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This article investigates the influence of wealth, a frequently neglected aspect of the economic circumstances of families, on children's development. Using the UK Millennium Cohort Study, it explores whether parental wealth (net total wealth, net housing wealth, net financial wealth, and house value) is associated with children's cognitive ability, mental, and physical health at age 11 (N = 8,645), over and above parental socioeconomic status and economic resources, in particular permanent income. Housing wealth was associated with fewer emotional and behavioral problems, independent of the full set of controls. Children's verbal cognition and general health were more strongly associated with family permanent income and socioeconomic characteristics than with wealth., (© 2020 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.)

While much attention has been devoted to measuring levels of social mobility over time, less attention has been given to the possibility of changing pathways to social mobility. This paper examines pathways from social origins to socio-economic destinations in midlife for two British cohorts, born in 1958 and 1970 respectively, using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). We address the roles of cognitive attainment, private schooling and educational attainment in mediating the link between social origins and destinations. Have these mechanisms become more or less important over time, in a context of structural change in the state schooling system and educational expansion? We find that private schools displayed greater academic selectivity and an increased link to high levels of educational attainment for the younger cohort. Essentially, private schools adapted to changing circumstances, becoming more academically selective and less socially selective, and more focused on educational credentials. Childhood social origins were less strongly linked to childhood cognitive scores in the younger cohort, but cognitive scores were also more weakly linked to educational attainment for this cohort. We also find a decreased association between social origins and educational attainment for the younger cohort. While the finding that educational inequalities weakened over this time period is positive, the lack of a corresponding reduction in the overall link between social origins and destinations suggests that reducing educational inequalities was not sufficient to increase social mobility when accompanied by countervailing changes in the role of private schools., (© 2020 The Authors. The British Journal of Sociology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of London School of Economics and Political Science.)

Research in social stratification has shown that children from working-class backgrounds tend to obtain substantially lower levels of educational attainment and lower labor market positions than children from higher social class backgrounds. However, we still know relatively little about the micro-level processes that account for this empirical regularity. Our study examines the roles of two individual-level characteristics-cognitive ability and locus of control-in mediating the effect of individuals' parental class background on their educational attainment and social class position in Britain. We find that cognitive ability mediates only about 35% of the total parental class effect on educational attainment and only about 20% of the total parental class effect on respondents' social class position, net of their educational attainment. These findings contradict existing claims that differences in the life chances of children from different social class backgrounds are largely due to differences in cognitive ability. Moreover, we find that although individuals' locus of control plays some role in mediating the parental class effect, its role is substantially smaller than the mediating role of cognitive ability. We measure individuals' social class positions at different points in their careers-at labor market entry and at occupational maturity-and find that the mediating roles of cognitive ability and locus of control are remarkably stable across individuals' working lives., (© 2020 London School of Economics and Political Science.)

This paper presents autoethnographic strategies to manage cognitive dissonance in art teacher education. Dissonance, as a conflict in beliefs and actions, is discussed in educational research but not commonly in art education. By exposing the autoethnographic voices of three academic artist teachers based in the United Kingdom and Singapore, including that of one author, this paper identifies the constitution and location of cognitive dissonance in art education. Autoethnographic images and excerpts help reveal personal accounts of cognition whilst positioning dissonance in practice. Contributors to dissonance like belief and concept conflicts, demonstrative challenges and power relationships are also exposed. This paper recommends that educational stakeholders, such as education ministries, teacher education departments and school leadership teams collaborate to acknowledge, accept and begin to manage dissonance in art teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) can affect social interaction and communication as well as motor and cognitive processes. Speech is affected in PD, as is the control of voluntary eye movements which are thought to play an important role in 'turn taking' in conversation. Aims: This study aimed to measure eye movements during spoken conversation in PD to assess whether differences in patterns of eye gaze are linked to disrupted turn taking and impaired communication efficiency. Methods & Procedure: Eleven participants with mild PD and 14 controls completed a two‐player guessing game. During each 3 min game turn, one of the players had to guess the names of as many objects as possible based only on the other player's description. Eye movements were recorded simultaneously in both participants using mobile eye trackers along with speech onset and offset times. Outcomes & Results: When people with PD played the role of describer, the other player guessed fewer objects compared to when controls described objects. When guessing objects, people with PD performed just as well as controls. Analysis of eye fixations showed that people with PD made longer periods of fixation on the other player's face relative to controls and a lower number of such 'gaze on face' periods. Conclusions & Implications: A combination of oculomotor, cognitive and speech abnormalities may disrupt communication in PD. Better public awareness of oculomotor, speech and other deficits in the condition could improve social connectedness in people with Parkinson's. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject?: Parkinson's disease is known to affect the control of voluntary eye movements. Direction of eye gaze is important in spoken conversation as a cue to turn‐taking, but no studies have examined whether eye movements are different during communication in people with Parkinson's. What this paper adds to existing knowledge?: People with Parkinson's showed longer periods of eye fixation during conversations compared to controls. Delays and overlaps between speech turns were also affected in patients. What are the clinical implications of this work?: Better knowledge of the effect of the disease on eye gaze control amongst clinicians may help improve communication and social connectedness for patients in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent political processes have rendered people with dementia an increasingly surveilled population. Surveillance is a contentious issue within dementia research, spanning technological monitoring, biomarker research and epidemiological data gathering. This paper explores surveillance in the relationships of people affected by dementia, how older relatives both with and without diagnoses are surveilled in everyday interactions, and the importance of expectations in guiding surveillance. This paper presents data from 41 in-depth interviews with people affected by dementia living in the community in the United Kingdom. Agedness was a key contributor to expectations that a person may have dementia, based on previous experiences, media accounts and wider awareness. Expectations provoked surveillance in interactions, with participants looking for signs of dementia when interacting with older relatives. Older people also enacted self-surveillance, monitoring their own behaviour. Various actions could be attributed to dementia because interpretation is malleable, partly vindicating expectations while leaving some uncertainties. Expectant surveillance transformed people's experiences because they organised their own actions, and interpreted those of others, in line with pre-existing meanings. The ability to interpret behaviours to fit expectations can bring coherence to uncertainties of ageing, cognition and dementia, but risks ascribing dementia to many older people who straddle those uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the orientation failures in medicine and psychiatry in Great Britain. Orientation failures refers to dislocations between the subject's cognition of time, space or person, and the relevant reference systems. The described orientation failures are determined by whether the subject chooses to orientate himself in relation to public or private reference systems.

The prevalence of dyslexia identification has increased significantly over the last two decades. Yet there is debate over whether there are distinct biological and cognitive differences between those with literacy difficulties and the subgroup of people identified as dyslexic. This is the first paper that provides evidence for this ongoing debate by investigating the socio-demographic factors, outside biology and cognition, that predict whether a child is identified as dyslexic in the UK. Using secondary data from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study, this paper examines the socio-demographic factors that predict whether a child's teacher identifies them as dyslexic at age 11. Gender, season of birth, socio-economic class and parental income are found to be significant predictors of the dyslexia label. Therefore, factors seemingly unrelated to the clinical aspects of dyslexia influence whether a child is identified as dyslexic in England and Wales. This suggests that label may not be evenly distributed across a population; furthermore, it may also indicate that resources for support may not be fairly allocated. The findings further support the argument that a 'dyslexic sub-group' within poor readers is created due to the impact of environmental factors. The results from this national-scale study thus questions the reliability, validity and moral integrity of the allocation of the dyslexia label across current education systems in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much previous work linking fertility history with late-life cognition has focused on a narrow set of cognitive measures and/or has used modest sample sizes in the analysis, our paper expands the size and scope of these linkages by analyzing cognitive function across five domains and precisely estimating gendered patterns between men and women. Results point to important gendered associations between parity and cognition: having children is likely associated with better cognitive function for fathers in all five domains. However, mothers show worse cognitive function in some domains (i.e., numeric memory, prospective memory, and fluid intelligence) than childless women. We explore the possibility of confounding in these associations and rule out the effects of genetic cognitive ability on fertility. We also find that adding controls for educational attainment differ by gender-strengthening associations between parity and cognition for men and largely eliminating them for women. The findings support previous work done on how life course contexts may link to the risk of dementia or cognitive impairment, highlighting parity as potential protective or risk factors to parents' cognitive health. The use of five cognitive domains yields variations in results, giving implications on measure selection of cognitive function and calling for replicated work covering more cognitive domains., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Higher education institutions (HEI) have undergone fundamental changes driven by ICT developments, globalisation, and the advent of socio-constructivist pedagogic approaches. As a result, within the UK, capital investment in new and retrofitted facilities has reached a record expenditure. Recent research on user-related evaluations of facilities, particularly in HEI learning spaces, highlights the prevalence of evaluations dominated by reductionist approaches focused on measuring outcomes, on users, such as satisfaction, learning outcomes or engagement. These approaches have a major pitfall, neglecting the complexity of the dynamic relationships between people, spaces, technology, institutional structure and pedagogic practices. In response, this paper aims to propose a shift on current approaches by exploring the application of sociotechnical systems theory to learning space design and evaluation. Amid these, it is argued that Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) offers promising alternatives to inform design and management of higher education learning spaces. Finally, within the paper, three CWA interventions are proposed and discussed, focusing on how these address previously identified shortcomings of predominant approaches used in HEI learning space design and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging research has outlined the possibility for virtual reality (VR) experiences, which situate users into the perspective of someone living with dementia, to enhance dementia awareness. Currently, there is limited VR research that engages care home practitioners. It is imperative this population has high levels of dementia education given their requirements to provide care and support to residents, many of whom will be living with the condition. This paper reports on an exploratory qualitative study designed to elicit the experiences of care home practitioners who engaged with the VR application: 'A walk through dementia'. Twenty practitioners, across four care homes in the United Kingdom, watched the VR scenarios and provided their views on the experience and the potential for the VR tool to be developed into a wider training programme to support dementia awareness. Data were collected via focus group discussions. Following an inductive thematic analysis, we constructed three themes. These suggested participants perceived the VR application offered them a convincing and immersive experience that was insightful and evocative , and provided 'next-level' dementia-awareness training that enabled them to reflect on care practices. Although the findings highlight important challenges for practitioners and developers wishing to use VR within dementia care, they suggest this application may be an engaging experiential learning tool that can provide care home staff with deeper cognitive and emotional awareness of living with dementia. Further work, drawing on these preliminary insights, is required to ensure the VR tool can be incorporated into a training programme that can positively contribute to the 'dementia-friendly communities' agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A recent meta-analysis suggested that the majority of young people in contact with the criminal justice system have cognitive and/or communication impairments. Over the past 20 years, recognition of these complex needs has resulted in support measures being put in place in courtrooms across the globe. It is therefore timely to review evidence for the efficacy of these measures., Aims: This scoping review evaluates evidence on support measures employed to facilitate access to court proceedings for individuals with cognition and communication impairments, and considers how this evidence might inform future research and practice., Methods: Research databases were searched for studies that: directly or indirectly involved a population with a form of functional impairment and/or diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder; and refer to support delivered to remove barriers or support access to courtroom processes., Results: Searches identified 3,318 distinct articles. Following review, 37 papers were identified for inclusion. The papers were published between 1993 and 2019, with the majority being published since 2010 (n = 23). The majority of papers were from the United Kingdom (n = 26); other countries represented were Australia (n = 1), Canada (n = 3), New Zealand (n = 2), UK papers don't necessarily state which countries involved (n = 2) Scotland specifically state Scotland only and the United States (n = 3). No papers met the criteria for an experimental research design., Conclusions: Whilst the high level of need in this population is well established, which support measures are most effective in enabling engagement in court processes is not currently clear. More robust evaluative research is therefore required to establish the most effective methods of support. Despite this lack of evidence regarding outcomes, both young people and professionals generally view support measures favourably. There is an increasing onus on professionals to adapt their practice rather than to support/enhance the cognition and communication skills of young people., (© 2022 The Authors. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the shared mental models (SMMs) of a top management team (TMT) using an emergent perspective in conditions of uncertainty. The paper examines how a TMT conversation represents an emergent cognitive process to reach an action for future planning. Design/methodology/approach: The design uses an emergent SMM approach based on a TMT discussion in an uncertain context. Cognitive mapping techniques illustrate how concepts emerge and are structured. This approach addresses the need for an alternative to aggregate mapping methods and supports the notion of team cognition as an emergent and dynamic process. Findings: Findings showed that the emergence of a SMM could be elicited and represented using cognitive mapping techniques. Domain knowledge and social relationships supported the emergence of shared knowledge relevant for action on team tasks. A SMM based on team contribution and concept connectivity was identified. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on data collected from a recorded discussion in a quarterly company meeting, ten days before the UK's original planned exit date, March 2019. Originality/value: This research study contributes to the SMM and team cognition literature streams by examining the TMT's shared understanding as an emergent process. Empirical studies using cognitive mapping techniques in this context are rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there has been significant research on the relationship between alcohol consumption and demographic and psychological influences, this does not consider the effect of social influence among older drinkers and if these effects differ between men and women. One aspect of social influence is social capital. The aim of this paper is to examine whether relational and cognitive social capital are associated with higher or lower risk of alcohol use among adults aged 50 years or older and to assess the extent to which this relationship differs between men and women. To investigate this, data were collected from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of adults over the age of 50 in the United Kingdom who were recruited from general practitioners. The sample consisted of 9,984 individuals whose mean age was 63.87 years. From these data, we developed proxy measures of social capital and associate these with the respondent's level of alcohol consumption as measured on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-10) scale. In the sample, just over 20 per cent reported an increasing risk or dependency on alcohol. Using two expressions of social capital – relational (social relationships) and cognitive (knowledge acquisition and understanding) – we found that greater levels of both are associated with a reduced risk of higher drinking risk. Being female had no significant effect when combined with relational capital but did have a significant effect when combined with cognitive capital. It is argued that interventions to enhance social relations among older people and education to help understand alcohol risks would be helpful to protect older people from the damaging effects of excessive alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children with persistent speech disorder (PSD) are at higher risk of difficulties with literacy, with some evidence suggesting an association with poorer educational attainment. However, studies to date have either used small clinical samples, which exclude children who have not been referred to clinical services, or relied on parent–teacher report of children's speech development. There is a need for an inclusive study to investigate the impact of PSD on educational outcomes using a population‐based sample and robust measures of speech development. Aim: Using a large prospective UK population‐based study—the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)—this study investigated: (1) how children identified with PSD at age 8 years perform on educational attainment tests at ages 10–11 and 13–14 years in comparison with children without PSD; and (2) whether children identified with PSD at age 8 years are more likely to receive a label of special educational needs (SEN) in secondary school. Methods & Procedures: We examined the data for 263 children with PSD and 6399 controls who had speech assessed at age 8 years in a research clinic. Educational attainment was measured using data from English school standard attainment tests. Data on SEN categorization were obtained between 11 and 13 years of age. Children with PSD and controls were compared using regression analyses adjusted for biological sex, maternal age, verbal, performance and full‐scale IQ. Outcomes & Results: Children with PSD at age 8 years were more likely to achieve lower attainment scores at ages 10–11 years in English and mathematics and across all three subjects of English, mathematics and science at ages 13–14 years after controlling for biological sex and maternal education; score below target levels for English at both time points after controlling for verbal IQ, and at ages 13–14 years after controlling for performance IQ; and receive a label of SEN (typically for the category of cognition and learning needs or communication and interaction needs) in secondary school. Conclusions & Implications: PSD identified at age 8 years is associated with poor educational attainment at ages 10–11 and 13–14 years in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. Children with PSD at age 8 years are more likely to be identified with SEN at ages 11–13 years, particularly cognition and learning needs, and communication and interaction needs. We need to be aware of the potential for the long‐term impact of PSD on educational attainment in providing appropriate and effective support throughout school. What this paper addsWhat is already known on the subjectSpeech‐sound disorder is associated with reading and spelling difficulties, with some evidence to suggest that PSD is associated with a higher risk of literacy difficulties. Limited evidence also suggests that speech‐sound disorder may be associated with poorer educational attainment. However, studies to date have used small clinical samples or parent–teacher report of speech development and there is a need to determine whether the association is observed in larger and more inclusive population‐based samples.What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThis prospective, longitudinal study of a large community‐based sample of English children has shown that PSD is associated with poorer educational attainment at the end of primary school and at ages 13–14 years. Children with PSD are also more likely to be identified as having SEN in secondary school, especially communication and interaction needs but also including cognition and learning needs.What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?Understanding the long‐term implications of PSD on educational attainment highlights the importance of ongoing monitoring and support to enable children to reach their potential throughout primary and secondary school. The identification of children with a history of PSD during transition to secondary school will enable effective support to be put in place. The intervention for children with PSD should involve close collaboration between speech and language therapists and education professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to advance knowledge of inclusive (social) citizenship, through an empirical analysis of the access work of persons with a dementia. Drawing on the notion of cognitive accessibility and empirical data collected in Southern England using a novel methodology of go-along walking interviews with 15 people with dementia followed by a sit-down interview that included a nominated family member, this paper examines how persons with dementia access the outside world. The study found that access work entailed three spheres of activity: 'access to location technologies', 'access to ordinary places', and 'consciously sharing the responsibility of access work'. Overall, this article contributes to the growing literature on cognitive accessibility by evidencing the mental demands of access work, as experienced by people with dementia, and need to share the responsibility of access work between humans and non-humans, and state and non-state actors. Access to the outside world is important for disabled people, including people with dementia. This study examined the outdoor experiences of 15 persons with dementia living at home in southern England, to find out what access means for someone with a neurological condition. This study found that access work involved 'access to location technologies', 'access to ordinary places', and 'consciously sharing the responsibility of access work'. The study shows how important it is to take account of cognition when promoting access rights for disabled people, including people with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Alzheimer's disease (AD) research landscape is dominated by efforts to predict and prevent the condition. In clinical practice, it is difficult to establish normal aging from pathological cognitive deterioration and "imaginaries of deterioration" tied to "loss of self" take on a material form and impact assessment and diagnostic practice. Drawing on qualitative data gathered across a memory service in the UK, this paper captures practitioners' reflections on the utility and potential impact of prediction and earlier detection. Practitioners maintain that this biological framing may reinforce uncertainties associated with sociocultural depictions of the condition and reify normative values concerning cognition and age; provoking questions concerning what kinds of values are produced by, and aligned with, bioscientific agendas. Overall, there emerges a paradox entangled in biologically redefining AD: purported precision and prediction on the one hand and increasing uncertainty on the other entwined with sociocultural imaginings of a future with AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have investigated brain responses to different art media. Investigations into brain processes during art making have highlighted important structures. Neuroimaging tools have been used to investigate activation of brain areas whilst artmaking, but not in a therapeutic setting. This review highlights recent advancements in this area and encourages researchers to be the first to apply this in the UK. To understand how the principles of neuroscience are currently informing the literature to explain the effects of art media in art therapy practice. Review of published peer-reviewed research between years 2000 and 2020 on neuroscience and art therapy. Findings were summarised into categories discussing psychological/neurobiological issues, art media, neuroimaging technology, and models posited. Forty-six studies were found; majority discussed the structure and function of the brain to explain art therapy processes. The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) model theorised that media properties stimulate different levels of visual and cognitive processing. The novel Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) neuroimaging technology may be used as a means of quantifying data. Significant progress has been made in attempting to explain brain responses during the art therapy process. However empirical data is needed to prove theoretical models. The use of neuroimaging has started this process to lead research into evidence-based practice. Evidencing the ground-breaking ETC model, using neuroimaging and MoBI technology is needed through close collaboration between transdisciplinary departments. Art therapists should be encouraged to use the ETC to inform art therapy assessment, planning and treatment. Neuroscience is the study of the brain and its processes, and recently technology has been available to researchers to examine brain processes in detail. This systematic narrative review explores recent literature that uses the principles of neuroscience to investigate the effects of art therapy, with a specific interest in art media. A systematic narrative review is when the findings of the study rely on the use of words to summarise the data. Art media is an important part of art therapy, as it is through artistic expressions that the client communicates their inner troubles. Different art media has been shown to elicit different feelings and behavioural responses in clients. However, research showing brain responses to different art media is limited. This study highlights ways in which further research in this field can take place. Results show that significant advancements have already been made that identify important structures and functions of the brain accessed during art therapy. Important models which incorporate neuroscience principles and theorise the art therapy process are highlighted. A significant model is the Expressive Therapies Continuum. This model explains how the brain processes information when different art media is used. However empirical data is needed to substantiate the theory behind this model. The use of neuroimaging technology is one way to achieve this. Therefore, this paper encourages transdisciplinary research to further investigate the effects different art media has on the brain during the art therapy process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rapidly changing circumstances of our increasingly digital world, reading is also becoming an increasingly digital experience: electronic books (e-books) are now outselling print books in the United States and the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, many readers still view e-books as less readable than print books. The present study thus used combined EEG and eyetracking measures in order to test whether reading from digital media requires higher cognitive effort than reading conventional books. Young and elderly adults read short texts on three different reading devices: a paper page, an e-reader and a tablet computer and answered comprehension questions about them while their eye movements and EEG were recorded. The results of a debriefing questionnaire replicated previous findings in that participants overwhelmingly chose the paper page over the two electronic devices as their preferred reading medium. Online measures, by contrast, showed shorter mean fixation durations and lower EEG theta band voltage density – known to covary with memory encoding and retrieval – for the older adults when reading from a tablet computer in comparison to the other two devices. Young adults showed comparable fixation durations and theta activity for all three devices. Comprehension accuracy did not differ across the three media for either group. We argue that these results can be explained in terms of the better text discriminability (higher contrast) produced by the backlit display of the tablet computer. Contrast sensitivity decreases with age and degraded contrast conditions lead to longer reading times, thus supporting the conclusion that older readers may benefit particularly from the enhanced contrast of the tablet. Our findings thus indicate that people's subjective evaluation of digital reading media must be dissociated from the cognitive and neural effort expended in online information processing while reading from such devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a high-level overview of a substantial body of research on the impact that negative attitudes towards ageing have on the health and wellbeing outcomes of people in later life and to highlight the need for a more interdisciplinary approach towards older people’s wellbeing.Design/methodology/approach The paper draws from an initial analysis of over 70 peers reviewed and published studies on the psychosocial impact of negative stereotypes about ageing.Findings There is overwhelming evidence that the way in which people think about ageing can have a very significant adverse impact on a wide array of health and wellbeing outcomes. This research evidence is largely unknown, nor operationalised, within the field of health and social care policy or service development.Practical implications The fact that beliefs and attitudes can have such a profound impact on health and wellbeing outcomes suggests the possibility of psychosocial interventions to address them in order to improve older people’s experience of later life. There is a need for a much more interdisciplinary research agenda to take these findings forward.Social implications The evidence suggests the need for a much more rigorous and comprehensive approach to addressing the effects of socially constructed ageist attitudes.Originality/value Whilst the research itself is not new, the originality of this paper is its attempt to bring data from a different discipline into the health and social care ambit and thereby extend the knowledge base and create the possible conditions for the development and application of new psychosocial interventions to improve the lives of older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to understanding of different ways that parents and schools develop and maintain working partnerships to improve outcomes for children by focusing on quantitative evidence about parental involvement (PI). The key questions for this synthesis are: what is the evidence about the extent of impact of PI on cognitive or academic outcomes for children, and how consistent and reliable is this evidence? Design/methodology/approach – This is an “umbrella” review comparing and contrasting findings from 13 meta-analyses across three areas of PI and home/school partnerships: first, general approaches; second, home and family literacy programmes; and finally, targeted interventions focused on individual or specific family need. Findings – There is consistent evidence about the extent of impact from general approaches (three to six months average additional gain for children’s educational outcomes) and for targeted intervention (four to six months), but with a wider range of estimates for family literacy (two to eight months average gain). Variation in approaches and evaluation quality make specific recommendations for practice challenging, though some consistent patterns of findings indicate strategies that are likely to be “good bets” to explore and evaluate. Research limitations/implications – The quality of the underlying studies makes drawing secure implications for practice difficult. The nature of the review means that it does not capture the most recent studies. Originality/value – The paper provides a synthesis of quantitative evidence from 13 meta-analyses to identify where there is consistency in estimates of impact and what is associated with systematic variation in this impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the role that mindfulness meditation can play in supporting people with dementia to live well. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the literature in a structured way, focussing first on the general effectiveness on mindfulness and then going on to assess its role in attention, emotion regulation, cognitive decline, physical changes in the brain, prevention, and quality of life. Findings – Spirituality has been defined as a process of personal transformation which in many cases can involve a blend of humanistic psychology and esoteric traditions. Meditation, even if practised in a secular fashion can be said to fit within this definition of spirituality. The paper reviews the evidence for the relevance of mindfulness meditation in supporting people to live well with dementia. Research limitations/implications – The evidence is not yet conclusive; however, there is nevertheless a growing body of evidence which suggests that this is a fruitful area for further research. Practical implications – There are numerous implications for practice: if sufficient self-reported benefit from the application of mindfulness to people with dementia to warrant this being offered more generally. If further research substantiates the quality of life benefits then this could be an important development to accompany early diagnosis of dementia. If mindfulness were found to have a preventative effect then that would be of huge practical importance. Social implications – Mindfulness gives people more control of their emotional and thought processes and therefore this could be a significant development for empowering people with dementia and their carers. Originality/value – This is one of the first times that the literature regarding mindfulness and dementia has been reviewed in a systematic way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) allows complex, sociotechnical systems to be explored in terms of their potential configurations. However, CWA does not explicitly analyse the manner in which person-to-person communication is performed in these configurations. Consequently, the combination of CWA with Social Network Analysis provides a means by which CWA output can be analysed to consider communication structure. The approach is illustrated through a case study of a military planning team. The case study shows how actor-to-actor and actor-to-function mapping can be analysed, in terms of centrality, to produce metrics of system structure under different operating conditions. Practitioner Summary: In this paper, a technique for building social network diagrams from CWA is demonstrated. The approach allows analysts to appreciate the potential impact of organisational structure on a command system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational preventing violent extremism (EPVE) programs have had (to date) little if any theoretical underpinning. Given their proliferation in jurisdictions such as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and other European countries, such an absence is notable but not unexpected given the political sensitivities attached to them. These programs remain an emerging policy area which is still "finding its feet," around which their legitimacy and efficacy is keenly debated. This paper argues for adopting theoretical principles drawn from information science research based upon information behavior models to provide a framework for the design and development of such programs and against which their efficacy can be tested. We demonstrate how this approach can be applied through thematic analysis of the theory of change models of EPVE programs implemented in England and Wales, designed to increase awareness and understanding of radicalization among young people, their carers, and professionals. This article is ground breaking and of international significance, being the first to apply learning from information science to practice in furthering policy goals around countering radicalization and extremism in the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coaching can be seen, in large part, as a decision-making game in which coaches must decide on and then deploy an optimum blend of tools to best meet the needs of performance and context. Examining this concept through a lens of professional judgement and decision making, research has shown positive benefits for this approach to understanding and enhancing the coaching process and its outcomes. To date, however, there has been less attention paid to the development of simple applied tools which can be used to facilitate these skills. Accordingly, this paper describes the Big 5, a structured approach to critical reflection which can be used to improve coaching. Following its description, we present some preliminary data on the impact of the Big 5 in a sample of professional adventure sports coaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children (UASC) are a vulnerable group who are exposed to multiple traumatic events such as persecution, sexual maltreatment, imprisonment, torture, and losses in their home country (Bean, Derluyn, Eurelings‐Bontekoe, Broekaert, & Spinhoven, 2007; Wiese and Burhorst, 2007). They are also subjected to continuous transitions throughout their migration trajectory (Bhugra, 2004). Although many studies have investigated the efficacy of bilateral movement in treatment of one single traumatic event (e.g. Fernandez, 2007), there is limited literature around bilateral movements interventions being used with perpetuated and multiple traumas within this cohort. This paper looks at the evidence for early intervention trauma work based on EMDR principles, the benefits of using running as a form of bilateral movement and the findings of a UASC sport trauma group with children in Kent, UK. It also gives recommendations for future research into early intervention trauma work with unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children. The data showed a significant rise in the Validity of Cognition scores with a reduction in Subjective Units of Disturbance scores of those participating in the programme. This highlights the validity of this protocol and shows promising results for future enquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen a significant interest in Theory of Mind (ToM), the specific groups in which it may be restricted and the opportunities which might enhance or suppress development. Previous studies have identified gaps in the literature concerning ideas for intervention and strategies which may augment the development of ToM skills. Published work suggests the use of children’s fiction to support understanding of ToM for young children. However, the current body of evidence does not critically appraise the value of picture books in developing the ToM of deaf children or provide analysis of the elements of ToM they may contain. This paper considers the opportunities held in children’s fiction and details analysis based on a developmental perspective of ToM (Westby, C. and Robinson, L., 2014. A developmental perspective for promoting theory of mind.Topics in language disorders, 34 (4), 362–382). The books analysed were chosen by educators of deaf children and researchers in the field. The opportunity for practitioners and parents to see aspects of ToM in readily accessible fiction is considered with a view to exploiting booksharing for ToM discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the 1980s, the primary public health response to injecting drug use in the UK has been one of harm reduction. That is, reducing the harms associated with drug use without necessarily reducing consumption itself. Rooted in a post-Enlightenment idea of rationalism, interventions are premised on the rational individual who, given the right means, will choose to avoid harm. This lies in stark contrast to dominant addiction models that pervade popular images of the ‘out of control’ drug user, or worse, ‘junkie’. Whilst harm reduction has undoubtedly had vast successes, including challenging the otherwise pathologising and often stigmatising model of addiction, I argue that it has not gone far enough in addressing aspects of drug use that go beyond ‘rational’ and ‘human’ control. Drawing on my doctoral research with people who inject drugs, conducted in London, UK, this paper highlights the role of the injecting ‘event’, which far from being directed or controlled by a pre-defined individual or ‘body’ was composed by a fragile assemblage of bodies, human and nonhuman. Furthermore, in line with the ‘event’s’ heterogeneous and precarious make-up, multiple ways of ‘becoming’ through these events were possible. I look here at these ‘becomings’ as both stabilising and destabilising ways of being in the world, and argue that we need to pay closer attention to these events and what people are actually in the process of becoming in order to enact more accountable and ‘response-able’ harm reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During the past 20 years involuntary memories have been established as a noteworthy phenomenon, which occur spontaneously in everyday life and with greater frequency than expected. Other types of ideations also occur involuntarily and very frequently, both in the normal population and in clinical groups. The aim of this paper was to assess for the first time whether involuntary memories and involuntary future thoughts differ in the amount of cognitive resources, considering that both are experienced as being rather automatic. As in previous work on mind wandering, this was done by assessing the effect of different conditions on frequency of spontaneous thoughts about past and future. Involuntary memories and future thoughts were obtained in an experimental setting (vigilance task) that mimics a mind-wandering task. In it, participants saw slides (trials) with horizontal or vertical (target) lines. In half or one-fourth of the trials verbal cues were also presented. In a third condition one-fourth of the trials had verbal cues and one-fourth had simple arithmetic calculations. Participants were asked to report any mental content that crosses their mind when the vigilance task stopped. Results show that the manipulation modulates the number of both involuntary memories and future thoughts, and both engage cognitive resources. Future involuntary thoughts seem to require more cognitive effort than involuntary memories and, specifically, future scenarios require more cognitive resources than both involuntary memories and future plans. The results support previous findings showing that reporting spontaneous mental contents makes use of cognitive resources and are discussed linking the involuntary memory literature with mind wandering and metacognitive processes.

Purpose -- In accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, this paper aims to explore the steps taken to maximise an individual's ability to make decisions in regards to making a Will. Design/methodology/approach -- Concepts relating to testamentary capacity are discussed and assessed thematically. Findings -- The case work illustrates how a systematic, structured, evidence-based and individually focused approach to assessing and optimising capacity (under the terms of the Mental Capacity Act 2005) can be effective. Originality/value -- The paper sets out a framework for maximising capacity for decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a number of studies have been conducted into individual employee cognitions and organizational performance, few studies have examined the combined effect of a range of cognitions. This gap in extant knowledge is particularly apparent in the retail sector where store performance and consequently company profitability are largely dependent on the relationship between shopfloor workers and customers. This paper presents the results of a study into the performance implications of work-oriented cognitions of shopfloor workers in the retail sector. The paper presents a series of analyses which find that the performance of individual stores is affected, to varying degrees, by a range of cognitions. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the study and highlighting the issues which merit further research attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perceptual cycle model (PCM) underpins much Ergonomics research, particularly in a team context, for example in its theoretical underpinning of distributed situation awareness. Despite this, the PCM framework it has not been explicitly applied to explore team processes, which is surprising given the prevalence of teamwork in safety critical systems. This paper explores team processes in the context of search and rescue (SAR) by applying the PCM and an association classification scheme with a network analysis approach utilising the event analysis of systemic teamwork (EAST) method. Data were collected via observations and communication recordings during training flights with SAR crews and were amalgamated into a representative case study. The analysis demonstrates how the SAR team function within a distributed perceptual cycle whereby the actions of one team member become world information for another team member. Advancements to the EAST method are proposed and the implications of the research are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This paper explores the perceptual cycle interactions of SAR crews using a novel EAST approach. The analysis demonstrates how the crew function as a distributed cognitive unit and applications in terms of training and design are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Context As a contribution to this special issue commemorating the journal's 50th volume, this paper seeks to explore directions for national licensing examinations ( NLEs) in medicine. Increases in the numbers of new medical schools and the mobility of doctors across national borders mean that NLEs are becoming even more important to ensuring physician competence. Objectives The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of NLEs in the future in the context of global changes in medical education and health care delivery. Methods Because the literature related to NLEs is so large, we have not attempted a comprehensive review, but have focused instead on a small number of topics on which we think we have something useful to say. The paper is organised around five predicted trends for NLEs. Discussion The first section discusses reasons why we think the use of NLEs will increase in the coming years. The second section discusses the ongoing problem of content specificity and its implications for the design of NLEs. The third section examines the evolution of large-scale, standardised cognitive assessments in NLEs and suggests some future directions. Reflecting the fact that NLEs are, increasingly, attempting to assess more than just knowledge, the fourth section addresses the future of large-scale clinical skills assessments in NLEs, predicting both increases in their use and some shifts in the nature of the stations used. The fifth section discusses workplace-based assessments, predicting increases in their use for formative assessment and identifying some limitations in their direct application in NLEs. The concluding section discusses the cost of NLEs and indulges in some further speculations about their evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dementias in high income countries are set to be the third major burden of disease even as older people are increasingly required to think for themselves how to provide for their lives in retirement. Meanwhile the period of older age continues to extend with increase in life expectancy. This challenge demands an understanding of how cognition changes over an extended period in later life. But studying cognitive ageing in the population faces a difficulty from the fact that older respondents are liable to leave (attrite) before study completion. This study tested three hypotheses: trajectories of cognitive ageing in Britain show an improvement beyond the age of 50; and they are lifted by secular improvement in cognition across cohorts; lastly they are susceptible to distortion due to attrition. Methods and Findings: Using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, this paper studied trajectories of episodic memory of Britons aged 50–89 from 2002 to 2013 (N = 5931). Using joint models the analysis found that levels of episodic memory follow a curvilinear shape, not a steady decline, in later life. The findings also revealed secular improvement in cognitive ageing such that as a cohort is being replaced episodic memory levels in the population improve. The analysis lastly demonstrated that failure to simultaneously model attrition can produce distorted pictures of cognitive ageing. Conclusion: Old age in this century is not necessarily a period dominated by cognitive decline. In identifying behavioural factors associated with better cognitive ageing, such as social connections of traditional and online kinds, the paper raises possibilities of mustering an adequate response to the cognition challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies reported mixed findings on autistic individuals' pitch perception relative to neurotypical (NT) individuals. We investigated whether this may be partly due to individual differences in cognitive abilities by comparing their performance on various pitch perception tasks on a large sample (n = 164) of autistic and NT children and adults. Our findings revealed that: (i) autistic individuals either showed similar or worse performance than NT individuals on the pitch tasks; (ii) cognitive abilities were associated with some pitch task performance; and (iii) cognitive abilities modulated the relationship between autism diagnosis and pitch perception on some tasks. Our findings highlight the importance of taking an individual differences approach to understand the strengths and weaknesses of pitch processing in autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Communication is important in determining how patients understand the diagnostic process. Empirical studies involving direct observation of communication within diagnostic processes are relatively limited. This ethnographic study aimed to identify communicative practices facilitating or inhibiting shared understanding between patients and doctors in UK acute secondary care settings. Methods: Data were collected in acute medical sectors of three English hospitals. Researchers observed doctors as they assessed patients; semistructured interviews were undertaken with doctors and patients directly afterwards. Patients were also interviewed 2–4 weeks later. Case studies of individual encounters (consisting of these interviews and observational notes) were created, and were cross‐examined by an interdisciplinary team to identify divergence and convergence between doctors' and patients' narratives. These data were analysed thematically. Results: We conducted 228 h of observation, 24 doctor interviews, 32 patient interviews and 15 patient follow‐up interviews. Doctors varied in their communication. Patient diagnostic understanding was sometimes misaligned with that of their doctors; interviews revealed that they often made incorrect assumptions to make sense of the fragmented information received. Thematic analysis identified communicative practices that seemed to facilitate, or inhibit, shared diagnostic understanding between patient and doctor, revealing three themes: (1) communicating what has been understood from the medical record, (2) sharing the thought process and diagnostic reasoning and (3) closing the loop and discharge communication. Shared understanding was best fostered by clear communication about the diagnostic process, what had already been done and what was achievable in acute settings. Written information presents an underutilised tool in such communication. Conclusions: In UK acute secondary settings, the provision of more information about the diagnostic process often fostered shared understanding between doctor and patient, helping to minimise the confusion and dissatisfaction that can result from misaligned expectations or conclusions about the diagnosis, and the uncertainty therein. Patient/Public Contribution: A patient and public involvement group (of a range of ages and backgrounds) was consulted. They contributed to the design of the protocol, including the timing of interviews, the acceptability of a follow‐up telephone interview, the development of the interview guides and the participant information sheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood long‐term conditions are usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood. Little is known about the particular experiences and needs of young people who receive a chronic illness diagnosis during adolescence or late childhood. This paper will examine this experience in relation to multiple sclerosis (MS), which is increasingly being diagnosed before adulthood. Aims: To explore how young people experience an MS diagnosis. Methods: Qualitative study using a grounded theory approach. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 21 young people diagnosed with MS. Participants were recruited through health service and voluntary sector organizations in the United Kingdom. Results: Young people's pre‐illness normality was disrupted by the diagnosis of a chronic illness (MS). Participants experienced their body as changed physically, cognitively, and emotionally and as changeable due to symptom unpredictability. This influenced how participants perceived and presented their identity, disrupted their relationships, and altered their future biography. Young people developed strategies to manage their condition and identities in order to incorporate MS into their current and future lives, which required continual illness and identity work in response to changing symptoms, social contexts, and relationships. Conclusions: Although young peoples' experience of living with chronic illness has been widely explored, the aftermath of diagnosis has been underresearched from their perspective. This study contributes to this knowledge gap by illuminating how young people experience a chronic illness diagnosis and negotiate the resulting changes to their identity, relationships, and future. The findings suggest that young people need preparation and support in disclosing their diagnosis to others. Professionals supporting young people with long‐term conditions need to work closely with specialist mental health services to ensure that they receive appropriate emotional support. Schools have an important role in ensuring young people with long‐term conditions achieve their academic potential and receive appropriate careers advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Existing quantitative research demonstrates negatively impacted mental health outcomes for people detained in immigration removal centres (IRCs) in the UK. However, there is limited qualitative research on the phenomenology of life inside UK IRCs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the psychosocial stressors experienced by people in detention, the psychological impacts of being detained and the ways in which people express resilience and cope in detention.Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted with nine people who had previously been held in UK IRCs. Interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.Findings Participants experienced incredulity and cognitive dissonance at being detained, and found themselves deprived of communication and healthcare needs. These stressors led participants to feel powerless, doubt themselves and their worldviews, and ruminate about their uncertain futures. However, participants also demonstrated resilience, and used proactive behaviours, spirituality and personal relationships to cope in detention. Antonovsky's (1979) theory on wellbeing – sense of coherence – was found to have particular explanatory value for these findings.Research limitations/implications The sample of participants used in this study was skewed towards male, Iranian asylum seekers, and the findings therefore may have less applicability to the experiences of females, ex-prisoners and people from different geographical and cultural backgrounds.Originality/value This study offers a range of new insights into how detention in the UK impacts on people's lives. The findings may be useful to policy makers who legislate on and regulate the UK immigration detention system, as well as custodial staff and health and social care practitioners working in IRCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated assistance in driving emergencies aims to improve the safety of our roads by avoiding or mitigating the effects of accidents. However, the behavioural implications of such systems remain unknown. This paper introduces the driver decision-making in emergencies (DDMiEs) framework to investigate how the level and type of automation may affect driver decision-making and subsequent responses to critical braking events using network analysis to interrogate retrospective verbalisations. Four DDMiE models were constructed to represent different levels of automation within the driving task and its effects on driver decision-making. Findings suggest that whilst automation does not alter the decision-making pathway (e.g. the processes between hazard detection and response remain similar), it does appear to significantly weaken the links between information-processing nodes. This reflects an unintended yet emergent property within the task network that could mean that we may not be improving safety in the way we expect. Practitioner Summary: This paper contrasts models of driver decision-making in emergencies at varying levels of automation using the Southampton University Driving Simulator. Network analysis of retrospective verbalisations indicates that increasing the level of automation in driving emergencies weakens the link between information-processing nodes essential for effective decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caregiver-infant interactions shape infants' early visual experience; however, there is limited work from low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) in characterizing the visual cognitive dynamics of these interactions. Here, we present an innovative dyadic visual cognition pipeline using machine learning methods which captures, processes, and analyses the visual dynamics of caregiver-infant interactions across cultures. We undertake two studies to examine its application in both low (rural India) and high (urban UK) resource settings. Study 1 develops and validates the pipeline to process caregiver-infant interaction data captured using head-mounted cameras and eye-trackers. We use face detection and object recognition networks and validate these tools using 12 caregiver-infant dyads (4 dyads froma 6-month-old UK cohort, 4 dyads froma 6-month-old India cohort, and 4 dyads froma 9-month-old India cohort). Results show robust and accurate face and toy detection, as well as a high percent agreement between processed andmanually coded dyadic interactions. Study 2 applied the pipeline to a larger data set (25 6-month-olds from the UK, 31 6-month-olds from India, and 37 9-month-olds from India) with the aim of comparing the visual dynamics of caregiver-infant interaction across the two cultural settings. Results show remarkable correspondence between key measures of visual exploration across cultures, including longer mean look durations during infant-led joint attention episodes. In addition, we found several differences across cultures. Most notably, infants in the UK had a higher proportion of infant-led joint attention episodes consistent with a child-centered view of parenting common in western middle-class families. In summary, the pipeline we report provides an objective assessment tool to quantify the visual dynamics of caregiver-infant interaction across high- and low-resource settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) are an important part of PD. In recent years, more and more non-drug interventions have been applied to alleviate the non-motor symptoms of PD, but the relevant evidence is limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to evaluate the efficacy of non-drug interventions in patients with non-motor symptoms in patients with PD. Methods: Seven databases, including Pubmed, Embease, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database (WANFANG), VIP database (VIP), and China Biomedical Literature Service System (CBM) were searched from the establishment of the database to December 2023. Non-drug interventions such as acupuncture, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exercise, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease were selected as search words, and two independent evaluators evaluated the included literature's bias risk and data extraction. The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated by the Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Minimum Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39). RevMan 5.4.1 (Reviewer Manager Software 5.4.1). Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, United Kingdom analyzed the data and estimated the average effect and the 95% confidence interval (CI). A heterogeneity test is used to assess differences in the efficacy of different non-drug treatments. Results: We selected 36 from 4,027 articles to participate in this meta-analysis, involving 2,158 participants. Our combined results show that: PDSS: [mean difference (MD) =-19.35, 95% CI (-30.4 to -8.28), p<0.0006]; HAMD: [MD = -2.98, 95% CI (-4.29 to -1.67), p<0.00001]; BDI: [MD = -2.69, 95% CI (-4.24 to 4.80), p = 0.006]; HAMA: [MD=-2.00, 95% CI (-2.83 to -1.17), p<0.00001]; MMSE: [MD = 1.20, 95% CI (0.71 to 1.68), p< 0.00001]; CoMA: [MD = 2.10, 95% CI (-0.97 to 3.23), p = 0.0003]; PDQ-39: [MD = -4.03, 95% CI (-5.96 to -1.57), p < 0.00001]. Conclusion: The four non-drug measures used in our review showed significant improvements in sleep, depression, anxiety, cognition, constipation, and quality of life compared with the control group, and no serious adverse events were reported in the included research evidence, and we found that there were some differences among the subgroups of different intervention methods, but due to the less literature included in the subgroup, and the comparison was more indirect. So, we should interpret these results carefully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: It has been increasingly recognised that the impact of Ataxia extends beyond physical and motor symptomology. However, it is less known whether self-reported non-motor and ataxia symptom severity varies across ataxias of differing aetiology, which would have important implications for providing more targeted treatment. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the impact of ataxia aetiology (hereditary, acquired or idiopathic) on self-reported depression, anxiety, fatigue, cognitive deficits, and ataxia symptom severity. Comparisons were also made between the ataxia sample as a whole and a neurologically healthy control group. Method: Responses were collected using a cross-sectional online survey to recruit a national UK sample of people with ataxia. Results: The study recruited 110 participants with ataxia (hereditary = 51, acquired = 16, idiopathic = 43) and 32 healthy controls. No significant differences were found across study variables for different causes of ataxia. However, participants with ataxia did report significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, fatigue, cognitive deficits, and ataxia symptom severity compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: This study found that participants with ataxia self-reported increased non-motor symptoms compared to healthy controls, which was a generally homogenous experience across different causes of ataxia. There was also considerable comorbidity of symptoms which requires further exploration. This study highlights the need for early assessment and intervention to address these non-motor symptoms in ataxia populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holding content explicitly requires a form of self-knowledge. But what does the relevant self-knowledge look like? Using theory of mind as an example, this paper argues that the correct answer to this question will have to take into account the crucial role of language-based deliberation but warns against the standard assumption that explicitness is necessary for ascribing awareness. It argues in line with Bayne that intentional action is at least an equally valid criterion for awareness. This leads to a distinction between different levels of implicitness. Postulating these different levels, it is argued, allows us to make better sense of the empirical literature on early false-belief task abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY The aim of this paper is to test for stochastic monotonicity in intergenerational socio-economic mobility tables. In other words, we question whether having a parent from a high socio-economic status is never worse than having one with a lower status. Using existing inferential procedures for testing unconditional stochastic monotonicity, we first test a set of 149 intergenerational mobility tables in 35 different countries and find that monotonicity cannot be rejected in hardly any table. In addition, we propose new testing procedures for testing conditional stochastic monotonicity and investigate whether monotonicity still holds after conditioning on a number of covariates such as education, cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Based on the NCDS cohort data from the UK, our results provide evidence that monotonicity holds, even conditionally. Moreover, we do not find large differences in our results when comparing social class and wage class mobility. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of the paper is to reassess the role of British Aristotelianism within the history of early modern logic between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as a crucial moment of cultural transition from the model of humanistic rhetoric and dialectic to that of facultative logic, that is, a logic which concerns the study of the cognitive powers of the mind. The paper shows that there is a special connection between Paduan Aristotelianism and British empiricism, through the mediation of British Aristotelianism. British Aristotelians took the ideas of the Paduan Aristotelian tradition and carried them to an extreme, gradually removing them from the original Aristotelian context in which they were grounded and developing what would later become the fundamental ideas of British empiricism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the interactive whiteboard (IWB) might be harnessed to support student learning through classroom dialogue. This powerful and increasingly prevalent technology opens up opportunities for learners to generate, modify, and evaluate new ideas, through multimodal interaction along with talk. Its use can thereby support rich new forms of dialogue that highlight differences between perspectives, and make ideas and reasoning processes more explicit. The emerging account builds upon Bahktin's conception of dialogue and Wegerif's notion of technology 'opening up a dialogic space for reflection', but foregrounds the role of mediating artefacts. Classroom dialogue in the context of IWB use is construed as being facilitated by teachers and learners constructing digitally represented knowledge artefacts together. These visible, dynamic, and constantly evolving resources constitute interim records of activity and act as supportive devices for learners' emerging thinking, rather than finished products of dialogue. This primarily theoretical account is illustrated with examples from case studies of UK classroom practice. Analysing lessons in sequence has illuminated how teachers can exploit the IWB through cumulative interaction with a succession of linked digital resources, and through archiving and revisiting earlier artefacts. The tool thereby helps to support the progression of dialogue over time, across settings and even across learner groups. In sum, the article reframes the notion of dialogue for this new context in which students are actively creating and directly manipulating digital artefacts, and offers some practical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cognitive ergonomics, laboratory experimentation using computer-based simulations (microworlds) has played a significant role in understanding human decision making and reasoning. In this paper, we describe the design and deployment of a social work microworld (BRIGIT), which simulates the electronic recording systems now widely implemented in UK children's services. BRIGIT provides a fabricated but realistic social work environment, enabling the fine structure of professional information processing to be studied in response to experimental manipulations, such as time pressure, etc. A preliminary experiment is described here, which shows BRIGIT to provide a convincing psychological experience and a useful research tool. As well as demonstrating its face and external validity, the results highlight BRIGIT's utility as a way of probing ‘practice culture’ and for examining different patterns of professional sense making. We conclude that the microworld paradigm provides a valuable and innovative approach for researching social work practice. A range of possible applications are discussed, not only in fundamental research, but as a practical tool for use in the workplace, such as for supporting staff selection. There is also obvious potential for ‘design research’ aimed directly at improving the usability and effectiveness of electronic systems, which is important given the widely reported problems of current ICT systems in social work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Risk assessment studies often adopt a quantitative approach and analyse decisions or judgements in relation to risk at one specific point in time. These studies certainly have their merits but their preponderance in the literature on risk has been to the exclusion of qualitative studies that seek to examine judgements of subjects over an extended period of time. I seek to redress this imbalance by examining how scientists assessed risk in the context of a significant public health problem in the UK: the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. This disease first emerged in British cattle in 1986. Yet over 20 years on, its implications for human health are still being assessed by scientists. In this paper, I examine the reasoning strategies that scientists employed to make risk assessments in relation to BSE in the period between 1986 and 1996. Two arguments in particular (analogical argument and the argument from ignorance) were the mainstay of scientific reasoning in the period under investigation. The rational standing of these arguments varied over time in relation to evidence that was emerging from experimental and other studies. It is argued that it is not possible to capture the factors which are necessary to understanding scientific risk assessments in relation to BSE within the type of quantitative, static study that is typically pursued within research on risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]