Although useful, digital screens have not yet replaced physical books. The printed book offers three concurrent psychological advantages that explain its puzzling resilience: (1) Better learning... Show moreAlthough useful, digital screens have not yet replaced physical books. The printed book offers three concurrent psychological advantages that explain its puzzling resilience: (1) Better learning and remembering are associated with the physical act of moving through the space of printed pages, which stimulates the visuo-spatial sketchpad component of working memory; (2) since reading is based on temporal, sequential processing, the fixed frame of reference of printed pages and their fixed shape are great aids to memory; (3) the properties of paper and the standard design of a printed book guarantee that it will always function properly: one day, a year, or many centuries later. One reads the same words on screen or in print, but the context in which the symbols are read is very different. The digital book appears and vanishes. The physical book – where kinesthetic experience is more vivid – remains as an actual, remembered space. Show less
The reader of books formed with handmade papers engages with a record that offers evidence of ecology, practice, maker, and craft. The persistence of handmade paper, and of books formed by handmade... Show moreThe reader of books formed with handmade papers engages with a record that offers evidence of ecology, practice, maker, and craft. The persistence of handmade paper, and of books formed by handmade papers, in an increasingly digital production environment is evidence of the continued valuation of these material narratives, and of paper itself as a text. This paper offers an artifactual discussion of handmade paper (within the context of functional books), placing emphasis on explicating its material narratives, evidential significance, and lastly, its function as a particular communicative form. An argument can be made that the continued presence of handmade paper, as craft, process, and object, is informed by an assignment of value to its material narratives, and the information and evidential elements that these express. Read archivally, these works are also valued for the material, craft, maker contexts that they can evoke. Show less
The main focus of the current dissertation is on the associations between self-regulation and academic outcomes, with special attention to these issues in ethnic minority children. Following a... Show moreThe main focus of the current dissertation is on the associations between self-regulation and academic outcomes, with special attention to these issues in ethnic minority children. Following a systematic meta-analysis on the association between cognitive self-regulation and academic achievement regardless of ethnic group, two empirical studies focus on self-regulation and aspects of education in ethnic minority children specifically, examining self-regulatory capacities in relation to educational attainment, and the relation between the transition to primary school and the development of self-regulation. In Chapter 2, flexible thinking that is an important contributor to cognitive self-regulation (i.e., executive function), was found to be positively and substantially related to math and reading performance. The findings of Chapter 3 showed that behavioral self-regulation (i.e., effortful control) is related to educational attainment with respect to secondary school tracks via self-efficacy in Turkish minority preadolescents. Chapter 4 provided evidence that children showed differential gains in flexible thinking from kindergarten to formal schooling, as less able children made more progress following the transition. The findings provided evidence for the important role of self-regulation in school performance and for the role of the transition to formal schooling in shaping the development of higher-order cognitive processes that contribute to self-regulation. Show less
What is the cost of visual complexity? This dissertation sets out to determine the effect of the complexity of word formation on the legibility of Arabic and the role that vocalization plays in... Show moreWhat is the cost of visual complexity? This dissertation sets out to determine the effect of the complexity of word formation on the legibility of Arabic and the role that vocalization plays in reading. This is carried out via a holistic approach to legibility research that combines the visual culture with eye movement in reading and legibility studies. To do this it looks at the transition of Arabic manuscript letterforms into typographic ones, the anatomy of the Arabic script, and the predominant typographic styles in use today. It presents the design process of the specially designed Afandem typeface family, a review of eye movement findings, and a new definition of legibility that is rooted in the models of eye movement. The experiment used eye tracking to test 72 subjects in Beirut to determine the effect of the complexity and vocalization on reading measures. The results show that the increased complexity of word formation has a negative effect on the legibility of Arabic typefaces and that the short vowels add a cost to word processing even though they bring with them extra clarity that results in a reduced number of regressions. These results are discussed within the scope of the Arab world today, its cultural and educational setup, and avenues for further research are explored. Show less
Letters in Beweging is een interventieprogramma voor kleuters met een achterstand in alfabetische kennis. Op 15 scholen is dit programma uitgetest onder vijfjarigen (n = 135) met de laagste scores ... Show moreLetters in Beweging is een interventieprogramma voor kleuters met een achterstand in alfabetische kennis. Op 15 scholen is dit programma uitgetest onder vijfjarigen (n = 135) met de laagste scores (30% laagst) op alfabetische kennis. Het programma waarmee een deel 15 weken lang telkens een kwartier zelfstandig oefende, liet niet alleen direct na afloop van het programma effecten zien. Gedurende de volgende twee leerjaren bleven effecten zichtbaar in de leesprestaties. De groep die het programma kreeg, was in groep 3 en 4 niet meer te onderscheiden van de klasgenoten (n = 269) die als kleuter geen achterstand hadden in alfabetische kennis. De controle groep raakte in groep 3 en 4 steeds verder achter. Het meest verrassende resultaat is dat een risicogroep met lichte perinatale afwijkingen in het bijzonder profiteerde van de interventie. Vanaf 2000 worden zwangerschap- en geboortegegevens van alle Nederlandse kinderen in het perinatale register opgeslagen dat met toestemming van de moeder toegankelijk is voor onderzoekers. In de groep met lichte perinatale problemen (ruim 20%) scoorde de interventiegroep meer dan een standaarddeviatie hoger dan de controlegroep zowel direct na de interventie als een jaar later. In de groep zonder perinatale problemen werden geen effecten van het programma aangetoond. Dit resultaat is niet alleen een verdere onderbouwing van de theorie van differenti_le gevoeligheid, i.e., sommige kinderen zijn gevoeliger voor zowel een positieve als negatieve omgeving, maar impliceert ook uitbreiding van de theorie naar het cognitieve domein. Show less
