Surprise and blocking: Effects of the number of compound trials

In an experiment on conditioned suppression of licking in thirsty rats, subjects received either one or two trials to a tone-light compound, either preceded or not preceded by four conditioning trials to the light alone. Prior conditioning to the light blocked conditioning to the tone in subjects receiving two compound trials but not in those receiving only one compound trial. The blocking observed in the two-trial groups was abolished either by the addition of an unexpected second posttrial shock 10 sec after the first on each compound trial or by the omission of an expected second, posttrial shock. The comparable operations had no effect on conditioning to the tone in the one-trial group. In this preparation, both blocking and the attenuation of blocking by surprising changes in reinforcement appear to require more than one trial to appear.     

Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Motheread/Fatheread Early Literacy Intervention: Evidence of Impact in a Rural Community

Research Findings. A randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of Motheread/Fatheread Colorado (MFC), an early childhood literacy intervention, on parent reading behaviors and their preschool-aged children’s literacy skills. Parents in the experimental condition participated in MFC; control parents did not. Dependent variables included measures of parental behavior supportive of reading in the home, and parent- and teacher-reported child literacy outcomes. Parents in the intervention group reported spending significantly more time reading with their children and a significantly greater use of interactive reading skills than parents in the control condition. Children in the intervention group scored significantly higher than children in the control group on parent-reported language and reading skills immediately following the intervention. There was no significant difference in immediate post-intervention teacher reports of child literacy skills. However, up to 15-months after program completion, children in the intervention condition had greater gains in teacher-reported language skills than children in the control condition. Results suggest that MFC is a promising intervention for changing the home literacy environment and children’s literacy outcomes. Practice/Policy. Motheread/Fatheread may be a good fit for organizations interested in implementing interventions aimed at improving home literacy for preschool-aged children.     

Ideological tensions in the educational choice practices of modern Greek Cypriot parents: the role of social capital

The rapid modernisation process of Greek Cypriot society has created a cultural environment with an amalgam of traditionalist and modernist ethical attitudes, and antagonisms between them concerning, among other things, social advancement. These have implications for the way individuals and families develop various strategies of choice‐making for post secondary school destinations and for issues of social justice. We focus on social capital networks and resources. Our arguments are supported by the analysis of attitudes, beliefs, practices and resources available to a sample of 24 Greek Cypriot parents for choice‐making about the educational and occupational futures of their children. In discussion we offer modelling of these processes plus, more speculatively, implications for the possible emergence of a transcendent postmodernist cultural recontextualisation of social capital practices in contemporary Cyprus and for the ethics of social capitalism more generally.     

Treating sexually abused children: 1 year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To measure the durability of improvement in response to two alternative treatments for sexually abused children. METHOD: Eighty-two sexually abused children ages 8-15 years old and their primary caretakers were randomly assigned to trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) or non-directive supportive therapy (NST) delivered over 12 sessions; this study examines symptomatology during 12 months posttreatment. DATA ANALYSIS: Intent-to-treat and treatment completer repeated measures analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Intent-to-treat indicated significant group x time effects in favor of TF-CBT on measures of depression, anxiety, and sexual problems. Among treatment completers, the TF-CBT group evidenced significantly greater improvement in anxiety, depression, sexual problems and dissociation at the 6-month follow-up and in PTSD and dissociation at the 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: This study provides additional support for the durability of TF-CBT effectiveness.     

The insensitivity of schedule-induced polydipsia to conditioned taste aversions: Effect of amount consumed during conditioning

In Experiment 1, animals poisoned following schedule-induced or prandial-induced saccharin consumption subsequently showed identical aversions to saccharin when tested under water deprivation. In Experiment 2, animals conditioned to avoid saccharin to similar levels under water deprivation were differentially affected when saccharin was subsequently presented on the baselines of schedule-induced and prandial-induced drinking. Together, these data indicate that the differential effects observed on schedule-induced and prandial-induced drinking when animals are poisoned following consumption under these two schedules do not reflect the differential acquisition of taste aversions, but instead reflect the differential tendencies to drink induced by the spaced and massed feedings.     

Developing Online Graduate Coursework in Adapted Physical Education Utilizing Andragogy Theory

Graduate adapted physical education (APE) courses have typically been taught using face-to-face formats where the instructor and learners physically meet in a classroom and engage in discussions and experiential exercises. However, because in-service physical educators have time demands associated with teaching, coaching, and family commitments, face-to-face meetings may not be feasible. Therefore, online learning may provide a more efficient and effective method for training in-service physical educators to become APE specialists. The purpose of this article is to disseminate guidelines for developing and implementing online coursework in APE within the theoretical framework of andragogy (adult learning). In this article, the authors describe characteristics and implementation of an online APE graduate course for in-service physical educators based on andragogy theory. Andragogy theory addresses the particular needs of adult learners and is based on the idea that there are significant differences in learning characteristics between children and adults (Knowles, 1989). This article first describes four components fundamental to andragogical instruction: experiential learning, self-directed learning, engagement, and transformative learning. The narratives provide information and characteristics about online APE course development for PE teachers’ professional development and how andragogy approach is a useful and beneficial approach to enhance learning.     

Towards a better theoretical framework for studying learning from educational television

Drawing in particular on Open University experience, this article attempts to set out a theoretical framework for understanding how people learn through television. The first part of the framework sets out the organisational factors which appear to influence learning from television. The other parts look at the different processes of coding information and meaning which are found in different media, and argue the need to study how learners discriminate between, absorb, and transform these coded meanings.     

The interaction of conditioned taste aversions and schedule-induced polydipsia: Effects of repeated conditioning trials

In Experiment 1, rats poisoned following schedule-induced saccharin consumption showed a moderate reduction in the schedule-induced consumption of saccharin. With repeated poisoning, schedule-induced saccharin polydipsia was markedly reduced. Acquisition of conditioned aversion under the schedule-induced procedure was significantly slower than acquisition under water deprivation. In addition, recovery of consumption of the previously poisoned solution during extinction was more rapid under schedule-induced polydipsia. Experiment 2 revealed that schedule-induced polydipsia was less sensitive to suppression by conditioned aversions than a prandial drinking condition in which subjects were equally food deprived but were given a mass feeding instead of spaced pellet deliveries, suggesting that the relative insensitivity of schedule-induced polydipsia to conditioned taste aversions is not simply a function of different levels of food deprivation. This relative insensitivity is offered as a partial basis for the occurrence and maintenance of schedule-induced alcohol polydipsia.     

Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety among Gaza Strip adolescents in the wake of the second Uprising (Intifada)

OBJECTIVE: Children and adolescents of the Gaza Strip have been subjected to continuous violence since the eruption of the second Intifada (Uprising). Little is known, however, about the psychological effects of this violence on children and adolescents of Gaza. Thus, the purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate and describe the psychological effects of exposure of war-like circumstances on this population. METHOD: Participants for this study were 229 Palestinian adolescents living in the Gaza Strip who were administered measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and coping. RESULTS: Of the 229 participants, 68.9% were classified as having developed PTSD, 40.0% reported moderate or severe levels of depression, 94.9% were classified as having severe anxiety levels, and 69.9% demonstrated undesirable coping responses. A canonical discriminant analysis revealed that adolescents diagnosed with PTSD tended to be those who reported the highest levels of depression, anxiety, and positive reappraisal coping, and the lowest levels of seeking guidance and support coping. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that a significant proportion of Palestinian adolescents living in the Gaza Strip are experiencing serious psychological distress.