Generalization gradients following training on a symbolic matching-to-sample task

The major finding in the present experiment was that line orientation controlled pigeons’ responding after training on a one-key symbolic matching-to-sample task. When the vertical line appeared as the sample, testing along the line dimension produced incremental and decremental generalization gradients, depending on the color of the comparison. Conversely, when the vertical line served as the comparison, incremental and decremental gradients also emerged, but here the type of gradient depended on the color of the sample. Thus, both the color of the sample (comparison) and line orientation exerted control of behavior.     

Apprehension or motivation to defend attitudes? Exploring the underlying threat mechanism in inoculation-induced resistance to persuasion

This study questions the traditional conceptualization of the threat component of inoculation and compares it to an alternative operationalization that was hypothesized to better capture the psychological function of threat according to inoculation theory, focusing less on an apprehensive response in favor of how inoculation treatments cognitively function to motivate resistance. Two measures of threat were contrasted by examining resistance to 9/11 Truth conspiracy propaganda. The results revealed motivational threat was conceptually distinct from the traditional threat measure, better predicted by inoculation treatments, less related to fear, more predictive of resistance to attitude change, and more supportive of inoculation theory when mediating the relationship between inoculation and resistance.     

Virtual Reality Simulations and Writing: a Neuroimaging Study in Science Education

Journal of Science Education and Technology - This study investigates the role that textbooks, virtual reality (VR), and mixed approaches (i.e., text and VR) can play in the development of the two...     

“Still Finding the Ground:” A Self-Study of a First-Year Physical Education Teacher Educator

While decades of research have documented the socialization of inservice physical education teachers, the socialization of physical education faculty members has only recently become a research focus. Self-study of teacher education practices is becoming increasingly popular when exploring the lived experiences of physical education faculty. We used self-study of teacher education practices to understand the experiences of Kevin, a beginning physical education teacher educator in a visiting assistant professor position at Northern Illinois University. Kevin’s experiences differ from those of many other teacher educators as he had not taught in school settings before moving into higher education. He did, however, have a strong background in higher education pedagogy through work in a center for teaching and learning. Data were collected through journaling, documents and artifacts, and exit slips, feedback forms, and focus group interviews completed by Kevin’s students. Qualitative data analyses resulted in the construction of three first-order themes: (1) developing appropriate pedagogy, (2) developing and maintaining relationships with students, and (3) managing an identity as a teacher educator. Kevin’s journey was non-linear and marked by both successes and challenges, but at the end of the year he felt that he had grown as a teacher educator. Further, while Kevin’s youth and lack of teaching experience influenced his teacher education practice, it was not always negative and he found ways to compensate for what he lacked in direct teaching experience. Results are discussed with reference to Kevin’s socialization and future directions for research are provided.     

Extended visual fixation in the early preschool years: look duration, heart rate changes, and attentional inertia

Visual fixation in infants from 6 months to 2 years of age was examined for its fit to the theory of "attentional inertia." A children's movie ("Sesame Street" movie, "Follow that Bird") or an extended audiovisual stimulus (computer-generated patterns) was presented to 40 children for a minimum of 20 min while fixation was videotaped and heart rate (HR) was recorded. Consistent with attentional inertia theory, fixations toward the stimuli had a lognormal distribution, HR decreased over the course of a look, and HR returned to prestimulus levels immediately before look offset. Older children (18 months, 24 months) showed a distinction in the parameters describing the lognormal distribution for the "Sesame Street" movie and the audiovisual patterns, whereas younger children (6 months, 12 months) responded similarly to the two stimulus types. Fixation patterns of children in this age range suggest attention increases over the course of a look, and parameters consistent with attentional inertia theory differentially develop in this age range.     

School desegregation and white flight: an investigation of competing models and their discrepant findings

The authors test three alternative models that have been developed to explore the relationship between the desegregation of inner city schools and white flight to the suburbs. The results of these models are discussed using recent, more extensive data. Comparisons of white student loss are made between central city districts that did and did not desegregate. The most appropriate models for analysis of white flight are identified, and their ability to forecast future trends is considered     

Fathers’ and mothers’ performances in father-mother-baby games

Until now studies comparing fathers and mothers have mostly been realized in dyadic situations, father-infant versus mother-infant. The aim of the present paper was to bring to the core similarities and differences, between fathers and mothers, in terms of performance (N=42 families) in a triadic context. Father, mother and baby, seated in a triangular formation were invited to play as usual: first, one parent played with the infant and the other was participant-observer, and then they reversed their roles. Globally, no differences were observed between fathers and mothers in terms of being available, keeping their assigned roles, sharing a common focus of interest and co-creating games with their three month old infant. However a difference emerged when the order in which parents began as active parent versus third party parent was taken into account. Mothers who played first were better active partners than fathers, for keeping roles, sharing focus and co-creating games; and fathers who were first third party parent were better than third party mothers for sharing a common focus.     

Transition Between Swedish Preschool and Preschool Class: A Question About Interweaving Care and Knowledge

This study highlights teachers’ experiences with transition from Swedish preschool to preschool class, i.e. from the daycare centre to the formal school. One assumption was that transition activities, to favour continuity in the long-term, need to focus on children’s learning within the target areas that the policy documents specify for preschool. Empirical data were collected through a combination of a questionnaire and interviews. The study shows that transition activities occur between institutions. These are in place to allow for a safe transition for children rather than to allow for continuous and long-term learning in the target areas in the curriculum. Care for children and beliefs about the types of school activities have an impact on the activities and standpoints in the transition processes. Professional assessment of children’s learning and the need for greater consensus within various types of schools in terms of the learning of the individual child in different fields are discussed.     

To click or not to click: investigating conflict detection and sourcing in a multiple document hypertext environment

This study investigated whether accessing conflicting claims in other documents by means of hyperlinks embedded within currently read documents may facilitate conflict detection and source-content integration. Norwegian undergraduates (n?=?85) read multiple conflicting documents on a controversial health-related issue, with half of the conflicting claims across documents hyperlinked and the other half not. Moreover, half of the participants were told that they would get more information by clicking on the links (weak prompting condition) while the other half were additionally told that clicking on the links was necessary to get a more complete understanding of the issue (strong prompting condition). Results indicated that the extent to which participants accessed conflicting claims in other documents via the hyperlinks was positively related to their detection of cross-document conflicts as well as their integration of source-content information. A mediational analysis indicated that conflict detection mediated the effect of accessing conflicting claims via the hyperlinks on source-content integration. No relationship was found between the prompting condition and participants’ selection of the hyperlinks. The theoretical significance as well as the practical value of our findings are discussed.