Late Emergence of the First Possession Heuristic: Evidence From a Small‐Scale Culture

Western preschool children often assign ownership based on first possession and some theorists have proposed that this judgment might be an early emerging, innate bias. Five‐ to 9‐year‐olds (n = 112) from a small‐scale group in Kenya (Kikuyu) watched videotaped interactions of two women passing an object. The object's starting position and the women's gestures were varied. Use of the first possession heuristic increased with age, and 8‐ to 9‐year‐olds performed similarly to German 5‐year‐olds (n = 24). Starting position and gestures had no effect. A control study confirmed that 5‐year‐old Kikuyus (n = 20) understood the video material. The findings reveal that the first possession heuristic follows different developmental trajectories cross‐culturally and stress the role of children's sociocultural environment.     

The missing base molecules in atmospheric acid–base nucleation

Transformation of low-volatility gaseous precursors to new particles affects aerosol number concentration, cloud formation and hence the climate. The clustering of acid and base molecules is a major mechanism driving fast nucleation and initial growth of new particles in the atmosphere. However, the acid–base cluster composition, measured using state-of-the-art mass spectrometers, cannot explain the measured high formation rate of new particles. Here we present strong evidence for the existence of base molecules such as amines in the smallest atmospheric sulfuric acid clusters prior to their detection by mass spectrometers. We demonstrate that forming (H₂SO₄)₁(amine)₁ is the rate-limiting step in atmospheric H₂SO₄-amine nucleation and the uptake of (H₂SO₄)₁(amine)₁ is a major pathway for the initial growth of H₂SO₄ clusters. The proposed mechanism is very consistent with measured new particle formation in urban Beijing, in which dimethylamine is the key base for H₂SO₄ nucleation while other bases such as ammonia may contribute to the growth of larger clusters. Our findings further underline the fact that strong amines, even at low concentrations and when undetected in the smallest clusters, can be crucial to particle formation in the planetary boundary layer.     

Interval timing under a behavioral microscope: Dissociating motivational and timing processes in fixed-interval performance

The distribution of latencies and interresponse times (IRTs) of rats was compared between two fixed-interval (FI) schedules of food reinforcement (FI 30 s and FI 90 s), and between two levels of food deprivation. Computational modeling revealed that latencies and IRTs were well described by mixture probability distributions embodying two-state Markov chains. Analysis of these models revealed that only a subset of latencies is sensitive to the periodicity of reinforcement, and prefeeding only reduces the size of this subset. The distribution of IRTs suggests that behavior in FI schedules is organized in bouts that lengthen and ramp up in frequency with proximity to reinforcement. Prefeeding slowed down the lengthening of bouts and increased the time between bouts. When concatenated, latency and IRT models adequately reproduced sigmoidal FI response functions. These findings suggest that behavior in FI schedules fluctuates in and out of schedule control; an account of such fluctuation suggests that timing and motivation are dissociable components of FI performance. These mixture-distribution models also provide novel insights on the motivational, associative, and timing processes expressed in FI performance. These processes may be obscured, however, when performance in timing tasks is analyzed in terms of mean response rates.     

The ‘Nature of Science’ and the Perils of Epistemic Relativism

Research in Science Education - There is an increasing demand in the field of science education for the incorporation of philosophical and sociological aspects that are related to the scientific...     

Reading Aloud Narrative Material as a Means for the Student's Cognitive Empowerment

Listening to stories and brain processing of narrative material activates many areas devoted not only to the linguistic processing. In this sense, it could be hypothesized that if this activity would be integrated within the school curricula, it could bring benefits in terms of understanding the text as well as in basic essential cognitive dimensions. In a series of studies with different age groups, we investigated the effects of an intensive training in narrative listening, through different tools such as the standardized tests of understanding of the text. We also used a neuropsychological battery investigating basic cognitive processes (cognitive assessment system) that are directly related to the ability of text comprehension. Results show a significant improvement in all tests for all age groups in the experimental groups, in comparison with the control groups.     

Social constructs regarding the physical and sexual energy of whites,indigenous South Americans and blacks in Spanish and Colombian primary school reading books between 1900 and 1960*

This article analyses the manner in which the physical and sexual energy of the white, native South American and black populations was represented in reading books for elementary school children in Spain and Colombia between 1900 and 1960. Ninety reading books from representative authors were examined. It was found that the ideal of extraordinary physical vigour attributed to the white male was decisive in justifying Spanish imperialism, the superiority of the male in the patriarchal family and the intervention of authorities in administering people’s bodies. In the case of Spanish texts, the might attributed to the white race was shown as having a motive of pride, whereas in the Colombian case, the mixture with Native Americans and blacks tended to be used as an explanation for the ‘weakness’ of Colombians. Evidence is also found of the way in which education was implicitly conceived as a process of cultural ‘whitening’.     

Connecting Soccer to Middle School Science: Latino Students’ Passion in Learning

Building on a pedagogical model designed to support the teaching and learning of the language of science investigation practices with middle school emergent bilingual learners, we developed a series of soccer and science investigations to promote interest and engagement in science learning. We used assemblage theory to study how students engaged in and acted within this bilingual curriculum situated in an afterschool soccer practice context. We found that soccer, a passion for several Latino students, can be used as a cultural tool for science teachers to support the emerging bilingual students’ learning process. Implications for educators and researchers considering ways of integrating diverse students’ cultural practices and passions with culturally sustaining pedagogies for science teaching and learning are discussed.     

Synchronous and asynchronous interactions of bilingual Hispanic pre‐ and in‐service teachers in distance learning

Abstract

This study investigated differences in online written interactions of bilingual Hispanic pre‐ and in‐service teachers across two types of online discussion groups: synchronous and asynchronous. Participants were exposed to a shortened version of a wholly online special education course and participated in instructional activities as well as synchronous and asynchronous discussion groups over a six‐week period. The research used both an alternating treatment design to gather quantitative data, and interviews and questionnaires for qualitative data. The results support the contention that synchronous discussion group interactions are an important feature of successful online courses with Hispanic students.     

Verification of the stomatal conductance of Nebbiolo grapevine

Wine is one of the most important Italian export products, and Nebbiolo is one of the most respected Italian grapes. In the summer of 2007, a measurement campaign was carried out in a Nebbiolo vineyard located in Vezza d＇Alba, near Cuneo, Italy. Using a gauge of trade gases and some other instruments, we recorded the stomatal conductance and also some physiological parameters useful for estimating the dependence of stomatal conductance on environmental variables. The goal of this experiment was improving the parameterization of grapevine evapotranspiration through the assessment of the stomatal conductance and, in particular, of the functional dependence of the stomatal conductance on the following variables： the photosynthetically active radiation, the atmospheric temperature, the atmospheric moisture deficit, and the carbon dioxide concentration. The observations allowed us to check and, in some cases, to adapt the existing general parameterizations found in literature. The results showed some significant differences with the existing parameterizations concerning the atmospheric temperature, the atmospheric moisture deficit, and the carbon dioxide concentration. The parameterizations obtained in this experiment, although referring to a specific plant and site （namely the Nebbiolo at Vezza d＇Alba）, could allow assessment of the best environmental conditions under which the Nebbiolo grapevine production is the best, and in future could be tested for other grapevines or climates.