Some determinants of response summation

Response summation in pigeons was examined in four experiments. In Experiment 1, summation was not found with a compound of two visual stimuli on a television screen after they had individually been used for instrumental conditioning. In this experiment, the training and test trials were separated by an interval during which the television screen was dark. Summation was found in Experiment 2 for which the television screen was permanently white during the interval between trials and in the region that was not occupied by the experimental stimuli. These results were replicated using a within-subject design (Experiment 3) and autoshaping (Experiment 4). Experiment 2 also revealed summation with compounds of auditory and visual stimuli, but not with compounds of two auditory stimuli or two diffuse lights. The results can be explained by a variety of theories of learning, if they take account of generalization between the stimuli.     

Illness-induced taste aversion under states of deprivation and satiation

A taste aversion to saccharin was induced under conditions of satiation or deprivation. Subsequent testing occurred under the same or opposite conditions. A preference test yielded significant drug-placebo effects only under similar training and testing conditions. Ss trained and tested under satiation produced the greatest drug-placebo differences. The data are discussed in terms of state dependency and the procedures used to induce and measure the taste aversion.     

Perceiving school performance as instrumental to future goal attainment: Effects on graded performance

Three studies examined the perception among college students that school performance is instrumental to future goal attainment. Study 1, an exploratory study involving free report goal assessments, indicated that perceived instrumentality (PI) is a subjectively salient aspect of college students’ achievement motivation. Study 2 provided evidence for the structural distinctiveness of PI from self-efficacy, task value, and the achievement goals, and also demonstrated that PI prospectively predicts unique variance in graded performance beyond that accounted for by these motivational variables. Study 3 demonstrated that PI prospectively predicts unique variance in graded performance independently of future time orientation. We argue that a comprehensive understanding of the purposes underlying classroom achievement behavior requires consideration of how school performance may be perceived as instrumental to the attainment of valued life goals.     

The residual deprivation effect in instrumental conditioning as a function of deprivation level at the time of exposure to the reinforcer

The effect of food deprivation level at the time of initial exposure to a subsequent food reinforcer was investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, deprivation at the time of initial exposure influenced the subsequent acquisition and extinction of an instrumental response. In Experiment 2, the residual deprivation effect associated with a reduction in deprivation level occurred only when rats initially experienced the reinforcer at a high, as compared with a low, deprivation level. Results were discussed in terms of the assumption that the limits of incentive generated by a reinforcer are influenced by the deprivation state at the time of first exposure to that reinforcer.     

Race and performance of student as determinants of teacher nonverbal behavior

This study tested the hypotheses that the nonverbal behavior of teachers is affected by the race and performance of their students. Fifty-six white college-age subjects, acting as teachers, were led to praise successful or unsuccessful students. The students were either white or black. Stimulus teachers' nonverbal behavior was recorded, and silent samples of their behavior were shown to naive judges who rated how pleased they appeared to be with their student. Results showed that stimulus teachers were more pleased with successful than unsuccessful students, and more pleased with white than black students.     

Anticipatory contrast as a measure of time horizons in the rat: Some methodological determinants

In three experiments, the time horizon over which the rat evaluates alternative feeding sources was investigated. The time horizon was measured by the suppression of intake of one incentive (a 0.15% saccharin solution) when a preferred alternative incentive (a 32% sucrose solution) was available but delayed. In Experiment 1, we found a direct function between the amount of saccharin intake and the delay time before access to 32% sucrose. Compared with intake for a saccharin-only control, saccharin intake was suppressed before 4-min and 16-min sucrose delays, but not before a 32-min delay. Because previous work (Flaherty & Checke, 1982) had reported suppression before a delay of nearly 32 min, in the subsequent experiments we examined factors that might account for this difference. In Experiment 2, we found that saccharin intake was suppressed before a 32-min delay interval when saccharin and sucrose solutions were presented in a bright-novel test environment but not when the same solutions were presented in the home cage. In Experiment 3, we found that the time between testing and subsequent postsession feeding could also affect the suppression of saccharin intake. Saccharin intake was suppressed when access to 32% sucrose was delayed by 32 min and the test situation was followed by immediate postsession feeding, but not when postsession feeding was delayed by 90 min. These results thus extend estimates of the rat’s time horizon to at least 32 min, but indicate that the effective time horizon can vary, depending on the test situation.     

An item response theory and Rasch analysis of the NUDKS: a data literacy scale

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - There is an extensive need for school systems to reliably assess the data literacy and data use skills of their educators. To address this...     

Stages of moral judgment development: Applying item response theory to Defining Issues Test data

ABSTRACT

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) has been the dominant measure of moral development. The DIT has its roots in Kohlberg’s original stage theory of moral judgment development and asks respondents to rank a set of stage typed statements in order of importance on six stories. However, the question to what extent the DIT-data match the underlying stage model was never addressed with a statistical model. Therefore, we applied item response theory (IRT) to a large data set (55,319 cases). We found that the ordering of the stages as extracted from the raw data fitted the ordering in the underlying stage model good. Furthermore, difficulty differences of stages across the stories were found and their magnitude and location were visualized. These findings are compatible with the notion of one latent moral developmental dimension and lend support to the hundreds of studies that have used the DIT-1 and by implication support the renewed DIT-2.     

Fuzzy-trace theory and source monitoring: An evaluation of theory and false-memory data

Fuzzy-trace theory and the source-monitoring framework are evaluated with respect to recent data on false memory. Lindsay and Johnson discuss key findings generated by fuzzy-trace theory from a source-monitoring perspective, such as independence between recognition judgments of true and false memories, increases in false recognition through mere-memory testing, vivid false recognition—phantom recollection—through repeated cuing of gist, and false-recognition reversal, in which semantically related items are misrecognized less often than unrelated items [Learn. Individ. Differ. 7 (1995) 1; J. Exp. Child Psychol. 71 (1998) 194; Learn. Individ. Differ. 9 (1997) 95]. Lindsay and Johnson qualify core assumptions of source monitoring (e.g., source similarity is said to increase, decrease, and have no effect on source confusions and false memories; records of internal cognitive operations might not discriminate reality from self-generated representations) to accommodate these effects, as well as opposite effects. Although the power and scope of the source-monitoring perspective is evident, their approach suffers from limitations of imprecision and unfalsifiability. Nevertheless, they are to be commended for actively engaging data generated by alternative perspectives and for advancing sorely needed theoretical understanding of false-memory effects.     

Systems theory,generation theory,and the university: Some predictions

In order to have vigorous and adaptive academic disciplines it is imperative that there be a continual inflow of new generations of academicians into the university. It is noted that current socio-economic conditions in North America are such that young academicians are not entering the university. The predicted long-term undesirable effects of the above situation are arrived at by considering it in the light of both systems theory and generation theory. In considering the university as a system, it is argued that there must be a greater coordination between the university's goals and purposes and the needs of society if the university system is to regain critical inputs (students, staff, and funds) so necessary to maintain its functioning. Karl Mannheim's theory of generations and social change is applied to that predicted situation where there is no new generation of academicians flowing into the university system. Finally, it is recommended that the basic tenets underlying the discipline of the sociology of knowledge be transformed into normative statements, thereby providing the rationale for greater interaction between society and its institutions of higher learning.     

Incentive learning and the motivational control of instrumental performance by thirst

The role of incentive learning in instrumental performance following a shift in the degree of water deprivation was analyzed in three experiments. In Experiments 1A and IB, rats trained to perform an instrumental action reinforced with either sucrose or maltodextrin solutions when in a high-deprivation state were subsequently shifted to a low-deprivation state and tested in extinction. This within-state shift in water deprivation reduced instrumental performance only when the animals had been exposed to the reinforcer in the low-deprivation state prior to instrumental training. In Experiment 2, a concurrent training procedure was used to assess whether the change in the value of the reinforcer brought about by preexposurewas mediated by the contingency between the instrumental action and the reinforcer. Preexposure to the reinforcer under the low-deprivation state produced a selective reduction of the performance of the action upon which it was contingent during training when testing was conducted in extinction following a shift from the high- to the low-deprivation state. These experiments provide evidence that animals have to learn about the incentive value of a reinforcer in a particular motivational state through exposure to the reinforcer in that state.     

Maximalist Islamic Education as a Response to Terror: Some Thoughts on Unconditional Action

Inasmuch as Muslim governments all over the world dissociate themselves from despicable acts of terror, few can deny the brutality and violence perpetrated especially by those in authoritative positions like political governments against humanity. Poignant examples are the ongoing massacre of Muslim communities in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan by those government or rebel forces intent on eliminating the other whom they happen to find unworthy of living. This article attempts to map Islamic education’s response to violence and terror often perpetrated against people considered to be in vehement disagreement with another, for instance, Muslim rebel forces assassinating Christians in Syria and destroying ancient monasteries, Muslim jihadist fighters kidnapping and assassinating people in revengeful acts of terror and Muslim government militia quelling resistant forces that oppose the government’s so-called reformist agenda. In arguing against any form of violence, we show how Islamic education cannot and should not be associated with any act of violence. Put differently, we take issue with any act of violence even if minimally applied to disrupt acts of violence. On the contrary, we argue that Islamic education is intimately connected to the practice of public deliberation that engenders a community of becoming that will always undermine violence. We develop our argument in the following way: firstly, we give an account of a maximalist view of Islamic education in relation to the notion of a Muslim community in becoming; secondly, in relation to Agamben’s seminal thoughts on potentiality and becoming, we show that a Muslim community in becoming is averse to violence; finally, we argue as to how forgiveness, risk-taking and civility as instances of deliberation can counteract terror, more specifically on the part of a Muslim community in potentiality and becoming.     

Neuro-linguistic programming and learning theory: a response

In an earlier issue of this journal, Craft (2001) explored Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) in relation to a classification of learning theories. Craft also offered various observations on, and criticisms of, aspects of NLP such as its theoretical coherence, modelling, Dilts’s ‘logical levels’ and possible dissonance of NLP’s espousal of individuality in learning with its experiential emphasis. This article offers a response to Craft’s article. It describes the origins and nature of NLP, and explores its theoretical identity. NLP is portrayed here as based primarily on the cybernetic epistemology of Gregory Bateson (1972, 1979). The article offers a critique of many of the views put across in Craft’s article, and builds on her attempt to position NLP theoretically. The broad aims of this article are to offer an informed perspective on the nature of NLP; to extend the academic literature on NLP; and to develop debate about its relevance to the theory and practice of education.     

Evaluating item response theory linking and model fit for data from PISA 2000–2012

ABSTRACT

Based on concerns about the item response theory (IRT) linking approach used in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) until 2012 as well as the desire to include new, more complex, interactive items with the introduction of computer-based assessments, alternative IRT linking methods were implemented in the 2015 PISA round. The new linking method represents a concurrent calibration using all available data, enabling us to find item parameters that maximize fit across all groups and allowing us to investigate measurement invariance across groups. Apart from the Rasch model that historically has been used in PISA operational analyses, we compared our method against more general IRT models that can incorporate item-by-country interactions. The results suggest that our proposed method holds promise not only to provide a strong linkage across countries and cycles but also to serve as a tool for investigating measurement invariance.     

The determinants of research performance: A study of Australian university economists

In this article, the relationship between individual productivity in research, as measured by an index of publications produced, and their preferences and perceptions about research-related issues is explored. A sample of 134 Australian university economists were classified as low, average and high in respect of their publication performance using cluster analysis. Discriminant analysis was then used to see whether membership of these groups was associated with items representing individuals' preferred research approach, their involvement in a range of research-related activities, the things which they felt constrained their research and their perceptions of the benefits of their position which might be conducive to research.Our results show that there was a relationship between these items and group membership, and therefore productivity. Highly productive researchers made deliberate choices about the type of research they undertook in order to enhance their career advancement; they were heavily involved in a number of areas of research activity; they felt relatively few constraints on their research by comparison with low producers; and they enjoyed the freedom and challenge of their positions. These results imply that research performance is more a function of individual motivation than resource support.The authors would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of two anonymous referees.     

Developing performance data for making useful faculty and leadership decisions: Needs assessment as a vehicle

This article develops a methodology, based on the concepts of a results‐referenced needs assessment, to determine and prioritize perceived areas of existing or potential concern in an academic institution. The results were used to develop a baseline against which progress in addressing those concerns can be measured over time for the purpose of assessing continual improvement. The perceived areas of concern were identified by analyzing soft data—perceptions about performance and consequences—collected using questionnaires. These data reflected the personal, not independently verifiable judgments of needs based on the perceptions of the institution's engineering faculty. There is nothing in the methodology that is unique to academic institutions. It applies to any organization that considers human resources a valuable asset.     

The determinants of undergraduate degree performance: How important is gender?

This study uses data drawn from three recent cohorts of undergraduates at the University of Sussex to investigate the key determinants of degree performance. The primary theme of the study is an examination of the gender dimension to degree performance. The average ‘good’ degree rate for female students was found to be superior to the male rate. The modest raw gender differential in first class degree rates favoured women but was found to be attributable to their better endowments, particularly pre-entry qualifications. The largest differential favouring women was in the II:i classification, where almost all of the difference was attributable to differentials in coefficient treatment rather than endowments (or characteristics). The analysis undertaken also allowed the investigation of a number of sub-themes relating to the effects on degree performance of, inter alia, pre-entry qualifications, ethnicity, socio-economic background and health disability. The largest effects were reserved for the role of pre-entry qualifications with more modest effects detected for ethnicity and socio-economic background.