Mouse (Mus) burrows: Effects of age,strain, and domestication

Burrows dug by house mice in laboratory burrow boxes were examined in two inbred strains (C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ) across five age groups and compared with burrows of wild trapped mice. Burrows of feral domestic mice were examined in an outdoor enclosure as well as in the laboratory. Results demonstrated that burrows differ between strains; highly active C57 mice tended to burrow more than did Balbs at all age ranges. Moreover, burrows became more complex with age in both strains. Differences among domestic, feral, and wild mice were minimal. Results are discussed in terms of possible genetic differences in activity and as evidence against the notions of degeneracy accompanying domestication.     

Strain-dependent sexual dimorphism in the extinction of conditioned taste aversion in mice

Sucrose aversions were induced by lithium chloride toxicosis in 9-week-old male and female mice of the C57BL/6J and DBA/2J strains. Under conditions of ad-lib access to fluids which required a long interval between the sucrose and toxicosis, the conditioned aversions were relatively weak when compared with the sucrose consumption of saline-injected controls. The aversions extinguished rapidly within all groups. Contrary to earlier reports in rats, no sexual dimorphism in extinction rate was observed in this paradigm. When a fluid-deprivation schedule was implemented in the conditioning procedure to shorten the interval between taste experience and toxicosis, strong aversions were noted; yet relatively fast extinction under ad-lib conditions occurred in all groups except male DBA/2J mice. No sexual dimorphism was observed in mice of the C57BL/6J genotype, even when two pairings between sucrose and toxicosis were administered.     

Active- and passive-avoidance learning in inbred mice: Transfer of training effects

The performance of four groups of mice of two genotypes (DBA/2J and C57BL/6J) was observed in two avoidance situations. Two groups, one of each strain, were given a maximum of 30 conditioning trials in an active avoidance situation followed by a maximum of 30 trials in a passive avoidance situation. The other two groups, one of each strain, were given passive avoidance conditioning first, followed by active avoidance conditioning. Positive transfer of training was observed in both genotypes for mice that received active avoidance conditioning prior to passive avoidance conditioning. Little or no transfer was observed from passive to active avoidance in either strain.     

Analysis of problem solving strategies on the Kohs block design test

The present study investigated the strategies involved in the Kohs Block Design task from a cognitive point of view. One purpose was to improve the classical distinction between syncretic and analytic strategies. An other goal was to determine whether subjects show the same strategies according to their field dependence level. Finally, we analysed the way the subjects described their own strategies in order to assess their metacognitive skills. The subjects (17 year-old pupils) were first given a field dependence proof (G.E.F.T.), then the Kohs Block Design task and finally were interviewed about their strategies. Each pupil was tested individually and videotaped. The strategies were drawn by four indicators. The results indicated three strategies: syncretic, analytic and synthetic strategies. The degree of field dependence clearly distinguished the strategies in the Block Design task: more independent the subject is, more he used a synthetic strategy. Finally, the subjects’ verbalizations were more closely connected with their behaviours. In a general way, the subjects appeared to be steady in the use of a particular strategy.     

Retrospective and prospective short-term memory in delayed response tasks in rats

Separate groups of rats were trained and tested on asymmetrically and symmetrically reinforced successive delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) or delayed discrimination (DD) tasks in Experiment 1. Each rat received training and testing on symmetrically reinforced DMTS and DD tasks in Experiment 2. The only difference between each task was that the rats had to respond correctly to a light or tone test stimulus, S₂, if it matched a light or tone sample stimulus, S₁, in DMTS, but could respond to either S₂ if S₁ had been a particular stimulus in DD. Only correct leverpresses were reinforced in the asymmetrically reinforced version of each task. Both correct presses and correct omissions were reinforced in the symmetrically reinforced version of each task. Response biases to leverpress during tests for delayed responding to S₁ were reduced in both symmetrically reinforced tasks, but only in the DD task did such contingencies produce consistently poorer performance in responding to either S, in Experiment 1. Declines in accuracy of performance that occurred in both experiments were greater to the visual than to the auditory S₁ only in the DMTS tasks with increased intervals between S₁ and S₂. A third experiment, in which rats had to respond to S₂ if it matched S₁ (DMTS) or if S₂ mismatched S, (DMmTS), was carried out. Modality of S₁ similarly affected accuracy of delayed responding in each task, as in the first two experiments. Methodological and theoretical implications of these results are discussed in terms of Honig and Thompson’s (1982) dual-process theory of working memory.     

The development and maintenance of odor-based double-alternation responding under conditions of Thorazine and Elavil injection

Two experiments investigating odor production and utilization in rats under the effects of Thorazine and Elavil injections, respectively, are reported. In Experiment 1, significantly slower speeds shown by the Thorazine-injected subjects indicated that this drug depressed performance. It is felt that depressed performance allowed these subjects to attend and respond to odor cues earlier in Phase 1 than did saline-injected control animals. Reversing the injection conditions (Phase 2) failed to disrupt already-established patterning. During the first phase of Experiment 2, Elavil-injected subjects failed to establish patterned responding, whereas such responding was readily established by saline-injected subjects. Reversing the injection conditions (Phase 2) resulted in the rapid development of double-alternation patterning by the subjects that were shifted from Elavil to saline and in the maintenance of such responding by the animals shifted from saline to Elavil.     

The Emotional Learning of Educators Working in Alternative Provision

Working with pupils who are on the edge of exclusion is not an easy job; in fact, it is more than just a job. This study investigates the emotional involvement of educators (teachers and mentors) working with pupils who have been permanently, or are at risk of being, excluded from mainstream education This article presents different forms of emotional learning that take place in educational practice. Specifically, it explores the emotional relationships that educators have with pupils and each other. It also draws on the concept of emotional geography (Hargreaves, 2001a Hargreaves, A. (2001a). The emotional geographies of teaching. Teachers College Record, 103, 1056–1080.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2001b Hargreaves, A. (2001b). The emotional geographies of teachers' relations with colleagues. International Journal of International Research, 35, 503–527. [Google Scholar]) to theorize the emotional interactions that the educators are expected to have with their pupils, because overcoming emotional distance is seen as a vitally important part of their work as educators of excluded pupils. The research shows that emotional learning is understood by educators as a dynamic process that they can play a part in shaping, rather than being a passive process in which they are silent actors, and that harmful experiences can have a constructive outcome.     

Behavior genetic analysis of mouse emotionality: II. Stability of factors across genotypes

Three emotionally divergent strains of mice (SWR/J, A/HeJ, and SJL/J) were mated to produce three populations: a pure strain population (N = 90), an F₁ population (N = 120), and an F₂ population (N = 96). All Ss were tested on a battery of measures of emotionality. Each population was factored separately by principal components factoring with varimax and promax rotations. Factorial invariance was assessed quantitatively by congruence coefficients. Eight of the resultant factors were found to be replicable across populations. These were autonomic balance, motor discharge, territorial marking, acrophobia, tunneling-1, tunneling-2, underwater swimming, and audiogenic reactivity. Of the eight factors, motor discharge was most distinct in each population and tunneling-1 was least distinct.     

Analysing novices analysing Prolog: what stories do novices tell themselves about Prolog?

Informal observations of Prolog learners showed that, despite being presented with correct information and models, students still tended to construct their own idiosyncratic explanations of events, and, characteristically, they defended these ‘stories’ fiercely when tutorial intervention was attempted. Although the stories were often so flawed that the student's future progress was potentially hampered, it was nevertheless true that learning could not have proceeded at all without them. It seems that if we are to understand the novice Prolog programmer, we need to know about these stories, their source, and what, if anything, they have in common from one learner to another. Pain and Bundy (1987) posed the question “What stories should we tell novice Prolog programmers?” in order to teach them Prolog. In our research, we ask: “What stories do novices Prolog programmers tell themselves?” in order to learn Prolog. Observational studies undertaken showed that students used tacit knowledge of human discourse processes both to interpret the language used to communicate with the computer and to interpret the behaviour of the machine. Students did not appreciate the fundamental differences between natural discourse (as takes place amongst humans) and formal discourse (as takes place between humans and machines), and confused elements of the discourse levels. This can be an effective initial learning strategy, but unless its limitations are recognised, programs are inevitably incomplete at some level. Examples from these studies are reported here with illustrative protocol fragments.     

Codes and coding processes in pigeon short-term memory

The delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) task was used in three experiments to investigate how pigeons code information about sample stimuli. In all experiments, each trial consisted of a signaled presentation of a sample stimulus for a fixed duration followed, after some delay, by the presentation of three comparison stimuli. After incorrect first choices, the bird was allowed a second choice between the remaining two stimuli. It was found, in Experiment 1, that the probability of a second choice error declined with increasing sample duration. This result is consistent with a gradual short-term memory encoding process but not with a simple two-state all-or-none process. In the second experiment, it was found that the distribution of first-choice errors was affected by the particular sample occurring on a trial. This result is inconsistent with a two-stage discrete state memory/attention model based on the assumption that encoding of the sample and attention to the comparison stimuli are both independent all-or-none processes. The third experiment involved symbolic DMTS, in which the sample stimuli varied along a dimension different from that along which the comparison stimuli varied. With increasing delay between sample and comparison stimulus presentations, the pigeons were more likely to confuse test stimuli than to confuse sample stimuli. The results of these experiments lead to the conclusion that pigeon DMTS performance depends on a gradual encoding process in which a representation isomorphic with the test stimuli is generated and maintained.     

The effect of overtraining on a visual discrimination on transfer to a spatial discrimination

Rats were first either trained to criterion or given overtraining on an orientation discrimination and then were given an extradimensional shift to a position discrimination. Overtraining on the visual discrimination facilitated performance on the position discrimination. Implications for mediational theories of discrimination learning were indicated.     

Time dependent effects of double cuing in directed forgetting

Previous research in directed forgetting in pigeons has focused on the effect of single forget cues (F-cues) interpolated within the retention interval in delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS). The present series of experiments focuses on the ability of a remember cue (R-cue) to cancel the effects of a previously presented forget cue both when the forget cue occurs within the retention interval and when the forget cue precedes sample presentation. In the first experiment, an R-cue decreased the effect of an F-cue within the same retention interval in successive DMTS if the R-cue immediately followed the F-cue, but not if the second cue was delayed until the end of the retention interval. In Experiment 2, the double-cue effect was extended to choice DMTS. In addition, when a novel stimulus replaced the R-cue in the double-cue probe trials, matching performance was not restored, indicating that through its conditioning history the R-cue had gained control over memory processes in a direction opposite to that of the F-cue. Experiment 3 presents evidence that presample R- and F-cues can also effectively gain control over matching performance. Matching to R-cued samples was superior to matching to F-cued samples. When F-cued samples were followed immediately by R-cues, matching performance was not restored to R-cue levels, suggesting differential encoding of the R-cued and F-cued samples.     

Symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and home learning environment (HLE): findings from a longitudinal study

The concept of “Home Learning Environment” (HLE) covers activities in a family providing intellectual stimulation for a child, such as reading to him or her or visiting libraries. Numerous studies have shown an association between HLE and children's cognitive development. In this longitudinal study, we focus on HLE as a predictor for children's behavioral development, namely, for later symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), controlling for relevant aspects like socioeconomic status (SES), or television viewing behavior. We analyzed the development of ADHD symptoms from kindergarten to the end of grade 2 and possible associations with HLE, SES, and television exposure, using a German community sample (N?=?924). Results indicated that ADHD symptoms were negatively and significantly correlated to HLE for all five measurement points as well as to SES (except T4) and to television exposure for T1 to T4. Observing later development, only early HLE but not SES or television exposure served as a significant predictor for ADHD symptoms at school, when age, sex, and ADHD symptoms in kindergarten were controlled for. A structural equation model showed that HLE acted as a mediator between SES and later ADHD symptoms. Our results highlight the importance of the concept of home learning environment also for children's behavioral development. As a consequence, parents should be supported in offering their children a more favorable learning environment.     

Some effects of early social stimulation on the emotional reactivity of ducklings

Newly hatched Khaki Campbell ducklings were housed with a conspecific for 24 h beginning at either 1 or 5 days of age. A third group of ducklings received no social stimulation. When tested on Day 7, ducklings afforded early social stimulation exhibited less distress calling and crouching in a novel open field than ducklings exposed to late or no social stimulation. A second experiment asked whether the above result was due to early social stimulation per se or to the separation which occurred at its termination. Newly hatched ducklings were housed with a conspecific beginning on Day 1. One-half of the birds were separated from their companions on Day 2; the rest were separated on Day 6. On Day 7, the ducklings that were separated early exhibited less crouching and distress calling in a novel open field than the birds that were separated late. This finding implies that the withdrawal of social stimulation, rather than social stimulation perse, was responsible for the reduced emotional behavior observed in Experiment I. It is concluded that early withdrawal of social stimulation generated a strong aversive reaction and that it was the strength and timing of this reaction that mediated the emotionality moderating effects found here. Under these circumstances, the primary function of early social stimulation was to establish a condition whereby the aversive reaction generated by separation would occur early.     

Inside information — A door to the future?

Information Technology has the potential to provide virtually any educational requirement which the human mind can imagine. Before ideas can become applications, however, there have to be a suitable infrastructure and detailed procedures, otherwise they merely become historical footnotes. Inside Information, a scheme developed by the B.B.C. and the City and Guilds of London Institute, uses Information Technology in some novel ways and in some new contexts. The linking of it to a short-course programme sponsored by the Department of Education and Science opens up a much wider range of possibilities. The article explains the background to the development of Inside Information and its linking to the Department's short-course programme. It shows how such linking is necessary to enable the potential of the scheme to be realised. Inside Information, as it is now being developed, makes distinctions between formal, nonformal and informal education meaningless for most purposes. Medium- and long-term scenarios are suggested. Exciting as they are, these scenarios cannot become reality until the necessary infrastructure and procedures have been created.     

A bicultural study of identification: Readers' responses to the ironic treatment of a national hero

This article is the outcome of a transcontinental collaboration of the authors. We first met at Exeter, U.K., during the 1979 Congress of the International Research Society for Children's Literature (I.R.S.C.L.). We met again at a seminar in Germany during 1983, where we both became intrigued with the work of Hans Robert Jauss on reader identification with literary heroes. The authors then decided to collaborate on the topic of reader response to a popular Australian children's book that had been translated into German, Randolph Stow'sMidnite. The main themes for investigation were: How do child readers in Australia and Germany respond to the ironic humour of this rather sophisticated book? Also, what effect might translation have on reader response? A case study approach was evolved using taped interviews of children in Australia and Germany. Our research was presented in a paper at the I.R.S.C.L. Congress in Cologne, 1987, which has been edited for appearance in these pages. We believe the study is unique in the history of the Society in that it was conducted entirely by mail over the four-year period.     

Impact of Contact on the Development of Children's Positive Stereotyping about Aging Language Competence

This study examined young children's (M = 38 months) beliefs about the aging of language competence using a modified mutual exclusivity paradigm (cf. Markman, 1990 Markman , E. M. ( 1990 ). Constraints children place on word meanings . Cognitive Science , 14 ( 1 ), 57 – 77 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Children were shown pairs of objects (familiar and unfamiliar) and were asked by a younger and older experimenter to point to the object in the pair to which a novel non-word referred. Showing reliance on a mutual exclusivity heuristic (a new word must refer to something I do not already know), children selected more unfamiliar objects as the referent. Children who had relatively little contact with older adults showed more reliance on mutual exclusivity when tested by a younger experimenter than an older experimenter. This pattern was reversed for children who had more frequent contact with older adults. These results suggest that with infrequent contact with older adults, children rely on common stereotypes linking old age with diminished competence to judge an older interlocutor's behavior. More frequent contact allows for positive stereotypes associating older age with enhanced language competence to dominate, making an older experimenter the better teacher of new words.