Temporal perceptions and university faculty

This study is a preliminary investigation of the temporal perceptions of 100 male university faculty members grouped by professorial rank and by the three general academic areas of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. The general hypothesis states that the temporal perceptions of these respondents relate to academic area and not to professorial rank. From the respondents' answers to an open-ended question during a taped interview session, three perceptual categories were derived and labeled ambiguous, analytical, and synoptic. Chi-square analysis confirmed the general hypothesis. This confirmation is congruent with previous research findings that academic area is a significant distinguishing variable to apply to the professoriate. Natural science respondents perceived time analytically, as increments for measurement, whereas respondents in social sciences and humanities tended to perceive time ambiguously, as having more than one meaning. Implications of this small-sample investigation at a comprehensive, state-supported university are important not for the answers provided but rather for the questions generated. These questions delineate areas for further research.     

On the generality of conditioned bradycardia in rabbits: Assessment of CS and US modality

To determine whether the magnitude of heart rate (HR) slowing induced by classical conditioning contingencies is comparable under a broad range of stimulus conditions, experiments were conducted in which rabbits were exposed to tones, increases in illumination, or vibratory stimuli as conditioned stimuli (CSs) and in which paraorbital electric shocks, corneal airpuffs, or intraoral pulses of water served as unconditioned stimuli (USs). The results indicated that conditioned bradycardia was elicited by all three CSs. Moreover, when a corneal airpuff served as the US, small but reliable CS-evoked HR decelerations also occurred. Finally, CS-evoked HR slowing also occurred in response to a tone CS employed in an appetitive task, in which water was the US. These findings suggest that HR slowing is a general phenomenon that occurs when rabbits are exposed to signals that systematically predict aversive or appetitive consequences according to a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm.     

Discontinuities in schooling and educational attainment

Duncan et al. (1972, p. 224) insightfully pointed out that the timing of events in the process of socioeconomic achievement can be as important as the events themselves. While we know that substantial numbers of people delay their entry into college, and interrupt their college education once begun, no comprehensive national study has established the causes and consequences of these discontinuities in schooling.Using a structural equation model of educational attainment patterned after Featherman and Carter (1976), this article investigates educational discontinuities among American whites and blacks, males and females, using data from a nationwide, longitudinal study of the U.S. high school graduating class of 1972.     

Innovative learning environments and new materialism: A conjunctural analysis of pedagogic spaces

Abstract

An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development research priority, innovative learning environments (ILEs) have been translated into policy and practice in 25 countries around the world. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, learning spaces are being reconceptualised in relation to this policy work by school leaders who are confronted by an impetus to lead pedagogic change. The article contributes a conjunctural analysis of the milieu around the redesign of these education facilities. Recognising that bodies and objects entwine in pedagogic spaces, we contribute a new materialism reading of ILEs as these are instantiated in New Zealand. New materialism recognises the agential nature of matter and questions the anthropocentric narrative that frames the post-enlightenment conception of what it means to be human. The decentring of human subjects through a materialist ontology facilitates a consideration of the power of objects to affect the spatial politics of learning environments. The article traces a relationship between the New Zealand strategic plan for Education 2015–2021 and principal conceptions of ILE as the lived spaces of this policy actualisation and the disciplinary/control society conjuncture. Informed by theories of spatial practice, we argue that principals’ understandings of ‘space’ are integral to pedagogic approaches within open-plan spaces. A conjunctural analysis can expand the capacity to act politically. By examining the complex conditions of a political intervention, in this case ILEs, we trace the displacements and condensations of different sorts of contradictions, and thus open up possibilities for action.     

The influence of instruction modality on brain activation in teenagers with nonverbal learning disabilities: two case histories

Teenagers with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) have difficulty with fine-motor coordination, which may relate to the novelty of the task or the lack of "self-talk" to mediate action. In this study, we required two teenagers with NLD and two control group teenagers to touch the thumb of each hand firmly and accurately to the fingertips of the same hand, in an order specified by verbal or tactile instruction. Brain activity patterns (measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging) suggest that unlike control participants, the NLD participants used internalized speech to facilitate the novel task only when instructions were verbal. NLD participants also showed activity in a more widely distributed network of neural structures. These findings provide preliminary evidence for remediation strategies that encourage internal speech.     

Sexually dimorphic extinction of a conditioned taste aversion in rats

The existence of a sexual dimorphism in the extinction of conditioned taste aversions in both fluid-deprived and nondeprived rats was investigated. When nondeprived rats were poisoned with LiCl after consuming a sucrose solution, males extinguished the subsequent conditioned taste aversion more slowly than females. There was no difference in the rate of extinction of a LiCl-induced conditioned taste aversion in fluid-deprived rats. Using marihuana extract distillate as the toxin, it was shown that the dimorphism found in the nondeprived rats is not a toxin-specific effect, and does not appear to be due to the males being made more ill. Possible explanations for the appearance of the dimorphism and its relation to the deprivational state of the organism are discussed.     

Teaching Writing at University: An Experimental Programme

Like death and taxes, the quality of students' writing frequently provokes complaint, less frequently efforts to redress the grievance. In English Departments in particular, the view that staff have better things to do than teach writing is widespread (especially in Australian universities), understandable (if it means remedying an inadequacy that should have been addressed elsewhere), and perhaps justified (at least to the extent that most English Departments are already hard‐pressed teaching literature courses). It is also a view that is increasingly under attack: if our aim is to promote literacy, the ability to write well is as important as the ability to read well.

This paper looks at one attempt to provide a writing programme that does more than offer remedial assistance; it examines the reasons for doing more, the problems in doing it, and the benefits gained from a second‐year credit course in expository writing.     

The Identification and Assessment of Young Children with Movement Difficulties Identification et e´valuation des jeunes souffrant de difficulte´s d'ordre moteur La Identificación y Evaluación de Niños de Preescolar con Problemas de Movimento

The period from two to seven years is generally recognised as a time of acquisition of a large repertoire of fundamental movement skills. However, some children arrive at school lacking in the movement skills necessary to cope with the demands of the school environment. For some, this could be a direct result of lack of experience, while for others it could be a far more complex problem with potential long-term consequences. As a first step to intervene with children showing movement skill problems, accurate assessment is crucial. The current study aims to produce a checklist which accurately identifies and assesses children with movement difficulties in a valid and reliable manner, such that appropriate intervention strategies can be applied. The collection of data involved checklists being completed by teachers for 420 three- to five-year-old children. Analysis showed that the checklist identifies movement difficulties in this age group and significant differences were found between children who display movement difficulties and those who do not. Interrater reliability and test-retest reliability were very strong, and both were found to be highly significant. A validity study focusing on the predictive validity confirmed the usefulness of the checklist. En générale on considère l'âge de 2 à 7 ans comme le période quand l'enfant acquérit un grand repertoire des capacités fondamentales du mouvement. Néanmoins, il y en a qui arrive au collège manquant des capacités fondamentales nécessaires pour faire face aux exigences de l'ambience scolaire. Pour quelques enfants cela pourrait être le résultat direct de la faute d'expérience, pendant que pour des autres il pourrait provenir d'un problème beaucoup plus difficile avec des conséquences à la longue. Comme première mesure d'intervention dans les cas des enfants qui démontrent des problèmes dans la capacité du mouvement il est nécessaire d'arriver àune évaluation réussie. L'objectif de cette etude est la réalisation d'une liste de contrôle qui identifiera et qui évaluaera d'une fac¸on valable et sûre les enfants avec les difficultés du mouvement, pour que les stratégies d'intervention les plus appropriées soient appliquées. La compilation des données provient des listes de contrôle remplies par des professeurs pour 420 enfants entre les âges de 3 et 5 ans. L'analyse a vérifié que la liste de contrôle peût identifier les difficultés dans la capacité du mouvement dans le cas des enfants dans cette tranche d'âge, et on a constaté aussi des différences significatives entre les enfants qui montrent des difficulties dans le mouvement et ceux qui ne les montrent pas. Les accords inter-observateur et la fidélité épreuve test-retest étaient très forts et les deux étaient très importants. Une étude de fidelité qui a considéré la validité de prédiction a vérifié l'utilité de la liste de contrôle. Generalmente se consideran las edades de 2 a 7 años como el período cuando el niño adquiere un gran repertorio de habilidades fundamentales de movimiento. Sin embargo, algunos niños llegan al colegio careciendo de las habilidades de movimiento necesarias para enfrentarse a las demandas del ambiente escolar. Para algunos esto podría ser el resultado directo de la falta de experiencia, mientras para otros podría radicar en un problema mucho más complejo con posibles consecuencias a largo plazo. Como primer paso de intervención en el caso de niños que demuestran problemas con la habilidad de movimiento, es preciso realizar una evaluación acertada. El objetivo del estudio actual es la producción de una lista de control que identificará y evaluará de una manera válida y fidedigna a los niños con dificultades de movimiento, con el fin de aplicar las estrategias de intervención más apropiadas. La recopilación de datos se fundamentó en las listas de control completadas por profesores para 420 ninós entre las edades de 3 y 5 años. El analisis comprobó que la lista de control identifica las dificultades de habilidad de movimiento en este grupo etario, y también fueron encontradas marcadas diferencias entre los niños que sí demuestran estas dificultades y los que no lo hacen. La fiabilidad inter-observador y la fiabilidad test-retest fueron muy sólidas y los dos resulatron ser muy significativos. Un estudio de validez enfocándose en la validez pronosticadora confirmó la utilidad de esta lista de control.