Dynamic testing is a tool to measure learning potential in individuals. Previous research has found that dynamic testing of analogical reasoning abilities can provide relevant information about the...Show moreDynamic testing is a tool to measure learning potential in individuals. Previous research has found that dynamic testing of analogical reasoning abilities can provide relevant information about the manner in which children of various abilities and backgrounds learn. The response of a sample of young Syrian refugees (ages 10-18) on a dynamic test of analogical reasoning was tested in a test-training-test design with two conditions (training and practice). The Child PTSD Symptom Scale was used to measure the presence of posttraumatic stress symptoms in the participants. The participants in the training group showed more progress from pre-test to post-test, however this difference was not significant. Contrary to what was hypothesized, no relation between posttraumatic stress symptoms was found and age did not seem to play a significant role in this. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size. Further research with larger samples could confirm or reject the idea that posttraumatic stress symptoms do not seem to influence performance on a dynamic test of analogical reasoning.Show less
One of the difficulties that refugees face is the impact of exposure to traumatic events over long periods of time, which can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. This study aimed to...Show moreOne of the difficulties that refugees face is the impact of exposure to traumatic events over long periods of time, which can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. This study aimed to examine the impact of PTSD on cognitive learning potential in refugee adolescents. The 13 participants (mean age = 13.15, 53.85% male) and their parents were recruited through language schools in the Zuid-Holland province in the Netherlands. Cognitive learning potential was measured with a new promising measure, the computerized dynamic test of analogical reasoning. The study was of an experimental pre-test-training-post-test design with two conditions, training and control. The participants completed exercises of analogical reasoning pre-test, then the experimental condition received graduated prompts training. Both groups completed exercises post-test. The effectiveness of the training was examined, but no significant results were found, although both the training and control groups significantly improved from pre-test to post-test. No significant relationship was found between PTSD symptoms and learning potential. Then, anxiety and cognitive empathy were investigated as mediators in the relationship between PTSD symptoms and learning potential. No significant relationships were found. Although the present study has no direct contribution to research, implications for future studies are discussed.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
closed access
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a newly developed dynamic screener to assess first year secondary school students’ potential for learning. Participants included 52 children ...Show moreThis study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a newly developed dynamic screener to assess first year secondary school students’ potential for learning. Participants included 52 children (mean age = 13.14) from different Dutch educational tracks. The dynamic screener consists of the subtests reading, mathematics, working memory, planning, divergent thinking, and inductive reasoning. Each subtest employs a test-training-test design. Based on randomized blocking, half of the children received a graduated prompts training between pre-test and post-test, while the other half did not. On some, but not all, subtests training seems to lead to an increase in performance. Additionally, some constructs measured through the dynamic screener relate to current school performance. This pilot study provides preliminary support to the use of such an instrument to gain more insight into children’s learning potential and instructional needs. Directions for future research are discussed.Show less
This study investigated the effect of a dynamic test in reading and writing compared to a static test for 87 children in elementary schools in the Netherlands (aged 7-9 years old). Static tests...Show moreThis study investigated the effect of a dynamic test in reading and writing compared to a static test for 87 children in elementary schools in the Netherlands (aged 7-9 years old). Static tests measure the knowledge a child already has at the moment of testing, while on the other hand in a dynamic test children are provided with feedback, prompts or training in order to demonstrate more of their learning potential. Dynamic tests are especially useful for children with intellectual disabilities or learning impairments. Children with and without the diagnosis of dyslexia were allocated to either the experimental or the control condition. Children in the experimental condition of this study received a training in between pretest and posttest, whereas those in the control condition received the training after the posttest. Results showed a positive effect of training on the subtests prosodic awareness, spelling sounds and verbs and context dependent spelling, meaning that the group who received the dynamic test showed more progress from pretest to posttest in these subtests than the group who received the static test. This difference in progress did not apply to the subtest phonemic awareness. No significant gender differences and differences in performance between the dyslexic and the non-dyslexic children were found.Show less
Trauma, cognitive flexibility, and empathy are widely studied constructs in psychology. However, inconsistent results are found regarding the aftermath of trauma. In the current study, it was...Show moreTrauma, cognitive flexibility, and empathy are widely studied constructs in psychology. However, inconsistent results are found regarding the aftermath of trauma. In the current study, it was expected that Syrian refugee children with higher severity of trauma symptoms scored significantly higher on cognitive flexibility and empathy tests than children with lower severity of trauma symptoms. To investigate these hypotheses, a quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted with a between-subjects design. The participants were asked to complete three questionnaires and two computer tasks to measure their cognitive flexibility, empathy, and trauma symptoms. Linear regression analyses showed that trauma was not a significant predictor of cognitive flexibility or empathy. If future studies could find this relationship in a larger sample, it possibly has implications for actively using cognitive flexibility and empathy as resilience factors during education for mental health professionals, therapeutic treatments of trauma, and in educational settings.Show less
