农村高三学生英语感知学习风格之调研

对农村高三学生的英语感知学习风格进行的调查结果分析显示:农村高三学生喜欢多种英语感知学习风格,最喜欢动手学习风格,最不喜欢单独学习风格;女生比男生更喜欢听觉学习和体验学习风格;英语水平对感知学习风格没有显著性影响;动手学习风格和写作技能有一定的相关性。英语教师应根据学生的感知学习风格灵活应用多种教学方法,指导学生调整和丰富多种感知学习风格以促进教与学的协调发展。     

网络多媒体环境下外语学习风格与交互倾向的相关性研究

该研究从Reid的感知学习风格角度,按照Moore的交互分类标准,针对网络多媒体教学现状,分析网络多媒体环境下的外语学习者感知学习风格和交互倾向性,旨在对学习风格和交互倾向之间的关系进行探讨和分析。其研究方法采用描述性研究法,使用定量和定质数据相结合的分析手段,即对定量数据进行描述性的相关关系统计处理,对个人半开放式访谈、参与性观察,以及网络多媒体外语学习周记等定质数据进行归纳法的描写性分析,以求推断提出理论假设。研究结果表明:网络多媒体环境下的工科外语学习者学习风格趋向动觉型和体验型学习风格;交互方式的心理需求明显趋向为师生交互;群体型学习风格与师生交互、生生交互具有显著的正相关关系;体验型学习风格与师生交互具有显著的正相关关系;其他四种学习风格与三种交互类型均不相关。     

社会认知的神经生物学研究

近来的研究已经开始解释具体的神经结构、基因和神经传导系统在社会认知研究中所扮演的角色.颞叶的皮质区感知与社会相关的刺激;杏仁核、右躯体感觉皮层、眶额叶、扣带回和感知动机、情绪、认知刺激相关.未来的研究不仅仅是局限于动物的社会认知研究,更需要关注人类的社会认知研究.方法上要把行为的方法和生理的方法结合起来,以寻求汇聚性的证据来揭示社会认知的特点.     

An interdisciplinary theory of behavior

This paper combines biological, biochemical and psychological data toward the construction of a bio-psychological theory of behavior. The fundamental assumptions are that the environment favored the evolution of organisms possessing receptors sensitive to periodic or repetitive stimuli. Moreover the presence of periodic stimuli in space and time have induced, through natural selection, the appearance of highly advanced forms of living organisms capable of exploiting the environment by utilizing information in periodic stimuli. Indeed, this dependency on periodic stimulation, such as light energy and movement of surrounding matter, has induced a psychological, perceptual bias to readily assimilate repetitive stimuli thereby producing changes in behavior. This perceptual bias favored by organic evolution and reinforced by stimulation of the organism during development produces communication patterns in higher animals characterized by repetitive sounds. The relationship of this theory to current learning models is discussed and applications are made to human learning.     

Psycho-Educational Study of Selected Behavioral Variables with Children Failing the Elementary Grades

A psycho-educational test battery was administered to 472 children failing in the elementary grades in a county school system. A study of the information-processing behaviors associated with learning and related to the multiple causes of failure was the purpose of the study. The major premise was that perceptual and cognitive behavioral disability is a more concise basis for the prevention and treatment of school failure than are the numerous theories which are frequently quoted, especially when one considers the individual child.

The data showed that children failing do have specific language and perceptual information-processing behavioral problems appearing as receptive, central, and expressive language, auditory perceptual, auditory and visual perceptual memory, and perceptual integrative difficulties. The children did not seem to have perceptual copying, motor, laterality, or directionality difficulties. Teacher ratings and academic achievement did not provide a basis for understanding why failure occurs.     

Perceptual learning and representational learning in humans and animals

Traditionally, perceptual learning in humans and classical conditioning in animals have been considered as two very different research areas, with separate problems, paradigms, and explanations. However, a number of themes common to these fields of research emerge when they are approached from the more general concept of representational learning. To demonstrate this, I present results of several learning experiments with human adults and infants, exploring how internal representations of complex unknown visual patterns might emerge in the brain. I provide evidence that this learning cannot be captured fully by any simple pairwise associative learning scheme, but rather by a probabilistic inference process called Bayesian model averaging, in which the brain is assumed to formulate the most likely chunking/grouping of its previous experience into independent representational units. Such a generative model attempts to represent the entire world of stimuli with optimal ability to generalize to likely scenes in the future. I review the evidence showing that a similar philosophy and generative scheme of representation has successfully described a wide range of experimental data in the domain of classical conditioning in animals. These convergent findings suggest that statistical theories of representational learning might help to link human perceptual learning and animal classical conditioning results into a coherent framework.     

Relational learning in pigeons: The role of perceptual processes in between-key recognition of complex stimuli

In Experiment 1, we used six procedures in a series of unsuccessful attempts to obtain relational learning using trial-unique pictorial stimuli in pigeons. The Experiment began by testing conventional (three-key) matching-to-sample (MTS) and nonmatching-to-sample (NMTS); in subsequent stages of the experiment we progressively incorporated features of techniques that do obtain relational learning in a single-key apparatus. In Experiment 2, we found that acquisition of NMTS using pictorial stimuli proceeded no more rapidly than acquisition of a conditional discrimination. Experiment 3 showed that acquisition of NMTS was more rapid than acquisition of MTS when plain colored stimuli were used, but not when pictorial stimuli were used. These three experiments suggest that pigeons do not recognize pictorial stimuli shown on different keys. In Experiment 4, between-key recognition was obtained with familiar but not with novel pictorial stimuli. It is argued that perceptual learning facilitates the detection of the between-key identity of complex stimuli, and that perceptual processes may underlie the difficulty in demonstrating relational learning in pigeons.     

The effects of isolation and handling on reactivity to footshock and tactile dorsal stimulation

The effects of isolation and handling on the reactivity of rats to two tactile stimuli were assessed in two experiments. In the first experiment, reactivity to more intense footshock was increased in rats raised in isolation but was not affected by handling by an experimenter. In the second experiment, increased reactivity to airpuff stimuli presented to the dorsal surface of isolation-reared rats was reduced by handling. The data suggest that the effects of handling on shock-motivated behaviors are not due to altered reactivity to shock and that the effect of housing or handling must be considered in behavioral tests in which reactivity to tactile stimulation might play a role as dependent or independent variables.     

高职学生英语学习风格调查研究

学习风格是学生个性化差异因素之一,是学习者在学习中表现出来的一种整体性、持久性的并具有个性化的认知方式和处理信息的方式。本文通过问卷的方式对高职学生的外语学习风格进行了调查和研究,发现高职学生主要学习风格为视觉型和动手型。同时也分析了高职学生学习方式上的性别差异,并对高职教学提出了一些想法和建议。     

Sensitivity to Visual-Tactile Colocation on the Body Prior to Skilled Reaching in Early Infancy

Two experiments examined perceptual colocation of visual and tactile stimuli in young infants. Experiment 1 compared 4- (n = 15) and 6-month-old (n = 12) infants’ visual preferences for visual-tactile stimulus pairs presented across the same or different feet. The 4- and 6-month-olds showed, respectively, preferences for colocated and noncolocated conditions, demonstrating sensitivity to visual-tactile colocation on their feet. This extends previous findings of visual-tactile perceptual colocation on the hands in older infants. Control conditions excluded the possibility that both 6- (Experiment 1), and 4-month-olds (Experiment 2, n = 12) perceived colocation on the basis of an undifferentiated supramodal coding of spatial distance between stimuli. Bimodal perception of visual-tactile colocation is available by 4 months of age, that is, prior to the development of skilled reaching.     

An elemental model of associative learning: I. Latent inhibition and perceptual learning

This paper presents a brief, informal outline followed by a formal statement of an elemental associative learning model first described by McLaren, Kaye, and Mackintosh (1989). The model assumes representation of stimuli by sets of elements (i.e., microfeatures) and a set of associative algorithms that incorporate the following: real-time simulation of learning; an error-correcting learning rule; weight decay that distinguishes between transient and permanent associations; and modulation of associative learning that gives high salience to and, hence, promotes rapid learning with novel, unpredicted stimuli and reduces the salience for a stimulus as its error term declines. The model is applied in outline fashion to some of the basic phenomena of simple conditioning and, in greater detail, to the phenomena of latent inhibition and perceptual learning. A detailed account of generalization and discrimination will be provided in a later paper.     

Pavlovian appetitive discriminative conditioning inAplysia californica

Three experiments demonstrated Pavlovian appetitive discrimination learning in the marine mollusc,Aplysia californica. In each experiment, subjects were exposed to two conditioned stimuli; one stimulus (CS+) was paired with food presentations and the other stimulus (CS?) was never followed by food. In Experiments 1 and 3 different chemosensory stimuli were used, and in Experiment 2 different tactile stimuli were used. For both types of conditioned stimuli, bite responses occurred significantly more often to the CS+ than to the CS?. Experiment 2 also showed thatAplysia could learn a reversal of this discrimination. Experiment 3 showed that nonreinforced presentations of CS+ resulted in a decline in the frequency of conditioned biting. The implications of these results for neurobiological analyses of learning are discussed.     

Exploring learner acceptance of the use of virtual reality in medical education: a case study of desktop and projection-based display systems

Advanced technologies have been widely applied in medical education, including human-patient simulators, immersive virtual reality Cave Automatic Virtual Environment systems, and video conferencing. Evaluating learner acceptance of such virtual reality (VR) learning environments is a critical issue for ensuring that such technologies are used to greatest effect. This research describes the use of high performance real-time interactive software (VR4MAX) to build a prototype 3D VR learning system. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 167 university students to investigate learner attitudes toward learning via VR applications. Experimental results show that immersion and imagination features of VR-mediated course contents have a positive impact on perceived usefulness, and can also predict perceived ease of use, both of which contributors to behavioral intention of learners to use VR learning systems. Overall, this research validates the relationship between three features of VR and learners' behavioral intention to use VR learning. The results could prove helpful in guiding future research related to VR learning.     

Learning Style Preferences of Armenian, African, Hispanic, Hmong, Korean, Mexican, and Anglo Students in American Secondary Schools

This is a study concerning the basic perceptual learning style preferences (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile) and preferences for group and individual learning of Armenian, African, Hispanic, Hmong, Korean, Mexican, and Anglo students in American secondary schools. The results of the study reveal significant ethnic group and sex differences in their learning style preferences, as well as students' achievement level differences. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Predicting shifts in generalization gradients with perceptrons

Perceptron models have been used extensively to model perceptual learning and the effects of discrimination training on generalization, as well as to explore natural classification mechanisms. Here, we assess the ability of existing models to account for the time course of generalization shifts that occur when individuals learn to distinguish sounds. A set of simulations demonstrates that commonly used single-layer and multilayer perceptron networks do not predict transitory shifts in generalization over the course of training but that such dynamics can be accounted for when the output functions of these networks are modified to mimic the properties of cortical tuning curves. The simulations further suggest that prudent selection of stimuli and training criteria can allow for more precise predictions of learning-related shifts in generalization gradients in behavioral experiments. In particular, the simulations predict that individuals will show maximal peak shift after different numbers of trials, that easier contrasts will lead to slower development of shifted peaks, and that whether generalization shifts persist or dissipate will depend on which stimulus dimensions individuals use to distinguish stimuli and how those dimensions are neurally encoded.     

民办高校学生英语学习风格差异分析——非英语专业新生以学习感知模式为基础的英语学习风格分析

本文在学习感知模式的基础上调查分析了民办高校非英语专业新生的英语学习风格并探讨了学习风格的差异对英语学习和教学的影响。感知模式分为视觉、听觉、触觉和动觉。调查表明,倾向于视觉模式的学生最多,而倾向听觉、触觉和动觉模式的人数则要少得多。在此基础上笔者分析了他们学习风格的差异及其原因,并针对不同的英语学习风格提出了与之相匹配的学习策略和教学策略。     

Learning to see: Guiding students' attention via a Model's eye movements fosters learning

This study investigated how to teach perceptual tasks, that is, classifying fish locomotion, through eye movement modeling examples (EMME). EMME consisted of a replay of eye movements of a didactically behaving domain expert (model), which had been recorded while he executed the task, superimposed onto the video stimulus. Seventy-five students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: In two experimental conditions (EMME) the model's eye movements were superimposed onto the video either as a dot or as a spotlight, whereas the control group studied only the videos without the model's eye movements. In all conditions, students listened to the expert's verbal explanations. Results showed that both types of EMME guided students' attention during example study. Subsequent to learning, students performed a classification task for novel test stimuli without any support. EMME improved visual search and enhanced interpretation of relevant information for those novel stimuli compared to the control group; these effects were further moderated by the specific display. Thus, EMME during training can foster learning and improve performance on novel perceptual stimuli.     

Tactile,maternal, and pharmacologic factors involved in the “transport response” in rat pups

A series of eight experiments was run to characterize the potentiation of the transport response reported with tactile stimulation. Experiments 1A–C were designed to investigate the types of tactile stimulation that could potentiate an initially weak transport response. Experiments 2A–C were designed to assess the effect of maternal/littermate deprivation on responsiveness to external stimuli in 9- and 16-day-old rat pups. Experiments 3A and 3B were designed to investigate, pharmacologically, underlying mechanisms for the transport response potentiation effect. It was found that if the initial stimulus in producing a strong transport response is inadequate, additional tactile stimulation can potentiate the response. The additional stimuli work best if they are diffuse, if discrete inputs can summate over areas, or if they encompass the snout area. It also was found that isolation could lead to increased responsiveness to stimuli normally eliciting or potentiating the response in 9- and 16-day-old rats. Finally, results indicate that both dopaminergic and beta-noradrenergic systems are important in the response potentiation seen with maternal/littermate deprivation.     

Designing to Learn About Complex Systems

Complex systems are commonly found in natural and physical science. Understanding such systems is often difficult because they may be viewed from multiple perspectives and their analysis may conflict with or extend beyond the range of everyday experience. There are many complex structural, behavioral, and functional relations to understand as well. Design activities, which allow explorations of how systems work, can be an excellent way to help children acquire a deeper, more systemic understanding of such complex domains. We report on a design experiment in which 6th grade children learned about the human respiratory system by designing artificial lungs and building partial working models. Structure-behavior-function models are used as a framework for the cognitive analysis of the domain. The design activities helped students learn about the respiratory system. The design students indeed learned more than students receiving direct instruction. They learned to view the respiratory system more systemically. As expected, because of the short time they spent on the exercise, they understood more about structure than function and more about the functions of different parts of the respiratory system than its causal behaviors. This early Learning by Design experiment makes several important suggestions about successful learning from design activities: (a) the need to define design challenges functionally; (b) the importance of dynamic feedback; (c) the need for multiple iterations toward a solution; and most important; (d) thinking about design as a system of activities and allocating time so that the full system can be carried out, allowing its full set of affordances to be realized.     

Investigation of learners' perceptions for video summarization and recommendation

Recently, multimedia-based learning is widespread in educational settings. A number of studies investigate how to develop effective techniques to manage a huge volume of video sources, such as summarization and recommendation. However, few studies examine how these techniques affect learners' perceptions in multimedia learning systems. This article aims to examine learners' perceptions for summarization and recommendation, with an emphasis on the perspective of prior experience. In this study, we developed a multimedia content summarization and recommendation system, which can automatically extract summaries from raw video sources and recommend suitable video content to learners through emails. The results demonstrate that learners' prior experience and preferences for the presentation of document types affect their perceptions, including the enhancement of interests, the ease of information acquisition and the intention for the further use of the system. Finally, the findings are applied to develop a framework that can support for the design of multimedia learning systems.