Video Deficit in Toddlers’ Object Retrieval: What Eye Movements Reveal About Online Cognition

The purpose of this study was to determine whether toddlers exhibit different eye‐movement patterns when watching real events versus video demonstrations in an object‐retrieval task. Twenty‐four‐month‐olds (N = 36) searched for a sticker on a felt board after watching an experimenter hide it behind a felt object in person or via video. Eye movements during the hiding event were recorded. Compared to those watching in‐person events, children watching video spent more time looking at the target location overall, yet they had relatively poor search performance. Visual attention to the target location predicted search performance in the video condition only; children who watched in‐person hiding events had high success rates even if they paid relatively little visual attention to the correct location. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that toddlers process information more quickly for in‐person (versus video) events, enabling them to learn as well (or better) despite relatively low selective attention. Thus, relatively poor encoding, as well as memory retrieval, may underlie the video deficit.     

Management Control in Local Public Administrations in France - Typological Construction and Organizational Determinants - the Case of Large Intermunicipalities

Public Organization Review - This article is part of the fields of public management and management control. Its objective is to shed light on the management control function in local public...     

Fired up with passion: Investigating how job autonomy and passion predict burnout at career start in teachers

This study examines a motivational premise of burnout: in order to burn out, an employee must first be fired up. Based on the dualistic model of passion, we propose that the types of passion – harmonious or obsessive – that drive novice teachers differentially affect the three components of burnout. We further propose that job autonomy (i.e. decision latitude) differentially predict the two types of passion for work. These hypotheses are tested in two studies conducted in Canada in teachers with five years' or less experience. Study 1, using a cross-sectional design, showed that job autonomy positively predicted harmonious passion but negatively predicted obsessive passion. Harmonious passion negatively predicted all three components of burnout, whereas obsessive passion positively predicted emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. A second, 12-month longitudinal study revealed unidirectional effects of job autonomy on the two types of passion. The results also showed unidirectional effects of harmonious passion on professional efficacy and obsessive passion on emotional exhaustion. Neither type of passion predicted cynicism over time. These findings suggest that a more nuanced understanding of passion is required to predict burnout at career start. Implications for theory and further research on burnout and passion for work are discussed.     

Preschool predictors of loneliness in school-age children

Chronic loneliness is a risk factor associated with adverse psychological, physical, and academic outcomes. Converging evidence suggests that young children experience and can reliably report on their own loneliness: thus, a clearer understanding of the risk factors for child loneliness is needed. The aims of this study were two-fold: (a) to examine if temperament (i.e., negative affect, effortful control, inhibitory control), and attachment security assessed at the age of four predict loneliness at the age of six and (b) to determine if social competence at the age of five mediates the relation between temperament and attachment security at the age of four and loneliness at the age of six. Participants included a diverse sample of 796 4-year-old children, about half of whom were male. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that lower levels of effortful control and inhibitory control at the age of four significantly predicted greater loneliness at the age of six. Also, while lower levels of negative affect (NA) and higher levels of effortful control and attachment security at the age of four significantly predicted higher levels of social competence at the age of five, social competence at the age of five did not predict loneliness at the age of six. There was no evidence that social competence at the age of five mediated the relation between the age of four temperament, attachment security, and the age of six loneliness. These findings reveal that early self-regulation is associated with later child-reported loneliness and that intervention for children who struggle with behavioral regulation may be effective in decreasing risk for later loneliness.