George Spanoudis
University of Cyprus, Department of Psychology, Faculty Member
- Intelligence, Cognitive development, Language Learning Disabilities, Teaching of Psychology, Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, and 23 moreDevelopmental Psychology, Psycholinguistics, Language, Language Acquisition, First Language Acquisition, Dyslexia, Individual Differences, Vocabulary Acquisition, Item Response Theory, Psychology of Language, Folk Psychology, Infant Cognition, Word Learning, Reading Disability, Logic, Intellectual Disability, Special education (Psychology), Cogntive Science, Psychology, Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Semantics, and Cognitionedit
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Sex differences on the Standard Progressive Matrices are reported for 10 to 17 year olds in Cyprus. There were no significant differences among 10 to 16 year olds but among 17 year olds males obtained a mean IQ 4.4 points higher than... more
Sex differences on the Standard Progressive Matrices are reported for 10 to 17 year olds in Cyprus. There were no significant differences among 10 to 16 year olds but among 17 year olds males obtained a mean IQ 4.4 points higher than females. Key words: Cyprus, Standard Progressive Matrices, sex differences, intelligence
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
One of the recent tendencies in the field of education nowadays is that the population of students is becoming increasingly diverse, both culturally and linguistically. As a result, the numbers of children diagnosed with Specific Learning... more
One of the recent tendencies in the field of education nowadays is that the population of students is becoming increasingly diverse, both culturally and linguistically. As a result, the numbers of children diagnosed with Specific Learning Differences (SpLD), e.g. dyslexia, specific language impairment, attention deficits, as well as those with other disabilities, e.g. visual, hearing or physical impairments, are steadily growing. So is the number of students enrolled in special education. This situation, combined with greater awareness of individual human rights, has led to an increased demand for appropriate testing and assessment provision. This is of particular concern to Second/Foreign Language (L2/FL) test providers (Taylor 2012) and teachers (Kormos and Smith 2012), who are very often faced with the challenge of having to offer special arrangements (accommodations) to Second Language Learners (SLLs) with disabilities. Within this framework, the present volume seeks to discuss the theoretical, ethical and practical considerations involved in assessing SLLs with disabilities. More specifically, it explores theoretical models and research findings that identify the special needs of SLLs with SpLD and other disabilities and evaluates the effectiveness of accommodation practices employed. Studies of both high-stakes tests and classroom-based assessments related to the special needs of SLLs are presented by professionals and researchers working in the area of psychology, special education and L2/FL testing and assessment. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies are included, as well as studies conducted among young and adult SLLs with SpLD and other disabilities. Related issues are examined through multidisciplinary and multifaceted approaches. As such the volume explores recent thinking and research in the fields of special education, psychology and language testing and assessment and critically expands work already done in these fields by presenting new, exciting and uncharted avenues and territories where these fields meet in a dialectic and informative relationship. This volume is a compilation of fourteen chapters, both theoretical and research-oriented, addressing the fair assessment of this special population of SLLs. The volume consists of three parts. Part I contains six chapters Introduction x focusing on issues related to diagnosing SLLs with SpLD and other learning disabilities. Part II consists of five chapters that discuss training needs and assessment procedures. Part III includes three chapters involving the perspective of L2/FL examination boards. In chapter one, Keira Ballantyne makes detailed reference to the federal educational accountability system in the United States which, as the author explains, does not systematically collect data necessary to …
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The aim of our study was to evaluate the potential association between physical activity and occupational stress among firefighters. Data were collected from Cypriot firefighters through a web-based battery of internationally validated... more
The aim of our study was to evaluate the potential association between physical activity and occupational stress among firefighters. Data were collected from Cypriot firefighters through a web-based battery of internationally validated questionnaires completed anonymously (COPSOQ, DASS). A total of 430 firefighters (response rate 68%) completed the survey (age range: 21–60 years). More than half of the firefighters (54%) reported either no or minimal physical activity. A total of 11% of firefighters reported moderate to extremely severe stress based on the DASS-S scale. Using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models, we showed that firefighters who exercised had 50% lower risk of occupational stress, and using a categorical model, we found that every hour per week of increased physical activity among firefighters was associated with 16% lower risk of occupational stress after adjusting for age, education, smoking, and body mass index (OR = 1.16; p = 0.05). In addition, our ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Purpose The researchers aim to investigate how students can be deterred from cheating, whether legal or ethical policies and procedures are effective and whether there are gender differences. Design/methodology/approach Using data on... more
Purpose The researchers aim to investigate how students can be deterred from cheating, whether legal or ethical policies and procedures are effective and whether there are gender differences. Design/methodology/approach Using data on students undertaking midterm and final e-examinations, as well as a control group of students who were caught cheating in an online mid-semester examination, the authors attempt to answer the research questions. Findings No differences were found in cheating in terms of students’ gender or whether they were repeating a course or not. However, the study revealed that if there are more internal controls imposed and if before the examination students are made to reinforce their academic integrity, e-examination cheating is reduced. Originality/value No other published study was carried out with students who were involved in cheating.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Language and communication deficits characterize both autism spectrum disorder and developmental language disorder, and the possibility of there being a common profile of these is a matter of tireless debate in the research community.... more
Language and communication deficits characterize both autism spectrum disorder and developmental language disorder, and the possibility of there being a common profile of these is a matter of tireless debate in the research community. This experimental study addresses the relation of these two developmental conditions in the critical topic of language. A total of 103 children (79 males, 24 females) participated in the present study. Specifically, the study’s sample consisted of 40 children with autism, 28 children with developmental language disorder, and 35 typically developing children between 6 and 12 years old. All children completed language and cognitive measures. The results showed that there is a subgroup inside the autism group of children who demonstrate language difficulties similar to children with developmental language disorder. Specifically, two different subgroups were derived from the autism group; those with language impairment and those without. Both autism and la...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The aim of this study was to validate a 24-item TEPID (Teachers of EFL Preparedness to Include Dyslexics) scale measuring the beliefs of 546 pre-service and in-service teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) across three countries... more
The aim of this study was to validate a 24-item TEPID (Teachers of EFL Preparedness to Include Dyslexics) scale measuring the beliefs of 546 pre-service and in-service teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) across three countries (Cyprus, Greece, and Poland) on their preparedness to include learners with dyslexia in mainstream foreign language (FL) classes. Principal component analysis of the scale led to a two-factor structure, that is, knowledge and self-efficacy in implementing inclusive instructional practices with dyslexic EFL learners, and stance towards inclusion. The analysis of measurement invariance confirmed the generalizability of the TEPID across all subgroups and allowed valid comparisons between factor variances and covariances. The scale is a useful tool for investigating perceived teacher preparedness to include dyslexic learners and variables that influence TEPID, comparing the results across countries, and designing tailored pre-service and in-service tra...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Psychology and Routledge
Research Interests: Psychology and Routledge
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This chapter summarizes a comprehensive theory of intellectual organization and growth. The theory specifies a common core of processes (abstraction, representational alignment, and cognizance, i.e., AACog) underlying inference and... more
This chapter summarizes a comprehensive theory of intellectual organization and growth. The theory specifies a common core of processes (abstraction, representational alignment, and cognizance, i.e., AACog) underlying inference and meaning making. AACog develops over four reconceptualization cycles (episodic representations, realistic representations, rule-based inference and principle-based inference starting at birth, 2, 6, and 11 years, respectively) with two phases in each (production of new mental units and alignment). This sequence relates to changes in processing efficiency and working memory (WM) in overlapping cycles such that relations with efficiency are high in the production phases and relations with WM are high in the alignment phases over all cycles. Reconceptualization is self-propelled because AACog continuously generates new mental content expressed in representations of increasing inclusiveness and resolution. Each cycle culminates into an insight about the cycle’s representations and underlying inferential processes that is expressed into executive programs of increasing flexibility. Learning addressed to this insight accelerates the course of reconceptualization. Individual differences in intellectual growth are related to both the state of this core and its interaction with different cognitively primary domains (e.g. categorical, quantitative, spatial cognition, etc.). We will also demonstrate that different levels of intelligence expressed through IQ measures actually correspond to different types of representational and problem-solving possibilities as expressed through the AACog reconceptualization cycles.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Developmental Psychology, Cognitive development, Cognition, Attentional Control, Executive Control, and 15 moreExecutive Function, Anxiety, Child, Executive Functions, Attention Span, Cognitive processes, Cognitive Performance, Action Plan, Abnormal Child Psychology, Abnormal, ANXIETY, Attention Deficit, Cognition disorders, Control Group, and Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity
Research Interests:
Background: Pragmatic language impairment has recently been the subject of a number of studies that attempted to illuminate classification and diagnostic issues, and identify the profile of children with pragmatic language difficulties.... more
Background: Pragmatic language impairment has recently been the subject of a number of studies that attempted to illuminate classification and diagnostic issues, and identify the profile of children with pragmatic language difficulties. Although much progress has been made, the nature of pragmatic difficulties remains unclear. Aims: To contrast typically developing children with those with pragmatic difficulties and specific language impairment as well as their ability to produce and comprehend pragmatic inferences about given or presupposed knowledge in mental state verbs; and to explore the general hypothesis that children with pragmatic difficulties make some, but not all, of the pragmatic inferences necessary for successful communication. Methods & Procedures: Study groups consisted of 18 children with pragmatic language difficulties, 28 children with specific language impairment and 40 typically developing children. The groups were matched on non-verbal intelligence and age and differed in verbal intelligence, language achievement and pragmatic ability. Outcomes & Results: The language-impaired groups performed significantly more poorly than typically developing children on all mental verb measures. In addition, significant differences between specific language impairment and pragmatic difficulties groups were found in composite score performance, but not on individual test performance. Conclusions: Both inferential mental verb tasks (pragmatics) and non-inferential mental verb tasks (semantics) were more difficult for the children with language impairments compared with typically developing peers. Inferential and noninferential abilities showed significant differences between the two languageimpaired groups in favour of the children with specific language difficulties. Children’s Communication Checklist scales in conjunction with mental verb measures were found to classify the three groups well.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper summarizes a theory of cognitive development and elaborates on its educational implications. The theory postulates that development occurs in cycles along multiple fronts. Cognitive competence in each cycle comprises a... more
This paper summarizes a theory of cognitive development and elaborates on its educational implications. The theory postulates that development occurs in cycles along multiple fronts. Cognitive competence in each cycle comprises a different profile of executive, inferential, and awareness processes, reflecting changes in developmental priorities in each cycle. Changes reflect varying needs in representing, understanding, and interacting with the world. Interaction control dominates episodic representation in infancy; attention control and perceptual awareness dominate in realistic representations in preschool; inferential control and awareness dominate rule-based representation in primary school; truth and validity control and precise self-evaluation dominate in principle-based thought in adolescence. We demonstrate that the best predictors of school learning in each cycle are the cycle’s cognitive priorities. Also learning in different domains, e.g., language and mathematics, depend...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Young Children’s Construction of Operational Definitions in Magnetism: the role of cognitive readiness and scaffolding the learning environment Constantinos P. Constantinou (c.p.constantinou@ucy.ac.cy), Athanassios Raftopoulos... more
Young Children’s Construction of Operational Definitions in Magnetism: the role of cognitive readiness and scaffolding the learning environment Constantinos P. Constantinou (c.p.constantinou@ucy.ac.cy), Athanassios Raftopoulos (raftop@ucy.ac.cy), George Spanoudis (spanoud@ucy.ac.cy) Department of Educational Sciences, University of Cyprus P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus. Abstract In this paper, we examine the importance of scaffolding the environment and the role of cognitive readiness in young childrens’ construction of operational definitions in magnetism. We discuss various resource constraints and the conceptual background of preschoolers. Then we present an experimental study of 165 children aged 4-6 who took part in an extended structured intervention in which they were guided to construct two operational definitions of a magnet. The two definitions differed with regard to the cognitive demands imposed upon the children attempting to construct them. The construction of the...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
We present three studies which investigated the relations between cognition and personality from 7 to 20 years of age. The first investigated developmental relations between three reasoning domains (inductive, deductive, and scientific)... more
We present three studies which investigated the relations between cognition and personality from 7 to 20 years of age. The first investigated developmental relations between three reasoning domains (inductive, deductive, and scientific) and Eysenck’s four personality dimensions in a design where 260 9-14-year-olds received the cognitive tests 3 and the personality test 2 times. It was found that initial social likeability and extroversion significantly shape developmental momentum in cognition and vice-versa, especially in the 9 to 11 years period. The second study involved 438 participants from 7 to 17 years, tested twice on attention control, working memory, reasoning in different domains, and once by a Big Five Factors inventory. Extending the findings of the first, this study showed that progression in reasoning is affected negatively by conscientiousness and positively by openness, on top of attention control and working memory influences. The third study tested the relations b...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract This is a commentary on the study presented by Brydges, Fox, Reid, and Anderson (2014) on the structure and development of executive functions in middle and late childhood. We argue that the modeling approach adopted by the... more
Abstract This is a commentary on the study presented by Brydges, Fox, Reid, and Anderson (2014) on the structure and development of executive functions in middle and late childhood. We argue that the modeling approach adopted by the authors was incomplete suggesting a differentiation of executive function from a unitary to a bi-factor structure from 8 to 10 years of age. The data presented in the target article were reanalyzed by a different structural equation modeling approach. A series of powerful models suggested that a differentiated structure defined by inhibition, shifting, and storage was always present, but the relations between these processes varied with development. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.
Research Interests:
In this paper, we examine the importance of scaffolding the environment and the role of cognitive readiness in young childrens’ construction of operational definitions in magnetism. We discuss various resource constraints and the... more
In this paper, we examine the importance of scaffolding
the environment and the role of cognitive readiness in
young childrens’ construction of operational definitions
in magnetism. We discuss various resource constraints
and the conceptual background of preschoolers. Then we
present an experimental study of 165 children aged 4-6
who took part in an extended structured intervention in
which they were guided to construct two operational
definitions of a magnet. The two definitions differed with
regard to the cognitive demands imposed upon the
children attempting to construct them. The construction
of the second operational definition required cognitive
abilities that the construction of the first did not. Our
results demonstrate that children older than 5 years are
mostly able to construct both definitions while younger
children are able to construct only the first one. Based on
this result, we discuss the issue of cognitive readiness
and its role in learning. Additionally, by teaching one
experimental group of older children the second
definition directly and observing their limited success to
construct it, we argue for the necessary role of
scaffolding the conceptual structure of the curriculum
materials to achieve learning.
the environment and the role of cognitive readiness in
young childrens’ construction of operational definitions
in magnetism. We discuss various resource constraints
and the conceptual background of preschoolers. Then we
present an experimental study of 165 children aged 4-6
who took part in an extended structured intervention in
which they were guided to construct two operational
definitions of a magnet. The two definitions differed with
regard to the cognitive demands imposed upon the
children attempting to construct them. The construction
of the second operational definition required cognitive
abilities that the construction of the first did not. Our
results demonstrate that children older than 5 years are
mostly able to construct both definitions while younger
children are able to construct only the first one. Based on
this result, we discuss the issue of cognitive readiness
and its role in learning. Additionally, by teaching one
experimental group of older children the second
definition directly and observing their limited success to
construct it, we argue for the necessary role of
scaffolding the conceptual structure of the curriculum
materials to achieve learning.
"This Monograph aims to contribute to the integration of the information processing, the differential, and the developmental modelling of the mind into an integrated theory. In the sake of this aim, the Monograph presents a longitudinal... more
"This Monograph aims to contribute to the integration of the information processing, the differential, and the developmental modelling of the mind into an integrated theory. In the sake of this aim, the Monograph presents a longitudinal study which investigated the relationships between processing efficiency, working memory and problem solving from the age of 8 to 16 years. This study involved 113 participants, about equally drawn among 8-, 10-, 12-, and 14-year olds at the first testing: these participants were tested for two more times spaced one year apart. These participants were tested individually with a large array of tasks addressed to processing efficiency (that is, speed of processing and inhibition), working memory (that is, in terms of Baddeley´s model, phonological storage, visual storage, and the central executive of working memory), and problem solving (that is, quantitative, spatial, and verbal reasoning).
Confirmatory factor analysis validated the presence of all of the above dimensions and indicated that they are organized in a three-stratum hierarchy. The first stratum included all of the individual dimensions mentioned above. These dimensions were organized, at the second stratum, in three constructs, namely processing efficiency, working memory, and problem solving. Finally, all second-order constructs were strongly related to a third-order general factor. This structure was stable in time.
Structural equation modelling indicated that the various dimensions were interrelated in a cascade fashion so that more fundamental dimensions proved to be part of more complex dimensions. That is, speed of processing was the most important aspect of processing efficiency and it fully determined the condition of inhibition, indicating that the more efficient one was in stimulus encoding and identification, the more efficient one was in inhibition. In turn, processing efficiency extensively influenced the condition of executive processes in working memory, which, in their turn influenced the condition of the two modality-specific stores (phonological and visual). Finally, problem solving was influenced by both processing efficiency and working memory, the central executive in particular.
All dimensions appeared to change systematically with time. Growth modelling suggested that there were significant individual differences in attainment in each of the three aspects of the mind investigated here. Moreover, development affected differently each of the three aspects of the mind as well as their interrelationships. Mixture growth modelling suggested that there were four types of developing persons, each being defined by a different combination of performance in the aspects of the mind. Some types were more efficient and stable developers than others. These analyses indicated that processing efficiency is a factor that explains developmental differences in problem solving whereas working memory explains individual differences. Modeling by logistic equations uncovered the rates and form of change in the various dimensions and their reciprocal interactions during development. These findings are discussed from the point of view of information processing, differential, and developmental models of thinking and an integrative model is proposed.
"
Confirmatory factor analysis validated the presence of all of the above dimensions and indicated that they are organized in a three-stratum hierarchy. The first stratum included all of the individual dimensions mentioned above. These dimensions were organized, at the second stratum, in three constructs, namely processing efficiency, working memory, and problem solving. Finally, all second-order constructs were strongly related to a third-order general factor. This structure was stable in time.
Structural equation modelling indicated that the various dimensions were interrelated in a cascade fashion so that more fundamental dimensions proved to be part of more complex dimensions. That is, speed of processing was the most important aspect of processing efficiency and it fully determined the condition of inhibition, indicating that the more efficient one was in stimulus encoding and identification, the more efficient one was in inhibition. In turn, processing efficiency extensively influenced the condition of executive processes in working memory, which, in their turn influenced the condition of the two modality-specific stores (phonological and visual). Finally, problem solving was influenced by both processing efficiency and working memory, the central executive in particular.
All dimensions appeared to change systematically with time. Growth modelling suggested that there were significant individual differences in attainment in each of the three aspects of the mind investigated here. Moreover, development affected differently each of the three aspects of the mind as well as their interrelationships. Mixture growth modelling suggested that there were four types of developing persons, each being defined by a different combination of performance in the aspects of the mind. Some types were more efficient and stable developers than others. These analyses indicated that processing efficiency is a factor that explains developmental differences in problem solving whereas working memory explains individual differences. Modeling by logistic equations uncovered the rates and form of change in the various dimensions and their reciprocal interactions during development. These findings are discussed from the point of view of information processing, differential, and developmental models of thinking and an integrative model is proposed.
"