Individual Aptitude Research Articles

La force d'occlusion peut-elle prédire la forme de la face ?

The relationships between maximum bite force (MBF) and facial architecture have been tested in a sample of 118 dental students. The strongest correlations were seen with the variables representative of posterior face height and facial divergence. No correlation could be seen between MBF and incisor's position. MBF allowed only partial discrimination of the individuals in different subgroups constituted by cluster analysis. MBF is to consider as a representation of the individual aptitude to develop more or less powerful forces. It summarises only part of the functional information influencing facial form.

Les professions sociales en France: Du modèle de la qualification au modèle de la compétence?

In the social professions, is the qualifications model going to be driven out by a second model, that of the management of skills, as seen in many other sectors of activity? The social professions used to be accepted in their employment sectors in line with the statutory logic of qualifications. However, the recent introduction of a skills management logic privileging individual aptitudes, advantages gained from a variety of professional experiences, and the capacity to conform to the objectives of an employing organization could lead to less regard for original qualifications, and to a decline in any correspondence between a diploma or degree and the individual's position within the repertory of salaried jobs and classifications. One can in fact note an increased disjunction between titles, functions, and status, especially in the newer activity areas (insertion, city/town, policies, mediation, etc.). In contrast, one can still observe a very firmly maintained linkage between the qualification and the job in the traditional sectors (social services, work with the disabled, specialized education, etc.). However, the widening of social interventions beyond the frames of classical action areas, and their extension to areas such as accommodation and home help, along with the progressive modification of organizational models, leads one to wonder whether the social professions will retain their special character, or whether, to the contrary, they will experience a process of differentiation into sub-sectors with reference to alternative operational logics. Will the future of the social professions oscillate between assignation to employment sectors where the qualifications logic reigns (and which could become residual), and entry into new intervention areas where the 'battle of the skills' will be fought? Whatever the outcome, the debate about the professionalism of social workers should surely rise above any such presumed antagonisms.

Ending Discrimination and Promoting Equal Opportunities for People with Visual impairment and Additional Disabilities

Supported Employment seeks to match the individual aptitude profiles of individual people with learning disabilities and the needs of employers, thus satisfying both parties and bridging the gap between the social services and employment sectors.

Cognitive ability determinants of elite pilot performance.

The role of the modern pilot requires a high degree of situational awareness. This involves the ability to search for relevant information, assess opportunities and priorities, and maintain performance under stress. The PC-based WOMBAT test has been designed to measure individual aptitude to cope with such demands. In the first experiment performance on the WOMBAT test was compared with performance on a battery of tests of specific underlying abilities. In the second experiment the performance of elite soaring pilots was compared with that of matched pilot and control groups. The results support the theory that the WOMBAT test measures individual ability to maintain situational awareness and that this ability is found in high levels in elite pilots.

Cognitive Ability Determinants of Elite Pilot Performance

The role of the modern pilot requires a high degree of situational awareness. This involves the ability to search for relevant information, assess opportunities and priorities, and maintain performance under stress. The PC-based WOMBAT™ test has been designed to measure individual aptitude to cope with such demands. In the first experiment performance on the WOMBAT test was compared with performance on a battery of tests of specific underlying abilities. In the second experiment the performance of elite soaring pilots was compared with that of matched pilot and control groups. The results support the theory that the WOMBAT test measures individual ability to maintain situational awareness and that this ability is found in high levels in elite pilots.

Determinants of Hispanic Poverty in the Course of the Transition to Adulthood

The poverty rate among Hispanicfamilies is greater than 25%, a rate almost three times as high as that of non-Hispanic Whites. Yet, despite the data on the extent of poverty, we know little about the processes that result in poverty among Hispanics. This study examines the conditions during the transition to adulthood that affect the probability of poverty among this population. Based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the study shows that factors associated with the socioeconomic resources of the family of origin and individual aptitude at the adolescent stage, as well as educational and migration decisions made in the course of the transition to adulthood, influence the risk offalling into poverty in young adulthood. On the other hand, although adolescent background is important, the unique placement of young adults in the current labor market also structures their poverty outcomes.

Human scent matching using specially trained dogs

Abstract. The purpose of this project was to provide data on the success rate of dogs identifying people by scent when working in conditions similar to those used by the police in Holland and Germany. Over 700 scent samples were collected from people of both sexes and a wide age range and seven dogs, Canis familiaris, were trained to match human body scents. The test conditions were carefully controlled to eliminate any cue other than the body scents presented to the dog. Each dog sniffed a piece of cloth which had been in contact with an unspecified part of the body of a person and then indicated which of a selection of blank or body-scented cloths bore the same scent. The handler did not know the location of the target scent. The average score of the dogs working with body-scented cloths from six donors was 80% correct whereas a random choice of cloth would have been 17% correct. A further experiment was carried out in which three dogs were asked to match odour from various parts of the body with hand odour of the same donor collected on clean steel tubes. The average score for this task was 85% correct with a selection of six donor odours. The results show that dogs have considerable scent matching ability but that individual aptitude and the day-to-day performance can vary. Dogs used in criminal investigations should be selected for aptitude and the tests replicated so that conclusions are not based on trials from a single dog.

Problem Solving and Time: Functions of Learning Style and Teaching Methods

The purpose of the two studies reported in this paper was first, to investigate the interaction between occupational therapy students' learning styles and teaching methods on their problem solving ability and the amount of time they needed to learn outside of class; and second, to replicate in Israel the original study conducted in the United States, to validate the findings in another culture. In support of the hypothesis, results from multiple regression analyses using problem solving and time as dependent variables showed significant interactions of teaching methods and individual learning styles in both studies. Occupational therapy students in “matched” conditions (reflective learning style in lectures and active learning style in group discussions) performed better on problem solving measures and needed less time to learn outside class than those in the opposite “mismatched” conditions. The results also indicate that to achieve criterion level in a specific subject matter, time is used to compensate for “mismatch” of individual aptitudes and learning environment. Implications of the findings on planning learning programs are discussed.

Prediction of Simulated Infantry-Combat Performance From a General Measure of Individual Aptitude

The relationships between individual soldier aptitudes and the potential for successful combat performance have not been systematically studied. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationships between one measure of individual aptitude, the General Technical (GT) composite from the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), and performance during simulated infantry combat. Eleven 3-man teams of infantry soldiers defended against enemy rifle squads performing a Movement to Contact, Hasty Attack mission. The correlation between GT and casualties inflicted was r(30) = .37, p < .05; the correlation between GT and casualties sustained was r(30) = -.25, p > .05. Marksmanship scores did not correlate with aptitude or the two criterion measures, partially due to limited variance. Given further validation, these results could provide important information for Army policy and management decisions.

On how employees perceive task ability

The purpose of this study was to explore employee consciousness on task ability: on its perceived components and on individual differences in task ability. Subjects consisted of 877 employees derived from 4 different companies.Three questions were asked; 1) what are the components of task ability perceived by employees? 2) to what extent do they see individual differences associated with the task ability? and 3) what do they see are the determinants of task ability?The following results were found.1) Employees tend to see task ability as an integrated whole covering achievement, potential and personal characteristics, rather than as a narrow task performing ability.2) Individual variations in the task ability were perceived to be large. This result contradicted prediction that stated employee would see no individual differences in the level of employees task ability.3) Regarding the perceived determinants of task ability, it was found that employees see differenees in individual aptitudes and task efforts create differential quality of task ability among themselves.

Articulating Learning Disabilities for the Public: A Case of Professional Riddles

This investigation examined, through a survey of popular periodicals, the types and quantities of information that have been disseminated to the general public about learning disabilities. It was speculated that an analysis of these mainstream periodicals would provide practitioners and researchers with an insight into the kind of information that is being communicated to the public and, therefore, is likely serving to shape common perceptions of learning disabilities. A two-step process was utilized: (a) identification and selection of the most widely circulated articles on learning disabilities published from 1963 through 1984, and (b) analysis of the information contained in the articles to determine prevailing positions on etiologies and remedial interventions. The examination revealed that learning disabilities are viewed to be of neurophysiological origin and that remedial interventions should include multiple instructional methods and accommodate the individual aptitudes of the learner.

Early Developments in Special Education

The intellectual and cultural movement known as the French Enlightenment spawned a complex of intellectual activities and novel concepts that positively impacted on the genesis and development of special education. Educational pioneers incorporated the essential tenets of l'esprit philosophique in work with sensorily deprived, mentally retarded, and emotionally disturbed children. In doing so, they altered societal perceptions of the aptitudes of handicapped individuals, devised training methods that are still used today, and imbued special education with a dynamic arid intense spirit of hope and optimism.

How Schools Work.

As budgets tighten for school districts, a sound understanding of just how teaching and administration translate into student learning becomes increasingly important. Rebecca Barr, a researcher of classroom instruction and reading skill development, and Robert Dreeben, a sociologist of education who analyzes the structure of organizations, combine their expertise to explore the social organization of schools and classrooms, the division of labor, and the allocation of key resources. Viewing schools as part of a social organization with a hierarchy of levels-district, school, classroom, instructional group, and students-avoids the common pitfalls of lumping together any and all possible influences on student learning without regard to the actual processes of the classroom. Barr and Dreeben systematically explain how instructional groups originate, form, and change over time. Focusing on first grade reading instruction, their study shows that individual reading aptitude actually has little direct relation to group reading achievement and virtually none to the coverage of reading materials once the mean aptitude of groups is taken into consideration. Individual aptitude, they argue, is rather the basis on which teachers form reading groups that are given different instructional treatment. It is these differences in group treatment, they contend, that explain substantial differences in learning curricular material.

Approaches to Abdominal Hysterectomy

SummaryAbdominal hysterectomy is often a relatively easy operation completed in half an hour, or it may make great technical demands upon the surgeon and of his time. We learn our surgical techniques from our mentors and from their writings, and from this distillate we develop a method that is suitable to our individual aptitudes and skills. With hysterectomy the gynaecologist has a standard technique which is hoped to be efficient, relatively rapid and easy to teach. At times the surgeon may be required to surrender a set routine and modify the operation for special circumstances. It is these unusual situations that I have been asked to discuss, and my views are based upon my own surgical experiences and a certain amount of consultation of Bonney's textbook, which has been on my bookshelf this past 30 years.

Theoretical and practical significance of formal reasoning

AbstractPiaget's theory has profoundly influenced science education research. Following Piaget, researchers have focused on content‐free strategies, developmentally based mechanisms, and structural models of each stage of reasoning. In practice, factors besides those considered in Piaget's theory influence whether or not a theoretically available strategy is used. Piaget's focus has minimized the research attention placed on what could be called “practical” factors in reasoning. Practical factors are factors that influence application of a theoretically available strategy, for example, previous experience with the task content, familiarity with task instructions, or personality style of the student. Piagetian theory has minimized the importance of practical factors and discouraged investigation of (1) the role of factual knowledge in reasoning, (2) the diagnosis of specific, task‐based errors in reasoning, (3) the influence of individual aptitudes on reasoning (e.g., field dependence‐independence), and (4) the effect of educational interventions designed to change reasoning. This article calls for new emphasis on practical factors in reasoning and suggests why research on practical factors in reasoning will enhance our understanding of how scientific reasoning is acquired and of how science education programs can foster it.

Effect of language of instruction on physics achievement

AbstractThis study investigated the relationship between physics achievement and language of instruction in a situation where instruction was in the second language of both students and teachers. One hundred and seventy‐six grade ten physics students (first language was Chinese) were selected from four classes of two secondary schools in Hong Kong. For three months (with four lessons per week), two classes of students learned the content material (light and sound) in Chinese and two classes learned the material in English. Group differences were controlled by using individual aptitude scores as covariates in the analysis. There were no differences in achievement, students' motivation, and effort spent in physics in that controlled teaching period. This was probably because the Anglo‐Chinese group was sufficiently proficient in English so they did not encounter additional difficulty in learning physics when compared with the Chinese group.

The Huddled Masses: The Immigrant in American Society, 1880-1921

This history of the 'new immigration' weighs the many factors that prompted the decision to leave the old world. Though the designation 'new immigrant' generally refers to southern and eastern Europeans only, this volume also includes the Chinese and Japanese who arrived in the period from 1880-1921. Kraut argues that immigration to America was but one of the many choices available to the immigrants, and that individual aptitude and desires were just as influential as cultural, social, and familial pressures to find a better life. The immigrants' impact on America and their new countrymen is also considered. Includes a very good, 32-page photographic essay

脳卒中患者の動作時間研究

An objective estimation of the working ability of the disabled is one of the consecutive studies necessary for their return to social life. These studies are being carried on in the rehabilitation centers in the health care system. As an independent ADL is essential to the recovery of an individual life without help, so an independence in working environment is a requirement for independent social life. The true object of health care is to make the disabled join social activities. To promote the employment of the disabled, it is essential to estimate accurately their individual ability, judge their individual aptitude and prepare a training program aimed at the utmost development of their latent possibilities. Ultimately it is important to find suitable jobs for them. In oder to evaluate the working ability of the disabled, a computerized pegboard was made for the purpose of a synthetic evaluation of their ability of motion, perception and judgement, and a training evaluation program was prepared. It was applied to more than ten cases of cerebral apoplexy and revealed that there is a difference between the cases with each test, and that an improvement of working efficiency is recognized with each test, etc. A comparison between the measured values and the standard time, an estimate of each individual's ultimate working efficiency to be achieved and each person's adaptability to industrial environment were also examined. The evaluation method of the working ability is, in principle, applicable to various types of disabled persons and those in advanced age. This method is effective for an objective estimation of the synthetic abilites of such man-machine systems as artificial hands.

The Classroom Ratio of High- and Low-aptitude Students and Its Effect on Achievement

Classrooms with “more favorable” teaching situations were defined as those in which more than a third of the students were high aptitude and less than a third of the students were low aptitude. “Less favorable” classrooms were those in which less than a third of the students were high aptitude and more than a third of the students were low aptitude. The stated hypothesis was that the ratio of high-aptitude students to low-aptitude students in the classrooms would influence the mathematics achievement of students. Individual standardized aptitude and achievement data were available for 103 third- and fourth-grade classrooms. The sample was drawn from a large metropolitan school district that basically served a middle-class population in neighborhood schools. Analyses of variance tests indicated that both high- and low-aptitude students in more favorable classrooms had greater achievement gains than comparable students in less favorable classrooms.

GATB APTITUDE TESTING OF THE DEAF: PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES

This study, based on aptitude testing of 408 deaf high school students, provides evidence that a modified version of the GATB is a useful instrument for measuring the occupational aptitudes of deaf individuals.