Search

Assessing cognitive demand is crucial for research on self-regulated learning; however, discrepancies in translating essential concepts across languages can hinder the comparison of research findings. Different languages often emphasize various components and interpret certain constructs differently. This paper aims to develop a translingual set of items distinguishing between intentionally invested mental effort and passively perceived mental load as key differentiations of cognitive demand in a broad range of learning situations, as they occur in self-regulated learning. Using a mixed-methods approach, we evaluated the content, criterion, convergent, and incremental validity of this scale in different languages. To establish content validity, we conducted qualitative interviews with bilingual participants who discussed their understanding of mental effort and load. These participants translated and back-translated established and new items from the cognitive-demand literature into English, Dutch, Spanish, German, Chinese, and French. To establish criterion validity, we conducted preregistered experiments using the English, Chinese, and German versions of the scale. Within those experiments, we validated the translated items using established demand manipulations from the cognitive load literature with first-language participants. In a within-subjects design with eight measurements (N = 131), we demonstrated the scale's criterion validity by showing sensitivity to differences in task complexity, extraneous load manipulation, and motivation for complex tasks. We found evidence for convergent and incremental validity shown by medium-size correlations with established cognitive load measures. We offer a set of translated and validated items as a common foundation for translingual research. As best practice, we recommend four items within a reference point evaluation.

The issue of the memory of collective trauma has rarely been analyzed in cross-cultural research. Urban trauma, in particular, is a relatively unknown concept. Never before has the memory of urban trauma of the cities of St Petersburg and Nijmegen in relation to the Second World War been compared in the academic realm. This article sets out to create a juxtaposition of St Petersburg and Nijmegen in terms of their Second World War traumas and the way these traumas are represented and commemorated in both cities. The authors examine the meaning-making role that experts play within the remembrance culture of St Petersburg and Nijmegen. A thick description of conducted field research and interviews with experts are used in order to thoroughly compare the experts’ approach to the remembrance cultures. This article aims to compare and translate the way in which different types of memory of trauma relate to the same event. It establishes that although there are distinct differences between the two cities, experts deal with researching the commemoration of trauma in a similar manner. This study reveals uneasy questions, blind spots and taboos of commemorating urban trauma in both Russia and the Netherlands.

Study habits drive a large portion of how university students study. Some of these habits are not effective in fostering academic achievement. To support students in breaking old, ineffective habits and forming new, effective study habits, an in-depth understanding of what students' study habits look like and how they are both formed and broken is needed. Therefore, in this study, we explored these aspects among first-year university students in six focus group discussions (N = 29). Using a thematic analysis approach, we clustered the data in five themes: "Goals Matter," 'Balancing Perceived Efficiency and Effectiveness when Studying," "Navigating Student Life: from Structured Routines to Self-Regulation Challenges," "the Quest for Effective Habits with Trying to Break Free From the Screen" as subtheme, and the "Motivation Roller Coaster." Findings suggest that students had different study habits depending on their goals. Students had quite accurate metacognitive knowledge about effective learning strategies for long-term learning, but often used other learning strategies they deemed most efficient in reaching their goals. Students indicated intentions to change, but did not prioritize change as their current habits enabled them to pass exams and change was not perceived as adding value. Fluctuations in motivation and transitioning to a self-regulated life hampered students' intentions to form new and break old habits. Next to insights into factors affecting students' behavioral change intentions, the findings suggest the importance of aligning assessment methods with life-long learning and supporting students in their long-term academic goal setting to prioritize study habits which target lasting learning to optimally foster their self-regulated learning.

Numerosos inversionistas financieros transnacionales invierten en los mercados inmobiliarios mexicanos, lo que provoca su “financiarización”; es decir, los mercados se transforman por la creciente influencia de las estrategias y herramientas de evaluación financiera. Tales inversionistas financieros promueven la idea de que los desarrolladores inmobiliarios deben cambiar de modelo económico para volverse “desarrolladores-plataforma”: dedicarse a proponer oportunidades de inversión y ofrecer servicios de desarrollo y administración de proyectos. Así, los inversionistas financieros impulsan una nueva división del trabajo inmobiliario donde puedan monopolizar y controlar la inversión del capital.

Accurately monitoring one's learning processes during self-regulated learning depends on using the right cues, one of which could be perceived mental effort. A meta-analysis by Baars et al. (2020) found a negative association between mental effort and monitoring judgments (r = -0.35), suggesting that the amount of mental effort experienced during a learning task is usually negatively correlated with learners' perception of learning. However, it is unclear how monitoring judgments and perceptions of mental effort relate to learning outcomes. To examine if perceived mental effort is a diagnostic cue for learning outcomes, and whether monitoring judgments mediate this relationship, we employed a meta-analytic structural equation model. Results indicated a negative, moderate association between perceived mental effort and monitoring judgments ([beta] = -0.19), a positive, large association between monitoring judgments and learning outcomes ([beta] = 0.29), and a negative, moderate indirect association between perceived mental effort and learning outcomes ([beta] = -0.05), which was mediated by monitoring judgments. Our subgroup analysis did not reveal any significant differences across moderators potentially due to the limited number of studies included per moderator category. Findings suggest that when learners perceive higher levels of mental effort, they exhibit lower learning (confidence) judgments, which relates to lower actual learning outcomes. Thus, learners seem to use perceived mental effort as a cue to judge their learning while perceived mental effort only indirectly relates to actual learning outcomes.

This article contributes to the study of the geographical concentration of financial investments in real estate markets. It demonstrates the social construction process at work in the evolution of real estate market risks. The objective is to highlight the conditions that allow or impede the implementation of ‘opportunistic’ and ‘conservative’ risk strategies. By analyzing the market entry of financial investors in the Cuautitlan industrial real estate market - an ‘emerging’ real estate market in Mexico City - this paper demonstrates that, due to the joint action of land developers, non-financial as well as financial real estate investors, this market moved from being ‘too risky’ to becoming an opportunistic market, and then a conservative one. There were two important phases in the transformation process. First, the contribution of land developers was fundamental to the transformation of the market from being too risky to being opportunistic from the perspective of financial investors. Two different types of land developers are evident: some are not willing to help financial investors’ entry in the market while others developed a business plan designed to facilitate financial investments. In the second phase of the market’s risks transformation, opportunistic financial investors enabled the conditions for the arrival of conservative financial investors, thanks to their presence in emerging markets and the diffusion of information.

Abstract Background As of March 2020, the UK public were instructed to work from home where possible and as a result, nearly half of those in employment did so during the following month. Pre-pandemic, around 5% of workers chose to work from home; it was often seen as advantageous, for example due to eliminating commuting time and increasing flexibility. However, homeworking also had negative connotations, for example, blurred boundaries between work and home life due to a sense of constant connectivity to the workplace. Understanding the psychological impact of working from home in an enforced and prolonged manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic is important. Therefore, this review sought to establish the relationship between working from home, mental health, and productivity. Methods In January 2022, literature searches were conducted across four electronic databases: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo and Web of Science. In February 2022 grey literature searches were conducted using Google Advanced Search, NHS Evidence; Gov.uk Publications and the British Library directory of online doctoral theses. Published and unpublished literature which collected data after March 2020, included participants who experienced working from home for at least some of their working hours, and detailed the association in terms of mental health or productivity were included. Results In total 6,906 citations were screened and 25 papers from electronic databases were included. Grey literature searching resulted in two additional papers. Therefore, 27 studies were included in this review. Findings suggest the association between homeworking and both, mental health and productivity varies considerably, suggesting a complex relationship, with many factors (e.g., demographics, occupation) having an influence on the relationship. Conclusion We found that there was no clear consensus as to the association between working from home and mental health or productivity. However, there are indications that those who start homeworking for the first time during a pandemic are at risk of poor productivity, as are those who experience poor mental health. Suggestions for future research are suggested.

IntroductionThe frequency of assaults on police officers in the United Kingdom is rising and evidence suggests that exposure to work-place violence can negatively impact wellbeing, for example, increased perceived stress, feeling worn out and tired, and emotional exhaustion. Despite the prevalence of assaults on police officers, little research has examined the impact of repeat assaults on officers’ wellbeing.MethodFor the current study, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate the impact of repeat assaults on wellbeing and occupational outcomes in police officers and staff, including impacts on their mental and physical heath, impacts on their work, the impact of prior assaults on future assaults, and what support they were provided with.ResultsFindings indicate that repeat assaults had a negative impact on participants mental and physical wellbeing. Furthermore, a lack of support both from management and peers within the police force was found to further exacerbate the impact of repeat assaults. However, the provision of support was also identified as a mitigating factor when it was available and provided to participants which helped to protect participants from some of the negative impact of repeat assaults.DiscussionFindings provide a unique in-depth perspective into police officers’ experiences following repeat assaults, which can in turn inform national policies and help tailor effective support services within the police force.

Abstract The Initial Operational Response (IOR) to chemical incidents is a suite of rapid strategies including evacuation, disrobe and improvised and interim decontamination. IOR and Specialist Operational Response (SOR) decontamination protocols involving mass decontamination units would be conducted in sequence by UK emergency services following a chemical incident, to allow for safe onward transfer of casualties. As part of a series of human volunteer studies, we examined for the first time, the effectiveness of UK IOR and SOR decontamination procedures alone and in sequence. Specifically, we evaluated the additional contribution of SOR, when following improvised and interim decontamination. Two simulants, methyl salicylate (MeS) with vegetable oil and benzyl salicylate (BeS), were applied to participants’ skin. Participants underwent improvised dry, improvised wet, interim wet, specialist decontamination and a no decontamination control. Skin analysis and UV photography indicated significantly lower levels of both simulants remaining following decontamination compared to controls. There were no significant differences in MeS levels recovered between decontamination conditions. Analysis of BeS, a more persistent simulant than MeS, showed that recovery from skin was significantly reduced following combined IOR with SOR than IOR alone. These results show modest additional benefits of decontamination interventions conducted in sequence, particularly for persistent chemicals, supporting current UK operational procedures.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The UK Initial Operational Response (IOR) to chemical incidents includes improvised decontamination procedures, which use readily available materials to rapidly reduce risk to potentially exposed persons. A controlled, cross-over human volunteer study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of improvised dry and wet decontamination procedures on skin, both alone, and in sequence. A simulant contaminant, methyl salicylate (MeS) in vegetable oil with a fluorophore was applied to three locations (shoulder, leg, arm). Participants then received no decontamination (control) or attempted to remove the simulant using one of three improvised protocols (dry decontamination; wet decontamination; combined dry and wet decontamination). Simulant remaining on the skin following decontamination was quantified using both Gas Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC-MSMS) for analysis of MeS and UV imaging to detect fluorophores. Additionally, urine samples were collected for 24 hours following application for analysis of MeS. Significantly less simulant was recovered from skin following each improvised decontamination protocol, compared to the no decontamination control. Further, combined dry and wet decontamination resulted in lower recovery of simulant when compared to either dry or wet decontamination alone. Irrespective of decontamination protocol, significantly more simulant remained on the shoulders compared to either the arms or legs, suggesting that improvised decontamination procedures are less effective for difficult to reach areas of the body. There was no effect of decontamination on excreted MeS in urine over 24 hours. Overall, findings indicate that improvised decontamination is an effective means of rapidly removing contaminants from skin, and combinations of improvised approaches can increase effectiveness in the early stages of decontamination and in the absence of specialist resources at an incident scene. However, the variable control and consistency of improvised decontamination techniques means that further intervention is likely to be needed, particularly for less accessible areas of the body.