceptual positions are presented from the literature, one that suggests the relationship between self-efficacy and competence will be stronger early in the skill acquisition process (when competence is minimal), the other suggesting the strength of the relationship will be stronger at mastery. Using a sample of over 600 and structural equation modeling, the relationship between self-efficacy and competence for six different computing application domains is tested by dividing respondents in each domain in half, according to competence level. Results empirically demonstrate that level of competence makes a significant difference in the domains, that those higher in ability typically have a stronger relationship with self-efficacy. Results also show that the relationship is weaker for those new to the application and those who have mastered the application. The important implications for training are discussed. [source]

The Education-Contingent Association Between Religiosity and Health: The Differential Effects of Self-Esteem and the Sense of Mastery

The proportion heuristic: problem set size as a basis for performance judgments

JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING, Issue 3 2001
David H. Silvera
Abstract How do people evaluate their degree of mastery over a task? A series of four studies demonstrated that a potentially irrelevant cue can have a strong influence on such evaluations. In these studies, the total amount of work given to participants (the problem set size) influenced both (a) the amount of work participants completed before feeling that they had performed well and were adequately prepared for a related future task, and (b) participants' assessments of their performance and their feelings of preparedness for a related future task. These effects occurred even when a randomization procedure was used to emphasize the arbitrary nature of the problem set size. The effects vanished, however, when participants were given extra time to evaluate their progress after completing each problem. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The effectiveness of a programme of enhancing resiliency by reducing family boundary ambiguity among children with epilepsy

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 9-10 2010
Pei-Fan Mu
Aim and objectives., The aim of the study was to examine the effect of a programme designed to reduce family boundary ambiguity in families who care for children with epilepsy. Background., When parents are caring for an epileptic child, they may experience unclear perceptions about whether the child is psychologically included in the family and develop unclear expectations regarding role performance in the family. Some studies have identified boundary ambiguity as a possible antecedent to relationship problems that are associated with negative outcomes in the areas of parental well-being and family functioning. There is a need to develop family nursing interventions that will reduce family boundary ambiguity when the family is caring for children with epilepsy. Design., A pretest, post-test, one group, quasi-experimental design was used in this study. Methods., This study was made up of three phases: first, the establishing of a parental needs checklist and the development of a parental education information handbook; second, the carrying out of a family assessment including the analysis of the meaning of their experiences and needs and the construction of an educational dialogue and finally, an outcomes evaluation after three months. Seventeen mothers participated in the study. Results., The study found that there were statistically significant improvements in family boundary ambiguity and maternal depression was reduced. Conclusions., This study illustrates nursing intervention that involves the integrating of phenomenological principles into the nursing care process. Specifically, Husserlian phenomenology is able to be helpful to nursing practice, especially the concepts of intentionality, intersubjectivity, empathy and bracketing. Relevance to clinical practice., This study supported the conceptual framework involved in the construction of the meaning of the situation, the enhancement of mastery over the situation and reconstruction of identity. These items are resiliency factors that provided a mechanism that helps to reduce boundary ambiguity when a family is caring for a child with epilepsy. [source]

Showing you can do it: Homework in therapy for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
Jennifer L. Hudson
This article discusses the application of homework tasks in an empirically supported treatment for children (aged 8,13 years) with anxiety disorders. Within this program, homework tasks,through practice and rehearsal in the child's natural environment,are an important ingredient to enable the child to increase his or her mastery of the information/skills covered in each session. The homework tasks also provide an opportunity for the therapist to check the child's grasp of the session content through unassisted application of the material. This article discusses issues that arise in the application of homework tasks with a child population (e.g., compliance). Homework in both child- and family-focused treatment is discussed. The issues addressed regarding homework, although raised in the context of anxious children in a cognitive behavioral treatment program, may be broadly applied to children in psychotherapy. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol/In Session 58: 525,534, 2002. [source]

A Domain-level Approach to Describing Growth in Achievement

JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, Issue 1 2005
E. Matthew Schulz
Descriptions of growth in educational achievement often rely on the notion that higher-level students can do whatever lower-level students can do, plus at least one more thing. This article presents a method of supporting such descriptions using the data of a subject-area achievement test. Multiple content domains with an expected order of difficulty were defined within the Grade 8 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. Teachers were able to reliably classify items into the domains by content. Using expected percentage correct scores on the domains, it was possible to describe each achievement level boundary (Basic, Proficient, and Advanced) on the NAEP scale by patterns of skill that include both mastery and non-mastery, and to show that higher achievement levels are associated with mastery of more skills. We conclude that general achievement tests like NAEP can be used to provide criterion-referenced descriptions of growth in achievement as a sequential mastery of skills. [source]

Consumer Awareness and Willingness to Pay for High-Pressure Processing of Ready-to-Eat Food

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION, Issue 2 2009
Doris T. Hicks
ABSTRACT:, Commercial, nonthermal processing of food, such as high hydrostatic-pressure processing (HPP), has increased. The safety and quality of foods produced by HPP has not been well communicated to the public. An online, nationwide consumer survey was implemented to assess awareness of alternative food processing technologies, consumer food safety attitudes and knowledge, and willingness to pay (WTP) for HPP products. The consumer survey was administered by ZoomerangÔ, an online survey clearinghouse. The survey was completed by 1204 adults. Frequencies and crosstabs were calculated on Zoomerang and SPSS used for one-way ANOVA and chi-square analyses. The survey assessed knowledge of HPP, attitudes about new food processing techniques, WTP for HPP foods and demographics. Overall, many demographic characteristics reflected U.S. census population. While traditional methods, that is, canning, freezing, and microwaving were all well recognized by over 80% of respondents, only 8% recognized HPP. Trends indicated an increase in age, education, and income reflected greater food safety knowledge. Regardless of demographics, no survey respondent exhibited knowledge mastery (80%). Given an explanation of HPP and its benefits, 39% of respondents indicated they would be WTP an additional cost, with higher income and education having the most impact. Majority of respondents indicated a WTP of $0.25 to $0.50 regardless of the value of the food product. More respondents were WTP slightly more for a more expensive product. New technologies often encounter a stumbling block in consumer acceptance and processing costs. A consumer's WTP, once they were informed, could encourage industry to look favorably on this technology. [source]