Teacher preferences for various positive reinforcements

The present study investigated the relationship between applied behavioral training and reinforcement preferences of classroom teachers. Data obtained from the Positive Reinforcement Observation Schedule (PROS), a paired comparison task, indicated minimal differential reinforcement preferences for classroom teachers with no training, limited training, or extensive training in applied behavioral analysis. The results are discussed with reference to the educational implications of existing behavioral training programs and class-room practice.     

Effect on subsequent fixed-interval schedule performance of prior exposure to ratio and interval schedules of reinforcement

In three experiments, we examined the effect on the patterns of responding noted on fixed interval (FI) schedules of prior exposure to a range of interval and ratio schedules. Rats leverpressed for food reinforcement on random ratio (RR), random interval (RI), or variable interval (VI) schedules prior to transfer to FI schedules. In Experiment 1, prior exposure to an RR schedule retarded the development of typical FI patterns of responding. Exposure to a yoked RI schedule produced even greater retardation of typical FI performance. This effect was replicated in Experiment 2, using a within-subjects design. Rats responded on a multiple RR-RI schedule prior to a multiple FI-FI schedule. Typical FI performance emerged more slowly in the component previously associated with the RI than with that associated with the RR. In Experiment 3, exposure to an RR schedule retarded the development of FI performance to a greater extent than did exposure to a VR schedule. The latter schedule was programmed to allow the possibility that inhibitory control would develop after reinforcement. These results confirm that ratio schedules independently result in the disruption of FI responding. This effect was not long lasting and cannot be used plausibly to explain species differences in responding to FI schedules. However, it does suggest that temporal control—as manifested by the transfer of inhibitory control from one schedule to another—could facilitate movement between interval schedules.     

The effect of sample and comparison ratio schedules on delayed matching to sample in the pigeon

In Experiment 1, three food-deprived pigeons received trials that began with red or green illumination of the center pecking key. Two or four pecks on this sample key turned it off and initiated a 0- to 10-sec delay. Following the delay, the two outer comparison keys were illuminated, one with red and one with green light. In one condition, a single peck on either of these keys turned the other key off and produced either grain reinforcement (if the comparison that was pecked matched the preceding sample) or the intertrial interval (if it did not match). In other conditions, 3 or 15 additional pecks were required to produce reinforcement or the intertrial interval. The frequency of pecking the matching comparison stimulus (matching accuracy) decreased as the delay increased, increased as the sample ratio was increased, and decreased as the comparison ratio was increased. The results of Experiment 2 suggested that higher comparison ratios adversely affect matching accuracy primarily by delaying reinforcement for choosing the correct comparison. The results of Experiment 3, in which delay of reinforcement for choosing the matching comparison was manipulated, confirmed that delayed reinforcement decreases matching accuracy.     

Students' preferences for different contexts for learning science

The reasons for students' preferences for different contexts were investigated by surveying 379 high school students (Year 11) in Taegu, Korea. Students were asked to select the most preferred and the least preferred context out of six presented contexts and to write reasons for their selections. The method of systemic network analysis was used to analyse students' written responses. It was shown that students' preferences were largely influenced by their perceptions of the relevance and the psychological effects which such contexts would have. In particular, the similarity to textbooks, the relevance to real life and the novelty of the contexts were shown to be the most important factors affecting students' preferences.     

Students' preferences for discipline practices in schools

Data on pupils' perceptions of the classroom discipline techniques of “good” teachers are compared for Australian, U.S., and Norwegian pupils. The results indicate remarkable similarity in the pupils' preferences.     

Learning preferences and readiness for online learning

Using a sample of 314 Australian university students the Readiness for Online Learning questionnaire was tested for its technical characteristics of reliability and factorability, with results indicating the instrument has promise both for research and for practice. The factor analysis identified a factor associated with self‐management of learning, and one of comfort with e‐learning. These factors are interpreted and discussed within a framework of the broader literature on learning preferences associated with flexible delivery and resource‐based learning.     

相对均衡解共面性的另一证明

牛顿n-问题是主要研究在牛顿运动定律和万有引力的作用下,天体的运动规律.一般而言,n-体问题就是一个常微分方程组.由于方程组是非线性的,当天体的个数大于3时,n-体问题不可能完全解决,故转而求特解,相对均衡解就是其中之一.该文利用微分几何对相对均衡解共面性给出另一证明.证明过程揭示了相对均衡解的几何性质.     

Component duration effects in multiple schedules

Previous research has produced conflicting results regarding the effects of component duration on interactions in multiple schedules. In Experiment 1, potential sources of this conflict were evaluated. Both the effects of absolute reinforcement rate and carry-over effects (hysteresis) from a preceding condition were isolated. When 10-sec components were used, the sensitivity of relative response rate to relative reinforcement rate was affected very little by hysteresis effects and absolute reinforcement rate, but it was systematically reduced as a function of the number of prior conditions. Sensitivity to relative reinforcement rate was also substantially higher with the 10-sec components than with 2-min components. In Experiment 2, this effect of component duration was decomposed into two separate effects. Contrast effects during presentation of a target component with a constant reinforcement rate were greater the shorter the target component was itself; but they were smaller the shorter the alternative component in which reinforcement rate was varied. The latter effect was smaller and more unreliable across subjects. The existence of these two separate effects demonstrates that the usual method of studying component duration—that is, holding all components equal in duration—systematically causes underestimation of the effects of the component duration, and obscures the different processes controlling the two effects.     

Individualizing schedules of instruction for school children with learning and behavior problems

Current emphasis on developing individual educational plans for children presents a problem of matching one child's educational plan with that of other children and then grouping several such children together for instruction, such that the individual qualities of each child's program are still maintained. Teacher and child variables in a noncategorical program for early childhood education of retarded, autistic, seriously disturbed, learning disabled, and aphasic children were used to generate monthly computerized schedules of instruction for 12–16 children each month. Schedules were generated over an eight-month period, and the last month's weekly schedule was presented for purposes of illustration and discussion. Advantages and feasibility of such a system were discussed.     

相对奇函数与相对偶函数

本文提出相对奇函数与相对偶函数的概念,并讨论它们的几条基本性质.     

How and why to plan salary schedules

At an early age many of us are taught not to talk about money with others in order to avoid conflict. But if you work in child care, where there are too many demands and too few resources, such evasion isn't helpful or even possible.Child Care Employee Project (CCEP) is a national resource clearinghouse providing resources. It gives assitance to those seeking to upgrade child care working conditions, status and salaries.     

Adjunctive behavior in multiple schedules of reinforcement

A recent theory of timing (Killeen & Fetterman, 1988) suggests that adjunctive behaviors may act as discriminative cues for the passage of time and that the rate of transition between those behaviors is affected by the rate of reinforcement within the experimental context. Is the rate of transition between behaviors correlated with the rate of reinforcement? What is the context in which rate of reinforcement is calibrated? If rate of transition is correlated with reinforcement frequency, does this correlation change with extended training? Four pigeons were trained on multiple fixed-time schedules of reinforcement, with one component always FT 15 sec, the other either FT 15 sec, FT 45 sec, or FT 5 sec. Behavior was coded into one of 12 categories. Response distributions in the constant component shifted when rate of reinforcement was varied in the other component and eventually shifted back toward their original location.     

Students' expressed and actual preferences for counsellor race and sex

This study analysed secondary school students' expressed and actual preferences for counsellor sex and race and also investigated the influence of type of problem on these preferences. A sample of 430 fifth form (15–16 years old) students including 74 Maori/Polynesian males, 109 Maori/Polynesian females, 90 pakeha (European) males, and 87 pakeha females from six schools in two cities completed the Choosing a Counsellor questionnaire. Half the sample were asked to assume they had a vocational problem while the remainder assumed they had a personal problem.