Contextual generality of roosttime restlessness in captive American robins (Turdus migratorius)

A series of experiments with captive American robins examined factors affecting roosttime restlessness, that is, the burst of locomotor activity that appears at dusk and is thought to be a correlate of the communal roosting habit of this species. First, the restlessness occurred earlier on cloudy days than on sunny ones, suggesting the importance of illumination level in initiating the activity burst. Second, in studies on social effects, the restlessness was greater when robins were totally isolated than when they had visual-auditory access to conspecifics; indeed, when a small flock of robins was housed together, restlessness at dusk was suppressed completely. Third, the birds were more restless when they could see a human observer than when they could not, implying an interaction of tearfulness with the roosting tendency. Finally, restlessness occurred in a large flight cage as well as in small cages, as long as the birds were not maintained in a flock. In sum, roosttime restlessness appears to be a robust phenomenon that occurs under a wide range of laboratory conditions, but which also can be substantially influenced by numerous environmental variables. Further experimental examination of these variables may advance present understanding of the survival value of communal roosting in this species.     

Unlike American Robins (Turdus migratorius), European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) do not display roost-time restlessness

The daily perch-hop activity of six captive European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) was observed under natural lighting over 12 months. Moderately high levels of early morning activity gradually declined throughout the day. Unlike robins (Turdus migratorius), however, the starlings showed no evidence of the brief burst of activity at dusk calledroost-time restlessness (Eiserer, 1979). The present data support the hypothesis that roost-time restlessness depends upon the conjunction of territorial and roosting behaviors, which is the case for robins but not for starlings.     

Parent involvement in Head Start programs: the role of parent,teacher and classroom characteristics

The purposes of this study were to determine the extent and types of parent involvement in Head Start programs, and to examine the relations between parent participation and family, teacher and classroom characteristics. Parents (n = 1131) and teachers (n = 59) from four Head Start programs participated. Data were gathered through volunteer logs, parent interviews, teacher questionnaires, and classroom observations. The most frequent type of parent involvement activity was helping out in the classroom, followed by attendance at parent meetings. This pattern was consistent across the year (fall or spring), and across total amount of participation (i.e. parents participating one, two, three or more times in the year). Parent employment was the strongest predictor of parent involvement compared to other parent characteristics. Among teacher and classroom characteristics, classroom quality was the strongest predictor of parent involvement. Also, teachers with more years of experience in Head Start had more total hours of volunteering in their classrooms and had volunteers returning more times. Teachers’ reports of the involvement of parents in their classrooms were moderately correlated with volunteer logs, while parent self-reports of their involvement were only modestly correlated with volunteer logs, indicating that teachers may be more accurate than parents when reporting parent involvement activities.     

Title I funded preschools as a developmental context for children’s play and verbal behaviors

This study examined changes across the school year in the play and verbal behavior during center based activities of 283 children in 22 public school preschool classrooms, funded through Title I. Using a time sampling method, observations of children in classroom settings were conducted twice during the preschool year. Repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance revealed that: (1) children were involved most in parallel play activities, and the amount of parallel play increased across the year; and (2) associative and cooperative play decreased. This pattern of behavioral change was present in 15 of the 22 classrooms. Conditional probability analyses indicated that associative play was an important context for verbalizations directed to both teachers and peers. At the time of each observation children played and talked with their peers most. We obtained one interaction effect between gender and time—the amount of talk from girls to teachers increased over the school year, whereas boys talked less to teachers over time. Classrooms were staffed by a certified teacher and an assistant and uniformly rated quite high on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. This research demonstrates that public school preschools are funded and staffed appropriately, but that more attention could be paid to facilitating play and verbal interactions that might be important for later school success.     

Emergent literacy profiles among prekindergarten children from low-SES backgrounds: Longitudinal considerations

This study represents a longitudinal follow-up to a prior investigation that identified five profiles of emergent literacy skills among children in the fall of their prekindergarten year. Here, we examined: (a) how profile patterns changed from fall to spring, (b) the extent to which children remained stable in their profile membership, and (c) possible factors that may explain children's movement in profile membership from fall to spring. Participants were 484 children enrolled in needs-based programs. Eight measures of emergent literacy, across oral language and code-related domains, were administered in both the fall and the spring of the prekindergarten year. Latent profile analysis was used to classify children into fall and spring profiles (N = 484, 369, respectively). Although there were fewer profiles identified in the spring, children's membership within the profiles was characterized by a degree of stability, especially in the extremes of performance. Among children who shifted membership from fall to spring (35%), movement to a more desirable profile was primarily associated with children's emergent literacy skills, particularly oral language, at the beginning of the prekindergarten year.     

Modification of attending behavior in hyperactive children

This study investigated the efficacy of using a behavioral feedback procedure as a means of reducing the nonattending behavior in children with attentional deficits and/or motoric restlessness. It was hypothesized that children with an attentional deficit would be able to learn to attend to classroom work when provided information about their behavior. Subjects consisted of 4 children with attentional deficits and motoric restlessness, 4 with motoric restlessness alone, and 8 without attentional deficits or motoric restlessness. A modified operant design was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the feedback procedure. Significant changes were evidenced by all groups of subjects. Initial results and follow-up observations indicated that the attending behavior of the experimental subjects increased, and was manitained, without the use of tangible reinforcers.     

Playing with others: Head Start children's peer play and relations with kindergarten school competence

Time-sampled observations of Head Start preschoolers’ (N = 264; 51.5% boys; 76% Mexican American; M = 53.11 and SD = 6.15 months of age) peer play in the classroom were gathered during fall and spring semesters. One year later, kindergarten teachers rated these children's school competence. Latent growth models indicated that, on average, children's peer play was moderately frequent and increased over time during preschool. Children with higher initial levels or with higher slopes of peer play in Head Start had higher levels of kindergarten school competence. Results suggest that Head Start children's engagement with peers may foster development of skills that help their transition into formal schooling. These findings highlight the importance of peer play, and suggest that peer play in Head Start classrooms contributes to children's adaptation to the demands of formal schooling.     

Behavioral effects of colorful lights with different spectra on siberian rubythroat Luscinia calliope

To investigate the activities of typical night-migrating birds under the light with various spectral compositions during autumn migration,23 Siberian Rubythroat Luscinia calliope were tested under colorful LED lights with different wavelengths and mixed white at 100 lx.Using behavior response as an indicator,the quantitative relationship between the activity level of test birds and illumination stimulation duration was acquired.It was found that the visible light sensitivity of Siberian Rubythroat was the highest for the 478 nm turquoise and decreased towards the 622 nm red.     

Testing theoretical explanations for heterogeneity in associations between a state quality rating and improvement system and prekindergarten children’s academic performance

The present study tests two complementary developmental theories regarding the fit between children’s skills and their environments within the context of a state Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). Specifically, we examine whether high-quality prekindergarten disproportionately benefits children based on their entering ability levels. The sample includes 684 children (48% female; M _age = 57.56 months) residing in a midwestern state who were eligible to receive child care subsidies and participated in an evaluation of state-funded prekindergarten during the 2015-2016 school year (cohort 1), 2016-2017 school year (cohort 2), or 2018-2019 school year (cohort 3). We implemented multilevel regression models with children nested in their respective classrooms and schools to investigate whether children in higher-rated prekindergarten programs on the QRIS experienced greater growth in math, literacy, and vocabulary from fall to spring if they entered with stronger executive function skills (i.e., foundational skills hypothesis), or if they entered with weaker skills in the same respective domain as the outcome (i.e., compensatory skills hypothesis) relative to children who attended programs that were lower-rated or unrated on the QRIS. Contrary to both hypotheses, only one significant interaction emerged indicating that children who attended prekindergarten programs rated as low-quality on the QRIS were more likely to have higher spring literacy performance if they began the year with stronger executive function skills. Implications for research and policy are discussed.     

Overshadowing in matching-to-sample: Reduction in sample-stimulus control by differential sample behaviors

Separate groups of pigeons were trained to high levels of accuracy on 0-delay matching-to-sample with sample-response requirements that were either differential or nondifferential with respect to the sample stimuli. Differential subjects produced the comparisons by completing a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rates-of-responding 3-sec (DRL 3″) requirement during one sample and a fixed-ratio (FR 10) requirement during the other. Nondifferential subjects produced the comparisons by completing the same schedule requirement (either DRL 3″ or FR 10) for both samples. Following acquisition to criterion, the DRL and/or FR sample-response requirements were replaced by a nondifferential single-peck (CRF) requirement in order to assess the degree to which the samples had acquired control over choice in each group. This change disrupted performance in all subjects, but the disruption was greater for the differential birds, which generally performed at lower levels of accuracy and required more sessions of retraining to reach criterion levels of accuracy than the nondifferential birds. Follow-up experiments revealed that comparison choices by the differential birds were primarily controlled by their DRL vs. FR sample-specific behaviors. The relatively poor performance of the differential group during testing with CRF requirements suggests that the cue arising from the birds’ differential sample behaviorshad also overshadowed the sample stimuli for conditional control over choice. The unique, and rather unusual, aspect of this overshadowing effect is that it occurred in spite of the fact that the overshadowed cue (that provided by the samples) was necessary for producing the cue that resulted in overshadowing (the differential sample behaviors). This finding has potentially important implications for the differential outcomes effect in conditional discrimination learning and for attentional processes in compound-cue situations in general.     

Measuring a year of child pornography trafficking by U.S. computers on a peer-to-peer network

We used data gathered via investigative “RoundUp” software to measure a year of online child pornography (CP) trafficking activity by U.S. computers on the Gnutella peer-to-peer network. The data include millions of observations of Internet Protocol addresses sharing known CP files, identified as such in previous law enforcement investigations. We found that 244,920 U.S. computers shared 120,418 unique known CP files on Gnutella during the study year. More than 80% of these computers shared fewer than 10 such files during the study year or shared files for fewer than 10 days. However, less than 1% of computers (n = 915) made high annual contributions to the number of known CP files available on the network (100 or more files). If law enforcement arrested the operators of these high-contribution computers and took their files offline, the number of distinct known CP files available in the P2P network could be reduced by as much as 30%. Our findings indicate widespread low level CP trafficking by U.S. computers in one peer-to-peer network, while a small percentage of computers made high contributions to the problem. However, our measures were not comprehensive and should be considered lower bounds estimates. Nonetheless, our findings show that data can be systematically gathered and analyzed to develop an empirical grasp of the scope and characteristics of CP trafficking on peer-to-peer networks. Such measurements can be used to combat the problem. Further, investigative software tools can be used strategically to help law enforcement prioritize investigations.     

Teaching practices and student engagement in early adolescence: A longitudinal study using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System

Student engagement in schoolwork is crucial for positive academic adjustment, particularly during early adolescence. We investigated how observations of teaching practices predicted change in student behavioral and emotional engagement. In the fall, we examined teacher behavior in 54 fifth and sixth grade classrooms through external observers' reports of 11 dimensions of teachers’ practices (Classroom Assessment Scoring System, CLASS). Students reported on their behavioral and emotional engagement in the fall and spring. We found quality feedback was the strongest predictor of behavioral engagement and regard for student perspective was the strongest emotional engagement. Our findings were more nuanced for what predicts behavioral engagement, as there is evidence that other teaching practices work in conjunction with quality feedback to predict behavioral engagement.     

Profiles of school readiness among four-year-old Head Start children

This study uses the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) data from 1997 to investigate the degree to which child, family, classroom, teacher, and Head Start program characteristics are related to children's school readiness and continued development over the four-year-old Head Start year. Latent class analyses were used to examine the constellation of school readiness competencies within individual Head Start children in both the fall and spring of the four-year-old Head Start year. Multinomial regression analyses examined patterns of association between demographic and program characteristics and profile membership over time. Four distinct developmental profiles were found in the sample in the fall, and three were found in the spring. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of Head Start children (43%) moved from a developmental profile including some risk to a strengths profile between the fall and spring of the Head Start year. Child age, family structure, parental educational attainment, classroom quality and teacher's level of educational attainment emerged as important factors associated with stability and change in profile membership over the four-year-old Head Start year, but receipt of social services through Head Start was not associated with stability or change in profile membership.     

新疆达坂城30年气候变化趋势及大风规律研究

利用达坂城气象站1981-2010年逐年气温、降水和大风资料,分析了近30年来气温、降水及大风的年、季变化特征,结果表明:年均气温总体呈上升趋势,线性倾向率为0.33℃/10a,年1内气温的季节变化存在差异,秋季增温明显,春夏季次之;降水量线性倾向率为9.44mm/10a,气候变湿显著,降水年际变率较大且季节分配不均;Mann-Kendall突变检验表明,气温在1991年发生一次突变,变暖趋势显著,降水在1986年发生由少向多的突变过程;大风日数、平均风速呈现波动下降过程,大风日数线性趋向率为-30.5d/10a,平均风速递减率为-0.76(m/s)/10a,春季大风发生频率最高,为33%,静风频率为10.32%;主导风向以偏西风(WNW)和东南风(SE)为主。     

Cortisol stress reactivity moderates the effects of parental corporal punishment on Chinese preschoolers’ executive function

Background: To date whether the effects of parental corporal punishment (CP) on executive function (EF) distinct components are different is less clear. Moreover, theory and empirical work suggest that physiological regulation system may help to explain the individual differences in the developmental outcomes associated with parental CP.Objective: This study examined the effects of parental CP on Chinese preschoolers’ EF and whether the cortisol stress reactivity would moderate such effects.Participants and Setting: One hundred and fifty-two preschool-aged children and their parents from Beijing China participated in the present study.Methods: Parental CP was reported by fathers and mothers respectively in the first year of the study (2015, spring), and children’s EF was assessed and salivary cortisol was collected in the second year (2016, spring).Results: Both paternal and maternal CP were negatively correlated with children’s EF one year later, and the relation between maternal, but not paternal CP and children’s EF was moderated by cortisol stress reactivity. Specifically, compared to children with high cortisol stress reactivity levels, children with low cortisol stress reactivity levels who experienced maternal CP in the past year showed poorer global EF and working memory.Conclusions: Findings highlight the critical importance of examining the interactive effects of individual physiological level and environmental-level risks on young children’s self-regulation outcomes.     

Contexts of reading instruction: Implications for literacy skills and kindergarteners’ behavioral engagement

This observational study examined kindergarteners’ (n = 170) exposure to literacy instruction in their classrooms (n = 36), child-by-instruction interactions, and behavioral engagement in relation to literacy skills. Time spent in four instructional contexts was coded according to who managed children's attention (teacher-managed, TM or child-managed, CM), and the content focus (basic skills such as teaching letters and their sounds, or meaning-focused such as discussing a book); children's behavioral engagement and off-task behavior were also coded live five times over the year. Word-reading and phonological awareness skills were assessed in fall and spring. Hierarchical Linear Modeling results indicated that kindergarteners with lower initial skills gained more in word-reading, but not phonological awareness, when they were exposed to relatively more time in TM basic skills instruction. In contrast, more time in CM meaning-focused instruction did not interact with initial skills to predict either outcome. Engagement analyses indicated that students were more likely to be off-task in CM than in TM contexts. Children who spent more time off-task during TM contexts had lower spring scores on both outcomes. Discussion explores the implications of this work for both literacy learning and behavioral engagement in the transition year of kindergarten.     

Cross‐language relationship between Spanish and English oral reading fluency among Spanish‐speaking English language learners in bilingual education classrooms

This study examined whether oral reading fluency in a child's first language (Spanish) as assessed by Curriculum‐Based Measurement (CBM) was related to oral reading fluency in a second language (English) and whether Spanish oral reading fluency probes administered in the fall were predictive of English oral reading fluency outcomes for spring of the same academic year. A total of 68 bilingual education students across grades 1 through 5 were assessed in Spanish and English during the fall, winter, and spring. Results showed that reading in Spanish and English across grades and time periods correlated moderately high with the exception of fourth grade. In addition, Spanish oral reading fluency at the beginning of the year significantly predicted English reading outcomes at the end of the year. These findings suggest that CBM can be a valuable tool for evaluating the relationship between oral reading fluency in both the first and second language. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 795–806, 2007.     

Residential Mobility,Inhibitory Control,and Academic Achievement in Preschool

Research Findings: The present study investigated the direct effects of residential mobility on children's inhibitory control and academic achievement during the preschool year. It also explored fall inhibitory control and academic skills as mediators linking residential mobility and spring achievement. Participants included 359 preschool children (49% female) studied in the fall and spring of the preschool year (73% were enrolled in Head Start). Residential mobility was significantly and negatively associated with fall inhibitory control and fall math and literacy. Significant indirect effects of mobility were found for spring math and literacy through inhibitory control and fall achievement. Specifically, the negative relation between mobility and spring math and literacy was partially explained by lower scores on fall inhibitory control and academic skills. Practice or Policy: The current study contributes to the existing literature by specifying pathways linking frequent moves and achievement for young children. Policy implications are discussed.     

Peer Play Interactions and Learning for Low-Income Preschool Children: The Moderating Role of Classroom Quality

Research Findings: The present study examined the degree to which the association between interactive peer play and academic skills was dependent upon the level of classroom quality for a representative sample of culturally and linguistically diverse urban Head Start children (N = 304 children across 53 classrooms). Peer play interactions within the classroom were assessed by teacher assistants in the fall of the year; observations of the quality of classroom instructional, emotional, and organizational support were conducted in the middle of the year; and norm-referenced direct assessments of literacy, language, and mathematics skills were administered in the spring. Findings from multilevel models indicated that disruptive and disconnected peer play behaviors early in the preschool year were associated with lower literacy and language skills regardless of classroom quality. However, interactive peer play early in the year was associated with higher mathematics outcomes when children were enrolled in classrooms characterized by high instructional support. Practice or Policy: Implications for early childhood research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

The Effect of Changing Content on IRT Scaling Methods

Equating test forms is an essential activity in standardized testing, with increased importance with the accountability systems in existence through the mandate of Adequate Yearly Progress. It is through equating that scores from different test forms become comparable, which allows for the tracking of changes in the performance of students from one year to the next. This study compares three different item response theory scaling methods (fixed common item parameter, Stocking & Lord, and Concurrent Calibration) with respect to examinee classification into performance categories, and estimation of the ability parameter, when the content of the test form changes slightly from year to year, and the examinee ability distribution changes. The results indicate that calibration methods, especially concurrent calibration, produced more stable results than the transformation method.