Aaro Toomela

This study examined domain‐general cognitive predictors of mathematics computation and compared cognitive profiles of primary school students with a mathematical learning disability (MLD), low achievement (LA), and a control group (CG). Students completed the WRAT‐5 Mathematics Computation subtest and the computer‐based Testing Tool for School Psychologists (TTSP), which assesses executive functions, reasoning, and verbal abilities ( N = 140). Regression analyses were conducted on the full sample, whereas group comparisons were performed on a classified subsample ( n = 88; MLD n = 18, LA n = 21, control group n = 49) for whom group membership could be determined based on mathematics performance and teacher reports. Regression analyses showed that visual attention, verbal reasoning, and vocabulary knowledge jointly explained 37% of the variance in mathematics computation scores. Students with MLD and LA performed more poorly than the control group across most cognitive domains, with broader and more pronounced weaknesses in the MLD group. Visual attention uniquely differentiated students with MLD from both LA and CG. The findings underscore the importance of attention‐ and language‐related domain‐general abilities in understanding mathematical attainment and distinguishing profiles of mathematical difficulty in primary school.

In this paper it is argued that cultural psychology today requires a fundamental reorganization. Based on the theories formulated by Anokhin, Vygotsky, and Luria, a program for cultural psychology to become a true psychology is formulated. Several steps, all discussed in some details in this paper, are needed to come up with a coherent set of ideas how to proceed with cultural psychology. First, it is necessary to define the object of studies, culture, psyche, and cultural psyche. Next, there are different epistemologies applied in psychology today. The best justified structural-systemic epistemology must be selected to proceed. This allows, third, to create methodology, a science of methods, which does not exist in mainstream psychology today. Fourth, it must be understood that psyche is a very complex unitary phenomenon. Cultural psychological theories must be built on the basis of multiple approaches to the study of psyche, among them comparative psychology, developmental psychology, educational psychology, cognitive psychology, cultural psychology, anthropology and ethnography, clinical and neuropsychology, social psychology. Unitary theory must be created that allows to understand how results of studies from different approaches consistently complement one another. Theories that are not supported from multiple perspectives are incomplete or wrong. Fifth, the progress of any science is grounded with discovering questions necessary to answer. How to ask questions and how to discover what questions should be answered, is another important theme to be developed. Finally, cultural psychology may become a most practical science if the essence of cultural psyche is scientifically explained.

Mental fatigue impairs cognitive performance and productivity, posing risks in domains such as healthcare, education, and workplace safety. There is a growing need for objective, accessible tools to detect fatigue in real time. Leveraging the widespread availability and sensing capabilities of smartphones, this study presents a cross-platform system (iOS and Android) that detects mental fatigue using fine motor skill tests and a self-report questionnaire. Data were collected from 347 sessions across 166 smartphones, where participants completed tasks before and after cognitively demanding activities. From the raw motion and touch data, 60 features were engineered. Feature selection was performed using a wrapper-based method, and six machine learning algorithms were evaluated: Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, K-Nearest Neighbors, Decision Tree, Random Forest, and AdaBoost. Models were validated using a nested k-fold cross-validation strategy. The best-performing model achieved a sensitivity of 0.86 by combining self-reported fatigue indicators (e.g., anxiety and effort levels) with microkinematic features related to handwriting and hand tremor. This multi-dimensional approach demonstrates the feasibility of using smartphone-based motion analysis for fatigue classification. The system offers potential applications in remote health monitoring, educational assessment, and occupational safety. Additionally, the publicly available dataset provides a valuable resource for further research on cognitive and motor function assessment using mobile devices.

Gordon Allport suggested that personality has several characteristics: it is inherently inconsistent and contradictory, it is situation-dependent, where situational determinants of personality traits are crucial in structured scenarios, while internal determinants prevail in unstructured situations. Additionally, personality develops not only through maturation, and personality traits cannot be quantitatively expressed as fixed amounts along a continuum of a specific trait. Moreover, “common traits” or general personality dispositions act as useful approximations rather than true personality characteristics. Current theories, particularly the Five-Factor Theory (FFT), challenge all characteristics proposed by Allport. This study provides evidence from two distinct analyses—the reexamination of data from a previous study (N = 870) and a replication study (N = 1,423)—which evaluate the response patterns of individuals using the widely accepted Revised Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Personality Inventory, NEO-PI-R. The findings support all of Allport’s claims. First, it shows that only a subset of NEO-PI-R items are truly transcontextual, while the rest contain situational information. Two indices measuring the consistency of responses, namely the Consistency Index (CI) and the Decisiveness Index (DI), were developed. Second, it was noted that the level of inconsistent and indecisive responses was significantly high. Third, it was found that the consistency and decisiveness of responses were systematically and reliably linked to the presence or absence of situational information in the items and the predominant type of word meaning structure that reflects the level of psychological development. These correlations confirm that inconsistency and indecisiveness do not stem from random or careless responding styles. Consequently, an analysis of the most dubious evidence against the FFT, specifically the NEO-PI-R is the most unlikely test to refute FFT. Furthermore, the results of the current studies suggest that summary scores derived from all questionnaires and inventories utilizing Likert-type response formats may be significantly misleading; the consistency of response patterns must be empirically validated before interpreting summary scores.

Mayer (this issue) discusses several problems related to the financing crisis that characterizes science and tertiary education for already about half a century. First of all she focusses on the question how the ways of financing inhibit careers of young scientists. In this paper I take a look at the financing problems from a wider background. The financing crisis emerged because of the substantial increase of the expectations imposed on universities without increasing proportionally the financing: massification and the so called Third Mission. Instead of helping universities to cope with the new tasks without reducing any of the traditional tasks of them, universities are left alone with more tasks and less money. Universities are also pushed to replace meaningful and constructive activities with bureaucratic formal activities which contribution to the society is increasingly questionable. Massification and the Third Mission in the current form have increasingly devastating effect on the research and tertiary education.