"This thesis documents the design and implementation process for the next generation of the WPI Precision Personnel Location (PPL) system hardware. The driving goal of the new hardware was to support a new method of radio frequency location developed at WPI referred to as Transactional Array Reconciliation Tomography (TART). This new method is based on a time of arrival (TOA) technique as opposed to the previous Singular Value Array Reconciliation Tomography (SART), which uses time difference of arrival (TDOA). The use of a TOA method requires additional timing information and necessitates a bidirectional (transmit and receive) multicarrier transaction. The design of the new transceiver that can function as both a mobile locator and a static reference unit is the main focus of this thesis. This redesign also addressed previous hardware issues that have been exposed through extensive use in real world testing."

IQ has been shown to predict life outcomes such as income and education, but to benefit men more than women. Parenthood is in turn known to be partly predicted by variables correlated with IQ, with more educated and well-paid subjects being more probable to become parents. Previous research has found evidence for a “fatherhood premium” for men and a “motherhood penalty” for women, with fathers tending to earn more than comparable non-fathers and mothers in turn earning less than childless women. This study used data from a longitudinal Swedish study to investigate the relationship between IQ, parenthood and income. Results showed that both men and women in the low IQ group had a lower probability of parenthood, men significantly so. A fatherhood premium was found, but it disappeared when controlling for working hours. A more consistent and significant motherhood penalty disfavoring women with children was found in the high IQ group, but this difference could not explain much of the much larger income difference between the genders. Whereas the average hourly wages of all groups of men were higher than those of all groups of women, all groups of women had a higher mean probability of parenthood than all groups of men.  Previous research has indicated that some groups seem to “have it all” in the sense of being uniformly well-adjusted, but in this sample it appears to be more of a trade-off with no group being consistently at an advantage on all indices of adjustment.

The relationship between intelligence as measured by the Shipley Institute of Living Scale, Coping Processes as measured by the Ways of Coping Scale and resilience as measured by Global Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory, was examined in 88 individuals who had been sexually abused and 88 individuals who had not been sexually abused. The study attempted to assess whether more intelligent individuals and those who used certain coping styles would experience less distress in the face of adversity than individuals with lower levels of intelligence and who used different coping styles. The results indicated that intelligence was not associated with resilience in either the sexually abused or the non-sexually abused group. In the sexually abused group, the coping processes of Confronting, Distancing, Self Controlling, Accepting Responsibility, Escape Avoidance, Planful Problem Solving and Positive Reappraisal were all significantly positively correlated with the GSI. In the non-sexually abused group, however, the coping processes of Self Controlling, Accepting Responsibility and Escape Avoidance were all significantly positively correlated with the GSI. Results of a simultaneous regression indicated that in the sexually abused group, none of the variables that were correlated with resilience accounted for a significant amount of variance in GSI scores. In the sample of individuals who had not been sexually abused, the coping strategy of Escape Avoidance was the only individual predictor accounting for a significant amount of the GSI variance in the model. Possible reasons and implications of these results are discussed.

När man talar om barn i behov av särskilt stöd menar man ofta de elever som inte klarar godkänd gränsen i skolan eller har andra problem. Sällan eller aldrig nämns elever som är begåvade. Arbetet består av en litteraturgenomgång samt en kvalitativ intervjustudie med fem lärare på en och samma skola. Lärarnas beskrivning av begåvade elever är att de kan se helheter och sammanhang, de är kreativa, snabba i tanken och vetgiriga. Många är verbala och de flesta socialt anpassade.

<p>När man talar om barn i behov av särskilt stöd menar man ofta de elever som inte klarar godkänd gränsen i skolan eller har andra problem. Sällan eller aldrig nämns elever som är begåvade. Arbetet består av en litteraturgenomgång samt en kvalitativ intervjustudie med fem lärare på en och samma skola. Lärarnas beskrivning av begåvade elever är att de kan se helheter och sammanhang, de är kreativa, snabba i tanken och vetgiriga. Många är verbala och de flesta socialt anpassade.</p>

The aim of the present doctoral thesis was to examine to what extent personality traits and approaches to learning contribute to academic performance in upper secondary school (high school), after controlling for the well-known fact that general intelligence accounts for a large part of the variance. The general proposition of the thesis is that personality traits are stable dispositions and therefore predispose an individual to behave or act in a specific manner (Costa &amp; McCrae, 1976). Additionally, another important determinant of academic performance is students’ approaches to learning, the way someone studies and makes sense of a particular school subject (Biggs, 1999). Study I examined how personality traits, divided into facets, predict academic performance in different school subjects. The results from several SEM analyses showed that personality, specifically Conscientiousness, has a positive influence on academic performance. In addition, there was a negative relation between Extraversion and academic performance and a positive relation between Neuroticism and academic performance. There were also interesting findings on the facet levels for all traits. The major conclusion of this study is that personality traits, both on the factor level and on the facet level, are important to academic performance in general, but sometimes more specifically to different school subjects. In Study II, the aim was to investigate the unique contribution of learning approaches to academic performance. A second aim was to explore possible gender differences in learning approaches. It was found that learning approaches contributed uniquely to academic performance, over and above personality and general intelligence. Differences between girls and boys were found, both with respect to the use of learning approaches and the consequences of these learning approaches for performance results. Based on a longitudinal design, the aim of Study III was to explore to what extent personality traits predict academic performance. Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Neuroticism were found to predict overall academic performance. Results suggest that personality traits, as measured at the age of 16, can predict academic performance at the age of 19, and more specifically: the grades of conscientious students improved from age 16 to age 19. This study extends previous work by assessing the relationship between the Big Five and academic performance over a three-year period.

No description available.

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the most valid language psychologists can use to assess Spanish-speaking students who are English language learners, depending on the students’ English language proficiency level, Spanish language proficiency level, and demographic information. Participants included 84 2nd to 5th grade Spanish-speaking students who were English language learners. These students were given a demographic survey, a WISC-IV in English, and a WISC-IV in Spanish. The school had English and Spanish language proficiency data. Results found that once a student reaches the Bridging and Reaching levels (and possibly the Expanding level) of English language proficiency on the ACCESS for ELLs assessment, the student is likely to receive a similar score on a WISC-IV in English and Spanish. Students who score in the Proficient and Above Proficient levels on the Las Links assessment score higher on the Spanish WISC-IV than on the English WISC-IV. Additionally, these findings show that English and Spanish proficiency scores are more useful to determine the most valid language in which to assess a student than using demographic variables. This research will help psychologists to decide the most valid language in which to assess students who are ELL by looking at English and Spanish language proficiency levels. There may also be policy implications. Further research should address how the outcome might change with the WISC-V and should look at generalization to other intelligence tests and language proficiency tests.

Denna uppsats har som syfte att undersöka den konstruerade bilden avtonåringen samt dennes relation till sina föräldrar i IQ:s i skrivande stund senaste upplaga avTonårsparlören. Analysen har genomförts med hjälp av en kritisk diskursanalys och ärteoretiskt förankrad i begreppen makt, normalitet, egenmakt och delaktighet. Bilden somframkommer är den av tonåringen som känslig, identitetssökande och driven. Föräldern antasha svårigheter med att kommunicera med sitt barn, samt att fatta myndiga beslut över sintonåring och att sedan stå fast vid dem. I IQ:s idealrelation är förälder och tonåring mycketnära och öppna gentemot varandra. Föräldern är varm men stark och tydlig i sitt ledarskap.

Lead neurotoxicity is considered a problem in young children and the long-term effects of lead exposure on them have yet to be determined. Studies have been completed to determine how lead exposure has affected children through their most important developmental stages. However, there is a lack of research to uncover any long-term effects lead may have as children enter adulthood. The purpose of this study was to determine long-term effects of lead exposure on IQ. The theoretical foundation for this study is the Cattell Horn Carroll theory of intelligence, which is based on fluid (novel experiences) and crystallized (previous experiences) intelligence. This study focused on individuals who were exposed to lead as children and are now young adults (ages 18-25). These individuals were part of a class action lawsuit and referred to a clinical psychologist from a private clinic who conducted IQ testing. In this non-experimental quantitative study, a multiple regression analysis was conducted on secondary data. Independent variables were first and last blood lead and Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration scores as indicated from medical records. The dependent variables were the perceptual reasoning index, and verbal comprehension index of the WAIS-IV administered by a licensed clinical psychologist. The results of this study showed that childhood lead toxicity did not predict IQ scores in young adulthood. More research needs to be completed so that governmental agencies will have more information to be proactive in creating and changing policies around the use of lead in products that people use daily. This could lead to positive social change by placing an emphasis on early identification and treatment of lead exposure.