This diploma thesis investigates the question of the development of reading skills and their relationship with the self-concept of an individual. The teoretical part describes a development of reading literacy from the view of language, because a development of reading closely depends on a language, in which an individual learns to read. Also, it describes a development of reading literacy from the view of variables, which can be found inside of an individual and his environment. Next, we focus on the development of self-concept and self-evaluation, and we describes the specifics of self- evaluation of reading at the end. In the empirical part, we analyse data that were obtained from an Research project of the GAČR, which was carried out in 2013-2015 by members of the working group at the Department of psychology and other specialist from the Department of primary pedagogy and Czech language on College of Education at Charles University in Prague. We analysed of a reading self-evaluation questionnaire of pupils in 3rd and 4th grade of primary school and we compare their scores in the questionnaire with their achievement in a couple of grammar tests which measure two basic components of reading - understanding and decoding. At the end we show examples of case studies of pupil with high and low...

In western societies, skin cancer incidence has increased dramatically over recent decades, due predominantly to increased sun exposure habits. Ultraviolet (UV) light exposure and individual light sensitivity of the skin constitute two important factors affecting the risk for skin cancer development. Individuals with a heightened propensity to get sunburnt have a higher risk for skin malignancies, and need to protect themselves more systematically from the sun. Individual UVlight sensitivity can be determined either by self-estimation of tendency to burn and tan, as in the Fitzpatrick’s classification, or by use of a phototest. Although phototesting constitutes a considerably more objective method, it is only sparsely used, chiefly due to financial and resource related factors, and is mainly limited to investigation of photodermatoses or dose-management in photo therapy. The general aim of this thesis was to develop and improve aspects of the phototest procedure in rder to broaden the utilisation of phototesting within the fields of research, clinical practice and skin cancer prevention. As a first step, a new phototesting technique, using a divergent UVB beam was evaluated. The principle of the method is to provoke a circular UVB-erythema in the skin, the diameter of which is related to the administered dose and thus the Minimal Erythema Dose (MED). In a test group of healthy subjects, naked eye reading by a trained observer resulted in a more exact, estimation of UVB-sensitivity, compared to traditional phototesting. Since the diffuse border of the provoked erythema was challenging for the untrained observer to read, the need for an objective, bio-engineering technique for test reading was clear. In this thesis, Laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) has been used. This data also enabled an objective description of doseresponse for the reaction, an outcome not possible in traditional testing. The divergent beam method was also shown to be useful as a model for evaluation of the effect of topically applied substances. In order to broaden the utilisation of phototests in general, a test procedure built on patient performed self-reading of skin tests (a traditional phototest and an irritant patch test) was evaluated. The reliability of these self-readings was shown to be substantial when compared to the control readings of a trained observer. Using the self-reporting procedure, phototesting was evaluated as a tool in primary prevention of skin cancer. The study focussed on sun habits and sun protection behaviour, and also on investigating the impact of different forms of presentation of the preventive information. Results showed significantly higher impact for a personally mediated preventive message than by letterform. For individuals with heightened UV-sensitivity the performance of a phototest led to a greater tendency to adopt sun protection behaviour than for subjects with a lower UV-sensitivity, suggesting that phototesting is a useful way to improve the outcome in terms of preventive behaviours for this group of susceptible, at-risk individuals. Divergent beam phototesting, patient-performed self-reading, and the application of phototesting in skin cancer prevention emerge as three novel, previously little investigated, aspects of phototesting, for which promising results could be demonstrated. / Under de senaste årtiondena har insjuknandet i hudcancer ökat dramatiskt i västvärlden, detta till stor del beroende på förändrade solvanor. Exponering för solens ultravioletta strålning (UVstrålning) samt den individuella ljuskänsligheten i huden utgör två viktiga faktorer av betydelse för uppkomsten av hudcancer. Individer med ökad benägenhet att bli rödbrända i solen löper också ökad risk för hudcancer av solexponering, och behöver således vara extra noga med att skydda sig mot solen. Hur känslig man är mot solljuset kan bedömas antingen genom självskattning (klassificering enligt Fitzpatrick), eller genom att använda ett ljustest. Det sistnämnda är en betydligt mer objektiv metod, men används ändå relativt sparsamt, sannolikt ofta beroende på brist på resurser, tid eller klinisk rutin. Det övergripande syftet med avhandlingen var att utveckla och förbättra aspekter på ljustestningsförfarandet med inriktning på att kunna bredda användningen av ljustest inom forskning, klinisk verksamhet och hudcancerprevention. Som ett första steg undersöktes och utvärderades en ny ljustestteknik, baserad på en divergent (spridd) UV-stråle. Genom att belysa huden med ett cirkulärt UV-ljusfält framkallas en cirkulär rodnad (erytem), där diametern på rodnaden står i relation till den individuella ljuskänsligheten i huden. I jämförelse med traditionell ljustestningsmetodik visade sig metoden resultera i en noggrannare uppskattning av ljuskänslighet, samt möjligheten att beskriva ett dos-responsförhållande inom det rodnade hudområdet. Eftersom kanten på den framkallade rodnaden tenderade att bli ganska diffust avgränsad framkom dock, med undantag för speciellt tränade avläsare, svårigheter att läsa av testet med enbart ögats hjälp. Av den anledningen krävdes mer objektiv, hudfysiologisk mätmetodik. I de genomförda studierna användes så kallad Laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) för detta. Förutom uppskattning av ljuskänsligheten testades den divergenta UV-strålen också som modell för skattning av anti-inflammatorisk effekt av ämnen som appliceras på huden, exempelvis cortison, och visade sig användbar för detta. I syfte att öka förutsättningarna för bredare användning av ljustest, genomfördes en studie där försökspersonerna själva fick avläsa ett traditionellt ljustest och rapportera in testresultatet. Resultaten jämfördes med avläsningar utförda av en kunnig avläsare, och visade på god tillförlitlighet. Slutligen, med hjälp av den beskrivna självavläsningsproceduren, undersöktes i en primärvårdspopulation, om ljustestning kan vara användbart för att förebygga hudcancer, med inriktning på att påverka individers solvanor, solskyddsbeteende och attityder gentemot solning. I studien jämfördes även olika modeller för att presentera ett preventionsbudskap, och där ett muntligt sådant, förmedlat vid ett läkarbesök, hade ett betydligt bättre genomslag än motsvarande, enbart skriftlig, information. För individer med hög ljuskänslighet bidrog ljustestet till ökat solskyddsbeteende, vilket indikerar att ljustest skulle kunna vara ett användbart verktyg i eftersträvan att förebygga hudcancer speciellt i denna grupp av individer med förhöjd hudcancerrisk. Sammanfattningsvis utgör ljustestning med divergent UV-stråle, självavläsning av ljustest samt användning av ljustest vid hudcancerprevention tre nya, tidigare sparsamt undersökta aspekter på ljustestning, för vilka den här avhandlingen visar lovande resultat.

The aim of the study is to investigate what pupils in grade 1 think about reading aloud, reading alone, the selection of books, and the significance of reading. A subsidiary aimwas to examine the relation between the pupils’ experiences of reading in the home andtheir ability to discuss a text they have read. A sidetrack in the study aimed to see whether the pupils’ experiences of reading in the home affected their outlook on readingin general. The empirical material is linked in the discussion to earlier research on topics such as learning to read and the significance of reading aloud. The discussion also establishes a parallel to theories of literary envisionment. The methods for thestudy were observation of a book conversation and group interviews with four pupils who had taken part in that conversation. The selection of informants was based on their actions during the book conversation, which led to the selection of two pupils who wereperceived as being more active and two who were less active. The study shows that the informants have a positive attitude both to reading aloud and to reading alone, and three of four prefer reading on their own. In the choice of books it is clear that the pictures are very significant for the pupils. All the pupils say that reading is important and three of the interviewed pupils link the significance of reading to jobs and school, while the fourth drew a parallel to the importance of reading in everyday life.