Aims Research suggests that people with a learning disability have difficulty processing and interpreting facial expressions of emotion. Emotion recognition is a fundamental skill and impairment in this area may be related to a number of negative, social and functional outcomes including increased frequency of aggressive behaviour, failure of community-based placements and mental illness. This thesis therefore had three aims: to review systematically the evidence for the presence of emotion recognition impairments in adults with a learning disability compared with the non-learning disabled population; to evaluate the emotion specificity hypothesis (which states that people with a learning disability perform less well on emotion recognition tasks as a result of a specific impairment in emotion recognition competence) and to evaluate the relationship between cognitive processing style and emotion recognition in people with a learning disability. Methods The first paper is a systematic review of studies that compared the performance of adults with a learning disability with that of a non-learning disabled control group on tasks of facial emotion recognition. The second paper reports on an empirical study that compared the performance of adults with a learning disability (n = 23) with adults (n = 23) and children (n = 23) without learning disability on tasks of facial emotion recognition and control tasks. The third paper reports further results from the empirical study which looks at cognitive processing style of adults with a learning disability and non-learning disabled children and adults. Results The systematic review found that all of the included studies reported evidence to support the proposal that adults with a learning disability are relatively impaired in recognising facial expressions of emotion. There are significant limitations associated with the research in this area and further studies are required in order to provide insight into the possible causes of emotion recognition deficits in this group of people. In the empirical study, adults with a learning disability were found to be relatively impaired on both emotion recognition and control tasks compared with both adult and child control groups. The availability of contextual information improved emotion recognition accuracy for adults with learning disability. The demands of the task also had an effect: identifying a target emotion from a choice of two images, rather than a choice of nine or naming the emotion also improved accuracy. Adults with learning disability were more likely to adopt a local processing style. A global processing style was associated with greater accuracy on the emotion recognition tasks. Conclusions Adults with learning disability are relatively impaired in facial emotion recognition when compared with non-learning disabled adults and children. This relative impairment was also evident on control tasks and therefore no evidence for the emotion specificity hypothesis was found. A number of issues in relation to future research are raised, specifically regarding the development of control tasks with comparable levels of difficulty to emotion recognition tasks.

Esta dissertação, inserida em linha de pesquisa de \"História, Filosofia e Cultura no Ensino de Ciências\", abordou a inserção de um episódio da História da Ciência no ensino de Biologia da educação básica. A pesquisa, caracterizada por uma abordagem inclusiva da História da Ciência no ensino de Biologia, foi orientada pelos seguintes objetivos: 1) desenvolver o estudo de um episódio histórico envolvendo a viagem do naturalista inglês Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) ao Brasil, no século XIX; 2) desenvolver um estudo empírico de utilização de episódio da História da Biologia no ensino e aprendizagem de conteúdos de Biologia por meio da elaboração, validação, aplicação e avaliação de uma sequência didática; 3) investigar os efeitos da utilização de um episódio de História da Biologia sobre aspectos motivacionais e emocionais dos alunos durante o ensino e aprendizagem de conteúdos de Biologia. A viagem de Wallace à Amazônia foi analisada segundo a metodologia de pesquisa em História da Ciência, fazendo uso de fontes primárias e secundárias. Foram investigadas a formação inicial do pesquisador e as motivações para a realização da viagem segundo o contexto das expedições científicas do século XIX. Foram ainda discutidas as principais contribuições que ele desenvolveu, particularmente sobre as palmeiras amazônicas. Esse estudo gerou um material que pode servir de subsídio ao professor que deseje abordar esse episódio histórico em sala de aula. A partir desse episódio, foi elaborada uma sequência didática baseada nos estudos de Wallace sobre as palmeiras amazônicas. As palmeiras estudadas por Wallace serviram de base para os alunos realizarem atividades relacionadas à classificação biológica, ao uso de chaves dicotômicas de identificação e à elaboração de uma matriz de classificação filogenética. A sequência didática foi composta de oito aulas desenvolvidas com diferentes estratégias de ensino e aprendizagem, com uso de materiais instrucionais especialmente elaborados para cada aula. Após processo de validação, a sequência didática foi aplicada em duas turmas de 2º ano do Ensino Médio, de uma escola pública, no município de São Paulo, no primeiro semestre de 2013. Foi realizada triangulação de dados obtidos por meio de gravação e transcrição das aulas, bem como aplicação de dois questionários validados pela literatura: um destinado a avaliar motivação e outro a avaliar emoção situacional dos alunos. A análise dos dados obtidos levou à elaboração de uma representação gráfica mapeando as disposições motivacionais e emocionais dos alunos durante as interações de ensino e aprendizagem da sequência didática. Como resultados principais da pesquisa empírica que podem contribuir para a área de ensino de Ciências Naturais em que abordagens históricas estão inseridas, destacam-se evidências de que os alunos responderam positivamente à aprendizagem de conteúdos científicos atuais considerados complexos e distantes do seu dia a dia, como é o caso da classificação filogenética, após esse estudo ter sido provocado a partir dos estudos de Wallace na Amazônia. Esta pesquisa também contribui com a divulgação de uma metodologia para investigar aspectos motivacionais e emocionais dos alunos na aprendizagem de conteúdos de Biologia. Finalmente, estabeleceu alguns parâmetros sobre a contribuição da História da Ciência no ensino de Biologia. / This dissertation, set in search of \"History, Philosophy and Culture in Science Education\" line, addressed the insertion of an episode of the History of Science in Biology teaching of basic education. The research, characterized by an inclusive approach of the History of Science in teaching Biology, was guided by the following objectives: 1) develop the study of a historical episode involving the journey of the English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) to Brazil in the nineteenth century; 2) develop an empirical study of using episode of the History of Biology in teaching and learning content biology through the development, validation, implementation and evaluation of an instructional sequence; 3) investigate the effects of using of an episode of the History of Biology on motivational and emotional aspects of learning content for students of Biology. A trip to the Amazon Wallace was analyzed according to the methodology of research in History of Science, using primary and secondary sources. The initial training of the researcher and the motivations for the provision of travel were investigated according to the context of the scientific expeditions of the nineteenth century. We also discuss the major contributions he has developed, particularly on Amazonian palm trees. This study generated a material that can serve as a subsidy to the teacher who wishes to address this historical episode in the classroom. From this episode, we created a teaching sequence based on the studies of Wallace on the Amazon palm trees. Palm trees studied by Wallace served as the basis for students to carry out activities related to biological classification, the use of dichotomous keys for identification and development of a phylogenetic classification matrix. The teaching learning sequence consisted of eight lessons developed with different strategies of teaching and learning, using a specially designed instructional materials for each class. After the validation process, the teaching learning sequence was applied to two groups of 2nd year of High School, a public school in São Paulo, in the first half of 2013. Triangulation of data obtained through the recording and transcription of the classes as well as application of two validated questionnaires in the literature was performed: one designed to assess motivation and to review other students\' situational emotion. The data analysis led to the development of a graphical representation mapping the motivational and emotional dispositions of students during interactions of teaching and learning instructional sequence. As the results of empirical research that can contribute to the area of teaching natural sciences in that historical approaches are inserted, are evidence that the students responded positively to learning of scientific considered complex and current content away from their daily lives, such as the phylogenetic classification, after this study have been caused from the studies of Wallace in the Amazon. This research also contributes to the dissemination of a methodology for investigating motivational and emotional aspects of learning content students in Biology. Finally, set some parameters on the contribution of the History of Science in teaching Biology.

Esta dissertação, inserida em linha de pesquisa de \"História, Filosofia e Cultura no Ensino de Ciências\", abordou a inserção de um episódio da História da Ciência no ensino de Biologia da educação básica. A pesquisa, caracterizada por uma abordagem inclusiva da História da Ciência no ensino de Biologia, foi orientada pelos seguintes objetivos: 1) desenvolver o estudo de um episódio histórico envolvendo a viagem do naturalista inglês Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) ao Brasil, no século XIX; 2) desenvolver um estudo empírico de utilização de episódio da História da Biologia no ensino e aprendizagem de conteúdos de Biologia por meio da elaboração, validação, aplicação e avaliação de uma sequência didática; 3) investigar os efeitos da utilização de um episódio de História da Biologia sobre aspectos motivacionais e emocionais dos alunos durante o ensino e aprendizagem de conteúdos de Biologia. A viagem de Wallace à Amazônia foi analisada segundo a metodologia de pesquisa em História da Ciência, fazendo uso de fontes primárias e secundárias. Foram investigadas a formação inicial do pesquisador e as motivações para a realização da viagem segundo o contexto das expedições científicas do século XIX. Foram ainda discutidas as principais contribuições que ele desenvolveu, particularmente sobre as palmeiras amazônicas. Esse estudo gerou um material que pode servir de subsídio ao professor que deseje abordar esse episódio histórico em sala de aula. A partir desse episódio, foi elaborada uma sequência didática baseada nos estudos de Wallace sobre as palmeiras amazônicas. As palmeiras estudadas por Wallace serviram de base para os alunos realizarem atividades relacionadas à classificação biológica, ao uso de chaves dicotômicas de identificação e à elaboração de uma matriz de classificação filogenética. A sequência didática foi composta de oito aulas desenvolvidas com diferentes estratégias de ensino e aprendizagem, com uso de materiais instrucionais especialmente elaborados para cada aula. Após processo de validação, a sequência didática foi aplicada em duas turmas de 2º ano do Ensino Médio, de uma escola pública, no município de São Paulo, no primeiro semestre de 2013. Foi realizada triangulação de dados obtidos por meio de gravação e transcrição das aulas, bem como aplicação de dois questionários validados pela literatura: um destinado a avaliar motivação e outro a avaliar emoção situacional dos alunos. A análise dos dados obtidos levou à elaboração de uma representação gráfica mapeando as disposições motivacionais e emocionais dos alunos durante as interações de ensino e aprendizagem da sequência didática. Como resultados principais da pesquisa empírica que podem contribuir para a área de ensino de Ciências Naturais em que abordagens históricas estão inseridas, destacam-se evidências de que os alunos responderam positivamente à aprendizagem de conteúdos científicos atuais considerados complexos e distantes do seu dia a dia, como é o caso da classificação filogenética, após esse estudo ter sido provocado a partir dos estudos de Wallace na Amazônia. Esta pesquisa também contribui com a divulgação de uma metodologia para investigar aspectos motivacionais e emocionais dos alunos na aprendizagem de conteúdos de Biologia. Finalmente, estabeleceu alguns parâmetros sobre a contribuição da História da Ciência no ensino de Biologia. / This dissertation, set in search of \"History, Philosophy and Culture in Science Education\" line, addressed the insertion of an episode of the History of Science in Biology teaching of basic education. The research, characterized by an inclusive approach of the History of Science in teaching Biology, was guided by the following objectives: 1) develop the study of a historical episode involving the journey of the English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) to Brazil in the nineteenth century; 2) develop an empirical study of using episode of the History of Biology in teaching and learning content biology through the development, validation, implementation and evaluation of an instructional sequence; 3) investigate the effects of using of an episode of the History of Biology on motivational and emotional aspects of learning content for students of Biology. A trip to the Amazon Wallace was analyzed according to the methodology of research in History of Science, using primary and secondary sources. The initial training of the researcher and the motivations for the provision of travel were investigated according to the context of the scientific expeditions of the nineteenth century. We also discuss the major contributions he has developed, particularly on Amazonian palm trees. This study generated a material that can serve as a subsidy to the teacher who wishes to address this historical episode in the classroom. From this episode, we created a teaching sequence based on the studies of Wallace on the Amazon palm trees. Palm trees studied by Wallace served as the basis for students to carry out activities related to biological classification, the use of dichotomous keys for identification and development of a phylogenetic classification matrix. The teaching learning sequence consisted of eight lessons developed with different strategies of teaching and learning, using a specially designed instructional materials for each class. After the validation process, the teaching learning sequence was applied to two groups of 2nd year of High School, a public school in São Paulo, in the first half of 2013. Triangulation of data obtained through the recording and transcription of the classes as well as application of two validated questionnaires in the literature was performed: one designed to assess motivation and to review other students\' situational emotion. The data analysis led to the development of a graphical representation mapping the motivational and emotional dispositions of students during interactions of teaching and learning instructional sequence. As the results of empirical research that can contribute to the area of teaching natural sciences in that historical approaches are inserted, are evidence that the students responded positively to learning of scientific considered complex and current content away from their daily lives, such as the phylogenetic classification, after this study have been caused from the studies of Wallace in the Amazon. This research also contributes to the dissemination of a methodology for investigating motivational and emotional aspects of learning content students in Biology. Finally, set some parameters on the contribution of the History of Science in teaching Biology.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / With compulsory education in the New South· Africa, an increase in the number of school beginners can be expected, together with the probability of large gaps in their readiness for school. In £his study, materials have been developed together with a structure for the organisation of teaching_~!?.r trainers/subject advisers, teachers and pupils, to ensure effective education for school beginners. The "Battery for the Assessment of Bridging period Yields" (BABY) has been developed as a valid, realiable and usable school readiness battery of tests for teachers as unregistered test users. The Pre-Test for division into homogeneous ability groups is applied shortly after entrance to school. The Battery of Diagnostic Tests ensures continuous evaluation of pupils during the school readiness programme. The Post-Test is applied at the end of the first term. In this dynamic interaction between tester and pupil in an instruction-test-instruction cycle, the pupils' readiness to progress with formal instruction is continuously evaluated. / Met verpligte onderwys in die Nuwe Suid-Afrika, kan 'n toename in die getal swart skoolbeginners ve:wag word, asook dat daar in hulle skoolvoorbereiding groot leemtes kan voorkom. In die onderhawige studie is hulpmiddels en 'n struktuur vir onderwysorganisasie vir opleiers/vakadviseurs, onderwyseresse en leerlinge ontwikkel om aan skoolbeginners effektiewe onderwys te verseker. Die "Battery for the Assessment of Bridging period Yields" (BABY), 'n geldige, betroubare en bruikbare skoolgereedheidstoetsbattery vir onderwyseresse as ongeregistreerde toetsgebruikers, is ontwikkel. Die Voortoets vtr indeling in homogene bevoegdheidsgroepe word kort na skooltoetrede toegepas. Die Diagnostiese Toetsbattery verseker deurlopende evaluering van leerlinge gedurende die skoolgereedmakingsprogram. Die Natoets word aan die einde van die eerste kwartaal toegepas. In hierdie dinamiese interaksie tussen toetser en leerling in 'n onderrig-toets-onderrig siklus, word leerlinge se gereedheid om met formele onderrig voort te gaan, deurlopend geevalueer. / Psychology og Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / With compulsory education in the New South· Africa, an increase in the number of school beginners can be expected, together with the probability of large gaps in their readiness for school. In £his study, materials have been developed together with a structure for the organisation of teaching_~!?.r trainers/subject advisers, teachers and pupils, to ensure effective education for school beginners. The "Battery for the Assessment of Bridging period Yields" (BABY) has been developed as a valid, realiable and usable school readiness battery of tests for teachers as unregistered test users. The Pre-Test for division into homogeneous ability groups is applied shortly after entrance to school. The Battery of Diagnostic Tests ensures continuous evaluation of pupils during the school readiness programme. The Post-Test is applied at the end of the first term. In this dynamic interaction between tester and pupil in an instruction-test-instruction cycle, the pupils' readiness to progress with formal instruction is continuously evaluated. / Met verpligte onderwys in die Nuwe Suid-Afrika, kan 'n toename in die getal swart skoolbeginners ve:wag word, asook dat daar in hulle skoolvoorbereiding groot leemtes kan voorkom. In die onderhawige studie is hulpmiddels en 'n struktuur vir onderwysorganisasie vir opleiers/vakadviseurs, onderwyseresse en leerlinge ontwikkel om aan skoolbeginners effektiewe onderwys te verseker. Die "Battery for the Assessment of Bridging period Yields" (BABY), 'n geldige, betroubare en bruikbare skoolgereedheidstoetsbattery vir onderwyseresse as ongeregistreerde toetsgebruikers, is ontwikkel. Die Voortoets vtr indeling in homogene bevoegdheidsgroepe word kort na skooltoetrede toegepas. Die Diagnostiese Toetsbattery verseker deurlopende evaluering van leerlinge gedurende die skoolgereedmakingsprogram. Die Natoets word aan die einde van die eerste kwartaal toegepas. In hierdie dinamiese interaksie tussen toetser en leerling in 'n onderrig-toets-onderrig siklus, word leerlinge se gereedheid om met formele onderrig voort te gaan, deurlopend geevalueer. / Psychology og Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)