One Unit and Sardar Abdul Rashid Khan

Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan, Chief Minister of NWFP remained in office from 23 April 1953 to 18 July 1955. He belonged to the police cadre of the province and was inspector general at the time of his appointment. He was not a politician and never thought of becoming the chief minister of the province. Nevertheless he performed his duties well. It was during Sardar Rashid period that One Unit scheme was adopted. It integrated all the provinces and other units of West Pakistan into a single province. The plan was initially supported by him. Later on, as promises made to him were not fulfilled, he developed differences with the central authorities for which he was removed from his post. ______

Impact of Negative Experiences on Academic Achievement of University Students: Cognitive Distortions As Mediating Factor

Negative experiences are part of life and being the part of life, negative experiences, can have potential effects on individuals‘ cognitive abilities which may further affect their academics. To explore this issue, prime efforts in this research were made to determine the impact of university students‘ negative experiences on their academic achievement as well as on the development of cognitive distortions among them. Furthermore, role of cognitive distortions as mediator between negative experiences and academic achievement was to be calculated also. Study objectives were followed by developing Questionnaire of Negative Experiences, and Scale of Cognitive Distortions along with self-reported GPA (Grade Point Average). Validity and reliability of developed tools was established by means of expert judgment and statistical procedures consequently. Research tools were administered to university students of Pakistan. Total 2213 students of final year were selected from 7 universities through cluster sampling technique. To reach the conclusion, frequency, percentage, and mean score were calculated for descriptive analysis. Moreover, Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) was adopted to calculate mediating role of cognitive distortions between negative experiences and academic achievement. Results revealed that departmental and friends‘ problems caused decline in academic achievement of university students. In contrast, financial issues, emotional experiences, and family problems became triggers of academic performance. Upon facing a number of stressful events, several cognitive distortions (i.e. ―Emotional Reasoning‖, ―Dichotomous Thinking‖, ―Fortune Telling‖, ―Labeling‖, ―Discounting Positive‖, ―Mental Filtering‖, ―Self-Blaming‖, and ―Mind Reading‖) were developed among university students. ―Fortune Telling‖, ―Discounting Positive‖, and ―Self Blaming‖ were clear source of decline in academic achievement. Whereas students‘ GPA was seem to be increased due to ―Emotional Reasoning‖, All-or-Nothing, ―Labeling‖, Mental Filter, ―Maximization‖, and ―Mind Reading‖. Only five of the focused cognitive distortions were found to mediate the impact of negative experiences on academic achievement of university students: ―All-or-Nothing‖, ―Discounting Positive‖, ―Fortune Telling‖, ‗Mental Filter‘, and ―Self-Blame‖. Structure Equation Model regarding mediation role of cognitive distortions between negative experiences and academic achievement was finalized by determining model fit indices calculated in SPSS Amos. Developed model is a significant contribution to existing knowledge, which would hopefully serve as assisting theoretical background for educationists, psychologists, teachers and students. It can lead them to identify particular cognitive biases in order to suggest measures for eradication of negative effects from university students.