Social influences on the identification of toxic foods by Norway rats

In the present experiments, a naive “observer” rat first interacted with a “demonstrator” rat previously fed a diet unfamiliar to the observer. The observer then sampled two unfamiliar diets, one of which was the diet its demonstrator had eaten. The observer was then injected with LiCl and, following recovery from toxicosis, was offered a choice between the two diets it sampled prior to toxicosis induction. It was found that: (1) each observer rat formed an aversion to whichever diet its demonstrator had not eaten, (2) effects of demonstrators on aversion learning by observers were present even if there was a 7- or 8-day delay between interaction of a demonstrator and observer and diet sampling by the observer, and (3) observers interacting with 3 demonstrators, each fed a different diet, subsequently exhibited a reduced tendency to form an aversion to each of the diets eaten by their demonstrators. Taken together, the results indicate that information acquired from conspecifics as to the diets they have eaten can play an important role in determining the foods to which otherwise naive rats will learn aversions.     

Diet sampling by wild Norway rats offered several unfamiliar foods

The present experiment was undertaken to examine directly the diet sampling behavior of wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) faced with a choice among familiar and unfamiliar foods. First-generation, laboratory-reared wild Norway rats ate from four food cups. Three of the food cups were in unfamiliar locations and contained unfamiliar foods. The remaining food cup was in a familiar location and contained a familiar food. Subjects in a control group were offered the familiar food in all four locations. We found (1) that subjects in experimental and control conditions took equal amounts of time to first visit food cups in unfamiliar locations, (2) that subjects in the experimental condition (those with access to unfamiliar foods) ate at unfamiliar locations at a slower rate than did subjects in the control condition (those with access only to familiar food), (3) that subjects in the experimental condition were no more likely than subjects in the control condition to eat at one unfamiliar location at a time, and (4) that following a bout of eating at an unfamiliar food cup, subjects in the experimental condition waited no longer than subjects in the control condition before eating from a different unfamiliar food cup. We interpreted these data as indicating that although wild Norway rats are hesitant to eat unfamiliar foods, once they begin to eat such foods, they do not sample among them so as to facilitate identification of any toxin present.     

Social learning and social transmission of foraging information in Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Adult male Norway rats were tested in a first experiment to see whether foraging efficiency could be improved by social learning. Observers were placed in one of four conditions in which they were paired with demonstrators that either had or had not been previously trained to dig for buried carrot pieces, and in which the demonstrators either did or did not have carrot buried in the experimental enclosure. Observers in the group with trained demonstrators that did have carrot pieces buried in the experimental area during the observation period subsequently unearthed more buried carrot, did so more rapidly, and were generally more active than were the observers in the other three groups. In a second experiment, chains of transmission were established by allowing each observer to act as a demonstrator for the next naive observer. Enhanced levels of digging behavior were maintained across eight transmission episodes in three transmission groups relative to a no-transmission control group, the performance levels becoming stable after five transmission episodes at a level significantly above that of the control group. The study demonstrates that social learning and transmission mechanisms exist which might result in the diffusion of certain patterns of behavior through populations of Norway rats.     

Establishment of dominance in domestic Norway rats: Effects of the degree of captivity and social experience

Learning & Behavior - The effect of the level of captivity and prior social experience on the establishment of dominance was examined in 16 colonies of albino rats. Males were assigned to one...     

Enhancing project-oriented learning by joining communities of practice and opening spaces for relatedness

This article describes an extension to project-oriented learning to increase social construction of knowledge and learning. The focus is on: (a) maximising opportunities for students to share their knowledge with practitioners by joining communities of practice, and (b) increasing their intrinsic motivation by creating conditions for student's relatedness. The case study considers a last year capstone course in Mechanical Engineering. The work addresses innovative practices of active learning and beyond project-oriented learning through: (a) the development of a web-based decision support system, (b) meetings between the communities of students, maintenance engineers and academics, and (c) new off-campus group instances. The author hypothesises that this multi-modal approach increases deep learning and social impact of the educational process. Surveys to the actors support a successful achievement of the educational goals. The methodology can easily be extended to further improve the learning process.     

Scaffolding critical reasoning about history and social issues in multimedia-supported learning environments

This article advances a continuing line of research that investigates the potential of hypermedia resources and scaffolding for supporting problem-based social studies and developing critical reasoning. Our line of inquiry consists of a series of generative design experiments that informs problem-based curriculum development. Our findings suggest that expert guidance may be embedded into the learning environment to give students conceptual and strategic road maps that assist them in understanding the process of disciplined inquiry. However, our results also emphasize the difficulties in managing the cognitive challenges posed by ill-structured social problems and suggest limits to the embedded support that can be provided for complex thinking. Complex conceptual tasks may require spontaneous support that can only be provided by a skilled teacher. We suggest that embedded scaffolds may be used to support teachers by reducing the amount of spontaneous scaffolding they must do in an ill-structured environment and discuss other steps that might be taken to encourage problem-based inquiry. Support for this research has been provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Auburn University College of Education, and Auburn City Schools.     

Socially mediated attenuation of taste-aversion learning in Norway rats: Preventing development of “food phobias”

After interacting with rat demonstrators that had eaten a novel, palatable diet, many observer rats exhibited either attenuation or total blockade of their subsequent acquisition of a lithium-chloride-induced aversion to that diet. In natural circumstances, such social attenuation of aversion learning could prevent new recruits to a population (weanlings or recent immigrants) from learning maladaptive aversions (“food phobias”) to tainted or spoiled samples of normally safe foods that others of their social group were eating.     

Effects of Familiarity and Type of Encoding on Proofreading of Text

A handful of studies have claimed that error detection is improved by a proofreader’s prior encounter with the text to be scanned for errors. In these studies, however, the beneficial effect of text familiarity on proofreading has been obtained via surface encoding tasks (prior reading or proofreading). This raises the question of whether the effect is dependent on the type of encoding operations performed on the text prior to proofreading. In Experiment 1, familiarization required that subjects read an error-free passage and then either type the passage verbatim (surface encoding) or write an essay by relying on the information contained in the passage (deep encoding with generation). In Experiment 2, subjects generated sentences (deep encoding with generation), assessed whether sentences described drawings (deep encoding), or typed sentences (surface encoding). Familiarity, irrespective of the nature of the encoding operations, improved proofreading times but only surface encoding or deep encoding without generation made proofreading more accurate. In Experiment 3, text generation fostered greater subjective familiarity than either surface or deep encoding alone. It is argued that this form of enhanced familiarity may lead to expectancy effects in proofreading performance.     

社会建构主义学习理论对高校创新教育的启示

知识经济的时代特点,要求高校培育出创新型的专业人才.这些创新型的人才具有否定权威,自主学习,积极乐观的特点.社会建构主义学习理论的知识观、学生观和学习观可为高校从学生、教师、认知任务和环境四个方面全面实施创新教育提供指导.     

Opportunities and constraints when studying social learning: Developmental approaches and social factors

Identifying social learning in wild populations is complicated by the relative lack of ability to conduct controlled experiments in natural habitats. Even in more controlled captive settings, tracking the innovation and spread of behavior among known individuals can be challenging, and these studies often suffer from a lack of ecological validity. In recent years, a host of new approaches have been undertaken to attempt to provide more quantitative control and empirical demonstration of social learning, both in the wild and in captive settings that more closely mimic natural contexts. Developmental approaches are being undertaken more regularly that allow us to study the ontogenetic trajectory of complex skills in a variety of taxa. Likewise, a spirited focus on the social context of social learning has emerged, and researchers have begun to meticulously analyze the influences of social systems and the characteristics of demonstrators and observers. Here, we provide a review of these studies and summarize the opportunities and constraints that exist when one attempts to study learning in social species. We suggest that although the study of social learning in nonhuman animals is becoming much more complex, addressing this complexity provides a fruitful model for understanding the evolution of human cultural behavior.     

Young children learning about living things: A case study of conceptual change from ontological and social perspectives

Although research from a developmental/psychological perspective indicates that many children do not have a scientific understanding of living things, even by the age of 10 years, little research has been conducted about how students learn this science topic in the classroom. This exploratory research used a case‐study design and qualitative data‐collection methods to investigate the process of conceptual change from ontological and social perspectives when Year 1 (5‐ and 6‐year‐old) students were learning about living things. Most students were found to think about living things with either stable, nonscientific or stable, scientific framework theories. Transitional phases of understanding also were identified. Patterns of conceptual change observed over the 5‐week period of instruction included theory change and belief revision as well as reversals in beliefs. The predominant pattern of learning, however, was the assimilation of facts and information into the students' preferred framework theory. The social milieu of the classroom context exposed students' scientific and nonscientific beliefs that influenced other individuals in a piecemeal fashion. Children with nonscientific theories of living things were identified as being least able to benefit from socially constructed, scientific knowledge; hence, recommendations are made for teaching that focuses on conceptual change strategies rather than knowledge enrichment. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 449–480, 2004     

Effects of mobile apps for nursing students: learning motivation,social interaction and study performance

Abstract

This study examined the effects of mobile apps on the learning motivation, social interaction and study performance of nursing students. A total of 20 students participated in focus group interviews to collect feedback on their use of mobile apps for learning and communicative activities. Two consecutive cohorts of students in a nursing programme, each with about 200 students, were recruited for assessing their learning motivation through a survey and study performance by two tests. The results showed that the students actively used the mobile apps for studying supplementary materials as well as participating in in-class activities and clinical assessments. The students had a relatively high level of motivation for performing and learned well, but relatively low perceived satisfaction and self-efficacy with mobile learning. They showed better study performance after practising mobile learning. The results also suggest that students’ perceived intrinsic value with mobile learning has to be enhanced for improving study performance.     

Multiple-pattern learning by rats on an eight-arm radial maze

Rats were trained over a number of sessions on an eight-arm radial maze with eight trials on each session. Each of four arms on the maze contained a different pattern formed by sequences of reward (two pellets) or nonreward (no pellets) over successive trials within sessions. The patterns were single alternation, double alternation, and two patterns in which four rewards or four nonrewards were preceded and followed by two nonrewards or two rewards, respectively. The other four arms on the maze served as control arms and always contained one pellet. It was found that rats tracked all of these patterns when they were required to climb over barriers to enter and leave arms. However, rats showed no ability to extrapolate patterns beyond the training trials. These findings, and a further analysis of arm-choice stereotypy, led to the conclusion that rats tracked by using a trial-number strategy.     

Confucian states and learning life: making scholar-officials and social learning a political contestation

This paper describes how the way the concept of learning is identified and managed in a societal context can provide a crucial clue to explaining how a form of culture as a complex mental organism is constructed and interwoven. Specifically, I argue the point by illustrating that the discourse of Confucianism has fabricated a specific form of learning life as a basic unit of social practice that has modulated the key social structures in Confucian states: it has fabricated the pieces of social webs of order, stratification, and rules and legislations of these states. In this process, the role of the scholar class, specifically scholar-officials, has played a key role in reproducing the mode of social learning, cultural rituals, and mode of politics. The Confucian state was a large-scale metaphorical school, on a different scale to the modern concept of the school as an institution, where the ruler–subordinator relationship was re-framed to that of the teacher–learner. Overall, I reveal in this paper that the notion of a complex social learning system can be a key theoretical framework that sheds new light, not only on the nature of the Confucian states, but also on the discourse of the East/West dichotomy.