The relation between metastrategic knowledge,strategy use and task performance: Findings and reflections from a numerosity judgement task

In the research literature several positions concerning the role played by metacognition in adaptive strategy choice can be distinguished. While many authors adhere so-called metacognitive models of strategy choice and strategy change, others have questioned the extent to which metacognitive factors are associated with strategy choice and task performance and have proposed alternative theoretical frameworks wherein strategy choices are described in terms of associative models. In the present article we report data coming from a larger research project on the development of children’s numerosity judgement strategies and skills. The experimental task involved judging numerosities of colored blocks presented in a rectangular grid. Participants were 59 second grade and 50 sixth grade children, whose strategic performance data — obtained by means of a systematic analysis of their response-time patterns — were compared with interview data collected at the end of the experiment. The major result of this comparison is that not only the children from the oldest age group, but also the children from the youngest age group showed clear evidence of metacognitive awareness and understanding of different aspects of their strategic performance.     

The role of negative priming in preschoolers' flexible rule use on the dimensional change card sort task

Four experiments examined the development of negative priming (NP) in 3-5-year-old children using as a measure of children's executive function (EF) the dimensional change card sort (DCCS) task. In the NP version of the DCCS, the values of the sorting dimension that is relevant during the preswitch phase are removed during the postswitch phase. The experiments showed that the NP effect observed in the DCCS decreased during the preschool years, and they clarified the circumstances in which NP occurs. Taken together, the findings suggest that the development of EF in early childhood consists in part in disinhibiting attention to information that has previously been suppressed.     

信息能力:信息时代赋予教师教育的新课题

信息能力是信息时代的基本能力,而教师信息能力是培养信息化人才的关键,是信息时代对教师素质的新要求。着重探讨教师信息能力的结构、意义以及教师信息能力培养的内容与途径。     

Visual and cognitive processes contribute to age-related improvements in visual selective attention

Children (N = 103, 4–9 years, 59 females, 84% White, c. 2019) completed visual processing, visual feature integration (color, luminance, motion), and visual search tasks. Contrast sensitivity and feature search improved with age similarly for luminance and color-defined targets. Incidental feature integration improved more with age for color-motion than luminance-motion. Individual differences in feature search ( = .11) and incidental feature integration ( $$ = .06) mediated age-related changes in conjunction visual search, an index of visual selective attention. These findings suggest that visual selective attention is best conceptualized as a series of developmental trajectories, within an individual, that vary by an object's defining features. These data have implications for design of educational and interventional strategies intended to maximize attention for learning and memory.     

Conceptual process as a function of age and enforced attention in learning-disabled children: Evidence for deficient rule learning

Adapting a modified reception paradigm, three bidimensional rules (conjunctive, disjunctive, conditional) and two instructional conditions (enforced attention vs standard rule learning) are used to test the assumption that deficient rule learning rather than inattention is responsible for poor learning with learning-disabled children. Main findings indicate learning-disabled children are deficient on binary conceptual rule tasks for three age groups (6 to 7, 8 to 9, 12 to 13) compared to normal children matched on sex and IQ regardless of experimental instructions. For both groups, learning is retarded by rule complexity while rate of learning diminishes with increasing age. Data reflect a truth-table logic at all ages for both groups, although there is evidence that disabled children perseverate with a rule-learning hypothesis characteristic of younger nondisabled children. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that rule learning is deficient in children with learning disabilities.     

Developmental changes in endogenous control of attention: the role of target familiarity on infants' distraction latency

This study evaluated the interactive effects of endogenous and exogenous influences on infants' attention allocation by assessing the role of target familiarity on distraction latency during object exploration. In Experiment 1 (N = 54), infants' distraction latencies as they investigated both familiar toys (ones they previously had seen in a familiarization procedure) and novel toys (ones they had not seen in the familiarization procedure) were assessed longitudinally at 6.5 and 9 months of age. In Experiment 2 (N = 32), infants' distraction latencies were assessed at either 6.5 or 10 months as they investigated either familiar or novel targets. In both experiments, older infants, but not younger infants, exhibited longer latencies as they investigated novel toys as compared with their latencies as they investigated familiar toys. These results are discussed in terms of developmental changes in the interactive effects of endogenous and exogenous factors controlling attention allocation.     

Achievement goals in a presentation task: Performance expectancy,achievement goals,state anxiety,and task performance

The aims of the study were to test the linkages between achievement goals to task performance, as mediated by state anxiety arousal. Performance expectancy was also examined as antecedents of achievement goals. A presentation task in a computer practice class was used as achievement task. Fifty-three undergraduates (37 females and 16 males) were administered self-report questionnaire measures before and immediately following the task performance. As expected, results of regression analyses showed that performance-avoidance goals were positively related to state anxiety. State anxiety was related to poor task performance. The positive relationship between mastery goals and the task score was shown to be independent of anxiety processes. Performance expectancy was related to state anxiety through achievement goals.     

Landmark use by pigeons in a touch-screen spatial search task

Pigeons obtained food by pecking at an unmarked target location on a video screen equipped with a touch-sensitive frame. The target area was located near the top edge of the screen in Experiment 1 and near the left edge of the screen in Experiment 2. On baseline trials, a graphic landmark was located below and left of the target (Experiment 1) or below and right of the target (Experiment 2). In both experiments, baseline search distributions showed a single peak and were roughly symmetrical about the target area in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. On occasional test trials, the landmark was shifted horizontally, vertically, or diagonally by 1.5 cm or 3 cm. In both experiments, landmark shifts in the dimension parallel to the nearest edge produced systematic shifts in the peak place of search. Landmark shifts in the dimension perpendicular to the nearest edge produced inconsistent (Experiment 1) or relatively small (Experiment 2) shifts in peak place. The magnitude of the behavioral shift was always less than the magnitude of the landmark shift and was not consistently greater when the landmark was shifted by 3 cm than when it was shifted by 1.5 cm. These results demonstrated that pigeons can accurately locate an unmarked target area in a two-dimensional vertical arena and that their use of landmarks for spatial localization is similar in several respects to that found in open-field spatial search tasks.     

Gender, task contexts, and children's performance on a computer-based task

Gender differences in response to computers have been widely reported. This study addresses the question of how far the context in which a computer task is presented can affect girls' and boys' on-task performance. In an experimental study involving 60 ten and eleven year-olds, we examine the effects of differential contextualisation on girls' and boys' performance on a computer-based perceptual-motor skills task. Our findings illustrate that even with a single, standard piece of software, children's performance can be substantially affected by the context in which that software is presented. The results suggest that gender differences in children's responses to computer tasks are relatively labile, and highly context sensitive. The implications and possible explanations for these findings are considered.     

The effects of group relaxation training/large muscle exercise,and parental involvement on attention to task,impulsivity, and locus of control among hyperactive boys

This study examined the effects of group relaxation training/large muscle exercise and parental involvement on attention to task, impulsivity, and locus of control among 34 hyperactive boys. Subjects were randomly assigned to treatment (T₁ and T₂) and control groups. The experimental treatments each included three once‐weekly group sessions of relaxation training and large muscle exercise; in addition, parents were involved with the intervention for T₂ subjects. (Parental participation unfortunately was less than planned.) Following treatment both experimental groups recorded significantly higher attention to task, lower impulsivity, and lower locus of control scores, indicating a more internal orientation. While differences between treatment and control groups were clear‐cut, those between the two treatment groups were not; T1, subjects demonstrated higher attention to task, lower impulsivity, and more external locus of control scores in comparison with T2, subjects. While relaxation training and large muscle exercise appear to warrant inclusion in programs involving hyperactive children, no such recommendation can be made for including parents at this stage.     

Development of feedforward control in a dynamic manual tracking task

To examine the development of feedforward control during manual tracking, 117 participants in 5 age groups (6 to 7, 8 to 9, 10 to 11, 12 to 14, and 15 to 17 years) tracked an accelerating dot presented on a monitor by moving an electronic pen on a digitizer. To remain successful at higher target velocities, they had to create a predictive model of the target's motion. The ability to track the target at higher velocities increased, and the application of a feedback-based step-and-hold strategy decreased with age, as shown by increases in maximum target velocity and decreases in number of stops between ages 6–7 and 8–9 and between ages 8–9 and 10–11. The ability to exploit feedforward control in a dynamic tracking task improves significantly with age.     

Unraveling sources of stimulus control in a temporal discrimination task

In temporal discriminations tasks, more than one stimulus may function as a time marker. We studied two of them in a matching-to-sample task, the sample keylight and the houselight that signaled the intertrial interval (ITI). One group of pigeons learned a symmetrical matching-to-sample task with two samples (2 s or 18 s of a center keylight) and two comparisons (red and green side keys), whereas another group of pigeons learned an asymmetrical matching-to-sample task with three samples (2 s, 6 s, and 18 s) and two comparisons (red and green). In the asymmetrical task, 6-s and 18-s samples shared the same comparison. In a subsequent retention test, both groups showed a preference for the comparison associated with the longer samples, a result consistent with the hypothesis that pigeons based their choices on the duration elapsed since the offset of the houselight (i.e., sample duration + retention interval). Results from two no-sample tests further corroborated the importance of the ITI illumination as a time marker: When the ITI was illuminated, the proportion of choices correlated positively with the retention interval; when the ITI was darkened, choices fell to random levels. However, the absolute value of choice proportions suggested that the sample stimulus was also a time marker. How multiple stimuli acquire control over behavior and how they combine remains to be worked out.     

Field independence,task ambiguity,and performance on a proportional reasoning task

This study investigated the proportional reasoning abilities of 35 college science students. Using a projection of shadows problem, proportional reasoning was assessed under one of two experimental conditions corresponding to the type of information presented: (a) relevant only, or (b) relevant and irrelevant. Subjects were also measured on the cognitive style of field independence. Results showed that subjects in the relevant only condition performed significantly better than those in the relevant-irrelevant condition. Degree of field independence was related to performance only in the relevant-irrelevant condition. These results indicated an interaction between type of information presented in a task and cognitive style.     

运用现代教育技术增强智障儿童注意力

智障儿童有其与众多儿童相别的个性特点、心理特点和认知特点，学习过程中注意力不集中，也不稳定，对此运用现代教育技术辅助学习，以增强其视觉形象，吸引注意力；运用合成技术增强注意力，加强信息反馈，保持注意力，促使他们主动参与学习过程，促进智障儿童综合素质有效提高，为他们成为有用之才奠定良好的基础。     

Interweaving mathematics and pedagogy in task design: a tale of one task

In this article we introduce a usage-goal framework within which task design can be guided and analyzed. We tell a tale of one task, the Pentomino Problem, and its evolution through predictive analysis, trial, reflective analysis, and adjustment. In describing several iterations of the task implementation, we focus on mathematical affordances embedded in the design and also briefly touch upon pedagogical affordances.     

Relationships among individual task self-efficacy,self-regulated learning strategy use and academic performance in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment

This study investigates relationships between self-efficacy, self-regulated learning strategy use and academic performance. Participants were 96 undergraduate students working on projects with three subtasks (idea generation task, methodical task and data collection) in a blended learning environment. Task self-efficacy was measured with self-reports administered during each subtask. Learning strategies were assessed by counting each instance of strategy use as it occurred in peer-to-peer conversations typed into a computer software system. Results showed that for each subtask, learners with higher task self-efficacy had higher task performance. Those who used more learning strategies on each subtask also had higher performance. In turn, high performance was associated with high self-efficacy on subsequent subtasks. Surprisingly, results showed that task self-efficacy and learning strategy use were not significantly related during any subtask. Overall, results imply that task self-efficacy, learning strategy use and past performance are important predictors of task performance.     

Tool time: Gender and students' use of tools,control, and authority

In this study, we examined how students used science equipment and tools in constructing knowledge during science instruction. Within a geographical metaphor, we focused on how students use tools when constructing new knowledge, how control of tools is actualized from pedagogical perspectives, how language and tool accessibility intersect, how gender intersects with tool use, and how competition for resources impacts access to tools. Sixteen targeted students from five elementary science classes were observed for 3 days of instruction. Results showed gender differences in students' use of exclusive language and commands, as well as in the ways students played and tinkered with tools. Girls tended to carefully follow the teacher's directions during the laboratory and did little playing or tinkering with science tools. Male students tended to use tools in inventive and exploratory ways. Results also showed that whether or not a student had access to his or her own materials became indicative of the type of verbal interactions that took place during the science investigation. Gender‐related patterns in how tools are shared, how dyads relate to the materials and each other, and how materials are used to build knowledge are described. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 760–783, 2000     

One task,divergent solutions: high- versus low-status sources and social comparison guide adaptation in a computer-supported socio-cognitive conflict task

This experimental study extends conflict elaboration theory (1) by revealing social influence dynamics for a knowledge-rich computer-supported socio-cognitive conflict task not investigated in the context of this theory before and (2) by showing the impact of individual differences in social comparison orientation. Students in two conditions (N = 59) compared their self-created task solution with a partly correct solution presented additionally, deviating from their solution. The other solution’s source was introduced either as a low status source (“peer”) or as a high status source (“textbook”) whereas the presented solution was identical. In a baseline condition, this comparison possibility was missing. Students in the textbook condition experienced more socio-cognitive conflict and adapted their solution more often to the correct aspect of the presented solution than students in the peer condition. Students low in social comparison orientation adapted their solution more extensively in the textbook condition than in the peer condition.     

Investigations of a complex,realistic task: Intentional,unsystematic, and exhaustive experimenters

This study examines how students' experimentation with a virtual environment contributes to their understanding of a complex, realistic inquiry problem. We designed a week‐long, technology‐enhanced inquiry unit on car collisions. The unit uses new technologies to log students' experimentation choices. Physics students (n = 148) in six diverse high schools studied the unit and responded to pretests, posttests, and embedded assessments. We scored students' experimentation using four methods: total number of trials, variability of variable choices, propensity to vary one variable at a time, and coherence between investigation goals and experimentation methods. Students made moderate, significant overall pretest to posttest gains on physics understanding. Coherence was a strong predictor of learning, controlling for pretest scores and the other experimentation measures. We identify three categories of experimenters (intentional, unsystematic, and exhaustive) and illustrate these categories with examples. The findings suggest that students must combine disciplinary knowledge of the investigation with intentional investigation of the inquiry questions in order to understand the nature of the variables. Mechanically executing well‐established experimentation procedures (such as varying one variable at a time or comprehensively exploring the experimentation space) is less likely to lead students to valuable insights about complex tasks. Our proposed categories extend and refine previous efforts to categorize experimenters by linking scientific procedures with understanding of the science discipline. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 745–770, 2011