Search

Assessing the effect mentors have on their mentees is methodologically challenging: most programs merely provide relatively short mentoring durations (typically in the range of 1 year), age ranges are usually rather small, and examining dyads with anything other than questionnaires has proven to be challenging in the past. Thus, although some excellent causal studies do exist, in general causal research is limited in the field and studies are opened up to social desirability. Using a controlled laboratory setting, the current study investigates the causal effect of a mentor's presence on the mentee's empathic accuracy, cognitive functioning, and prosocial behavior. The sample is characterized by a wide age range for mentees and long mentoring durations. Results support the hypothesis that mentees' performance is improved in all three domains when their mentor is present as compared to when their mentor is absent. Furthermore, mentoring duration was positively associated with the mentee's cognitive functioning when controlling for the mentee's age. The current findings extend our knowledge of the benefits of youth mentoring programs and demonstrate the necessity to include laboratory research when investigating mentoring dyads.

This research evaluates the development of three environmental knowledge dimensions of secondary school students after participation in a singular 1-day outdoor education programme. Applying a cross-national approach, system, action-related and effectiveness knowledge levels of students educated in Germany and Singapore were assessed before and after intervention participation. Correlations between single knowledge dimensions and behaviour changes due to the environmental education intervention were examined. The authors applied a pre-, post- and retention test design and developed a unique multiple-choice instrument. Results indicate significant baseline differences in the prevalence of the different knowledge dimensions between subgroups. Both intervention subsamples showed a low presence of all baseline knowledge dimensions. Action-related knowledge levels were higher than those of system and effectiveness knowledge. Subsample-specific differences in performed pro-environmental behaviour were also significant. Both experimental groups showed significant immediate and sustained knowledge increases in the three dimensions after programme participation. Neither of the two control cohorts showed any significant increase in any knowledge dimension. Effectiveness knowledge improved most. The amount of demonstrated environmental actions increased significantly in both intervention groups. Both control cohorts did not show shifts in environmental behaviour. Yet, only weak correlations between any knowledge dimension and behaviour could be found.

This study employs a uniquely multi-factorial, large-scale design to investigate baseline differences and the effects of a singular outdoor educational program on environmental attitudes, knowledge and behavior among primary and secondary school students educated in four different countries. Statistical modelling approaches employed country of residence, age, nationality, sampling year, gender and urban/rural habitation as predictor variables. Baseline scores were explained by a number of predictors but country of residence and rural-urban differences appeared as the most consistent explanatory variable for positive changes in attitude, knowledge and behavior. Given the nexus of political, social, natural and cultural data contained within the residence variable, we discuss the complex web of drivers that may influence environmental literacy and environmentally responsible behavior. Spatial variation in the value of outdoor education programs is also discussed.

Nature connectedness counts as a crucial predictor of pro-environmental behavior. For counteracting today's environmental issues a successful re-connection of individuals to nature is necessary. Besides the promotion of knowledge transfer the aim of the educational program presented in this study is to connect students to their environment. This research explores the impact of an outdoor environmental education program on primary and secondary school students' nature connectedness with regard to the extent of their nature experience and participant age. The intervention was implemented in two durations: one-day and five-days. Participants were divided into four subsamples from seven up to 18 years of age. Findings suggest that both intervention types evoke immediate shifts towards a stronger nature connectedness among students (p < 0.001). Notably, the five-day outdoor education interventions were significantly more effective in sustainably promoting nature connectedness compared to one-day field trips (p < 0.001). Seven to nine year old students performed the strongest shifts towards nature. The value of short-term and residential outdoor environmental education interventions is discussed.

Research has shown benefits of physical exercise on memory performance when carried out before or after a memory task. The effects of concurrent physical exercise and particularly resistance exercise are still inconclusive. The current study investigates the influence of resistance exercise with two intensities (fast and slow squats) on performance in a wordlist learning task using a within-subject design. Sport students (N = 58, Mage = 23 years; 26 women) were trained in a mnemonic technique to encode word lists (method of loci). In each session they were asked to encode two lists, each consisting of 20 words. During encoding, participants either performed one squat per word (fast-squat-condition), one squat every second word (slow-squat-condition), or stayed seated (control-condition). Participants performed three sessions for each condition, in counterbalanced order. Heart rates differed significantly according to exercise intensity. Memory performances in the sitting condition were better, compared to the exercise conditions. Performance in sitting and the fast squat conditions improved similarly over time, while performance in the slow squat condition increased faster, and reached the level of the fast squat condition at the end of the study phase. We conclude that light to moderate resistance exercise while working on an episodic memory task may rather represent a dual-task situation (= two tasks that compete for attentional resources). Especially doing a squat every second word may represent an inhibition task that people have to get used to. Future studies should include biochemical markers of arousal and neuronal plasticity in addition to heart rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of classifiers provides an alternative to conventional statistical methods. This involves using the accuracy with which data is correctly assigned to a given group by the classifier to apply tests to compare the performance of classifiers. The conventional validation methods for determining the accuracy of classifiers have the disadvantage that the distribution of correct classifications does not follow any known distribution, and therefore, the application of statistical tests is problematic. Independent validation circumvents this problem and allows the use of binomial tests to assess the performance of classifiers. However, independent validation accuracy is subject to bias for small training datasets. The present study shows that a hyperbolic function can be used to estimate the loss in classifier accuracy for independent validation. This function is used to develop three new methods to estimate the classifier accuracy for small training sets more precisely. These methods are compared to two existing methods in a simulation study. The results indicate overall small errors in the estimation of classifier accuracy and indicate that independent validation can be used with small samples. A least square estimation approach seems best suited to estimate the classifier accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bereaved siblings often receive insufficient social support and are at higher risk for mental disorders. This study aimed to examine the role of the therapist-rated working alliance in an online intervention for bereaved siblings. Clients (n = 74, 95% female), aged 17–59 received writing assignments and individual feedback by CBT trained therapists over 6 weeks. Working alliance (Working Alliance Inventory) and treatment outcomes (Inventory of Complicated Grief, Beck Depression Inventory-II) were assessed. Results revealed that the working alliance significantly increased during the course of the treatment and a significant association between working alliance and the change in depression was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2,5-Dimethoxy-4-propylphenethylamine (2C-P) is a hallucinogenic designer drug of the phenethylamine class, the so-called 2Cs, named according to the ethyl spacer between the nitrogen and the aromatic ring. The aims of the present work were to identify the phases I and II metabolites of 2C-P. In addition, the detectability of 2C-P and its metabolites in urine as proof of an intake in clinical or forensic cases was tested. According to the identified metabolites, the following pathways were proposed: N-acetylation; deamination followed by reduction to the corresponding alcohol and oxidation to carbonic acid; mono- and bis-hydroxylation at different positions; mono- and bis- O-demethylation, followed by glucuronidation, sulfation, or both; and combination of these steps. Proof of an intake of a common user's dose of 2C-P was possible by both standard urine screening approaches, the GC-MS as well as the LC-MS approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings of an empirical case study performed at a school that investigated how the interests in biological topics of students develop over time. The results revealed a marked decrease of interest in zoo animals and the engagement of zoos in species conservation with increasing age whereas the interest in conservation biology in general or other biological subjects remained stable or only slightly decreased. These results suggest that zoo visits are especially important in higher classes to keep the role of zoos in conservation biology in mind. Implying that zoo visits provide affective experiences that encourage students for an engagement in conservation topics, this article presents an educational programme developed by Frankfurt University and implemented at Opel-Zoo Kronberg which aims at triggering students' interest in zoo animals and conservation through hands-on materials, active learning and the talks with trained guides at different teaching stations in the zoo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]