Discrimination of the number of sequential events by rats

Ten rats were trained to press a right lever following two successive sounds and to press a left lever following four successive sounds. Three sound sequences were used in initial discrimination training, such that reliable classification could not be based on the duration of each sound, the interval between sounds, or the total duration of the sound sequence. Classification of seven novel sound sequences suggested that the animals were either using number or the sum of sound durations in a sequence as the relevant cue. When this total sound duration was put in conflict with number, rats classified by number. The conclusion was that rats can discriminate number, even when temporal cues are controlled.     

Building Context: Using Activity Theory to Teach About Genre in Multi-Major Professional Communication Courses

Instructors in multi-major professional communication courses are asked to teach students a variety of workplace genres. However, teaching genres apart from their contexts may not result in transfer of knowledge from school to workplace settings. We propose teaching students to research genre use via activity theory as a way of encouraging transfer. We outline theory and research relevant to teaching genre and provide results from a study using activity theory to teach genre in two different professional communication courses.     

Exploring youth engagement in agricultural development: the case of farmers’ children in the Philippines as rice crop manager infomediaries

Purpose: This paper explores the intersections between community development and youth development in an initiative that mobilized farmers’ children as Rice Crop Manager (RCM) infomediaries (information mediators). RCM is an ICT-enabled nutrient management application.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study engaged 30 farmers’ children in high school level from the provinces of Pangasinan, Isabela, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Bukidnon, and Davao del Norte from November 2016 to October 2017. They interacted with the research team (the authors) and the RCM-SMS platform that sends text messages regarding fertilizer recommendations. A staff member from the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) also called the students for some follow-up questions. The research team conducted three rounds of interviews with the students concerning the messages and calls that they received and what they did with the information.

Findings: This study finds that farmers’ children can perform infomediary roles quite effectively. Academically excellent children and those involved in farm work performed best.

Practical Implications: The study provides guidance on similar initiatives tapping young people in agricultural development.

Theoretical Implications: This paper finds that while Community Youth Development (CYD) Theory provides a powerful lens in understanding community and youth development intersections, some identified outcomes may overlap and may not be very easy to observe. Hence, the identified outcomes may be revisited for clarity and to make them more all-encompassing.

Originality/Value: The paper documents actual parent-child interaction when the latter is mobilized to serve as an infomediary to access nutrient management-related information on rice.     

Receptive Language of Gifted and Learning Disabled‐Gifted Children

Three tests of receptive language were administered to thirty children enrolled in regular, gifted, and learning disabled‐gifted programs. Analyses of variance indicated that the Token Test for Children differentiated the learning disabled‐gifted children and the Verbal Absurdities Subtest of the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude differentiated the gifted children from the other two groups.     

An introduction to education research methods: exploring the learning journey of pre-service teachers in a transnational programme

Internationally there is interest in developing the research skills of pre-service teachers as a means of ongoing professional renewal with a distinct need for systematic and longitudinal investigation of student learning. The current study takes a unique perspective by exploring the research learning journey of pre-service teachers participating in a transnational degree programme. Using a case-study design that includes both a self-reported and direct measure of research knowledge, the results indicate a progression in learning, as well as evidence that this research knowledge is continued or maintained when the pre-service teachers return to their home university. The findings of this study have implications for both pre-service teacher research training and transnational programmes.     

Serial pattern learning of temporal intervals

The problem was to determine how rats adjust the times of their lever responses to repeating sequences of interfood intervals. In Experiment 1, rats were trained on an interval schedule of reinforcement with a 12-element Fleshler-Hoffman series with a mean of 60 sec; the order was as follows: ascending, random with repetition, random with replacement, random without replacement. In Experiment 2, rats were trained with a 10-element ascending or descending series (from 2⁰ to 2⁹ sec), and in a ramp procedure in which these intervals increased and then decreased repeatedly. In the ascending, descending, and ramp conditions (but not in the random conditions), postreinforcement pause (PRP) was a function of the interval. PRP was most highly correlated with an interval later in the series. Theories of conditioning and timing based on the averaging of past experience must be modified to account for such anticipatory behavior.     

Behavior of Infants with Iron-Deficiency Anemia

This study tested the hypothesis that infants with iron-deficiency anemia show behaviors, such as increased proximity to caregivers, increased wariness or hesitance, and decreased activity, that could contribute to “functional isolation.” The behavior of 52 Costa Rican 12- to 23-month-old infants with iron-deficiency anemia was contrasted with that of 139 comparison group infants with better iron status during free play and mental and motor testing and in the home. Infants with iron-deficiency anemia maintained closer contact with caregivers; showed less pleasure and delight; were more wary, hesitant, and easily tired; made fewer attempts at test items; were less attentive to instructions and demonstrations; and were less playful. Adult behavior also differed. The results indicate that iron-deficiency anemia in infancy is associated with alterations in affect and activity, suggesting that functional isolation is a useful framework for understanding poorer developmental outcome in iron-deficiency anemia, the world's most common single nutrient deficiency.     

Three‐year results of the Friendly Schools whole‐of‐school intervention on children's bullying behaviour

A group randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of the Friendly Schools program to reduce student bullying behaviour. This socio‐ecological intervention targeted the whole school, classroom, family, and individual students to reduce bullying behaviour. Self‐report data were collected in 29 schools over three years from a cohort of 1968 eight to nine‐year‐olds. Surveys measured frequency of being bullied, bullying others, telling if bullied and observing bullying. Results indicate that intervention students were significantly less likely to observe bullying at 12, 24 and 36 months and be bullied after 12 and 36 months, and significantly more likely to tell if bullied after 12 months than comparison students. No differences were found for self‐reported perpetration of bullying. The findings suggest whole‐of‐school programs that engage students in their different social contexts appear to reduce their experiences of being bullied and increase their likelihood of telling someone if they are bullied.