European Journal of Psychology of Education 

About: European Journal of Psychology of Education is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Educational psychology & Academic achievement. It has an ISSN identifier of 0256-2928. Over the lifetime, 1490 publications have been published receiving 39127 citations. The journal is also known as: Journal europeen de psychologie de l'education & Journal europëen de psychologie de l'éducation.

Bully/victim problems in school: Facts and intervention

Abstract: Bully/victim problems among school children are a matter of considerable concern in Scandinavia and, more recently, in a number of other countries as well. Estimates based on the author’s large-scale surveys indicate that some 9% of the students in grades 1 through 9 are fairly regular victims of bullying and that 6–7% engage in bullying others with some regularity. It is argued that it is a fundamental democratic right for a child to be spared the oppression and repeated humiliation implied in bullying. The author has developed a school-based intervention programme against bullying, the effects of which were evaluated in 42 schools over a period of two years. Analyses indicate that the frequency of bully/victim problems decreased by 50–70%. In addition, the prevalence of antisocial behaviours in general such as vandalism, theft, drunkenness and truancy showed a substantial drop. The main content of the “core” programme as well as its key principles are presented. The overriding goal of the programme can be described as a “restructuring of the social environment”. The programme emphasizes behaviours and attitudes characterized by a combination of positive involvement from teachers and parents, firm limits to unacceptable behaviour (“we dont accept bullying in our class/school”), and consistent use of non-hostile non-corporal sanctions on rule violations. Explanations of the positive results include changes in the opportunity and reward “structures” for bullying behaviour.

Cognition and artifacts: a contribution to the study of though in relation to instrumented activity

Abstract: This paper addresses from a theoretical point of view a once much debated issue which is brought back to the fore in psychology as a result of a growing attention to the effects of technology and of technological change on the way we live, learn and work. This issue concerns the relationships between cognition and the artifactual nature of many of the objects on which it is brought to bear in everyday, work and school situations. If cognition evolves, as genetic epistemology has shown, through interaction with the environment, then it can be expected, in the course of its genesis, to have to accomodate to the particular specific functional and structural features which characterize artifacts. Does this have an effect on cognitive development, on knowledge construction and processing, on the nature itself of the knowledge generated? If so, through what macro and microgenetic processes can this effect be thought to be actuated? These questions are of particular relevance in the fields of technology and vocational education, but, in theory, they concern all situations in which activity is instrumented by some sort of technology including technology not habitually considered as such: symbols, numbers, graphics, etc. They also constitute an important dimension in the study of situated cognition. Discussion focuses first on the way past and present models of human cognition have related to instrumented activity and, subsequently, a model and concepts are suggested. These points are then illustrated through observational data relating to situations in which children were confronted with tasks involving designing artifacts and utilizing unfamiliar machines, i.e. a lathe and a robot. Finally areas for future research within this problematic are sketched out.

Interest, motivation and learning: An educational-psychological perspective

Abstract: Within the last few years, researchers have shown a renewed interest in “interest”. Especially in the field of educational psychology many studies have been conducted to analyze how learning and achievement are influenced by motivational and cognitive factors, which are connected with individual and/or situational interests. In this paper, results from empirical research will be presented besides theoretical considerations concerning the interest-construct. Interest has typically been studied as an independent variable. Dependent variables have been either some aspects of learning outcome (knowledge structure, academic achievement) or hypothetical mediators, which probably can be used to explain the interest effects (e.g., learning strategies, attention, emotional experiences). There is also a growing number of studies which try to explore the conditions of interest development within educational settings. Future lines of research will be discussed in light of the demands of educational theory and practice.

Patterns of response to an approaches to studying inventory across contrasting groups and contexts

Abstract: The development of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) is reported, which incorporates a revised version of the Approaches to Studying Inventory. This questionnaire was completed by three separate samples; 1284 mainly first-year students from six British universities, 466 first-year students from a Scottish technological university; and 219 students from a ‘historically disadvantaged” South African university. Analyses of these data were designed to explore the patterns of response found in sub-groups which varied in terms of their levels of attainment and contexts. Maximum likelihood analysis of the largest sample confirmed the expected three factors of deep, surface apathetic, and strategic approaches to studying, and almost identical patterns were also found in the other two samples, and in students having contrasting levels of attainment. There were, however, some interesting minor differences in the South African sample. K-means relocation cluster analysis was then carried out on the largest sample and produced clusters with generally coherent patterns of response. However, one persistent low attainment cluster showed unexpected, dissonant patterns of response, combining moderately high scores on the sub-scales of both deep and surface apathetic approaches, associated with low scores on the strategic approach.

Fathers’ influences on children’s development: The evidence from two-parent families

Abstract: Although it is often assumed that men have an important influence on their children’s development, the supportive evidence can be difficult to locate and summarize. In this paper, we analyse the evidence with respect to four emergent themes. First, men often appear to interact with their children less sensitively than mothers do, and many children thus appear to form closer attachments to their mothers than to their fathers. Second, the data also indicate that fathers may play specific and important roles, with men in some cultures having clearly defined roles as playmates to their children. Third, paternal play styles predict later socio-emotional development while paternal involvement seems to predict adult adjustment better than maternal involvement does. Such evidence suggests, fourth, that we need appropriate measures of fatherhood that are not simply borrowed from the study of motherhood.