This study examines the relationship between simultaneous and successive processing (the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous and Successive processing PASS theory processes) and reading skills in ...English as a foreign language (EFL). A group of 81 children were administered two batteries of tests. One was used to measure EFL reading skills, while the other one assessed simultaneous and successive processing. We hypothesised (a) cognitive processes to predict reading ability, as well as (b) the presence of a significant relationship between (c) simultaneous processing and reading comprehension and (d) successive processing and letter and word decoding. The findings confirmed that the anticipated relationships between these domains exist and are of moderate effect size. The research has helped to contribute to the understanding of how simultaneous and successive processing can affect EFL reading skills both on the level of basic word and letter decoding and reading comprehension.
This study examined the relationships between executive functions (EF) and the ability to learn problem-solving principles. It was hypothesized that there are distinct executive domains of ...attentional control (involving inhibition and selective attention) and cognitive flexibility (working memory and shifting) that predict the ability to learn. Nine to ten year-old children completed a battery of nine tests to provide for multiple-indicator measurement of latent variables. Several alternative models were subjected to structural equation modeling. A three-factor EF structure involving inhibition, selective attention and working memory provided the best fit to the data. Shifting did not emerge as a separate factor and proved to be indistinguishable from working memory. Results indicate a full mediation of inhibition and selective attention effects on the ability to learn via working memory. After controlling for working memory, the paths from inhibition and selective attention to the ability to learn were no longer significant, while working memory accounted for most of the variation in the ability to learn. The findings provide necessary evidence for the hypothesis of a hierarchical structure of EF, where lower-order functions like inhibition and selective attention seem to constitute higher-order functions like working memory which directly determines the efficiency of acquiring novel forms of thinking.
•At the age of 9, diverse executive functions can be identified.•Working memory predicts the ability to learn problem-solving principles.•Other EF cease to predict learning once working memory is controlled for.•Results indicate a hierarchical structure of executive functions.•Working memory accounts for about 63% of the variation in the ability to learn.
The present study aimed to assess the prevalence and characteristics of child sexual abuse (CSA) in a large-scale sample of Slovak late adolescents. Randomized cluster sampling was used to sample ...2186 students in their final school year of secondary school with mean age of 18.6 years (SD = .7 years). The study employed the Child Sexual Abuse Questionnaire consisting of multiple behavior-specific questions. The prevalence of CSA was analyzed separately for three clusters of CSA and gender. The prevalence of non-contact forms of CSA was 40.6% among girls and 17.7% among boys. CSA with physical contact without penetration was reported by 30.2% girls and 11.6% boys. The prevalence of CSA with penetration was 5.6% among girls and 1.3% among boys. More than half of CSA occurred between 16 and 18 years of age. The severity of abuse was positively associated with acquaintance to the perpetrator. Roughly 43-56% disclosed the abuse to another person. The majority of disclosed CSA was revealed to peers and partners. A negligible proportion of CSA instances were reported to the police. Prevention activities should consider a broad spectrum of CSA in order to counteract tendencies to associate CSA only with unwanted sexual intercourse.
In the light of the reproducibility crisis, there is a growing criticism of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) and its output, the p-values. In fact, the intuitive interpretations of ...p-values are usually misleading because the p-values do not answer the questions that researchers tend to ask and their role in the context of statistical inference is typically grossly overestimated. The aim of this article is to discuss the most pervasive misinterpretations of p-values as well as the statistical reasons for the weak reproducibility of findings based on crossing the p < .05 threshold. On the other hand, the article provides a reconsideration of the arguments against the p-values, while offering a pragmatic, but still rigorous perspective on their logic and usefulness.
Objective: From 2022, the International Classification of Diseases, eleventh edition (ICD-11) includes the first mental disorder based on digital technology, "gaming disorder," which was previously ...suggested as a condition for further examination in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5). In this cross-sectional study, we provide the first large-scale network analysis of various symptom structures for these constructs to understand the complex interconnections between their proposed symptoms. Method: Culturally diverse samples of 2,846 digital game players (M = 25.3 years) and 746 esports players (M = 23.5 years) were recruited. A network approach was applied to explore a multiverse of gaming disorder symptom structures, effects of item operationalization, and possible external moderators. Gaming disorder was measured using the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale 9-Short Form (IGDS9-SF), Gaming Disorder Test, and several items borrowed from Chinese Internet Gaming Disorder Scale, Personal Internet Gaming Disorder Evaluation-9, and Clinical Video game Addiction Test 2.0 scales. Results: Two symptoms (loss of control and continued use despite problems) present in both, the DSM-5 and ICD-11, were systematically central to most of the analyzed networks. Alternative operationalizations of single items systematically caused significant network differences. Networks were invariant across groups of play style, age, gender, gaming time, and most of the psychosocial characteristics. Conclusions: Our results caution practitioners and researchers when studying and interpreting gaming disorder symptoms. The data indicate that even minor operational changes in symptoms can lead to significant network-level changes, thus highlighting the need for careful wording.
Public Health Significance Statement
The network structures of Internet gaming disorder (IGD)/gaming disorder (GD) are very sensitive to changes in item operationalization. This has high potential to explain why epidemiological and other survey-based findings regarding IGD/GD have been inconsistent so far. From now on, a priority should be given to pursuing a coherent symptomatology and more clinically valid psychometric measures.
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