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LE PSYCHOLOGUE
ARABE
Volume 2 Number 1January 2001 |
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CONTENTS / SOMMAIRE |
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§
Piaget Among the Bedouins / Farouk Sindioni, Josette
Abdalla §
Personal Intelligence and Self Efficacy in Memory
Tasks / Reda Abouserie §
Prevalence of Drug Abuse Among Secondary School
Students in Khartoum State / Batoul M.M. EI Hilo §
Psycho-social Adjustment of Street Children /
Josette B. Abdalla, Nashaat Hussein |
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q SUMMARY / RESUMES |
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Abstract : Saudi Arabia
has witnessed a rapid expansion of education. Primary and secondary school
enrollments have almost quadrupled in the past 15 years. Yet, despite this increase, 25% of
the primary school population discontinues before completing the fifth grade.
The dropout rate nearly doubles among students in secondary school. In
investigating the reasons for this phenomenon, Piaget's notion of cognitive
development is examined, particularly his concept of conservation. The sample
includes 259 male Bedouin school children. Piaget's tests of conservation of
quantity are applied. Results indicate that instruction should be on the
basis of Piagetian stages of cognitive development and not age.
Introduction:
The concept of personal expectancy has a rich history in psychological
theory on human motivation (Shunk- 1991). However, Since Bandura (1977)
introduced his concept of self efficacy, much research has focused and
extended the use of the concept. Self efficacy refers to people's judgements
of their capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required
to attain desired types of performance. It is concerned not with the
skills one has but with one's judgements about what may be achieved with the
skills one actually possesses (Bandura 1986). The concept of self efficacy strongly influences the choices people make, the effort they expend, their ability to persevere 'n the face of adversity, and the degree of anxiety experienced. Indeed these self-perceptions can be better predictors of behavior than actual capability because such beliefs are instrumental in determining how individuals deploy the knowledge and skills they have. The mediational role these beliefs play also helps explain why people's performance attainments many differ even when they have similar knowledge and skills. (Pajares &, Miller 1995). Efficacy judgements are influential and are assumed to be subject to information feed-back from performance attainments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and emotional arousal. (Bandura et al., 1977, Bandura 1977, 1982 , 1986). While self efficacy theory was originally used to explain behavior change in clinical contexts (Bandura, 1977) the encompassing nature of the concept has enabled its application in many other fields. In particular, the concept has been extended to vocational behavior in research which demonstrates how reported self efficacy correlates with work related measures. Bandura & Jourden (1991) pointed out that self efficacy is one of the most influential variables affecting human performance.
' The concept has also round its way into
the study of academic behaviors, and Multon et al (1991) in a meta-analytic
investigation of 39 published
and unpublished studies, concluded that self efficacy beliefs are genaerally
expressed in academic behavior in ways that support Bandura's theory, and therefore confirmed its extension
to educational-vocational behavior. Relatively few studies have however been
conducted in the cognitive domain, for example in the context of
memory tasks, but Berry et al (1989) developed a memory self efficacy
Questionnaire (MSE) based on the theory. They found significant correlation
between MSE and memory measures reflected in everyday and laboratory tasks.
' There is considerable evidence that self
efficacy measures can predict such diverse outcomes in the fields of
academic achievement, the application of social skills, smoking cessation,
pain tolerance, athletic performance, career choice, assertiveness, coping
with feared events, recovery from heart attack, and sales performance
(Bandura 1986, Shunk 1991).
Abstract: The present study aims at determining the
effects of both type A behavior dimensions and marital satisfaction
dimensions on stress life events by using Arabic versions of Stressful Life
Events Questionnaire (SLEQ), Type A Behavior Scale and Marital Satisfaction
linventory (MSI) in 61 married Egyptian aged between 24-59 years old (38.59 +
7.11 yrs.). Males numbered 46 aged between 25 and 59 years old (39.50 +
7.18 yrs.), while females numbered 15 aged between 24 and 44 years old
(35.80 + 6.32 yrs.). Using stepwise regression, eight field of
stressful life events are used as criterion variables, while Type A and
marital satisfaction components are used as predictors variables. The results
are discussed in the light of the results of some previous studies.
Introduction:
Drug
abuse is a significant risk factor for some health and social problems, and
it poses a substantial economic burden on the educational institutions,
community health and social services systems. In Sudan, the available
evidence suggests that the age of the first use of illegal drugs is 16-21
year's olds, (Hakim 1989; El Hilo, 1992). Drug abuse is an annoying issue for schools in rural and urban areas. It extends across ail socio-economic levels. No school can afford to be complacent or think its pupils arc not at risk (UNESCO, 1995). Evidently, the statistical records show an increase in number of young people who are seeking medical and psychological help for their drug related problems (El Tigani El Mahi Psychiatric Hospital official records, 1995).
In the primary schools through secondary -in
Sudan- students display some knowledge (types, long and short term effects,
laws and legislation and the Islamic ban) about Alcohol (Khamr). It is
usually done through the Islamic Religion teaching. But, this group is just
as likely to be influenced by different references to drug misuse and may
have witnessed instances of drug
use and trafficking amongst older students and adults. In fact this happen because, adolescence
or secondary schooling is a
time when students become more oriented toward peers and less toward their parents.
Unfortunately, some students turn to peers in order to receive emotional
support that inattentive and irresponsible parents fail to provide (Botvin,
1982).
Introduction: This research investigates the overall psycho-social
adjustment of a sample of Cairo street children taking into consideration,
the gender construct, as well as each of the psychological as well as social
dimensions of the adjustment.
There are more than
100 million street children in the world (Child Hope-USA, 1991) with street
children being according to the United Nations' definition of street children
as "those children who are less than 18 years of age, males or females,
who spend all or most of their time on the street, while maintaining minimal
contact with their families, or having no contact all, and lack supervision
protection or guidance, which makes them vulnerable to a wide range of health
and psychological hazards (WHO/PSA, 1993). The problem seems to be prevalent
in both developed and developing countries with varying degrees (UNESCO,
1995). In Egypt alone, statistics estimate the prevalence of street
children ranging between 93 thousand (Sedik, 1995) and 2 million (The General
Egyptian Association for Child Protection, 2000) children.
Among frequently
identified physical conditions of street children globally are poor hygiene,
sanitation, and diet; lack of shelter, poverty; armed conflicts and possible violence; sensory
deprivation, family breakdown, lack of positive attachments followed by
emotional and social deprivation, as well as physical and sexual abuse,
exploitation by adults and/or pimps (UNESCO, 1995 & Van Acker, Oostrom,
Rath, &de Kemp, 1999). Survival behaviors to cope with these conditions
may include begging, selling gum and paper tissues, cleaning car windows,
scavenging through garbage dumps, acts of self-humiliation and
self-mutilation, violent - sometimes leading to - criminal behavior,
exploitation by adults, prostitution and survival sex, and drug or substance
abuse (Lusk, 1989; WHO/PSA, 1993, Hussein, 1998). Also reported are
affiliation with gangs, involvement in illegal activities such as
prostitution, drug dealing, mugging or stealing (Unger, Simon, Newman,
Montgomery, Kipke & Albornoz, 1998; Dominiquez, Romero & Paul, 2000).
Psychosocial adjustment refers to the
dynamic outcome of social, psychological, environmental, and relational
issues encountered during the development of an individual. The ways in which
these issues are dealt with have their impact on the mental and emotional
well being of the individual. If positively, then the individual is reported
to be well adjusted. If inadequately, or negatively, then the
mental/emotional well being of the individual is compromised. Also implied in
psycho-social adjustment is the environment.
Introduction
and Research problem:
Cognitive
learning strategies play an important role in enhancing the learner's
capability to organize and manipulate the acquired information. Accordingly,
they increase his/her, achievement ability. Seemingly for, this reason, they
have received a great deal of attention over the Iast tree decades.
It seems that
low achievement among most of the students, as Wilson (1988:323) stated, is
not due to IQ weaknesses, potentials deficiencies or the lack of learning
tendency, but due to weaknesses in the ability to organize,
manipulate, and process information.
Wittrock (1988:
287), in his review of the cognitive learning strategies literature,
revealed that most of the researchers in this domain believe that teaching of
cognitive learning strategies and training on them play a vital role to achieve
one of the fundamental goals of education, namely educating everyone.
Therefore, we should understand these strategies and how to measure them
before teaching them.
Not only
Wittrock (1988), who referred to the importance of cognitive learning strategies,
but also Tobin and Fraser (1990: 22) stated that teacher must use effective
teaching strategies to encourage students to participate in different
learning activities which enhance their abilities to understand the
curriculum, and help them use various cognitive learning strategies.
Clearly enough, a
psychological literature reviewer could notice that most of the research in
this domain is concerned with two basic types of learning strategies.
The first type
is cognitive learning strategies which include repetition strategies,
elaboration strategies and organization strategies. However, the second type
is metacognitive strategies which comprise comprehension, monitoring,
self-evaluation, and planning strategies. Each of which reflects that the
learner knows, conceives, and percepts himself (Dan Sereau, et al., 1979: 64;
Nisbet & Shucksmith, 1986: 30; Pintrich, et al., 1993: 801).
In addition
to the above mentioned strategies, there is a third type of strategies called
social affective strategies which include strategies related to cooperation
and suitable climate for studying (Weinstein, 1988: 296).
On the other hand,
cognitive style represents one of the individual differences determinants in most
of cognitive perceptual and personality variables. It is defined as an
expression about translation and transformation of information and stimuli to
other meaningful aspects to the person, or the characterized methods used in
information processing (Frank & Keene, 1993: 14). Also, it is an
important instructional variable in the teaching / learning process (Dwyer
&- Moore, 1992).
It is abundantly clear that the role of the
cognitive style is to determine how the person can process his thoughts, construct
his percepts, respond to environmental stimuli, retrieve information,
evaluate thoughts continuously, and solve problems (Rizk, 1995: 43). This
role, as conceived from its definition, refers to habits of cognitive
information processing which are represented in learning types, perception
retrieval and problem solving ( Witkin, in El-Sharka", 1996: 60-61).
According to the
above role of cognitive style, Frank and keene (1993), Dwyer and Moore
(1992), Davis and Cochran (1989) point out that the differences between field
/ dependent and independent students are not only in how each of them process
and manipulate their information, but also in the effectiveness of their
processing. However, independents are more ascendance in their cognitive reconstruction
skills.
Consequently, the
first purpose of the present study is to identify the differences between
field / dependents and independents in their cognitive learning strategies.
Also, this research is
endeavored to study the differences between arts and science specializations
in cognitive learning strategies, since results of previous research in this
domain were contradictory. More specifically, Shoair and Mansy (1982),
Khozarn and Eissan (1993), El-Manee (1995), Hassen (1999) pointed out that
there were significant differences between arts and science specialization
students in cognitive learning strategies, wile results of the studies
conducted by Child (1977), Zidan (Iffl), Marzouk (1990), Karabenic &
Kanpp (1991) and Abd El-Qader (1995) revealed that there were no significant
differences between the two specialization students in cognitive learning
strategies.
Clearly enough, the
sex of students may also play an important role in the selection of cognitive
lemming strategies. Seemingly, the strategies which are preferred by males
may differ from those preferred by females. Previous research results, in
this domain were contradictory and reversible. The studies conducted by Harvy
(1971), Elababidy (1976), Sadek (1982), Soliman (1989), Ali (1998) revealed
no significant differences between males and females in cognitive learning
strategies. However, the studies carried out by Tran (1988), Fateem (1989),
Payne (1992), Ebadda (1992) Khozam and Eissan (1993), Farir (1995), MeCleudon
(1996), Abd Elnabi (1996), Hassen (1999) showed that there were significant
differences between males and females in cognitive learning strategies.
From the above
background, the present study is designed to answer the following questions:
a)
ls there any significant difference between field dependent and field
independent students in their cognitive learning strategies?
b)
Is there any significant difference between arts and science specialization
students in their cognitive learning strategies?
c)
Is there any significant difference between males and females in their
cognitive learning strategies? d) Does the interaction between cognitive
style, sex, and specialization have an effect on cognitive learning
strategies? |
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Document Code PJ.0038 |
ترميز المستند PJ.0038 |
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