Categorical color coding by pigeons

Pigeons were trained on two independent tasks. One involved red and yellow hues, the other involved blue and green hues. For half of the birds, the two tasks were the same (i.e., both tasks were either matching-to-sample, or oddity-from-sample). For the remaining birds, the two tasks were different (i.e., one task was matching-to-sample; the other task was oddity-from-sample). Following acquisition, the pigeons were exposed to test trials on which either the correct or the incorrect comparison hue was replaced with one of the hues from the other task. On yellow-sample trials and on green-sample trials, the pigeons performed as if they had a common code for yellow and green. When there was one comparison available that was appropriate to the “yellow/green” code, performance remained high; but when either both comparisons or neither comparison was appropriate to the “yellow/green” code, performance dropped. The pigeons also tended to code red samples as green and to code blue samples as yellow. The results indicate that pigeons can categorically code colors under conditions that rule out a failure to discriminate among the colors.     

Intuitive statistical inference: How pigeons categorize binomial samples

Pigeons categorized binomial samples produced by two complementary random processes. Samples were 1, 2, 4, or 8 successively presented outcomes (vertical or horizontal lines) of, in effect, tossing one of two equally likely coins. One coin (A) was biased in favor of vertical, and the other coin (B) was similarly biased in favor of horizontal. Choosing red or green stimuli presented after each sample was reinforced with food if coin A or coin B had been tossed, respectively. In that sense, choosing red or green was logically analogous to inferring that the statistical evidence reflected tossing of coin A or coin B, respectively. The statistical diagnosticity of a sample, the relative likelihood of its having been produced by a particular coin, equaled, except for sampling fluctuation, the relative frequency of reinforcement of a particular color given that sample, and was experimentally varied by the bias on the coins and by sample size. All the variables that affect optimal, formal inference about binomial samples also affected intuitive inference. But inferences were very suboptimal: “undermatching” was obtained in part due to control of categorization by the sequential structure of binomial samples. These results reveal limitations of optimality theories for animal decision making in the face of uncertainty when observations in samples are presented successively. On the other hand, they are generally compatible with molecular analyses of instrumental learning which assign an important role to the local temporal organization of events preceding reinforcement. Most generally, they show that maladaptive control over intuitive statistical inference by a variable upon which optimal performance does not depend is neither a uniquely human phenomenon nor dependent upon linguistic strategies.     

知识管理在中美教育机构中的应用研究

目前知识管理在教育机构中的应用较为滞后 ,但其思想和方法同样适用于像大学、教育管理部门这样的组织机构。教育机构也可以通过实施知识管理达到提高响应能力和工作效率的目的。在高等教育中 ,知识管理工作体现在面向学生的教学和管理活动中。通过对中美两国教育机构调研的数据分析可以看出 ,在与知识管理相关的因素分析上 ,如知识管理的实施与激励形式、作用力和学校规模等方面 ,中国学校与美国学校在认识上具有不同的相关程度。这些差异反映了两国知识管理发展水平的不同 ,同时 ,对中国的高校实施知识管理具有启发意义 ,即知识管理本身本非目的 ,而是一种手段 ,应将它同具体的工作有机结合 ,才能取得更好的效果。     

Librarianship and information work: Job characteristics and staffing needs : . The British Library Research & Development Reports No. 5321HC, The British Library, London, 1977, 62 pp. £2.50

This paper deals with the broad concept of management of organizational information. More specifically, it examines the notion of information richness—that phenomenon by which certain individuals are better able to acquire, process and utilize information than are other individuals in the organization. Based on an analysis of relevant research findings some tentative hypotheses relating management and organizational information richness are suggested. In conclusion, a number of managerial implications of the notion of organizational information richness are discussed.     

Providing Bottom-Up Support to Middle School Science Teachers’ Reform Efforts in Using Inquiry-Based Kits

Middle grades science teachers need professional support in practice as they implement new inquiry-based science. Professional development schools can provide this bottom-up support through connecting preservice and inservice teacher education programs in classroom practice. In this study, coteaching arrangements with secondary science education majors provided additional teachers in the classroom to support a materials-rich curriculum and the needed associated pedagogies. Science education majors provided needed assistance in troubleshooting difficulties with the new curriculum. They also provided needed content knowledge to support inquiry, along with creating moments and space for teachers to reflect on inquiry practice. Ongoing assistance by preservice teachers allowed inservice teachers to progress from logistical concerns in implementing kit curriculum to concerns regarding student learning and the supporting professional development.

Students' misconceptions about U.S. westward migration

Fifth-grade students with learning disabilities (LD) and their typically achieving (TA) peers participated in an 8-week investigation about 19th-century U.S. westward migration. During their investigations, the students analyzed primary and secondary sources to understand the experiences of these emigrants and Native peoples. The analysis of source material was preceded by teacher-led discussions about the possibility of bias in evidence that affects the trustworthiness of historical documentation. Quantitative analyses showed that these investigations were associated with gains in students' knowledge about the period of westward expansion and a better understanding of historical content and historical inquiry; however, these gains were not always comparable for students with LD and their TA peers. Furthermore, misconceptions about this historical period and the processes of historical investigation were evident in students' responses before and after instruction. We discuss how design features of the instruction and its implementation may have contributed to the development and persistence of these misconceptions.     

Impact of a statewide home visiting program to prevent child abuse

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of a voluntary, paraprofessional home visiting program in preventing child maltreatment and reducing the multiple, malleable psychosocial risks for maltreatment for which families had been targeted. METHODS: This collaborative, experimental study focused on 6 Healthy Families Alaska (HFAK) programs; 325 families were enrolled in 2000-2001, randomized to intervention and control groups, and interviewed to measure baseline attributes. Follow-up data were collected when children were 2 years old (85% follow-up rate). Outcomes included maltreatment reports, measures of potential maltreatment and parental risks, for example, poor mental health, substance use, and partner violence. HFAK records were reviewed to measure home visiting services. Home visitors were surveyed to measure perceived effectiveness and training adequacy. RESULTS: Parental risks were common at baseline, and one-sixth of families had a substantiated child protective services report in the child's first 2 years of life. There was no overall program effect on maltreatment reports, and most measures of potential maltreatment. Home visited mothers reported using mild forms of physical discipline less often than control mothers. The groups were similar in their use of more severe forms of physical discipline. There was no program impact on parental risks. There was no impact on outcomes for families with a 'high dose' of home visiting. Home visitors often failed to address parental risks and seldom linked families with community resources. Contradictions in the model compromised effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: The program did not prevent child maltreatment, nor reduce the parental risks that had made families eligible for service. Research is needed to develop and test strategies to improve the effectiveness of home visiting.     

Household Socioeconomic Status and Parental Investments: Direct and Indirect Relations With School Readiness in Ghana

This study examines how parent socioeconomic status (SES) directly and indirectly predicts children's school readiness through pathways of parental investment. Data come from direct assessments with preschool children and surveys with their primary caregivers in Ghana at the start of the 2015–2016 school year (N = 2,137; M_age = 5.2 years). Results revealed SES-related gaps in all parental investment characteristics and child school readiness skills. Preschool involvement served as the primary mediating mechanism in the path from SES to most school readiness skills, though it did not predict executive function. The number of books in the household was marginally positively predictive of early literacy, whereas at-home stimulation was negatively related to motor, literacy, and numeracy skills.