Testing the inference mediation hypothesis in a post-secondary context

The inference mediation hypothesis (IMH) assumes that individual difference factors that affect reading proficiency have direct and indirect effects on comprehension outcomes, with the indirect effects involving inference processes. The present study tested the IMH in a diverse sample of two and four-year college students in a task that emphasizes comprehension of the passage (traditional assessment) and a task that emphasizes complex problem solving (SBA). Participants were administered assessments of foundational skills that support reading, inference generation, a traditional assessment of comprehension proficiency, and a scenario-based reading assessment. The results support the IMH. However, the strength of the indirect relationships depended on the type of reading performance assessment. Coherence building inferences partially mediated the relationship for the traditional assessment. Elaborative inferences partially mediated the relationship for the scenario-based assessment. The results are discussed in terms of theories of purposeful reading and implications for understanding college readiness.     

Explaining the effects of relative time in trace conditioning: A preliminary test of a comparator hypothesis

Scalar expectancy theory (SET) predicts that postacquisition manipulations of background expectancy should alter conditioned performance. An experiment was performed to test the application of this hypothesis to an explanation of the “temporal context” effect in trace conditioning. Pigeons were trained on an inhibitory trace conditioning procedure and then subjected to postacquisition manipulations of background expectancy. Nonreinforced exposure to the training apparatus eliminated conditioned withdrawal, exposure to USs under very long interreinforcer intervals slightly weakened conditioned withdrawal, and home-cage confinement had no effect on conditioned withdrawal. These results are discussed in terms of the predictions of SET and the role of background excitation in conditioned inhibition.     

The effects of causality,response alternatives,and context continuity on hypothesis testing reasoning

Two selection hypothesis testing tasks and nine evaluation hypothesis testing tasks which varied systematically with respect to causality, response alternatives, and context continuity were administered to two samples of adults to determine the effects of those variables and to determine the degree to which subjects (Ss) reasoned with material conditional, material biconditional, partial, or partial plus biconditional connectives. On the causal selection task the majority of Ss responded “yes” to all four instances, while on the evaluation tasks all three variables were found to affect performance. Ss responded consistently with the material biconditional connective especially when the tasks called for them to state their expectations or were written with context continuity. Results were interpreted to support the hypothesis that hypothesis testing reasoning in causal contexts begins with the material biconditional connective and involves schemata of controlling variables, probability, and correlations. A strictly “logical” falsification strategy is not viewed as operative. Implications for teaching students how to effectively test hypotheses in science classes are discussed.     

电压比较器实验研究

在测量振荡信号的频率时,常用电压比较器把振荡信号变换为数字电路需要的脉冲信号。过零电压比较器结构和原理最简单,被学生实验广泛采用。大多数学生实验时总是出错,而且很难找到错误原因。造成实验出错的原因在于这种比较器抗干扰能力较弱。该文用仿真实验方法,对电压比较器实验中出现的问题进行了分析,找出了原因,提出了解决问题的方法。     

Bridging temporal gaps between CS and US in autoshaping: A test of a local context hypothesis

Recent reports indicate that conditioning to contextual cues importantly modulates the amount of trace conditioning. According to this view, the strength of conditioning to a trace CS should be inversely related to the extent to which other external stimuli already predict US occurrence. An experiment with pigeons in an autoshaping (sign-tracking) preparation examined this proposition. Insertion of a tone in the 12-sec gap between CS and US led to strong CS responding, except for the case in which the tone also overlapped the CS. However, weak CS responding was obtained when the tone filled only the first or last half of the CS-US gap, even though CS and tone did not overlap. These findings are discussed in terms of an explanation of the effects of gap filling based on conditioning to “local” and “general” contextual cues, and in terms of the possible contributions of second-order conditioning.     

Linguistic and cultural factors in the readability of mathematics texts: the Whorfian hypothesis revisited with evidence from the South African context

South Africa is a country of many languages and cultures. Education is mostly in English which implies that about 80% of all secondary school students are second language learners. Currently many mathematical problems are posed in real-life contexts. This not only introduces more language in mathematics texts, but also more issues related to culture. When considering the influence on readability, it is difficult to disentangle the role of linguistic and cultural factors and this in turn seems to be a manifestation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The study was therefore guided by research questions such as: what linguistic and cultural factors in the ordinary language of mathematics texts influence readability? Protocol analysis was used with students aged 17–18 years to establish readability problems. Linguistic as well as cultural factors were identified and the hypothesis that improved readability of mathematics assignments improves achievement was confirmed in a number of cases. Writers of mathematics texts should therefore consider linguistic as well as cultural factors when writing for different reading audiences. Other conclusions address teaching and examination practice.     

Temporal comparator rules and responding in multiple schedules

Three response rules for explaining the role of temporal factors in the control of responding were examined. These were the cycle-to-trial comparator rule from scalar expectancy theory (SET; Gibbon & Balsam, 1981), the “deletion” comparator rule proposed by Cooper, Aronson, Balsam, and Gibbon (1990), and a “bad/good” comparator rule—a type of ITI-to-trial comparator. Two of these rules were designed to explain the acquisition of responding in simple associative learning paradigms (i.e., autoshaping). Here, their generality as predictors of response levels in response-dependent multiple schedules was examined. SET’s overall cycle-to-trial comparator rule was the best predictor of the pattern of responding. Contrary to previous findings regarding contrast in multiple schedules, which show greater contrast with shorter component durations, there was no effect of absolute component duration. As predicted by SET, relative, not absolute, component durations controlled response levels.     

Inflation of comparator stimuli following CS training

Water-deprived rats served in seven conditioned lick suppression experiments designed to assess the effects on responding to a target CS of a series of unsignaled USs given in the training context following completion of CS training. Such treatment has been hypothesized to increase (inflate) the associative strength of the background cues from training (putatively, the CS’s comparator stimuli), thereby reducing responding to excitatory CSs and increasing the inhibitory potential of inhibitory CSs. Although posttraining extinction (deflation) of the CS’s comparator stimuli usually decreases inhibitory potential and increases excitatory potential of the target CS, posttraining inflation of the comparator stimuli had no effect on either excitatory responding to the target CS or summation test performance indicative of conditioned inhibition. This outcome was consistently obtained across a number of training, inflation, and test conditions selected to maximize sensitivity to any possible effects of comparator inflation. Implications of these null results for the comparator hypothesis of conditionedresponse generationare discussed.     

语境意义的语言性与非语言性

语境在语义表达中起着举足轻重的作用。语言性语境与非语言性语境均表明,语言交际是在特定的时间、空间及情景中进行,离开语境的词语意义显得孤立、静止和片面。交际中不断变化的动态语境与各种语境因素之间的相互交织,使得非语言性的语境意义变得更为重要。     

Dyslexia and the double deficit hypothesis

The double deficit hypothesis (Bowers and Wolf 1993) maintains that children with both phonological and naming-speed deficits will be poorer readers than children with just one or neither of these deficits. In the present study, we drew on this hypothesis to help understand why some children have a serious reading impairment. In addition, by adding an orthographic factor, we extended it to a triple deficit hypothesis. Participants were 90 children aged 6 to 10 years. Dyslexic children, whose reading was low for age and for expected level, garden-variety poor readers, reading-level matched younger children, and low verbal IQ good readers, were compared. The dyslexic group was significantly lower then the garden-variety poor readers and the low verbal IQ good readers on most measures, and lower than the younger group on phonological measures. Findings support the double deficit hypothesis of Bowers and Wolf, and also the triple deficit hypothesis. Most of the poorest readers, nearly all of whom qualified as dyslexic, had a double or triple deficit in phonological, naming-speed, and orthographic skills. Conclusions were that dyslexia results from an overload of deficits in skills related to reading, for which the child cannot easily compensate.     

Moderation and the primary school context

This study presents an examination of the enactment of moderation in a Scottish primary school. The study investigated how an individual school made sense of moderation. Documentary evidence was gathered providing an in-depth understanding of both moderation and the wider context of the school. Audio recordings of three moderation meetings provided data on moderation enactment. Unstructured, semi-structured and focus group interviews captured the views of all participants involved in moderation. Moderation was viewed positively, understood as a social process enhancing collegiality and curriculum improvement. Finally, a typology for moderation is proposed.     

隐喻与语境

隐喻既是一种语言修辞现象,也是一种认知方式。它无所不在地存在于我们的语言、思维和文化中。本文分析英、汉隐喻与言内语境、情景语境和文化语境的密切关系,旨在于帮助人们更好地发掘隐喻这一宝贵财富,增加人们对英、汉隐喻的进一步认识和理解,促进跨文化交流。     

论语境和修辞的关系

本文着重论述了语境作为修辞的基础，它对修辞起制约作用，在特定的语境中可以形成多种修辞格；修辞可以改善语境关系，两者之间的关系是互动的。     

Defining the real: context and beyond

This paper draws attention to the trend to consider context in educational discourse. It documents the increasing use of “context” in everyday educational talk and in educational research and begins to consider the implications of this trend for the theory and practice of education. The paper considers different ways that context is used and suggests that over the last 5‐10 years conceptions of context have shifted. As well as being understood spatially as the outside or backdrop relative to a phenomenon of interest, context is increasingly being considered in a more ephemeral figure and ground relationship. I argue that this shift marks a significant reframing of education and its implications in the practice and politics of education and educational research.     

地方税体系建设与地方财源建设

1994年分税制财政管理体制实施以来，中央和地方财政的利益分配格局发生了重大的变化，这对地方财政来说是一次严峻的考验，同时也为地方财政的发展和振兴提供了一个新的机遇。地方财政要抓住这个发展机遇，主动迎接挑战，财源培植就成为至关重要的大问题。财源培植问题是一个复杂的系统工程，没有财源的支撑，财政就是无源之水；同样，没有财政的振兴，经济的发展也必然会受到制约，这是经济发展的内在规律。作为地方财源建设的重要组织部分——地方税体系建设也愈发重要。     

论以人为本与唯物史观的统一

马克思以前的哲学家们在关注和探讨人的问题过程中,已确立以人为本的思想.马克思和恩格斯继承了西方哲学关注人及其生存境遇的哲学思维传统,并赋予人本思想新的内涵.唯物史观的创立,除了当时社会历史提供的客观条件之外,从马克思和恩格斯的个人条件看,也是他们的人本思想发展的必然.从唯物史观的基本内容和历史使命来看,以人为本是唯物史观的最高价值原则.