The determinants of random choice

The purpose of the present experiment was to describe a pattern of reinforcement sufficient to produce an unpredictable pattern of choice response by rats. On each trial two levers were inserted into an experimental chamber. If the reinforcement was always contingent upon single alternation (a simple pattern), Ss learned to alternate at significantly better than chance level; if reinforcement was contingent upon alternation on 50% of the trials (an insoluble pattern), Ss developed a position preference. To produce apparently random responding, the less preferred response (an alternation) was differentially reinforced on 75% of the trials. A simple stochastic model adequately described the results.     

A New Framework For Quality

Quality emerges as an important theme in the British Government White Paper,'Higher Education: A New Framework' published in May 1991. Quality in both research and teaching receive attention. This article looks particularly at the latter, the differing approaches on each side of the binary line, the likely remit of the emerging audit unit, the difficulties of quality assessment in a single higher education system and the criteria for determining how far degree awarding powers should be bestowed on smaller institutions.     

Teacher Professional Development in the Area of 'School-Reporting-to-Parents'

In recent years there has been increasing interest internationally in the monitoring and reporting of student achievements in school. Australia is no exception regarding this interest. Here some of the developments regarding reporting to parents have also raised a variety of questions for research. The following paper is one attempt to meet the challenge presented. It is concerned with developing an understanding of the impact of school reporting in one Australian state, Western Australia (WA), with the aim of developing a set of propositions for discussion in teacher professional development programmes. While cognisance was taken of the associated research literature in the development of these propositions, they emerged mainly from a project which used a case study approach to develop an understanding of the variety of perspectives which the various stakeholders in WA government schools have on school reports and school reporting--past, present and future.     

A Developmental Eye Tracking Investigation of Cued Task Switching Performance

Children perform worse than adults on tests of cognitive flexibility, which is a component of executive function. To assess what aspects of a cognitive flexibility task (cued switching) children have difficulty with, investigators tested where eye gaze diverged over age. Eye-tracking was used as a proxy for attention during the preparatory period of each trial in 48 children ages 8–16 years and 51 adults ages 18–27 years. Children fixated more often and longer on the cued rule, and made more saccades between rule and response options. Behavioral performance correlated with gaze location and saccades. Mid-adolescents were similar to adults, supporting the slow maturation of cognitive flexibility. Lower preparatory control and associated lower cognitive flexibility task performance in development may particularly relate to rule processing.     

Data archiving for animal cognition research: Report of an NIMH workshop

In July 2001, the National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a workshop titled “Data Archiving for Animal Cognition Research.” Participants included scientists as well as experts in archiving, publishing, policy, and law. As is described in this report, the workshop resulted in a set of conclusions and recommendations concerning (A) the impact of data archiving on research, (B) how to incorporate data archiving into research practice, (C) contents of data archives, (D) technical and archival standards, and (E) organizational, financing, and policy issues. The animal cognition research community is encouraged to begin now to establish archives, deposit data and related materials, and make use of archived materials in new scientific projects.     

Scaffolding students: suggestions on how to equip students with the necessary study skills for studying in a blended learning environment

In this paper we consider the implications of moving from a paper‐based delivery of study support materials to electronic delivery. The paper is based on telephone interviews with 60 students who had received a range of study support materials from a series of ‘student toolkits’, which are printed resource booklets for students of the UK Open University. McLoughlin (2002) sees the integration of electronic delivery at the primary, secondary and tertiary education levels as requiring an extension to current concepts of scaffolding. The extension we propose in this paper is the need to establish study skills plus the ways and means to seek support in a resource‐based environment. However, there is a delicate balance between increased provision and overloaded provision in resource‐based learning.     

Reevaluating canine perspective-taking behavior

Udell, Dorey, and Wynne (2011) demonstrated that both domesticated and nondomesticated canids—specifically, gray wolves—have the capacity to succeed on perspective-taking tasks, suggesting that dogs’ ability to respond to the human attentional state is not a by-product of domestication alone. Furthermore, not all dogs were successful on the task. Instead, the occluder type used was a strong predictor of performance, indicating the important role of environment and experience for tasks of this type. Here, we address several commentaries reflecting on the methods and design of that study, as well as the interpretation of the results. We also discuss the positive shift toward more interactive approaches in the field of canine behavior and cognition. Finally, we question the functionality of describing canine social behavior in terms of theory of mind.