Karin Täht

Comparability of educational achievement and learning attitudes across nations

We estimated the invariance of educational achievement (EA) and learning attitudes (LA) measures across nations. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to estimate the invariance of educational achievement and learning attitudes across 55 nations (Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] 2006 data, N = 354,203). The constructs had the same meaning (factor loadings) but different scales (intercepts). Our conclusion is that comparisons of the relationships between educational achievement and learning attitudes across countries need to take into consideration two sources of variability: individual differences of students and group differences of educational systems. The lack of scalar invariance in EA and LA measures means that the relationships between EA and LA may have a different meaning at the level of nations and at the student level within countries. In other words, as PISA measures are not invariant in scalar sense, the comparisons across countries with nationally aggregated scores are not justified.

Prevalence of neuroleptic-induced movement disorders: an 8-year follow-up study in chronic schizophrenia inpatients.

Abstract Background: Atypical antipsychotic drug use by schizophrenia patients in Estonia increased from 32% in 2004 to 61% in 2009. Aims: To assess the prevalence of neuroleptic-induced movement disorders in the Estonian institutionalized population of schizophrenia patients twice over a period of eight years, before and after introduction of atypical antipsychotic drugs using DSM-IV criteria. Methods: DSM-IV criteria and specific rating scales were used to evaluate the prevalence of neuroleptic-induced movement disorders among 72 patients who participated in the study in 2009 compared to 99 patients who participated in 2001. Results: Despite increased use of atypical antipsychotics in the study population (up to 30% from 20%), the proportion of movement disorder-free population remained the same over 8 years – 38.9% in 2001 versus 38.4% in 2009. There were significant intra-individual fluctuations. Use of a typical antipsychotic resulted in an almost seven times higher risk of tardive dyskinesia after 8 years. Doses of antipsychotic drugs had no effect on the severity of neuroleptic-induced movement disorders. Conclusions: Unfortunately, in 18% of patients the switch of medication from typical to atypical did not change the overall prevalence of neuroleptic-induced movement disorders in the group. The long-term benefit of atypical antipsychotics requires further research in patients who are treated with antipsychotics for years.

Problematic Smartphone Use, Deep and Surface Approaches to Learning, and Social Media Use in Lectures

Several studies have shown that problematic smartphone use (PSU) is related to detrimental outcomes, such as worse psychological well-being, higher cognitive distraction, and poorer academic outcomes. In addition, many studies have shown that PSU is strongly related to social media use. Despite this, the relationships between PSU, as well as the frequency of social media use in lectures, and different approaches to learning have not been previously studied. In our study, we hypothesized that both PSU and the frequency of social media use in lectures are negatively correlated with a deep approach to learning (defined as learning for understanding) and positively correlated with a surface approach to learning (defined as superficial learning). The study participants were 415 Estonian university students aged 19–46 years (78.8% females; age M = 23.37, SD = 4.19); the effective sample comprised 405 participants aged 19–46 years (79.0% females; age M = 23.33, SD = 4.21). In addition to basic socio-demographics, participants were asked about the frequency of their social media use in lectures, and they filled out the Estonian Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale and the Estonian Revised Study Process Questionnaire. Bivariate correlation analysis showed that PSU and the frequency of social media use in lectures were negatively correlated with a deep approach to learning and positively correlated with a surface approach to learning. Mediation analysis showed that social media use in lectures completely mediates the relationship between PSU and approaches to learning. These results indicate that the frequency of social media use in lectures might explain the relationships between poorer academic outcomes and PSU.

Developing a shorter version of the Estonian Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale (E-SAPS18)

The aim of this paper is to develop a shorter version of the Estonian Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale based on previous works (e.g., Ching et al., 2015; Kwon, Lee, et al., 2013; Rozgonjuk, Rosenvald, & Taht, 2016). Seven hundred and sixty-seven people participated in the study (M age = 26.10 ± 6.73 years; 22% male), for which they completed the Smartphone Addiction Scale (E-SAS-33; Rozgonjuk, Rosenvald, & Taht, 2016), the Estonian Internet Addiction Test (E-IAT; based on Young, 1998), and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS; Kwon, Lee, et al., 2013). Exploratory factor analysis (maximum likelihood with geomin rotation) and confirmatory factor analysis (parameter estimation: maximum likelihood), an internal-consistency test, t- tests for mean comparisons, correlation analysis and experts’ opinions were used to shorten the E-SAS-33 and validate a new version of the scale. The results of the analyses showed that the 18-item test with five subscales (“tolerance”, “positive anticipation”, “cyberspace-oriented relationships”, “withdrawal”, and “physical symptoms” ) has sound psychometric properties and that the content of the subscales is similar to the original. Among the results, statistically significant differences in E-SAPS18 scores were found in gender, age, level of education, smartphone main use and self-reported addiction. Furthermore, correlates suggest that smartphone addiction, social media use, and Internet addiction might share a similar underlying mechanism.

Altered Expression Profile of IgLON Family of Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex of Schizophrenic Patients

Neural adhesion proteins are crucial in the development and maintenance of functional neural connectivity. Growing evidence suggests that the IgLON family of neural adhesion molecules LSAMP, NTM, NEGR1, and OPCML are important candidates in forming the susceptibility to schizophrenia (SCZ). IgLON proteins have been shown to be involved in neurite outgrowth, synaptic plasticity and neuronal connectivity, all of which have been shown to be altered in the brains of patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Here we optimized custom 5′-isoform-specific TaqMan gene-expression analysis for the transcripts of human IgLON genes to study the expression of IgLONs in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of schizophrenic patients (n = 36) and control subjects (n = 36). Uniform 5′-region and a single promoter was confirmed for the human NEGR1 gene by in silico analysis. IgLON5, a recently described family member, was also included in the study. We detected significantly elevated levels of the NEGR1 transcript (1.33-fold increase) and the NTM 1b isoform transcript (1.47-fold increase) in the DLPFC of schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls. Consequent protein analysis performed in male subjects confirmed the increase in NEGR1 protein content both in patients with the paranoid subtype and in patients with other subtypes. In-group analysis of patients revealed that lower expression of certain IgLON transcripts, mostly LSAMP 1a and 1b, could be related with concurrent depressive endophenotype in schizophrenic patients. Additionally, our study cohort provides further evidence that cannabis use may be a relevant risk factor associated with suicidal behaviors in psychotic patients. In conclusion, we provide clinical evidence of increased expression levels of particular IgLON family members in the DLPFC of schizophrenic patients. We propose that alterations in the expression profile of IgLON neural adhesion molecules are associated with brain circuit disorganization in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. In the light of previously published data, we suggest that increased level of NEGR1 in the frontal cortex may serve as molecular marker for a wider spectrum of psychiatric conditions.

Learning motivation from a cross-cultural perspective: a moving target?

This paper investigates the relationship between educational achievement and the motivation to learn. We used the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that contains representative samples from 55 nations. A strong negative correlation between educational achievement and motivation toward science learning emerged at the national level. We found that differences in the socioeconomic levels of nations are associated with this unexpected negative correlation. Children from developed societies achieve higher educational results but may tend to be rather critical in describing their learning motivation, and vice versa, students from developing countries do not attain very high educational outcomes, but their motivation, as stated on the self-report questionnaires, is high. We offer different explanations for this phenomenon. The motivation to learn in relation to the level of development of countries is a moving target, and this should be taken into account at all levels of education policymaking, from schools to national governments.

Factorial structure of SILL revisited: adaptation of SILL for Estonian EFL learners

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5128/ERYa11.15 The present study aims to contribute to the understanding of the taxonomy of language learning strategies (Oxford 1990: 14–22) and its measuring instrument, the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), through the adaptation process of the Estonian version. The translated version of the SILL was pilot-tested with a sample of 337 tertiary students. Cronbach’s alpha (0.91) reveals an acceptable reliability of the instrument. The t-test that was conducted in addition to descriptive analysis, to check for gender differences, did not reveal any significant differences. The results of the exploratory factor analysis did not support the 2- or 6-factor structures but the 9-factor analysis provides a good comparison to similar studies published in 1995 (Oxford, Burry-Stock 1995). The ethnic and gender differences of the results are discussed from the cultural perspective.

Strictly locally order affine complete lattices

We call a latticeL strictly locally order-affine complete if, given a finite subsemilatticeS ofLn, every functionf: S →L which preserves congruences and order, is a polynomial function. The main results are the following: (1) all relatively complemented lattices are strictly locally order-affine complete; (2) a finite modular lattice is strictly locally order-affine complete if and only if it is relatively complemented. These results extend and generalize the earlier results of D. Dorninger [2] and R. Wille [9, 10].

Social media use in lectures mediates the relationship between procrastination and problematic smartphone use

Abstract Problematic smartphone use (PSU) has been consistently shown to relate to dysfunctional behaviors and negative daily life outcomes, including in academic context. One explanatory factor could be procrastination - yet it has not been studied how procrastination is related to PSU. The aim of this research was to study that relationship. Participants were 366 Estonian university students who responded to the Estonian Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale, Aitken Procrastination Inventory, and items regarding social media use in lectures via an online survey. Correlation analysis and structural equation modelling were used to investigate the relationships between procrastination, PSU, and social media use in lectures. The results showed that procrastination and PSU and were positively correlated. Furthermore, social media use in lectures completely mediated that relationship, suggesting that students who tend to procrastinate may engage in more social media use in lectures, and that may be a driver of PSU. In addition to theoretical contribution, this study could contribute to discussions on ICT use in educational context.