Um mundo em mudanças, com necessidades crescentes de soluções globais de ciência e tecnologia para seus problemas, faz da demanda por cientistas e engenheiros uma questão importante para a competitividade e o desenvolvimento econômico e social de qualquer país. Jovens devem ser cada vez mais motivados e preparados na educação básica para proporcionar à sociedade não só mais, mas melhores estudantes universitários e profissionais de engenharia. Assim, conhecer as atitudes, pensamentos, opiniões e percepções dos pré-universitários em relação à engenharia é de fundamental importância para atuar no aumento do contingente de futuros engenheiros e para predizer sua persistência na área. Por ser no ensino médio que os jovens fazem as primeiras escolhas sobre suas carreiras, a participação no desenvolvimento de projetos investigativos e na apresentação em feiras de ciências parece desempenhar importante papel não só nessa decisão, mas no desenvolvimento de habilidades e competências indispensáveis ao sucesso em qualquer carreira profissional, principalmente para a engenharia. Para conhecer e analisar o universo dos estudantes do ensino médio, neste contexto, foram aplicados questionários em cinco situações de pesquisa, cujo público alvo eram jovens pré-universitários, envolvidos ou não com atividades de feiras de ciências, e, em uma sexta situação, aos professores. Com base nos dados deste trabalho, os jovens, de forma geral, apresentaram atitudes e percepções positivas em relação à engenharia e aos engenheiros, independente do gênero, da idade, do tipo de escola e do tipo de ensino médio que frequentam. No entanto, os estudantes envolvidos com o desenvolvimento de projetos investigativos e participação em feiras de ciências revelaram atitudes mais positivas e mais autoconfiança do que os não envolvidos. A intenção de cursar engenharia se mostrou em alta para todas as situações de pesquisa, principalmente nas áreas de civil e elétrica. Além disso, tanto os jovens como os professores reconheceram nas atividades de desenvolvimento de projetos investigativos e de participação de feiras de ciências, oportunidades para o aperfeiçoamento de habilidades e competências necessárias para o sucesso profissional no mundo globalizado. Esta pesquisa foi conduzida para conhecer e analisar esse universo do ensino médio em relação à engenharia com a intenção de fornecer subsídios para atuar no aumento do contingente de futuros engenheiros e para predizer sua persistência na área. Além disso, espera-se que os resultados dessa pesquisa possam, ainda, contribuir e subsidiar a elaboração de programas e propostas para mudanças no ensino médio, a fim de atender às necessidades de despertar, desenvolver e aperfeiçoar as novas habilidades e competências impostas pelo século XXI. / A changing world, with increasing needs of global science and technology solutions, makes the demand for scientists and engineers a major issue for competitiveness and economic and social development of any country. Young people should be increasingly motivated and prepared in K-12 education in order to provide society with not only more, but better undergraduate students and engineering professionals. Thus, the knowledge of attitudes, thoughts, opinions and perceptions of preuniversity students regarding engineering is crucial to act on increasing the number of future engineers and to predict their persistence in the area. Because it is in high school that young people make their first choices about careers, participating in the development of science research projects and presentation at science fairs may play an important role not only in this decision, but in the development of essential skills and competencies to succeed in any career, especially in engineering. To understand and analyze the universe of high school students, in this context, questionnaires were applied in five research situations, whose target audience were young pre-university students, involved or not in science fair activities, and in another situation with teachers. Based on this research data, , young people had positive attitudes and perceptions towards engineering and engineers, regardless of gender, age, type of school and type of high school course attended. However, students involved with the development of research projects and participation in science fairs showed more positive attitudes and more self-confidence than those not involved. The intention of studying engineering was high in all research situations, particularly in the areas of civil and electrical engineering. Furthermore, both youth and teachers recognized in the activities related to the development of research projects and participation in science fair, opportunities to develop skills and competencies necessary for professional success in a globalized world. This research was conducted to understand and analyze the universe of secondary education students related to engineering and engineers with the intention to support future actions on increasing the number of future engineers and to predict their persistence in the area. Moreover, it is expected that results of this research may also contribute to and support the development of governmental programs and proposals for high school curricula changes in in order to meet the needs of awakening, developing and enhancing new XXI century skills and competencies.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:18:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosilea Clara Werner.pdf: 2983700 bytes, checksum: 58ce0c8e401f83f5b858515bc5e99cc4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-05-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study presents the conceptual diversity of competencies and abilities in higher education and its appropriation and incorporation into Social Work based on curriculum guidelines CNE/CES Resolution 15/2002. The method selected for this study was the qualitative research based on interviews and document analysis obtained from a total of 21 subjects. The subjects were coordinators and professors of six Social Work undergraduate courses from South and Southeast of Brazil along with professor members of the Expert Committee on Social Work Teaching - MEC/SESu. All the interviews were scheduled in advance; they were conducted face to face and were digitally recorded, and further transcribed. A previously established guide for interview was used with each group. The Political-Pedagogical Projects (PPP) of six undergraduate courses in the selected sample were analysed. The competencies‟ and abilities‟ categories were studied in the higher education and Social Work scenarios from the historical perspective. The research was designed to identify how the concept of competencies and abilities was appropriated in Social Work and how education embodied it. In order to help with data systematization and analysis, two analytical axes were defined: a) The understanding of competencies and abilities; b) the appropriation of competencies and abilities in Social Work professional development. It has been observed that the concept of competencies and abilities is polysemic; this applies both to the theory researched and to the subjects interviewed. There is a tendency among the subjects interviewed to relate competencies with the professional Social Work competencies defined in the profession‟s regulatory law. The initial assumption that the concept of competencies and abilities was not appropriated in Social Work undergraduate courses, despite being present in the guidelines, was validated. The Political-Pedagogical Projects analysed show an influence of the ABEPSS curriculum guidelines in their elaboration, as well as legal rules such as MEC/SESu curriculum guidelines and professional regulation laws. In general, the PPPs contain items proposed in the CNE/CES Resolution 15/2002. They introduce the competencies to be developed during the undergraduate course, although without clarifying when and how this should be achieved. Social Work area presently lacks a discussion of a competency-based curriculum and the professional competencies were defined in the profession‟s Regulatory Law in mid 90‟s / O estudo apresenta a diversidade conceitual de competências e habilidades na formação superior e sua apropriação e incorporação no Serviço Social, a partir das diretrizes curriculares Resolução CNE/CES 15/2002. A metodologia utilizada foi a pesquisa qualitativa em que os principais instrumentos de trabalho foram entrevistas e análise de documentos. Foram entrevistados os coordenadores e professores de seis cursos de Serviço Social da Região Sul e Sudeste do país e professoras da Comissão de Especialistas de Ensino em Serviço Social MEC/SESu, um total de 21 sujeitos. Todas as entrevistas foram presenciais, agendadas com antecedência, gravadas digitalmente e depois transcritas. Utilizou-se um roteiro prévio para cada grupo entrevistado. Foram analisados os projetos político-pedagógicos dos seis cursos definidos na amostra. As categorias competência e habilidade foram estudadas em uma perspectiva histórica no Ensino Superior e no Serviço Social. A pesquisa objetivou verificar como se dá a apropriação do conceito de competências e habilidades no Serviço e como são incorporadas no cotidiano da formação. Para a sistematização e análise dos dados, foram definidos dois eixos analíticos: a) compreensão de competências e habilidades; b) apropriação das competências e habilidades na formação profissional do Serviço Social. Constatou-se que o conceito de competência é polissêmico, tanto para os teóricos estudados, quanto para os sujeitos entrevistados. Há uma tendência entre os entrevistados de relacionar competência com as competências profissionais do Serviço Social definidas na lei de regulamentação da profissão. A hipótese de que não houve apropriação pelos cursos de Serviço Social dos conceitos de competências e habilidades, embora estejam contidas nas diretrizes, foi validada. Os projetos político-pedagógicos analisados mostram a influência das diretrizes curriculares da ABEPSS na sua elaboração, bem como de normativas legais como as diretrizes curriculares MEC/SESu e a Lei de Regulamentação da Profissão. Os PPPs, de forma geral, contêm os itens propostos na resolução CNE/CES 15/2002. Apresentam as competências a serem desenvolvidas no decorrer no curso, mas não deixam claro em que momento e como serão desenvolvidas. O Serviço Social não tem uma discussão de currículo por competência e as competências profissionais foram definidas na Lei de Regulamentação da Profissão na metade na década de 1990

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The conditioning preparation of a modern player in top football is an essential part for his excellent sporting performance. The theoretical part of the thesis is focused on conditioning preparation of the player in football, his motor skills and abilities. The thesis focuses in detail on very important skills in this sport, such as speed and speed endurance. The practical part will deal with collecting the speed data of the football player. These data will be processed in both factual and statistical terms. The aim of the research will be the evaluation of the measured data. The results will be compared between the autumn and spring parts of the league, depending on the player's performance. Player data will also be compared with another player on the same position. The conclusion of the thesis is to point out that speed is often a decisive factor in many football situations, and to confirm that while improving the speed abilities, the performance of the player will also increase parallelly.

<p>Циљ рада: Циљ истраживања је да се утврди разлика у акутним ефектима статичког (СИ) и динамичког истезања (ДИ), у комбинацији са специфичним кошаркашким загревањем (СКЗ), на флексибилност, експлозивну снагу ногу, брзину, агилност и неуромишићну адаптацију кошаркаша јуниорског узраста.</p><p>Методе: Истраживање у оквиру ове докторске тезе су чинила два одвојена експеримента, један спроведен у теренским условима, и други спроведен у лабораторијским. Оба су била &bdquo;cross-over&ldquo; дизајна. У теренском експерименту је учествовало 46 кошаркаша (узраста 17&plusmn;0,83 година), док је у лабораторијском учествовало 12 (узраста 17,7&plusmn;0,49 година). У теренском експерименту су тестиране четири моторичке способности. За процену флексибилности коришћен је тест досезања у седећем претклону, експлозивна снага ногу је процењивана уз помоћ вертикалног скока са контактне плоче, брзина трчањем на 20 метара, док је Т тест коришћен за процену агилности. У лабораторијском експерименту је као мера неурофизиолошке адаптације коришћена промена ексцитабилности &alpha;-мотонеурона, која је представљена као однос Хофмановог (Х) рефлекса и М таласа (Х/М). За њихово одређивање се користио Medelec ST-10 стимулатор (Medelec, Old Woking, UK). Површинске електромиографске електроде су биле постављене на унутрашњој глави m.gastrocnemius-a одскочне ноге, применом тзв. &bdquo;belly-tendon&ldquo; монтаже. Као третмани, у оба експеримента су коришћени протокол статичког и протокол динамичког истезања, уз комбинацију са специфичним кошаркашким загревањем. Мерења су се у оба експеримента изводила у 3 временске тачке и то пре протокола истезања, одмах након протокола истезања (а пре специфичног кошаркашког загревања) и одмах након специфичног кошаркашког загревања.</p><p>Резултати: Резултати истраживања показују да постоје одређене разлике акутних ефеката комбинација протокола СИ+СКЗ и ДИ+СКЗ. Комбинација протокола СИ+СКЗ је повољније утицала на експлозивну снагу ногу и на агилност кошаркаша јуниорског узраста. Ефекти обе комбинације протокола су били готово идентични на флексибилност, а разлика је изостала и у ефектима на брзину, иако је пре СКЗ био&nbsp;уочљив негативан ефекат СИ. Однос Х/М се значајно разликовао одмах након истезања, када је СИ значајно оборило однос, али су се те разлике изгубиле након примене СКЗ.</p><p>Закључак: Посматрајући ефекте комбинације протокола СИ+СКЗ и ДИ+СКЗ на моторичке способности и неуромишићну адаптацију кошаркаша јуниорског узраста, може се закључити да је примена СИ+СКЗ препоручљивија у свакодневном тренингу и такмичењу.</p> / <p>Cilj rada: Cilj istraživanja je da se utvrdi razlika u akutnim efektima statičkog (SI) i dinamičkog istezanja (DI), u kombinaciji sa specifičnim košarkaškim zagrevanjem (SKZ), na fleksibilnost, eksplozivnu snagu nogu, brzinu, agilnost i neuromišićnu adaptaciju košarkaša juniorskog uzrasta.</p><p>Metode: Istraživanje u okviru ove doktorske teze su činila dva odvojena eksperimenta, jedan sproveden u terenskim uslovima, i drugi sproveden u laboratorijskim. Oba su bila &bdquo;cross-over&ldquo; dizajna. U terenskom eksperimentu je učestvovalo 46 košarkaša (uzrasta 17&plusmn;0,83 godina), dok je u laboratorijskom učestvovalo 12 (uzrasta 17,7&plusmn;0,49 godina). U terenskom eksperimentu su testirane četiri motoričke sposobnosti. Za procenu fleksibilnosti korišćen je test dosezanja u sedećem pretklonu, eksplozivna snaga nogu je procenjivana uz pomoć vertikalnog skoka sa kontaktne ploče, brzina trčanjem na 20 metara, dok je T test korišćen za procenu agilnosti. U laboratorijskom eksperimentu je kao mera neurofiziološke adaptacije korišćena promena ekscitabilnosti &alpha;-motoneurona, koja je predstavljena kao odnos Hofmanovog (H) refleksa i M talasa (H/M). Za njihovo određivanje se koristio Medelec ST-10 stimulator (Medelec, Old Woking, UK). Površinske elektromiografske elektrode su bile postavljene na unutrašnjoj glavi m.gastrocnemius-a odskočne noge, primenom tzv. &bdquo;belly-tendon&ldquo; montaže. Kao tretmani, u oba eksperimenta su korišćeni protokol statičkog i protokol dinamičkog istezanja, uz kombinaciju sa specifičnim košarkaškim zagrevanjem. Merenja su se u oba eksperimenta izvodila u 3 vremenske tačke i to pre protokola istezanja, odmah nakon protokola istezanja (a pre specifičnog košarkaškog zagrevanja) i odmah nakon specifičnog košarkaškog zagrevanja.</p><p>Rezultati: Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da postoje određene razlike akutnih efekata kombinacija protokola SI+SKZ i DI+SKZ. Kombinacija protokola SI+SKZ je povoljnije uticala na eksplozivnu snagu nogu i na agilnost košarkaša juniorskog uzrasta. Efekti obe kombinacije protokola su bili gotovo identični na fleksibilnost, a razlika je izostala i u efektima na brzinu, iako je pre SKZ bio&nbsp;uočljiv negativan efekat SI. Odnos H/M se značajno razlikovao odmah nakon istezanja, kada je SI značajno oborilo odnos, ali su se te razlike izgubile nakon primene SKZ.</p><p>Zaključak: Posmatrajući efekte kombinacije protokola SI+SKZ i DI+SKZ na motoričke sposobnosti i neuromišićnu adaptaciju košarkaša juniorskog uzrasta, može se zaključiti da je primena SI+SKZ preporučljivija u svakodnevnom treningu i takmičenju.</p> / <p>Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the difference of acute effects of static stretching (SS) and dynamic stretching (DS), in combination with specific basketball warm-up (SBWU), on flexibility, explosive leg strength, speed, agility and neuromuscular adaptation of basketball players U18.</p><p>Methods: This study consisted of two separated experiments, first in field conditions, and second conducted in laboratory. Both had &bdquo;cross-over&ldquo; design. Forty-six basketball players (age: 17&plusmn;0,83 years) participated in field experiment, while twelve participated in laboratory experiment (age 17,7&plusmn;0,49 years). In field experiment, four motor abilities were tested. Seat and rech test was used for the evaluation of flexibility, explosive leg strength was evaluated by vertical jump from contact plate, speed by 20m run, and T test was used for agility testing. In laboratory experiment, the excitability of &alpha;-motoneuron was taken for the evaluation of neuromuscular adaptation. It is presented as a ratio of the maximal amplitudes of Hoffman (H) reflex and M wave (H/M). For their determining we used Medelec ST-10 stimulator (Medelec, Old Woking, UK). Surface electromyographic (EMG) electrodes were placed over the m.gastrocnemius medialis, and Achilles tendon, in a &bdquo;belly-tendon&ldquo; montage. In both experiments, SS protocol and DS protocol, in the combination with SBWU, were used as a treatment. Measures were taken in 3 time points: before the stretching, immediately after stretching (and before SBWU) and immediately after the SBWU.</p><p>Results: Results of this study showed that there are certain differences in acute effects of combination of protocols SS+SBWU and DS+SBWU. Combination of protocols SS+SBWU had more positive influence on explosive leg strength and agility of U18 basketball players. The effects of both protocols were almost the same on flexibility, and there was no noticeable difference in effects on speed, although before SBWU there was significant negative of SS. Immediately after the stretching there was significant difference in H/M ratio, it was significantly lower after the SS, but after the application of SBWU, differences disappeared.<br />&nbsp;<br />Conlcusion: Regarding the effects of SS+SBWU and DS+SBWU protocols on motor abilities and neuromuscular adaptation of U18 basketball players, it could be concluded that the use of SS+SBWU is more preferrable in everyday practice and competition.</p>

Recent research has challenged the way in which personality and attitude constructs are measured. Alternatives have been offered as to how non-cognitive responses are modeled, the mode of delivery used when administrating such scales, and the impact of technology in measuring personality. Thus, the major purpose of the studies in this thesis concerns two interrelated issues of personality research, namely the way personality responses are best modeled, and the most optimal mode by which personality items are presented and associated modal issues. Three studies are presented. First, recent developments using an ideal point approach to scale construction are outlined, and an empirical study compares modeling personality items based on an ideal point approach (generalized graded unfolding model; GGUM) and a dominance approach (graded response model: GRM). Second, an extensive review of literature pertaining to the mode effect when transferring paper-and-pencil measures to screen was conducted, in addition to a review of the various types of computerized and innovative items and their associated psychometric information. Finally, nine innovative items were developed using various multimedia features (e.g., video, graphics, and audio) to ascertain the advantages of these methods to present items constructed to elicit response behavior underlying ideal point approaches, namely, typical response behavior. It was found that the dominance IRT model continued to produce superior model-data fit for most items, more attention needs to be placed on developing principles for constructing ideal point type items, the web-based version supplied 20% more construct information than the paper version, and innovative items seem to provide more data-model fit for students with lower personality attributes. While the innovative items may require more initial outlay in terms of time and development costs, they have the capacity to provide more information regarding test-takers’ personality levels, potentially using fewer items.

Chaque être vivant interagit avec une ou plusieurs espèces et est membre d'un réseau complexe d'interactions qui influencent les traits des individus, exerçant de fait des pressions sélectives sur leurs populations. Chaque espèce étant dépendante de la nature et de la diversité des interactions dans lesquelles elle est impliquée, son évolution est donc en partie liée aux autres espèces avec lesquelles elle interagit. Un hôte et son parasitoïde vivent dans une dynamique coévolutive, prenant part à une véritable 'course aux armements', où les différentes stratégies d'attaque peuvent être sélectionnés chez le parasitoïde en réponse aux différentes formes de défenses chez l'hôte. Ce dernier interagit également avec d'autres organismes qui modifient ses traits, impactant les aptitudes du parasitoïde, perturbant leur dynamique coévolutive. L'objectif de ce travail est ainsi d'identifier l'influence du réseau d'interactions du puceron du pois Acyrthosiphon pisum sur l'évolution et l'écologie des populations de son principal parasitoïde Aphidius ervi. Le puceron du pois est lui-même parasite de sa plante hôte, leur coévolution aboutissant à une spécialisation de cet aphide cette espèce hôte végétale. Les populations de pucerons sont donc structurées en races d'hôtes sympatriques, divergeant génétiquement et phénotypiquement. Notre étude montre une absence de structuration génétique des populations de parasitoïdes selon les races d'hôte. A. ervi exploite indifféremment les A. pisum issus de différentes plantes hôtes, excluant la présence d'un effet cascade associé à la spécialisation alimentaire chez ce puceron. La dispersion et le caractère généraliste du parasitoïde semblent favoriser les flux de gènes entre les différents éléments d'un paysage agricole. A. pisum peut également abriter le symbiote Hamiltonella defensa qui lui confère une résistance à A. ervi. Ces microorganismes symbiotiques induisent une réduction des défenses comportementales chez les pucerons porteurs. Cette diminution de l'expression des comportements défensifs favorise à la fois le puceron et son symbiote car elle réduit les coûts associés à ces comportements. Enfin, une évolution expérimentale sur des populations de parasitoïdes soumises à des populations d'hôtes portant H. defensa (résistantes) ou non (sensibles) montre une adaptation des parasitoïdes soumis aux hôtes résistants. Cette adaptation s'accompagne d'une réduction de la variabilité génétique dans les populations exposées à la résistance. On observe également une divergence génétique entre les populations exposées ou non à la résistance conférée par le symbiote, H. defensa. Cette expérimentation met en évidence le potentiel évolutif des populations d'A. ervi et donc leurs capacités d'adaptation face à des pucerons résistants. Les intérêts fondamentaux et appliqués de ces travaux sont discutés et replacés dans un contexte général.

<p>Den 26 maj 1982 påbörjas anfallet mot samhällena Darwin och Goose Green. Anfallande styrka är brittiska, 2 Paras, på plats och försvarsgrupperade är Taskforce Mercedes. Britterna vinner slutligen över en numerärt överlägsen och försvarsgrupperad argentinsk styrka. Hur kommer det sig att detta kan ske? Jag kommer, för att kunna besvara mina frågeställningar, i det här självständiga arbetet att med utgång i de grundläggande förmågorna, ledning, verkan, skydd, rörlighet, uthållighet och und/info, analysera slaget. Dessa frågeställningar är:</p><p> -          Vilken av de grundläggande förmågorna var avgörande för 2 Paras seger?</p><p>-          Vilken av de grundläggande förmågorna var avgörande för Taskforce Mercedes förlust?</p><p>Jag har kommit fram till följande; britterna kunde tack vare en kombination av förmågorna ledning och verkan avgöra striden till deras fördel. För argentinarna var det förmågan ledning som bäddade för deras förlust. Vill du veta hur jag kommit fram till detta och varför uppmanar jag dig att läsa detta arbete.</p> / <p>My name is Nicklas Nilsson. I’m a cadet studying at the Swedish Land warfare Centre. As a part of becoming a commissioned officer I’m obligated to write an essay at fundamental level. I have written about the Battle for Darwin – Goose Green. A battle between 2 Para and Taskforce Mercedes. I have used (de grundläggande förmågorna) six fundamental abilities as an analysis instrument. The questions I am going to answer with this essay are:</p><p> -What ability was decisive for 2 Para’s victory?</p><p>-What ability was decisive for Taskforce Mercedes defeat?</p><p> Initially I will conduct a literature study, followed by a comparative case study.</p><p>I have come to the following conclusions:</p><p>The Argentines lost due to their lack of a good leadership and</p><p>The British won due to the abilities, better trained, better motivated and with more experience. They also, contrary to the Argentines, had leaders that was present and tried to resolve the situations they’ve gotten in to. If you want to read more about this and how I’ve come to these conclusions, please read this essay.</p>

Den 26 maj 1982 påbörjas anfallet mot samhällena Darwin och Goose Green. Anfallande styrka är brittiska, 2 Paras, på plats och försvarsgrupperade är Taskforce Mercedes. Britterna vinner slutligen över en numerärt överlägsen och försvarsgrupperad argentinsk styrka. Hur kommer det sig att detta kan ske? Jag kommer, för att kunna besvara mina frågeställningar, i det här självständiga arbetet att med utgång i de grundläggande förmågorna, ledning, verkan, skydd, rörlighet, uthållighet och und/info, analysera slaget. Dessa frågeställningar är:  -          Vilken av de grundläggande förmågorna var avgörande för 2 Paras seger? -          Vilken av de grundläggande förmågorna var avgörande för Taskforce Mercedes förlust? Jag har kommit fram till följande; britterna kunde tack vare en kombination av förmågorna ledning och verkan avgöra striden till deras fördel. För argentinarna var det förmågan ledning som bäddade för deras förlust. Vill du veta hur jag kommit fram till detta och varför uppmanar jag dig att läsa detta arbete. / My name is Nicklas Nilsson. I’m a cadet studying at the Swedish Land warfare Centre. As a part of becoming a commissioned officer I’m obligated to write an essay at fundamental level. I have written about the Battle for Darwin – Goose Green. A battle between 2 Para and Taskforce Mercedes. I have used (de grundläggande förmågorna) six fundamental abilities as an analysis instrument. The questions I am going to answer with this essay are:  -What ability was decisive for 2 Para’s victory? -What ability was decisive for Taskforce Mercedes defeat?  Initially I will conduct a literature study, followed by a comparative case study. I have come to the following conclusions: The Argentines lost due to their lack of a good leadership and The British won due to the abilities, better trained, better motivated and with more experience. They also, contrary to the Argentines, had leaders that was present and tried to resolve the situations they’ve gotten in to. If you want to read more about this and how I’ve come to these conclusions, please read this essay.

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to infer others’ mental states and thus to predict their behavior (Perner, 1991). Therefore, ToM is essential for the adequate adjustment of behavior in social situations. ToM can be divided into: 1) cognitive ToM encompassing inferences about intentions and beliefs and 2) affective ToM encompassing inferences about emotions (Shamay-Tsoory, Harari, Aharon-Peretz, & Levkovitz, 2010). Well-functioning skills of both ToM aspects are much-needed in the developmental period of adolescence because in this age phase peer relationships become more important and romantic relationships arise (Steinberg & Morris, 2001). Importantly, affective psychopathological disorders often have their onset in adolescence. ToM development in adolescence might be based on underlying cognitive mechanisms such as the ability to inhibit one’s own thoughts in order to understand another person’s thoughts (Carlson & Moses, 2001). Another possible mechanism relates to functional brain development across adolescence (Blakemore, 2008). Therefore, neurocognitive mechanisms may underlie ongoing ToM development in adolescence. First studies indicate an ongoing behavioral and functional brain development of ToM (e.g. Blakemore, 2008). However, ToM development in adolescence and how this might relate to underlying (neuro)cognitive functions remains largely underexamined. The major aims of the current thesis were first to answer the overall question whether there is an ongoing development of ToM in adolescence. This question relates to both behavioral and functional brain development. As a second major aim, the present work sought to elucidate possible (neuro)cognitive mechanisms of ongoing ToM development across adolescence. Specifically, these cognitive mechanisms might be basic cognitive functions as well as executive functions. Additionally, the present work aimed at exploring potential (neuro)cognitive mechanisms through an integration of both behavioral and functional brain studies. The current experimental work spans three cross-sectional studies investigating adolescents (aged around 12-15 years) and young adults (aged around 18-22 years) to examine for the first time both the behavioral (studies I and II) and functional brain development of ToM (study III) in adolescence and its underlying (neuro)cognitive mechanisms. In all three studies, more complex, advanced ToM tasks were employed to avoid ceiling effects. Study I was aimed at investigating if cognitive and affective ToM continues to develop in adolescence and at exploring if basic cognitive variables such as verbal ability, speed of processing, and working memory capacity underlie such development. Hence, two groups of adolescents and young adults completed tasks of ToM and basic cognitive abilities. Large age effects were revealed on both measures of ToM: adolescents performed lower than adults. These age differences remained significant after controlling for basic cognitive variables. However, verbal ability covaried with performance in affective ToM. Overall, results support the hypothesis of an ongoing development of ToM from adolescence to adulthood on both cognitive and affective aspects. Results may further indicate verbal ability being a basic cognitive mechanism of affective ToM. Study II was designed to further explore if affective ToM, as measured with a dynamic realistic task, continues to develop across adolescence. Importantly, this study sought to explore executive functions as higher cognitive mechanisms of developing affective ToM across adolescence. A large group spanning adolescents and young adults evaluated affective mental states depicted by actors in video clips. Additionally, participants were examined with three subcomponents of executive functions, inhibition, updating, and shifting following the classification of Miyake et al. (2000). Affective ToM performance was positively related to age and all three executive functions. Specifically, inhibition explained the largest amount of variance in age related differences of affective ToM performance. Overall, these results indicate the importance of inhibition as key underlying mechanism of developing an advanced affective ToM in adolescence. Study III set out to explore the functional brain development of affective ToM in adolescence by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The affective ToM measure was the behavioral developmentally sensitive task from study II. An additional control condition consisted of the same emotional stimuli with the instruction to focus on physical information. This study faced methodical challenges of developmental fMRI studies by matching performance of groups. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) was significantly less deactivated in adolescents in comparison to adults, which might suggest that adolescents seem to rely more on self-referential processes for affective ToM. Furthermore, adolescents compared to adults showed greater activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the control condition, indicating that adolescents might be distracted by the emotional content and therefore needed to focus more on the physical content of the stimulus. These findings suggest affective ToM continues to develop on the functional brain level and reveals different underlying neurocognitive strategies for adolescents in contrast to adults. In summary, the current thesis investigated whether ToM continues to develop in adolescence until young adulthood and explored underlying (neuro)cognitive mechanisms. Findings suggest that there is indeed an ongoing development of both the cognitive and affective aspect of ToM, which importantly contributes to the conceptual debate. Moreover, the second benefit to the debate is to demonstrate how this change may occur. As a basic cognitive mechanism verbal ability and as an executive functioning mechanism inhibition was revealed. Furthermore, neurocognitive mechanisms in form of different underlying neurocognitive strategies of adolescents compared to adults were shown. Taken together, ToM development in adolescence seems to mirror a different adaptive cognitive style in adolescence (Crone & Dahl, 2012). This seems to be important for solving the wealth of socio-emotional developmental tasks that are relevant for this age span.