Psicologia Educativa最新文献

Cyberbullying is a complex phenomenon, difficult to define and understand, and it has serious social and personal implications. Thus, a big effort is being made to progress along this emerging research line that is being very productive both at the national and international level. Nevertheless, given the complexity and fast evolution of information and communication technologies, there is a need to advance and further deepen in its study. Research in this field has been conducted mainly from the educational psychology branch, and its findings are the basis of the first psycho-educational interventions. In order to promote progress in this field and knowledge transfer to professional practice, this introductory paper describes briefly research on cyberbullying along with other related aspects to be explored, and introduces this international special issue on cyberbehavior and educational psychology. This special issue, published in this issue of Psicología Educativa [Educational Psychology], aims at contributing to the development of this emerging scientific field.

Two experimental studies investigated whether the exposure to cyberbullying situations produces in bullied youth, and in young people in general, higher levels of stress, negative emotions, and attention levels, in comparison to other peer interactions, including bullying. In both studies, participants’ physiological activation (Study 1 and 2) and behavioral data (Study 2) were recorded while watching four 1-minute videos representing cyberbullying, face-to-face bullying, prosocial, and neutral interactions. Self-report questionnaires assessed participants’ emotional responses to the videos, and victimization. Sixty-one adolescents (65.7% girls) participated in Study 1; 35 young adults (60% girls) participated in Study 2. Results indicate that cyberbullying causes higher stress and negative emotions than prosocial and neutral peer interactions, but not than bullying. Cyberbullying also elicited higher levels of stress and negative emotions in victims than non-victims, but only for adolescents.

The present study reports frequency rates of cybergrooming, profiled characteristics of cybergrooming perpetrators, and examine direct and indirect associations between cyberbullying victimization, self-esteem, and cybergrooming victimization. The study sample included 2,162 adolescents between 11 and 19 years from three Western (Germany, the Netherlands, the United States) countries and one Southeast Asian country (Thailand). Across countries, 18.5% of participants reported having had contact with a cybergroomer. Western girls, as compared to boys, were at greater risk to have been contacted by a cybergroomer. No significant sex difference was found for Southeast Asian adolescents. Also, Southeast Asian adolescents reported higher rates of cybergroomer contact as compared to Western adolescents. Cybergroomers were most often males and older than victims. Both cyberbullying victimization and low self-esteem increased the probability of coming into contact with a cybergroomer, and self-esteem mediated the effects of cyberbullying victimization on cybergrooming victimization. The results are discussed in relation to practical implications and future research.

This study examined the awareness and perceptions of parents/guardians and school staff regarding cyberbullying among primary school-aged pupils. Eight focus groups (total sample size N = 41) explored the emergence of cyberbullying, characteristics of cyberbullies and cybervictims, the impact of cyberbullying, and the role of adult supervision. Participants were generally aware of cyberbullying and its various forms and felt that it could occur among primary school-aged pupils. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes emerging from the focus groups. Relating to the emergence of cyberbullying, themes included children's ability (literacy and computer skills), access to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and external factors such as peer pressure. When asked about the characteristics of children involved in cyberbullying, themes included the relationship between involvement in cyberbullying and traditional bullying, the role of gender, and different motivations for cyberbullying. None of the groups felt that cyberbullying was less upsetting for victims than traditional bullying and themes surrounding the impact of cyberbullying referred to the nature of cyberbullying and discussions relating to the characteristics of the victim were raised. When talking about the role of adult intervention, participants mentioned the use of rules/restrictions and the perceived generation gap in ICT skills. Participants agreed that supervision of Internet and mobile phone use at home would be beneficial, but was less in accord regarding the usefulness of supervision at school. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for research and interventions.

The aim of this contribution is to introduce the present Special Issue on Neuroscience and Education of the Revista de Psicología Educativa/Educational Psychology. After a brief introduction to current advances in general cognitive neuroscience that are being possible by means of brain imaging techniques available only during the most recent decades, we will discuss some aspects that have been contributing to hamper a true integration between both disciplines (neuroscience and education). The articles included in the present monograph provide empirical evidence that neuroscience has already reached a sufficient body of knowledge as to substantially improve education and political decisions in this respect. Neuroscience reveals that brain maturation extends at least until the second decade of life and that the exposition to different developmental experiences and opportunities is crucial along this extensive life period, so that none of its phases should be downplayed.

Neuroimaging studies have shown continued structural and functional development in neural circuitry underlying social and emotional behaviour during adolescence. This article explores adolescent neurocognitive development in two domains: sensitivity to social rejection and Theory of Mind (ToM). Adolescents often report hypersensitivity to social rejection. The studies presented here suggest that this is accompanied by reduced responses in brain regions involved in emotion regulation. Studies on social rejection in adolescents with autism spectrum conditions will also be discussed. ToM is another social cognitive domain which undergoes neurocognitive development between adolescence and adulthood. ToM refers to the ability to understand others’ thoughts and intentions. Neuroimaging data suggest that the ability to integrate emotional information into ToM decisions continues to develop between adolescence and adulthood. In sum, these studies demonstrate ongoing development of social and emotional cognition during adolescence at both behavioural and neural levels, providing a neurocognitive framework for understanding adolescent behaviour.

Neuroscientific study on child poverty carried out by several research groups over the last two decades has allowed us to gather evidence showing that the impact of material and symbolic needs from poverty, may from the onset limit opportunities of development and social inclusion of people throughout their life cycle. Nevertheless, the potential shift inherent to neural plasticity, individual differences, and the potential change of self-regulatory development by means of environment intervention (i.e., family, school, and community) also show that impacts are not the same for every child, that there is no critical period for cognitive development and learning competencies that is limited to the first 1,000 days, that irreversibility of poverty impact is not a fact that affects every child exposed to it, and that poverty does not necessary means developmental deficit.

Neuroscience has the potential to transform education because it provides novel methods for understanding human learning and cognitive development. It therefore offers deeper understanding of causal mechanisms in learning and an empirical approach to evaluating the efficacy of different pedagogies. However, this will be a long-term enterprise and there will be few immediate pay-offs. Here I set out one possible framework for linking basic research in neuroscience to pedagogical questions in education. I suggest that the developing field of educational neuroscience must first study how sensory systems build cognitive systems over developmental time. I focus on one cognitive system, language, the efficient functioning of which is critical for reading acquisition. Small initial differences in sensory function, for example auditory function, have the potential to cause large differences in linguistic performance over the learning trajectory. The tools offered by neuroscience can enable better understanding of the causal developmental mechanisms linking audition, phonological development and literacy development, in fine-grained detail. Following this basic research, neuroscience can then inform education and pedagogy by exploring the effects on these neural mechanisms of different learning contexts and pedagogies.

In the early 90s a movement began in education called “brain-based learning” that attempted to link neuroscience and education. However, many in both science and education felt it was untenable to make this leap. While early attempts to bridge the fields sparked controversy, it can now be argued that neuroscience does have a role to play in education reform. This paper explores suggestions for the appropriate training of the Educational Neuroscientist, broad interventions based on Educational Neuroscience that could reform curriculum, and emerging ways the Educational Neuroscientist can inform professional development of educators.

This article describes recent research which informs our understanding of changes in social cognition during adolescence. The focus will be on mentalising, the ability to attribute and manipulate mental states in the self and others. Mentalising is supported by the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and both anterior and posterior regions of the temporal lobes. In the past decade, studies have demonstrated development during adolescence of white and grey matter brain structure, with most protracted changes observed in frontal and temporal lobes, including those regions supporting mentalising. This article presents evidence that certain aspects of social cognition continue to change during adolescence, highlighting results from recent research investigating the use of theory of mind information in a communicative context. The findings highlight how adolescence, and not only childhood, is a time of continued maturation of brain and behaviour, when education and the environment can have an impact on cognitive development.