Young adults with psychotic-spectrum disorder have lower odds of attaining educational goals, partly due to cognitive problems. Cognitive remediation (CR) could improve cognitive- and potentially academic functioning. The current study examined an adapted CR-intervention ‘Mindset’ aimed at academic functioning for people with a psychotic-spectrum disorder in secondary education. Pilot-feasibility study of Mindset including the experience of nine participants with psychotic-spectrum disorder who received Mindset and six CR trainers. Post-CR interviews with participants and trainers were subjected to qualitative evaluation. Furthermore, preliminary results from pre- to post-CR changes on the College Self-Efficacy Inventory (CSEI), Cognitive Problems and Strategies Assessment (CPSA) and Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) are presented using Reliable Change Index (RCI) and effect-sizes (Cohen’s d). Qualitative evaluation showed that overall experience with Mindset was positive for participants and trainers. Mindset was not experienced as too difficult and aligned well with education. However, tailoring to the individual is required. Effect sizes in change from pre- to post-CR were small for school satisfaction (d = 0.25) and self-reported cognitive problems (d = 0.12), small to medium for increases in self-efficacy (d = 0.49) and large for increases in strategy use (d = 3.58). Feasibility of Mindset was good in terms of adaptation and expansion, implementation and limited efficacy. However, concerning acceptability, drop-out prior to Mindset was high and Mindset needs adjustment in terms of individual tailoring and language. Future studies have to attest to its efficacy.
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Full text beschikbaar met HU-account. Since the 2010s, various companies have begun to manufacture wearable smartwatch devices, but the current sales of these products are not impressive. This study investigates how the limitations of the smartwatch are related to perceptual discomforts. Theoretically, this study evaluates the claim that the discomfort that users appear to have with the smartwatch stem from failed remediation. Users perceive the smartwatch more as a set of functional sensors rather than a watch or smartphone. Specifically, from the remediation perspective, the authors asked how users perceive the functions of the smartwatch. This study used dynamic topic modeling for topics on the smartwatch on Reddit. This study reports that the smartwatch has failed to provide a proper way to use the remediated content that it provides. Suggestions for future studies are addressed.
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Most severe mental disorders have their onset between the age of 17 and 27, a time when many young adults begin participating in secondary or post-secondary education. The cognitive deficits typically associated with psychiatric disorders, especially psychotic disorders, increase the risk of leaving school early, which can lead to a reduction in employment opportunities later on in life and, in turn, a poorer long-term prognosis. Therefore, specific interventions aiming to improve these cognitive functions are needed. Cognitive remediation (CR) aims to improve cognitive functioning and may increase real-world functioning in educational performance. This study aims to examine the feasibility and applicability of a CR training named Mindset for students with psychotic disorders in the Netherlands.
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Background: Early detection and remediation of language disorders are important in helping children to establish appropriate communicative and social behaviour and acquire additional information about the world through the use of language. In the Netherlands, children with (a suspicion of) language disorders are referred to speech and hearing centres for multidisciplinary assessment. Reliable data are needed on the nature of language disorders, as well as the age and source of referral, and the effects of cultural and socioeconomic profiles of the population served in order to plan speech and language therapy service provision. Aims: To provide a detailed description of caseload characteristics of children referred with a possible language disorder by generating more understanding of factors that might influence early identification. Methods & Procedures: A database of 11,450 children was analysed consisting of data on children, aged 2–7 years (70% boys, 30% girls), visiting Dutch speech and hearing centres. The factors analysed were age of referral, ratio of boys to girls, mono‐ and bilingualism, nature of the language delay, and language profile of the children. Outcomes & Results:Results revealed an age bias in the referral of children with language disorders. On average, boys were referred 5 months earlier than girls, and monolingual children were referred 3 months earlier than bilingual children. In addition, bilingual children seemed to have more complex problems at referral than monolingual children. They more often had both a disorder in both receptive and expressive language, and a language disorder with additional (developmental) problems. Conclusions & Implications: This study revealed a bias in age of referral of young children with language disorders. The results implicate the need for objective language screening instruments and the need to increase the awareness of staff in primary child healthcare of red flags in language development of girls and multilingual children aiming at earlier identification of language disorders in these children.
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Urgent publishing pertains both to timeliness and relevance. What strategies are available to publishers in the cultural and research domains to conceive, produce, and position their contents in an urgent way? Revolving around the key notions of relations, trust, and remediation, Here and Now? Explorations in Urgent Publishing presents methods and prototypes that counter the contemporary speedy information sphere in new and different ways. It develops a situated account of hybrid publishing, where authors, editors, publishers, designers, and readers operate together.
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Het verslag is als volgt opgebouwd. In hoofdstuk 1 wordt verslag gedaan van de uitwisseling van de onderzoeks- en onderwijsactiviteiten op het gebied van rehabilitatie van de Hanzehogeschool Groningen en Rutgers University. Hoofdstuk 2 doet verslag van de bezoeken aan twee Begeleid Leren-programma’s in New Jersey. De deelnemers volgden ook een tweedaagse training in cognitive remediation op het gebied van Begeleid Leren. In hoofdstuk 3 wordt deze training beschreven. In de slotbeschouwing wordt puntsgewijs een aantal opgevallen zaken op een rijtje gezet. In de bijlagen bevindt zich enige achtergrondinformatie behorende bij de drie hoofdstukken.
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In case of a major cyber incident, organizations usually rely on external providers of Cyber Incident Response (CIR) services. CIR consultants operate in a dynamic and constantly changing environment in which they must actively engage in information management and problem solving while adapting to complex circumstances. In this challenging environment CIR consultants need to make critical decisions about what to advise clients that are impacted by a major cyber incident. Despite its relevance, CIR decision making is an understudied topic. The objective of this preliminary investigation is therefore to understand what decision-making strategies experienced CIR consultants use during challenging incidents and to offer suggestions for training and decision-aiding. A general understanding of operational decision making under pressure, uncertainty, and high stakes was established by reviewing the body of knowledge known as Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM). The general conclusion of NDM research is that experts usually make adequate decisions based on (fast) recognition of the situation and applying the most obvious (default) response pattern that has worked in similar situations in the past. In exceptional situations, however, this way of recognition-primed decision-making results in suboptimal decisions as experts are likely to miss conflicting cues once the situation is quickly recognized under pressure. Understanding the default response pattern and the rare occasions in which this response pattern could be ineffective is therefore key for improving and aiding cyber incident response decision making. Therefore, we interviewed six experienced CIR consultants and used the critical decision method (CDM) to learn how they made decisions under challenging conditions. The main conclusion is that the default response pattern for CIR consultants during cyber breaches is to reduce uncertainty as much as possible by gathering and investigating data and thus delay decision making about eradication until the investigation is completed. According to the respondents, this strategy usually works well and provides the most assurance that the threat actor can be completely removed from the network. However, the majority of respondents could recall at least one case in which this strategy (in hindsight) resulted in unnecessary theft of data or damage. Interestingly, this finding is strikingly different from other operational decision-making domains such as the military, police and fire service in which there is a general tendency to act rapidly instead of searching for more information. The main advice is that training and decision aiding of (novice) cyber incident responders should be aimed at the following: (a) make cyber incident responders aware of how recognition-primed decision making works; (b) discuss the default response strategy that typically works well in several scenarios; (c) explain the exception and how the exception can be recognized; (d) provide alternative response strategies that work better in exceptional situations.
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Although poor reading and spelling skills have been associated with weak skills of executive functioning (EF), its role in literacy is not undisputed. Because EF has different theoretical underpinnings, methods of analysis and of assessing EF, it has led to varying and often contrasting results in its effects in children with dyslexia. The present study has two goals. The first goal is to establish the relationship between a large number of EF tasks and reading and spelling skills in a large number of Dutch dyslexic children (n = 229). More interesting, however, is the second aim. To what extent do EF skills predict progress in reading and spelling in dyslexic children who attend a remediation program? The results reveal small, but significant relationships between EF and reading and spelling skills, but no relationships between EF and progress in reading and spelling. It is concluded that training EF skills is unlikely to enhance reading and spelling skills.
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A growing number of higher education programmes in the Netherlands has implemented programmatic assessment. Programmatic assessment is an assessment concept in which the formative and summative function of assessment is intertwined. Although there is consensus about the theoretical principles of programmatic assessment, programs make various specific design choices, fitting with their own context. In this factsheet we give insight into the design choices Dutch higher education programmes make when implementing programmatic assessment.
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