The effects of reinforcement and strategy training on impulsive responding.

Impulsive second-grade children received strategy training or strategy training combined with primary or secondary reinforcement. All training groups showed significantly longer response latencies and significantly fewer errors on the Matching Familiar Figures test immediately following training. The reinforcement groups had significantly longer latencies than the training-only group, and there was some indication that primary reinforcement was more effective than secondary reinforcement in producing response delay. The 3 training groups did not differ significantly on error scores.     

Mathe mit der Matte – Verkörperlichtes Training basisnumerischer Kompetenzen

Basic numerical representations are seen as the building block for the successful development of more complex numerical and arithmetic competencies. Extending previous studies focusing on improving basic numerical representations by means of embodied training schemes, the current study focused on an embodied training of children’s place-value understanding. In this vein, 49 secondgraders were trained on solving a number line estimation task by stepping on different fields of a dance mat allowing for separate estimations of tens and units with more effort needed to step on the tens. In a partially randomized cross-over design, two control conditions were used to controll for training effects caused exclusively by the numerical content trained or the use of the dance mat. Interestingly, results revealed specific training effects after both the embodied and the control conditions. However, training effects were significantly more pronounced after the embodied training, thereby providing further evidence for the benefit of an embodied training of the place-value structure of the Arabic number system.     

The Effects of Morphological Awareness Training on the Reading and Spelling Skills of Young Dyslexics

This article reports data from a training study of morphological awareness involving 33 dyslexic students in grades 4 - 5. The dyslexic students received 36 lessons of morphological awareness training each of about a quarter of an hour. The training was oral and focused on semantic aspects of morphemes. During the training period, the experimental group gained significantly more than a similar group of untrained controls (n = 27) on one of three measures of morphological awareness. Both groups, however, made equal gains on measures of phonological awareness, phoneme discimination and picture naming. The experimental group progressed significantly more than the controls in reading comprehension and in spelling of morphologically complex words. The results of the study suggest that it is possible to develop dyslexic students' morphological awareness. Furthermore, awareness of morphemes, the smallest meaningful units of language, may support the development of meaning - oriented decoding strategies in reading and spelling.     

The effect of performance support and training as performance interventions

For decades, training has been one of the most common interventions used by organizations to improve the performance of their employees and teach them new ideas and skills. But owing to the cost of developing and delivering training, organizations have adopted alternative ways to enable employee performance while reducing the cost and minimizing the time users spend away from the job. One alternative is electronic performance support systems (EPSS). The present study examined the effect of EPSS and training on user performance, time on task, and time in training. Results revealed that participants receiving only EPSS and those receiving training and EPSS performed significantly better on a tax preparation procedure than participants who received only training. Training‐only users also spent significantly more time completing the procedural task than their counterparts in other treatment groups, leading to a negative correlation between time on task and performance. The implications of these findings for the design and development of performance support and training interventions are discussed.     

Gender effects in self-management training: Individual versus cooperative interventions

This study examined gender differences in individual and cooperative (small-group) self-management training programs targeting mathematics performance. It was hypothesized that gender would interact with type of self-management training, such that girls in the individual training condition and boys in the cooperative training condition would improve less than girls in the cooperative training condition or boys in the individual training condition. As expected, girls in the individual training con- dition improved significantly less than both girls in the cooperative condition and boys in the individual condition. In contrast, boys in the cooperative training condi- tion did not differ significantly from either boys in the individual training condition or girls in the cooperative training condition. These results suggest the benefit of more cooperative self-management training interventions for classroom-wide interventions that include both boys and girls. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Phoneme awareness in language-delayed children: comparative studies and intervention

Our initial study compared 15 normally- developing and 13 language- delayed four- and- five- year- olds on a range of phoneme awareness tasks differing in the degree of explicit linguistic analysis required. The language- delayed group performed more poorly than the normally- developing children, and there were significant group differences on several tasks. A significant interaction effect reflected the particular difficulty the language- delayed group had with the more explicit tasks. Follow- up testing suggests that group differences are maintained over time and that the language- delayed children perform more poorly than the normally- developing children on tests of decoding and spelling at the end of first grade. An intervention study, training phoneme awareness skills in language-delayed kindergarten children, was undertaken with a new group of subjects. Fourteen language- delayed children participated in 16 training sessions over eight weeks. Fourteen normal and 14 language- delayed children served as controls. Only the language- delayed training group made significant gains from pre- to posttraining measures. Following training, the language-delayed training group performed similarly to normal controls and significantly better than language- delayed controls whom they had matched before intervention. One year later, the language-delayed children who received training maintained their gains on phoneme analysis tasks and performed significantly better than the language-delayed controls on reading measures. Educational implications are discussed.     

基于学习档案的元认知策略培训研究

本研究对105名英语专业一年级学生进行了为期一年的元认知策略培训实验,以考察其对提高专业英语学生自主学习能力的效果。结果表明,与对照组相比,培训显著提高了实验组学生的元认知策略运用水平,并全面促进了学生英语听、说和综合技能的发展;同时,较之常规的讲座式培训方式,基于学习档案的元认知策略培训似乎更能保证学生的投入,避免培训流于形式,从而更有效地提高元认知策略运用水平,促进了英语学习各项技能的均衡发展。     

肥胖儿童运动前后体成分变化的个体差异研究

对56名肥胖儿童(年龄7~11岁,31名男生,25名女生)进行4个月的运动训练,运动前后测量各项指标,研究其运动后体成分变化的个体差异与饮食和体力活动等变化的关系.结果表明:实验对象体脂百分比(F%)下降显著,而体脂含量(FM)、去脂体重(FFM)上升,然而个体之间变化存在很大的差异.多元回归模型显示,运动后体成分改善与较高的运动出勤率、性别、较低的能量摄入和较多的体力活动密切相关.运动干预后,年龄、体力活动程度、饮食和基线的F%等变量的变化可以解释肥胖儿童运动后F%变化的26%.     

Effects of Short-Term Training On Residence Hall Assistants

Inasmuch as undergraduate residence hall assistants are being called upon more frequently to counsel students in social-personal problems and little training specific to this function has been given in the past, there is a need to develop an effective but brief training program leading to increased counseling effectiveness. Six hours of specialized training which focused on counselor accurate empathy enabled eight randomly chosen undergraduate resident assistants to increase their levels of accurate empathy significantly higher than a matched control group which received no training. In addition, the experimental Ss also demonstrated somewhat higher levels of counselor warmth.     

小学生自我概念训练的实验研究

通过Piers-Harris儿童自我概念量表筛选出三至五年级低自我概念的学生,实验组接受认知训练,控制组不接受训练。认知训练以后,三个年级的实验组的自我概念水平提高的幅度均比控制组的幅度要大,经统计检验,差异都非常显著。这表明:(1)认知训练可提高学生的自我概念水平;(2)小学三到五年级自我概念水平的训练效果不存在年龄差异;(3)小学三到五年级自我概念的训练效果不存在性别差异。     

Retrieval of memory in the pigeon by context manipulations

In Experiment 1, 12 pigeons were given eight sessions of VI single stimulus training with a color in a particular context followed by eight sessions of similar training with a line angle in another context. On the next day, half of the subjects were tested for wavelength and angularity generalization in each of the two contexts, a procedure that was thus consistent with training for one dimension and inconsistent for the other. The subjects made significantly more responses to each training stimulus under the consistent context condition, but there was no difference in absolute or relative generalization slopes. In Experiment 2, 12 pigeons were trained as in Experiment 1, but during generalization testing they were exposed to both contexts sequentially. Under the consistent context condition, the subjects responded more to the two training stimuli and yielded sharper absolute and relative wavelength generalization gradients: Under the inconsistent context condition, responding to the training wavelength was substantially disrupted. Thus, under appropriate testing conditions, contextual control over both the amount and the selectivity of responding can be demonstrated.     

Training phonological awareness: A study with inner-city kindergarten children

A small-scale, longitudinal, phonological awareness training study with inner-city kindergarten children was conducted in four classrooms. The central goals of the study were the creation and evaluation of a phonological awareness training program and a preliminary look at the consequence of that training on basic phonological processes. Assessment of phonological awareness and basic phonological processes was carried out in the fall of the kindergarten year, and again in the spring following an 18 week training program which incorporated both auditory and articulatory techniques for fostering metaphonological development. Follow-up evaluation of promotion to first grade and of reading achievement took place a year later. The children in the two experimental classes receiving training had significantly greater gains in phonological awareness at the end of kindergarten, were significantly more likely to be promoted to first grade rather than to pre-one, and had a trend toward better reading skills in first grade than did the smaller group of children promoted to first grade from the control classes. In addition, there were some indications that development of phonological awareness was accompanied by changes in the underlying phonological system as well. Here we focus on the rationale and implementation of our training program and discuss the implications of the findings for a potential large-scale study.     

The Effect of Inference Training on Skilled and Less Skilled Comprehenders

This paper assess the impact of introducing inference training to skilled and less skilled comprehenders. Children aged between 6 years 6 months and 9 years 11 months, classified as skilled or less skilled comprehenders, were instructed on how to make inferences from and generate questions about a text over a period of six sessions. Comparison groups of skilled and less skilled comprehenders were trained in standard comprehension strategies. The less skilled group showed a significantly greater improvement than the skilled group, regardless of the training given, but inference training was significantly more effective than standard comprehension strategies in the less skilled group. Seven out of ten less skilled readers who were inference trained increased their performance sufficiently to become classified as skilled comprehenders, whilst four out of ten less skilled comprehenders taught standard comprehension strategies improved to the same level. It is concluded that the value of explicitly teaching children inferential skills is that the enjoyment of the task of reading is enhanced and is therefore more likely to be undertaken readily, even by pupils who may have initially found reading difficult.     

Implementation Effects of a Pre‐service Training Course for Secondary Education Teachers

A quasi‐experimental, treatment‐control group investigation was designed to test the effects of a pre‐service training course for secondary education teachers. Previous findings from teacher effects research and cognitive strategy instruction were translated into two direct instructional models: a model of executive acting directed at well‐structured skills and a model of strategic acting directed at higher‐level thinking strategies. Pre‐ and post‐training comparison of classroom observations by trained observers revealed significantly more effective instruction by the student teachers after training. No treatment effect was found for pupil engagement rates. The ratings from the supervising teachers did not show significantly better use of the recommended instructional skills by the trained student teachers than by the untrained student teachers.     

Playful fostering of 6- to 8-year-old students’ inductive reasoning

This paper focuses on a training program in inductive reasoning for first-grade students and presents the direct results as well as the longitudinal effects of the evaluation study. The training is based on Klauer's theory of inductive reasoning and on his “Cognitive training for children” concept (Klauer, 1989a). The training program consists of 120 problems which can be solved through inductive reasoning. The tools for the training exercises were selected to correspond with the age of the targeted cohort. The experimental group in the study consisted of 90 students, whereas the control group was made up of 162. An inductive reasoning test was used in the pre- and posttest as well as in the follow-up study (one year later). The test comprised 33 figural, non-verbal items (Cronbach α = .86). On the posttest, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group by more than one standard deviation. The experimental group scored significantly higher in each skill area targeted by the training. The most noticeable development was found in system formation. No gender differences were detected on the pre- or the posttest. The effect size of the training program was d = 1.12. In the follow-up study, the experimental group still significantly outperformed the control group; however, their respective levels of development had not changed in this one-year period. Thus, the training effect proved to be stable over time independent of individual students’ original level of inductive reasoning. This study provided evidence that inductive reasoning could be developed very effectively at this early age.     

听写障碍儿童汉字学习的认知干预研究

本研究基于听写障碍儿童存在视觉辨别、形音联结缺陷的研究结果,对听写障碍儿童进行有针对性的认知干预训练,并进行实验比较.研究表明:视觉辨别、形音联结的干预能相应地提高听写障碍儿童的视觉辨别能力和形音联结能力;对于汉字学习来说,形音联结、视觉辨别相结合的综合干预训练比单一的视觉辨别、形音联结干预训练效果好.视觉辨别与形音联结相结合的综合认知干预方案更能提高听写障碍儿童相应的认知能力,促进听写障碍儿童的汉字学习质量.     

Breaking barriers: The landscape of human and veterinary medical anatomy education and the potential for collaboration

Despite human (HUM) and veterinary (VET) medical institutions sharing the goal of educating future clinicians, there is little collaboration between them regarding curricular and pedagogical practices during the preclinical/basic science training years. This may be, at least in part, due to a lack of understanding of each type of curriculum. This study presents data about curricula, student populations, pedagogical methodologies applied, and anatomy educators' training at both HUM and VET institutions. Preclinical curricula, admissions criteria, and student demographics were analyzed for 21 institutions in the United States having both HUM and VET schools. This dataset was augmented by a questionnaire sent to anatomists internationally, detailing anatomy curricula, pedagogies applied, and anatomy educators' training. Many curricular similarities between both training programs were identified, including anatomy education experiences. However, VET programs were found to include more preclinical coursework than HUM programs. Students who matriculate to VET or HUM schools have similar academic records, including prerequisite coursework and grade point average. Median HUM class size was significantly larger, and the percentage of women enrolled in VET institutions was significantly higher. Training of anatomy educators was identical with one exception: VET educators are far more likely to hold a clinical degree. This study elucidates the substantial similarities between VET and HUM programs, particularly in anatomy education, underscoring the potential for collaboration between both types of programs in areas such as interprofessional education, bioethics, zoonotic disease management, and postgraduate training.     

A Comparison of Phonological Awareness,Lexical Compounding,and Homophone Training for Chinese Word Reading in Hong Kong Kindergartners

Research Findings: In this study, 88 kindergartners received special training in lexical compounding, homophone awareness, or phonological awareness or were assigned to a control condition over a period of approximately 2 months, with 20-min lessons administered twice per week. Chinese word reading improved significantly more in the lexical compounding group as compared to the other groups. Vocabulary knowledge also showed a trend toward improvement in this group (p < .08) and improved significantly in the homophone group. Although phonological awareness improved most in the phonological awareness training group, this group showed no reading or vocabulary improvements relative to the other groups. Practice or Policy: The results underscore the importance of morphological awareness training for both word reading and vocabulary knowledge in young Chinese children.     

The head start teaching center: An evaluation of an experiential,collaborative training model for head start teachers and parent volunteers

Forty-eight Head Start teachers and 48 parent volunteers from 24 classrooms were randomly assigned to either the Collaborative Training (CT) or Workshop Training (WT) approach. CT teachers and parents were involved conjointly in experiential training which included receiving guided practice and feedback from exemplary peers. WT consisted of a series of workshops conducted by outside trainers for separate groups of parents and teachers. Training methods were compared with respect to (a) teacher and parent reports of their level of involvement in training and satisfaction with the training experience, (b) teacher and parent reports of parent classroom activity, and (c) observation of adult-child classroom interactions. CT teachers and parents reported significantly greater levels of active involvement in and satisfaction with the training, as well as significantly greater levels of parent classroom activity than WT participants. With respect to adult-child classroom interactions, CT teachers demonstrated significantly more positive initiations and praise than WT teachers. Parent reports of their perceived role in the classroom as well as parent levels of initiation with children did not differ between training groups. Implications of these findings for further research were discussed.     

Repeated Reading of Syllables Among Finnish-Speaking Children With Poor Reading Skills

The study evaluated the effect of repeated reading on reading speed among 36 Finnish-speaking poor readers in Grades 4 to 6. A switching replications design was applied: Group A (n = 20) received training first, and during this period Group B (n = 16) acted as a control group. After a midpoint test, the design was switched. The training material consisted of syllables, which were practiced during 10 training sessions for a total of 50 times. The reading speed of the trained syllables increased more during training than during the control period. During training, the reading speed of pseudowords containing the trained syllables improved significantly. This improvement was found both in a computer task and in a list-reading task, which had a lower congruency with the training method than the computer task. Finally, training did not induce changes in a control (text reading) task that assessed general reading speed.