Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Body image during adolescence : behavioural and neuroimaging studies

The primary objective of this thesis was to investigate body image at both the behavioural and neural levels. We describe three studies aimed at: (1) developing a novel digital methodology with which to assess perceptual aspects of body image during adolescence; (2) investigating perceptual accuracy and sensitivity to changes in the size/shape of body images among healthy adolescents; and (3) identifying the neural mechanisms of body perception using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A novel library of digital images of adolescent bodies was created and used to characterize natural covariations in body size and shape using principal components analysis. Identified principal components were used to morph body images in a realistic manner to generate larger or smaller bodies. These morphed body-image stimuli were then used in a behavioural investigation of self body-image perception among adolescents. Male and female adolescents overestimated the size of their bodies. When compared with males, females overestimated their body size to a greater extent and showed greater sensitivity in detecting changes in body size. Overestimation of body size and detection sensitivity increased with subject age. Detection sensitivity decreased as a function of subjects' body mass index (BMI). In order to identify the underlying neural mechanisms of these effects, functional block-design and fMR-adaptation experiments were completed in healthy young adults. During both experiments, females, and not males, showed greater fMR signal in the right versus left hemisphere in the extrastriate body area (EBA) and fusiform body area (FBA). During the block-design experiment, females also demonstrated greater right EBA response compared with males. Observer BMI modulated the EBA hemispheric effect in both experiments. A significant recovery from adaptation was found in EBA and FBA with body-image morphing, indicating that both regions were sensitive to body-size changes. Ultimately, we demonstrated the successful use of a novel body-morphing method for the assessment of body image, established that sex, age, and BMI modulate accuracy of self body-size estimation and detection of changes in body size, and described evidence of EBA and FBA as the likely neural substrates of these behavioural effects.
Politics and Parental Care: Experimental and Mediational Tests of the Causal Link Between Parenting Motivation and Social Conservatism

People vary greatly in their desire for, willingness to care for, and emotions toward children. This variation in “parenting motivation” predicts a range of cognition and behavior. Strategic perspectives on political attitudes suggest that parenting motivation should be associated with more socially conservative attitudes, since these attitudes prioritize self-protection norms. Across three studies, we found that parenthood mediated age-related increases in social conservatism. Study 1 found that an experimental child interaction prime increased social conservatism in parents but not in nonparents. Study 2 (preregistered, n = 803) found a main effect of the prime, while Study 3 (preregistered, n = 763) found no experimental effect. Study 3 also found that the relationship between parenting motivation and social conservatism was mediated by both sexual attitudes and perceived threats. These findings attest to the important relationship between parenthood and social conservatism but also suggest that “parenting” primes have either inconsistent or trivial implications within online samples.
Narrowing the Achievement Gap between EFL Students in Oral Expression through Cooperative Learning

Any learning is stimulated by the teaching method or technique adopted. When put in traditional competitive settings, students worry more about their self-esteem and tend to shy away from participating in the activities, while, only those with higher level of oral skills volunteer in answering the questions. This inequity in practice causes a discrepancy in students’ performance in the oral expression exams and thus, results in a gap in the achievement. This paper suggests cooperative learning as a means to reduce the achievement gap between high and low achievers in the oral expression classes. This study is an endeavor to highlight the effectiveness of cooperative learning in reducing the disparity between high and low achievers and also to accentuate the benefits of this method in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. The study followed an experimental pretest-posttest non-equivalent groups design with a sample of 44 second year EFL students from the University of Khenchela, Algeria. The intervention lasted for a semester. The results showed that the achievement gap was reduced in the experimental group after using cooperative learning instructions, while the traditional method, in the control group, failed in closing the achievement gap between high and low-achievers. As a conclusion, some recommendations will be given with the aim of promoting the use of cooperative learning in the EFL classrooms as well as fostering teachers’ awareness of the effectiveness of such teaching method in improving students’ performance in oral expression.
Evaluating Participants' Perceptions of Alfabetizacion/Circulo de Aprendizaje, A Literacy Program in Ciudad Eten, Chiclayo-Peru

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of participants regarding the Alfabetizacion/Circulo de Arendizaje literacy program in Ciudad Eten, Chiclayo, Peru. The sample population for the study consisted of 118 female participants. These women represented participants of the Alfabetizacion literacy program in 2004 and 1994 2003 program graduates. The oral survey questions were related to demographic factors of the participants (i.e. age, marital status, family size, level of income and class attendance), factors affecting participants’ perceptions of the importance of education, and reasons for participation in the literacy program. Participants also answered questions regarding their needs and interests, their self esteem, and benefits of participation in the literacy program. Results revealed that the majority of participants had more than four children, had a monthly income of $20.00 or lower, and attended classes twice per week. T-test for independent samples, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that women whose paid job was hat weaving agreed more strongly with the importance of education than women with a different paid job. In terms of reasons for participation in the Alfabetizacion/Circulo de Aprendizaje literacy program, the majority of women reported the learning of reading and writing and the desire to be an example to their families and to other women in their community as their main reasons for participating. They also reported that the literacy program has not met their needs and interests. Additionally, program graduates reported a need for a post-literacy program to help them retain the knowledge and skills learned in classroom. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In terms of self-esteem, a significant difference was found among women whose paid job was hat weaving and women whose paid job was washing clothes or market vendors. In terms of benefits of participating in the literacy program, women whose marital status was single or divorced scored higher than women whose marital status was married. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedication To you, Rosa Barrios Llumpo, a woman, a sister, a friend. my mother Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Relations between Peer Attachment, Self-Esteem, and Perceived Parental Bonding in Greek Cypriot and British Young Adults

Greek Cypriot (N=272) and British (N=170) students completed assessments of (a) perceptions of childhood relationships with parents, (b) peer attachment, and (c) self-esteem. In comparison with British students, Greek Cypriot students were more likely to classify their relationships with peers as insecure, and perceived both of their parents to be more overprotective. In both the Greek Cypriot and British samples, individuals who classified relationships with peers as secure perceived their mothers to have been more caring and less overprotective, and had higher self-esteem compared to individuals who classified relationships with peers as preoccupied or fearful. Regardless of nationality, higher self-esteem was related to higher perceived parental care and lower perceived parental overprotection. The results are discussed with reference to differences in family structure in Cyprus and the UK.
Achieving Clinical Instructor Competence: A Phenomenological Study of Clinical Instructors' Perspectives

Introduction. Defining best practice in clinical education is currently a primary focus of the American Physical erapy Association and the American Council of Academic Physical erapy. Although professional standards exist for physical therapist clinical instructors (CIs), there is little published research regarding the pathway to achieving competence as a CI. Moreover, there is currently no published definition for competence as a CI within the profession of physical therapy (PT). is study attempts to describe the meaning of competence and the experience of achieving competence as perceived by both credentialed and noncredentialed CIs. Subjects. Twenty-nine physical therapist CIs who had independently supervised at least one full-time physical therapist student served as the subjects for this study. Methods. A phenomenological methodology was used to understand and interpret the meaning of CI competence and the experience of achieving competence from the CI participants’ perspectives. Data were collected through focus group interviews and written statements and thenwere analyzed using thematic analysis. Results. e journey to competence, though unique to each CI, included commonalities. An overarching theme of “Empowerment” emerged from the data analysis and was supported by 6 subthemes: (1) the meaning of competence, (2) my first student, (3) finding the way, (4) barriers to achieving competence, (5) confidence, and (6) lifelong learning. Participants’ descriptions of the meaning of competence included the roles of skilled clinician, teacher, mentor, reflective learning, collaborator, and effective communicator. Discussion and Conclusion. Findings can inform CIs striving for effectiveness in clinical teaching by defining the meaning of competence, as well as revealing a variety of pathways used to achieve competence. ese examples could be helpful for Site Coordinators of Clinical Education, Directors of Clinical Education and others who teach CI development. e physical therapy education community and its professional bodies can use these findings to define CI competence and to direct future efforts and programs designed to prepare clinicians to effectively educate students in the clinical setting.
Examining the security issues of automated teller machine based on revised technology acceptance model

Trust of using automated teller machine (ATM) is a daunting task for many Indonesians, where the security issues associated with it, still haunting them. The paper examines the collaborative issues related to the ATM security such as: perceived usefulness and ease of use, perceived security, trust, intention to use and actual system use, by using revised technical acceptance model (TAM) according to the banking purposes. The study takes customer samples of major leading banks in Indonesia and expected to present the current situation faced by many Indonesians when dealing with the ATM security. The outcome will be valuable inputs for the policy makers of the banks to establish further strategy to cope with integrated security issues related to ATM use.
Source Traits of Adolescents' Personality as a Predictor of Their Academic Achievement: A Cross-Sectional Study.

A bulk of research has been conducted to investigate the relationship of the personality traits of students with their academic achievement in international context. This area, however, has yet been rarely explored in the context of Pakistan. This cross-sectional survey study, therefore, investigated the degree to which selected primary source traits of the personality of students can serve as a predictor of their academic achievement at secondary school level in the context of Pakistan. Three hundred fifty seven (357) secondary school students (182 boys and 175 girls) attending class 10 participated in this study. A 43-item Likert 5-point trait scale, following the example of the items included in the ‘‘Big Five Questionnaire – Children version (BFQ-C)’’ by Barbaranelli et al., (2003), was developed for measuring the eight selected primary source traits, namely: independence, intelligence, sociable, easy going, generous, friendly, emotionally stable, and dominance. Academic achievement of the representative sample of the students was measured on the basis of their annual examination results of class 9.Collected data were analyzed and interpreted by applying descriptive and the inferential statistics as well as factor analysis. Values of regression analysis revealed that, among the eight primary source traits, “Independence”, “Intelligence” “Emotionally stable” and “Friendly” were the only factors that predicted students’ academic achievement to some extent while the role of other four traits found to be minimal or negative in predicting academic achievement.
Education Policy Networks: The Co-Optation, Coordination, and Commodification of the School-to-Prison Pipeline Critique

This study utilizes social network visualization and content analysis of policy reports to explore the changing structure and function of a network of organizations, including government agencies, philanthropies, think tanks, advocacy groups, research centers, and edu-businesses active in school discipline policy formation at the federal level from 2000 to 2014. This study illuminates the mechanism by which the state, working through a complex public-private network of education policy actors, co-opts more radical demands to address the school-to-prison pipeline, coordinates interests across a range of social forces with particular attention to law enforcement, and commodifies the school-to-prison pipeline critique into marketable products and services for schools and school districts.
Effectiveness of Collaborative Strategic Reading and Whole Language Approach on Reading Comprehension Performance of Children with Learning Disabilities in Oyo State Nigeria Adetoun

Abstract This study was carried out to determine the effectiveness of collaborative strategic reading and whole language approach on reading comprehension performance of primary school children with learning disabilities in Oyo state Nigeria. Seventy eight pupils participated in the study; they were between ages nine and eleven. Five hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance, convenience sampling technique was used to sample participants. The study was carried out in ten weeks. A pre test post test control group quasi experimental design with a 3 x 2 factorial matrix was adopted for the study. Analysis of covariance and t-test statistics were used to analyse the data collected. The five null hypotheses were rejected because there was significant difference in treatment effect across treatment groups and gender. It is hereby recommended that collaborative strategic reading should be employed to teach reading comprehension in Nigerian primary schools.
Promoting Gender Equality through Party Funding: Symbolic Policies at Work in Italy

Abstract Given the growing importance of state subsidies as a source of party income, several countries have introduced policies that link the provision of party funding to the promotion of gender equality in political representation. Variations in the assignment of public funding—that is, financial incentives and cuts—are increasingly employed to promote equal gender participation in intraparty politics and in public office. However, we know little about why and how these equality promotion policies have been adopted in different countries, how they work in practice, and, most importantly, what effects they have on women's representation. To contribute to this debate, after embedding gender-targeted public funding regulations in the broader set of political representation policies and presenting a comparative overview of existing rules in the European Union, the article concentrates on the Italian case. We examine the evolution of Italian regulation of gender electoral financing and the extent to which the Italian parties have complied with the rules over time. The results show that this set of policy instruments, when poorly designed, is nothing more than symbolic policy. The lack of appropriate mechanisms for sanctions and rewards, which can induce parties to change their behavior, has hampered the effectiveness of these policy measures.
A Happy Way to Grow Old? Grandparent Caregiving, Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction

Utilizing the 2015 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) that covers 7045 households, we study the effect of grandparents looking after grandchildren on quality of life and life satisfaction of grandparents. We find evidence of important favorable effects of grandparents caregiving: when grandparents look after their grandchildren, they are 2.9% less likely to report symptoms of depression, the amount of support that they receive from their children approximately doubles, and are 2.7% (1.1%) more likely to report being very satisfied (completely satisfied). These favorable effects are proportionate to the amount of time spend caring for grandchildren and increase with the number of grandchildren looked after. The favorable effects on mental health seem limited to grandparents living in rural areas and apply especially to grandfathers. The favorable effect on life satisfaction is primarily directly attributable to caring for grandchildren rather than being incurred indirectly due to better health or financial situation of grandparents.
Assessment of an Academic Skills Development Program for Youths in Juvenile Correctional Facilities

School defi cit is considered a risk factor for the development of antisocial behavior. This study assessed the effi cacy of individual program on academic skills for adolescents admitted to juvenile detention. The sample consisted of 18 adolescents, nine who received the intervention (experimental group) and nine in the control group. The schooling activities were developed in a range of 12 to 18 weeks with two to four hours per week and effi cacy was measured by School Performance Test (SPT) that evaluates writing, reading and arithmetics. The results of the comparison between pretest and post-test showed a statistically signifi cant increase in the experimental group’s math skills (Z = -2.673, p = .008) and overall score (Z = -2.549, p = .012). Calculated via the STP the average educational lag at the time of the pretest was 8.3 years for the experimental group and 8.9 years for the control group. Subsequent to the intervention, the average lag dropped to 7.3 years for the experimental group and remained to 8.6 years for the control group. This intervention proved to be a promising technique to reduce academic defi cits in adolescents from juvenile detention.
The Effect of a Structured Playfulness Program on Social Skills in Kindergarten Children

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a structured, playful activity program on the development of social skills in kindergarten children during break time in the schoolyard. Twenty eight boys and thirty two girls aged from 5 to 6 years old consisted the sample of the present study. The participants were randomly divided into two groups the treatment and the control group respectively. The experimental group participated in a 4 weeks playful program while control group didn’t participate in any kind of structured activity. Data were gathered through observations and videotaped recordings of the students in the schoolyard during breaks. The researcher coded children’s behaviours from video recordings and completed the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) for each child, before and after interventional program. Results demonstrated that there was statistically significant difference between the degree of development in students’ social skills during breaks and their participation in a structured programme of playful activities in the schoolyard.
Perceptions of Turkish University Students about the role of Teacher as a Mediator and Mediated Learning Experience

This study explores the perceptions of university students about Feuerstein’s mediated learning experience (MLE) and the role of teacher as a mediator. In this qualitative study, students from 4 departments at an education faculty in a state university in Turkey were grouped as experimental and control group and received intervention in English course based on mediated learning experience and social constructivist theory. At the end of the intervention, a total of 20 students from two different departments in the experimental group were interviewed face-to-face and the data were analyzed through content analysis. Based on the findings of the study, students reported that the role of teacher as a mediator facilitated their learning process in a positive way by increasing their motivation, self-confidence, autonomy and willingness to communicate by enabling them to have a better interaction among group and class members as their friends. Findings also imply the fact that although the education system in Turkey is designed upon the principles of constructivist approach since the introduction of the 2006 curriculum reform, students had not been exposed to constructivism based classroom practices prior to the intervention applied for this study.
Slips of the Tongue in the Utterances Produced by Indonesian Television News Reporters

Slips of the tongue are one-time mistakes in speech production planning that happen when the speaker intends to utter a particular word, phrase, or sentence, and during the planning process something goes wrong, so that the production is at odds with the plan. Slips of the tongue involve the sounds or words of the language and it is related with speech production. Slips of the tongue may happen to anyone and it occurs naturally and unexpectedly. The writer conducted this study in order to analyse further about slips of the tongue, especially those that occur in the utterances produced by Indonesian television news reporter. The data for this study were collected from three different television stations which are MetroTV, tvOne, and KompasTV. Those data were analysed using the types of slips of the tongue proposed by Fromkin (1973) and Harley (1995). The findings of this study showed that not all of the types of slips of the tongue proposed by both linguists occurred in the utterances produced by Indonesian Television news reporters from those three television stations. The types of slips of the tongue that occurred in the utterances produced by Indonesian television news reporters are namely phoneme anticipation, phoneme deletion, affix deletion, word blend, word exchange, word substitution, phoneme perseveration, and misderivation. From the data collected for this study, the most common type of slips of the tongue that were present during the research is word substitution.