Protection from extinction provided by a conditioned inhibitor

Three conditioned suppression experiments with rats as subjects investigated the influence of higher order associations in determining the response potential of a target stimulus. In these experiments, a Pavlovian conditioned inhibitor was compounded with the target cue during extinction treatment. In Experiment 1, strong suppression was observed to the target cue that was given extinction treatment in the presence of a conditioned inhibitor, relative to a target that was extinguished with an associatively neutral cue or was extinguished alone, suggestive of enhanced protection from extinction provided by a conditioned inhibitor. This effect was replicated in a sensory preconditioning preparation in Experiment 2; in Experiment 3, in a sensory preconditioning preparation, this protection effect was retroactively attenuated when the conditioned excitor used to train the conditioned inhibitor was extinguished following extinction of the target. This provides evidence that, at least in a sensory preconditioning preparation, stimuli that are only indirectly associated with the target cue can contribute to the response potential of that target.     

A three-phase examination of academic comparative optimism and perceived academic control

Early academic perceptions are critical to undergraduate students' success in college. This 3-phase study examined stability of and links between academic comparative optimism (ACO; positive expectations about future performance) and perceived academic control (PAC; sense of influence over academic outcomes) among 68 undergraduate students. ACO and PAC were assessed at the start, midway through, and at the end of a semester and a cross-lagged panel analysis tested which academic perception better predicted the other. We also examined early ACO and PAC as predictors of later achievement. Students' ACO and PAC were fairly stable throughout the semester. Regression analyses (controlling for course load, prior achievement, and prior ACO or PAC) indicated ACO predicted PAC more so than the reverse, suggesting students may boost their PAC via optimistic social comparisons. Early ACO predicted later performance. Implications for enhancing ACO and PAC early in the academic year are discussed.     

Promoting Young Children's Social Competence through the Preschool PATHS Curriculum and MyTeachingPartner Professional Development Resources

Research Findings: Children's (n = 980) social competence during prekindergarten was assessed as a function of their teachers’ (n = 233) exposure to the Preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum and 2 levels of support through MyTeachingPartner, a Web-based approach to professional development. Children in classrooms that implemented PATHS had increased levels of teacher-reported social competence over the course of the year. There were no associations between the use of PATHS and reductions in teacher-reported social problems. The results also suggested that teachers who used the MyTeachingPartner website more often reported greater gains in children's social competence. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for the development and dissemination of social-emotional learning curricula and the provision of effective implementation supports for teachers. Continued work on the best ways to integrate technology into the professional development of teachers, both in service and preservice, is likely to enhance the accessibility and quality of supports for teachers.     

Blowing up Harry Potter: Leveraging an NLM Exhibition to Your Advantage

Libraries are constantly challenged to find ways to demonstrate their value to their institutions. Can hosting a National Library of Medicine (NLM) exhibition increase a library's impact? In 2012 the University of Toledo engaged their constituents by hosting and developing programming for the NLM exhibit Harry Potter's World: Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine. The process is synthesized into five stages: choosing, visioning, finding allies, budgeting, and marketing. Recommended practices for each stage are presented. Measures of impact (attendance, views, tweets, feedback) are discussed. Author concludes that hosting NLM exhibitions can be cost effective ways to advance a library's mission, improve visibility and user's perceptions.     

Learning to Read in the Digital Age

ABSTRACT—The digital age offers transformative opportunities for individualization of learning. First, modern imaging technologies have changed our understanding of learning and the sources and ranges of its diversity. Second, digital technologies make it possible to design learning environments that are responsive to individual differences. We draw on CAST's research and development on universal design for learning to suggest the potential of digital reading environments that are designed to support learning and engagement by addressing the diversity in learners' representation, strategic and affective networks. Optimal customization depends on continued advances in the digital tools of the neurosciences and the design and enactment of digital learning environments.     

Empathy, Interaction and Caring: Teachers' Roles in a Constrained Environment

This paper describes some of the key findings from a recently completed PhD, which examined the role of empathy in teacher–pupil relationships and its relevance to moral modelling. The project collected data through interviews and classroom observations and used grounded methodology theory for the analysis. The literature considers the latest research in neuroscience and the significance of emotions in moral decision making alongside older psychological research on affect and empathy in learning.
Despite an overwhelming desire to support, care for and relate deeply to pupils, teachers were continually constrained by the conditions in which they worked. Time was stolen from them by the nature of the current education system; the fragmented and rigid curriculum; the time poor nature of their working conditions; the bureaucracy of modern education and the large numbers of pupils and low frequency of contact. The moral model available for students becomes degraded and needs remain unmet. Teachers are obliged to show lack of care towards individuals, the reverse of what they believe to be necessary and what their pupils want and need.     

Writing Approaches of Graduate Students

The writing approach framework provides a comprehensive perspective on college‐level academic writing based on the relationship of writers’ beliefs and strategies to the quality of written outcomes. However, despite increased demands for more and better writing at the graduate level, little is known about graduate‐level writing processes or about the beliefs of graduate students regarding writing. The goals of this project were the preliminary development of a factor analytic model of graduate writing processes, and of an inventory to measure writing strategies. The results support seven independent factors: elaborative, low self‐efficacy, no revision, intuitive, scientist, task‐oriented, and sculptor, with the intuitive factor predictive of an academic writing outcome. Suggestions are advanced for classroom instruction and for further research.     

The writing approaches of university students

University students' beliefs about themselvesas writers and about the experience of learningin writing were investigated as related towriting approaches as measured by the Inventoryof Processes in College Composition (Lavelle 1993). General findings included support forthe deep and surface paradigm as well asvariation in students' conceptions of writing,in their attitudes about themselves as writers,and in their felt need for personal expressionin writing. Implications for instruction andfurther research are included.     

Exploring Teachers’ Depressive Symptoms,Interaction Quality,and Children’s Social-Emotional Development in Head Start

Research Findings: This study explored the role Head Start teachers’ (n = 355) depressive symptoms play in their interactions with children and in children’s (n = 2,203) social-emotional development, specifically changes in children’s problem behaviors and social skills as reported by parents and teachers during the preschool year. Results of the multilevel path analyses revealed that children in classrooms with more depressed teachers made significantly fewer gains in social-emotional skills as reported by both teachers and parents. We found no evidence of mediation by the quality of teacher–child interactions. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for understanding and supporting Head Start teachers’ mental health and potentially improving children’s social-emotional outcomes.