The present study focuses on the amount of brain knowledge that children have, and specifically, which neuromyths they believe. Previous research suggests that brain knowledge, either right or...Show moreThe present study focuses on the amount of brain knowledge that children have, and specifically, which neuromyths they believe. Previous research suggests that brain knowledge, either right or wrong, can influence the way children think about themselves, and how they behave. If this knowledge is negatively framed, this can have a negative effect on their development. Therefore, we investigated whether curiosity, prior knowledge, and science-related curiosity were predictive of correctly distinguishing neuromyths and truths and whether these same predictors were related to the perceived relevance of brain knowledge in their daily lives. Furthermore, we looked at the difference between children in primary school and in secondary school with respect to how much they want to know about the brain, and what they want to know about the brain was examined. To test this, 321 children in primary and secondary schools, aged between 10 and 15 years, filled out a questionnaire about their curiosity and prior knowledge, and they judged whether 25 statements about the brain (13 myths, 11 facts, and 1 opinion) were right or wrong. We found that curiosity, prior knowledge, and science-related curiosity as measured with a questionnaire were not predictive of being better able to distinguish neuromyths and truths. However, in an exploratory analysis we found that a higher number of correctly detected facts predicted a lower number of correctly detected neuromyths. When looking at perceived relevance, higher levels of curiosity and science-related curiosity predicted higher levels of perceived relevance, while prior knowledge did not. No differences between children who go to primary school and secondary school were found in how much they want to know about the brain. Also, the themes they would like to know more about were quite the same, mostly focused on general brain knowledge and brain development. This is the first study that focuses on neuromyths and brain knowledge in children. It is important that more research is done on the effect of believing neuromyths and the influence it has on children’s behavior.Show less
This Graduation Project revolves around the real caste study and co-creation project Berk&Hout which is situated on the boundary of the municipalities Tilburg and Udenhout (the Netherlands). An...Show moreThis Graduation Project revolves around the real caste study and co-creation project Berk&Hout which is situated on the boundary of the municipalities Tilburg and Udenhout (the Netherlands). An important element in the development of this new residential area was the excavation of a Late Bronze Age/ Early Iron Age urnfield together with settlement traces from the Bronze Age and Roman Period. The aim of this paper was to explore the possibilities of co-creation projects for archaeological research, especially for its public outreach including citizen participation. Co-creation is an upcoming concept in the field of public archaeology, a branch of archaeology that concerns itself with the interaction between the archaeological research and the public. The intention of co-creation is to create an environment in which all stakeholders of a project work together to define the goals of a project, create the plan and make joint decisions. In order for co-creation to become increasingly prevalent in the field of archaeology, the establishment of two treaties by the Council of Europe were necessary. It started with the implementation of the Malta convention (1992), which ensured conservation and protection of the archaeological heritage and with that the role of the archaeologists in society and within (development) projects. At the same time, with the Malta convention the importance of the accessibility of heritage and the role of public awareness was considered. In the Faro convention (2005) the focus on participation in cultural heritage was developed even further. The framework aided the shift in focus from how Europe’s heritage should be protected to why heritage should be accorded value. Its intention was to change the role of the public in assigning value to heritage and emphasizes that heritage should not just be defined by the heritage professionals: the democratization of heritage. It was an important step in order to facilitate co-creation projects because of a shift in the agency, the valorisation and inclusiveness of cultural heritage. The Faro convention also mentions the potential of heritage as resource for sustainable development and ability to enhance the quality of life through placemaking and creation of communities. Five case studies from Netherlands and its neighbouring countries demonstrated the potential that archaeology has in co-creation projects when designing with archaeology is used. Based on the master plan of Berk&Hout, the scientific results of the archaeological research and the stakeholder analysis, it was decided to physically implement the archaeological heritage in the landscape of Berk&Hout through designing with archaeology. Three designs were suggested that were themed around several steps from the ladder of citizen participation; information, concertation and co-creation. This research by design made apparent the possibilities and challenges that designing with archaeology offers for the field of archaeology and heritage within co-creation projects. It is a permanent and sustainable way to physically represent the heritage of a place. With active involvement of the stakeholders it can lead to community building and enhance the quality of life for an area. Co-creation and ‘designing with archaeology’ can transform the space of the development project Berk&Hout into a place again: from cremation to co-creation.Show less
South-South Development Cooperation (SSDC) has gained increasing attention since the turn of the century due to Southern development aid donors taking on a larger role than they used to have. These...Show moreSouth-South Development Cooperation (SSDC) has gained increasing attention since the turn of the century due to Southern development aid donors taking on a larger role than they used to have. These new donors use a different narrative to promote development cooperation compared to the hierarchical approach used by Northern countries. SSDC as promoted by Brazil emphasises a horizontal relationship between partners. In 2014 Brazil was considered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to be the 6th largest non-traditional supplier of aid that is similar to official development aid and Brazil’s contribution to SSDC goes beyond this, e.g. through the provision of bureaucrats and expertise on social programs. This thesis tries to fill the gap in research about the possible effects of SSDC on the dependency of developing nations. The research question guiding this thesis is: what effect has South-South Development Cooperation had on Brazil’s dependency on Northern countries?Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
Achieving universal primary education is both promoted as a global development goal and as a priority for the Tanzanian government. To reach this goal, the government is committed to making primary...Show moreAchieving universal primary education is both promoted as a global development goal and as a priority for the Tanzanian government. To reach this goal, the government is committed to making primary education accessible for as many children as possible by making it both compulsory and free of charge. Nevertheless, there is still a problem with absenteeism in Tanzania. This ethnographic research explores the range of factors and reasons, besides tuition fees, that influence children's absenteeism through a case study of three primary schools in rural northern Tanzania. It analysesthe collaboration between these three schools and the Dutch-Tanzanian NGO Kamitei Foundation in addressing this issue. Based on interviews with teachers, parents, and pupils themselves, the main argument of this thesis is that the different roles that children have within rural households have consequences for their level of attendance. These household activities differ according to gender, and to the extent of how indispensable the children are within their household. Moreover, I found that differences in classroom pedagogy and in schools' policies of dealing with absenteeism also influenced the rate of absenteeism among pupils. Based on my findings, I argue that punishment or ignorance by the teachers as a response to not being present at school is one of the main factors that makes absence recurring, which makes it hard to reduce it. The Kamitei Foundation and the schools try to reach a consensus on this issue by working together to offer good quality education, even though it can be hard to reach the same level of understanding.Show less
This thesis deals with the topic of decision making of NGO's in the seventies and eighties. The model of 'webs of significance' is used to describe why the Dutch NGO Novib chose to support specific...Show moreThis thesis deals with the topic of decision making of NGO's in the seventies and eighties. The model of 'webs of significance' is used to describe why the Dutch NGO Novib chose to support specific projects in East-Africa and to reject others. By looking at the motivations which are present in the archival material for support or rejection this thesis argues that external actors did not have much influence on the decision making of Novib. Instead, it argues, internal criteria such as support to local organisations, support for small, sustainable projects, et cetera were very much present in the organisation. Novibs webs of significance (which lead to a decision) were internally formed and therefore Novibs decision making was not only ideological (western) but also independent, pragmatic and risk-averse.Show less
It is not groundbreaking that developing countries face totally different challenges to that of advanced economies. Many African countries have long suffered the effects of the ‘one-size-fits-all’...Show moreIt is not groundbreaking that developing countries face totally different challenges to that of advanced economies. Many African countries have long suffered the effects of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach taken by the international community regarding different issues such as governance. The aims of this paper are to examine the role ‘Big Men’ play in the shaping of the current ‘good governance’ agenda. More specifically, how Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame defies many of the criticisms neopatrimonial leaders receive regarding their way of doing politics. In spite of not following what is considered as prerequisites in the pursuance of development, he has managed to turn the country into one of the fastest developing nations of the present day, doubling its GDP PPP in less than 10 years. Furthermore, other indicators like the GDI and the HDI also show the striking improvement the country has experienced since the incumbent president assumed office. The combination of neopatrimonial networks of patronage for the creation of rents and his authoritarian style of the ruling has proven effective in the achievement of such rapid growth. He has defied the universal assumptions on the political capabilities of alternatives types of regimes. This thesis proves that the conventional ‘good governance’ needs revision.Show less
Even though billions are spent on poverty alleviation, and many thousands of pages of policy have been written, there is no clear idea on the effect of poverty reduction strategies. This paper...Show moreEven though billions are spent on poverty alleviation, and many thousands of pages of policy have been written, there is no clear idea on the effect of poverty reduction strategies. This paper argues that not only development aid has not been durably effective, moreover, this lack of effectiveness is due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what is poverty. This paper argues that the mismatch between poverty-definitions of donor and recipient can be solved through a new conceptualization of poverty, in which its intersocial dimension is central. Two new concepts are introduced: aspiration (the desire to belong to a group which possesses certain commodities – ranging from material goods to civil or human rights, and more) and acceptation (the condition that the group needs to accept an aspirer). Hence, poverty is defined in terms of agency, individuality and desire. The last step made in the argument is to apply the new conceptualization – the Aspiration Approach – to three recurring themes in Dutch development aid to Sub-Saharan African countries. It is shown here how a different definition of poverty can lead to a better understanding of failing development aid. The Aspiration Approach to Poverty defines poverty as the state in which one can be where one has aspirations that cannot be fulfilled. This unfulfilment can obviously have many reasons, but the reason that stands out in the Aspiration Approach is that others – the Opulent Society – do not accept the validity or worthiness of the aspirations.Show less
The Colombian case is an unique one to study. Classified as a middle-income country, its GDP is considerably higher than that of most countries receiving Official Development Assistance (ODA)....Show moreThe Colombian case is an unique one to study. Classified as a middle-income country, its GDP is considerably higher than that of most countries receiving Official Development Assistance (ODA). However, Colombia has been severely taunted by political violence, civil war, and problems related to drug trafficking throughout modern history. After Syria, it is the country with the largest amount of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the world. As recently as 2016, a Peace Agreement has been signed to end the civil war between Colombia’s government, various insurgent groups, and the paramilitaries. Therefore, effective ODA is now more vital than ever to rebuild the country and make sure everyone gets equal opportunities to improve themselves and their livelihoods. This thesis will assess the development process in Colombia in a context of civil war and drug-related violence, and will attempt to make valid recommendations regarding how to make the implementation of ODA more effective.Show less
In deze thesis wordt de ontwikkeling van de Italiaanse plattelandsvilla onder Medici invloed uiteengezet. Dat gebeurt door middel van een studie naar de sociale, politieke en economische context...Show moreIn deze thesis wordt de ontwikkeling van de Italiaanse plattelandsvilla onder Medici invloed uiteengezet. Dat gebeurt door middel van een studie naar de sociale, politieke en economische context waarin de Italiaanse villa op het Florentijnse platteland ontstond en transformeerde. Na de beschrijving van die context wordt de praktijk geanalyseerd met behulp van drie casussen; de villa's van Petraia, Poggio a Caiano en Poggio Imperiale. Hierbij wordt uitvoerig gebruik gemaakt van literatuurstudie, analyse van archiefmateriaal evenals veld- en bouwkundige analyses.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
closed access
The thesis is based on empirical fieldwork that investigated a disaster-induced relocation project in eastern Indonesia. Choosing an actor-focused approach that followed development brokers of a...Show moreThe thesis is based on empirical fieldwork that investigated a disaster-induced relocation project in eastern Indonesia. Choosing an actor-focused approach that followed development brokers of a Christian NGO in the course of the project, enabled the author to expose multiple conflicting interests and agendas between and within government, the NGO and the 'host-community'. In this complex and contested discursive arena, brokers were strategically translating and shifting interests to create common realities and alliances from heterogeneous networks. By adapting and transforming objectives of the 'good governance' discourse, they were able to unify groups and win over supporters, despite the poor implementation of the project. How these translations competed with interpretations of other actors and how they influenced the brokers' positioning towards the goverment was of particular interest within this research. Applying visual methods has shed light on the performative and emotional dimensions of these translation processes. The ethnographic film 'Fighting for Nothing to Happen', which is the main part of the thesis, is accompanied by the multi-media pdf file that employs different interacting media and provides historical, political and socioeconomic background to selected sequences of the film. The different media inform and contest each other in a rhizomatic structure that produces a multi-layered and comprehensive understanding of the complexity of brokerage and development in Indonesia.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2019-09-05T00:00:00Z
This eye-tracking study investigates whether age-related changes in the ability to take perspective influence narrative text comprehension. Thirty-two typically-developing children (M = 11.73; SD =...Show moreThis eye-tracking study investigates whether age-related changes in the ability to take perspective influence narrative text comprehension. Thirty-two typically-developing children (M = 11.73; SD = 0.74) and 34 young adults (M = 21.02; SD = 1.98) read stories in which the need to use perspective-taking abilities was systematically varied. The offline measure (after reading) suggested that adults were better and faster at making inferences in general, and both 10-12-year-olds and 18-25-year-olds were faster in making an inference in the complex perspective-taking condition (which required them to take the perspective of one of the story characters and imagine how this character would react to the intentions, thoughts, or feelings of another story character) compared to the control condition (which required them to make an inference about physical causality with regard to an object). The reading process itself revealed that 18-25-year-olds read stories faster across all conditions we examined. In addition, both 10-12-year-olds as well as adults revealed the longest reading times in the most difficult condition in which complex perspective-taking was needed to draw inferences. Stories in which the interaction between two story characters has to be taken into account are processed differently compared to stories in which no social-cognitive information is needed, as well as compared to when one only has to take the perspective of one story character. Narratives in which perspective-taking is crucial for comprehension are more difficult to process, even for adults, but are better represented in the situation model readers construct.Show less
Introduction: Research on the development of executive functions (EF) in children can focus on multiple facets, but can also focus on a specific part such as planning, working memory and inhibition...Show moreIntroduction: Research on the development of executive functions (EF) in children can focus on multiple facets, but can also focus on a specific part such as planning, working memory and inhibition. The various executive functions can be distinguished clearly from each other, but cannot be seen independently. There is no clear data on the differences in the development of EF between boys and girls in their childhood. The present study focuses on the development of the executive functions planning, inhibition and working memory in boys and girls aged four to seven years over a period of one year. Methods: This study consisted of 462 children of the data from the ongoing study ‘Talentenkracht’. The data was collected between January to April 2009 (T1) and between January to May 2010 (T2). In this study, the executive functions planning (subtest "zoo map" of the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children (BADS-NL)), inhibition (subtest GoNoGo of the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks (ANT)) and working memory (subtest Spatial Temporal Sequencing (STS) on the ANT) were investigated. Using paired-samples T-tests and univariate analyses of variance, the relation and development of the three executive functions, gender and age have been studied. Results: This study involved 247 boys (53.5%) and 215 girls (46.5%). The mean age (M) at T1 was 5.2 years and at T2 6.2 years. The mean outcome on T1 for planning was -1.45, inhibition 34.4 and working memory 12.0. This was at T2 -1.03, 28.4 and 22.4, respectively. For boys and girls, there was a significant difference in mean outcomes between T1 and T2 for inhibition and working memory. The development of inhibition has a significant relationship with gender at T1 and T2. Both measurements remained significantly different after adjustment for age. In the development of the working memory, there is both a significant relationship with age at T1 as well as at T2. Conclusions: The present study showed differences in the development of the executive functions planning, inhibition and working memory in boys and girls aged four to seven years. Apart from the expected (natural) development of the EF over a period of 11.3 months average, gender was also a profound influence on inhibition. As for planning, no significant results did occur. In the development of the EF memory, time is more indicative than gender.Show less
