Exploring individual differences as factors to maximize interactive learning environments for future learning

Identifying characteristics of individuals who will be negatively impacted by interactive learning environments (ILE) was explored in a field study conducted among learners whose high-stakes performance depended upon grasping training scenarios quickly. Gauging the appropriateness of computer-based simulations for individuals became a pedagogical theme, and examining whether the history of technology usage was a factor revealed what may negatively impact an individual’s stress and workload and therefore hinder learning. This study found that individuals reporting higher frequency of computer usage experienced more temporal demand, and reported higher virtual world usage predicted a decrease in temporal demand. Implications suggest continual development of digital literacy skills to prepare for using ILEs especially for faculty and instructors. Establishment of consistent nomenclature of virtual technology terms will improve reliability and validity of measures. Areas of future research include inquiry into digital leadership for promoting metacognition and self-efficacy.     

The Electronic Cataloging in Publication Cataloging Partnership Program: A Model for Cooperative Cataloging for the Twenty-First Century

The Library of Congress’ Cataloging in Publication (CIP) Program has been in existence for forty years. During this time, the CIP Program has moved from a model where the Library of Congress created all pre-publication metadata for publishers to a partnership where other libraries share in the creation of metadata. This article documents the evolution of the Electronic Cataloging in Publication (ECIP) Cataloging Partnership Program. The ECIP Cataloging Partnership Program can be used as a model to leverage limited resources across libraries to the benefit of library users nationwide.     

What Influences Advertising Price in Television Channels?: An Empirical Analysis on the Spanish Market

Advertising has an important role in the media industry. In a context where advertising generates a negative externality for viewers, this article analyzes the factors explaining ad prices in free TV empirically. This article also considers the participation of government-owned broadcasters in the Spanish market. This study finds that private ownership is associated with higher advertising prices. The results show a positive relation between audience size and ad price and a negative relation between ad price and advertising time. In addition, this study finds that higher prices are associated with the percentage of the population between 14 and 29 years old and the regional gross domestic product per capita in the broadcast area.     

Alternative approaches to structural modeling of ordinal data: A Monte Carlo study

In practice, several measures of association are used when analyzing structural equation models with ordinal variables: ordinary Pearson correlations (PE approach), polychoric and polyserial correlations (PO approach), and conditional polychoric correlations (CPO approach). In the case of structural equation models without latent variables, the literature has shown that the PE approach is outperformed by the alternatives. In this article we report a Monte Carlo study showing the comparative performance of the aforementioned alternative approaches under deviations from their respective assumptions in the case of structural equation models with latent variables when attention is restricted to point estimates of model parameters. The CPO approach is shown to be the most robust against nonnormality. It is also robust to randomness of the exogenous variables, but not to the existence of measurement errors in them. The PO approach lacks robustness against nonnormality. The PE approach lacks robustness against transformation errors but otherwise it can perform about as well as the alternative approaches.     

Identity tensions in lesbian intercollegiate coaches

Using social identity perspective, we investigated the experiences of 13 lesbian college coaches. Through semistructured interviews, the coaches revealed the daily identity tensions they experienced. There was constant negotiation between their social identities of "coach" and "lesbian." The social context of intercollegiate women's athletics created a complex web that juxtaposed these identities against commanding social norms. The challenges these coaches faced ranged from doing what they believed was best for the well being of their athletes (e.g., fighting homonegativism) versus what was best for their professional well being (e.g., remaining silent). These coaches did not passively accept their fate; while they struggled with identity negotiation, they also found ways to counter the heterosexist atmosphere and create positive social change.     

Associations between Parental Psychological and Behavioral Control and Youth Internalized and Externalized Behaviors

In this study, psychological control of children was conceptually and empirically distinguished from behavioral control. Further, it was demonstrated as hypothesized that psychological control was more predictive of adolescent internalized problems, and that behavioral control was more predictive of externalized problems. Subjects were 473 fifth-, eighth-, and tenth-grade males and females from a Southern suburb. Control was measured by the Child Report of Parent Behavior Inventory and the Colorado Self-Report of Family Functioning Inventory. Problem behaviors were measured with the Child Behavior Checklist. First- and second-order factor analyses discriminated psychological and behavioral control, and structural equation analyses demonstrated the differential prediction of internalized and externalized problems. These last analyses were conducted using youth-reported data and validated using a subsample of 227 mother-youth pairs.     

Conditioned inhibition of rotation-induced taste aversion

In three experiments, we investigated the existence of conditioned inhibition of body rotation-induced taste aversion. Rats were given conditioned inhibition training in which the taste of saccharin was always followed by rotations, but the taste of vanilla was not. Flavor-preference tests, retardation-of-acquisition tests, and summation tests of inhibition indicated that the vanilla stimulus had acquired conditioned inhibitory properties. These findings could not be interpreted as functions of either initial solution preferences or simple nonassociative effects of flavor preexposure. They lend support to a theory that views learning mechanisms as being central to the phenomenon of motion sickness, and suggest that inhibitors might be effectively employed to ameliorate its symptoms.