Can't Ignore—Distraction by Task-Irrelevant Sounds in Early and Middle Childhood

Attention control abilities are relevant for learning success. Little is known about the development of audio-visual attention in early childhood. Four groups of children between the ages of 4 and 10 years and adults performed an audio-visual distraction paradigm (N = 106). Multilevel analyses revealed increased reaction times in a visual categorization task when task-irrelevant novel sounds were presented, demonstrating involuntary distraction of attention. This distraction effect decreased with age and significantly differed between age groups. In addition, the two youngest age groups responded with a delay in trials following a distractor trial, indicating delayed reallocation of attention to the task at hand. Results indicate a significant maturation of audio-visual attention control within a few years during early childhood that continues throughout middle childhood.     

Differential premises arising from differential socialization of the sexes: some conjectures

The sex-differentiated socialization emphases of parents and other representatives of societal institutions are considered as they influence the personality development and behavioral orientations of males and females. Specifically, sex-differentiated socialization emphases, "shaping" behaviors, and teaching styles are evaluated with regard to the nature of the "meta-messages" conveyed to boys and girls during their early, formative years. These messages are assumed to differentially influence the self-concepts evolved, ego structures, personal goals, and the cognitive-adaptational heuristics of boys and of girls. Differences in the socialization environments experienced by the 2 sexes can be seen as related to gender differences in personality characteristics. To integrate the empirical findings surrounding gender differences in personality and socialization experience, some conjectures are offered regarding the different self- and world views our current culture may be creating and fostering in males and in females. The potential and even likely influence of biological factors conjoined with the bidirectional effects of child and parent interaction are recognized as confounded with an interpretation in terms of differential socialization. But also, it is noted that until the effects of differential socialization are specifically evaluated by cultural, subcultural, or individual family changes, the role of biological and bidirectional factors cannot be assessed.     

Inclusive Practice in English Secondary Schools: Lessons learned

This paper considers how some secondary schools in England have been able to respond to the conflicting demands of school improvement policies, as measured by high academic standards and the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. It begins with a discussion of the context in which all English schools are currently operating and a summary of the extent to which research on school effectiveness and school improvement has influenced research on inclusion and vice versa. Key findings from our work in secondary schools committed to inclusion are presented and discussed in light of teacher, subject department and whole school responses to pupil diversity. The paper concludes with a conceptualisation of inclusive schools as those that meet the dual criteria of enrolling a diverse student population and improving academic standards for all.     

Inclusive pedagogy in action: getting it right for every child

A key assumption underpinning formative assessment strategies is that individual pupils must be fully involved in the process. While such engagement and attention on the individual is important, studies suggest that teachers do not always readily engage with formative assessment as a reciprocal process which involves pupils. Additionally, a focus on individual differences between pupils can be problematic if the work that is set for some is differentiated to such an extent that they are not able to participate in classroom activities with others. Inclusive pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning that attends to individual differences between pupils but avoids the marginalisation that can occur when pedagogical responses are designed only with individual needs in mind. Using participant observation and video footage from three classrooms that captured ‘learning moments’ identified by teachers and pupils, this study documents how the professional craft knowledge of teachers develops as they learn to use what their pupils have to say about learning in the context of whole class teaching. By concentrating on the findings from one site, this paper shows how teachers can use what they learn from listening to pupils’ self-assessments of their learning in ways that meet the standard of inclusive pedagogy.     

Education as habitus transformations

Unlike a conventional reading of Bourdieu, this article focuses on his work with regard to the transformation of social structure. In the context of a rereading, from an educational theory perspective, the article proposes an approach that allows for the linking of empirically informed social theory, on the one hand, and biography research oriented to educational theory, on the other. Education, here, is generally conceived of as habitus transformation. For reconstructing the societal conditions of the possibility of education one needs to go beyond the habitus theory and its focus on actors and groups of actors. From the perspective of a theory of practice as proposed by Bourdieu, the concept that comes to mind is that of social field, largely neglected in the theory-of-education discourse. Based on a combination of biography analysis and discourse analysis is, then, presented as a perspective for a relational theory of education. The article aims to outline an empirical reconstruction of transformation processes between habitus and field.     

History

EXHIBITING ELECTRICITY by K.G. Beauchamp (IEEE “History of Technology Series No. 21,”; IEEE Publishing and Information Services, 445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855–1331—$85.00, ISBN 0–85296–895–7, 338 pp., photos, diagrams, tables, references, index)

WCFL: CHICAGO'S VOICE OF LABOR 1926–78 by Nathan Godfried (Urbana: University of Illinois Press “History of Communication Series,”; 1997— $49.95/19.95, ISBN 0–252–02287–4 hard, 0–252–06592–1 paper, 390 pp., photos, notes, bibliography, index)

THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS: FRED COE AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION by Jon Krampner (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1997—$32.95, ISBN 0–8135–2359–1, 243 pp., photos, notes, bibliography, appendices, index)

SPECIAL EDITION: A GUIDE TO NETWORK TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY SERIES AND SPECIAL NEWS REPORTS, 1980–1989 by Daniel Einstein (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997‐$110.00, ISBN 0–8108–3220–8,928 pp., several indexes)

TECHNOLOGIES OF SEEING: PHOTOGRAPHY, CINEMATOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION by Brian Winston (London: British Film Institute/ Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996—$49.95/24.95, ISBN0–85170–601–0 hard, 0–85170–602–9 paper, 176 pp., diagrams, notes, index)

RADIO VOICES: AMERICAN BROADCASTING, 1922–1952 by Michelle Hilmes (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997‐$49.95/19.95, ISBN 0–8166–2620–0 hard, 0–8166–2621–9 paper, 353 pp., photos, notes, index)

WRITTEN OUT OF TELEVISION: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CAST CHANGES AND CHARACTER REPLACEMENTS, 1945–1994 by Steven Lance (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996—$89.50, ISBN 0–8108–2902–9, 528 pp., photos, index)

A REPORTER'S LIFE by Walter Cronkite (New York: Knopf, 1996— $26.95, ISBN 0–394–57879–1, 384 pp., photos)     

Automated processes in tennis: Do left-handed players benefit from the tactical preferences of their opponents?

Abstract

Previous research on laterality in sport suggests an over-representation of left-handers in interactive sports such as tennis and cricket. These findings potentially reflect left-handers' advantage over their right-handed competitors in those sports. Although considered crucial for successful performance, the tactical component of their superiority has yet to be analysed. Two studies were conducted to test for a side bias in tennis players' tactical preferences. In the first study, 108 right- and left-handed players of varying skill watched rallies on a computer screen and had to indicate where they would place the ball in the opposing half. The results showed the tactical preference of players to place more balls on a left-handed opponent's mostly stronger forehand side compared with when faced with a right-hander. In the second study, 54 professional tennis matches involving right- and left-handers were analysed with respect to ball placement frequencies on the opponent's backhand side. Significantly fewer balls were hit to the backhand side of a left-handed opponent, thus replicating the findings of Study 1 in on-court situations. Both studies indicate players' preference to place shots to their right irrespective of their opponent's handedness. Findings support the assumption that left-handers might enjoy a strategic advantage in tennis.     

Changing attitudes towards children with special needs

Inclusive education takes many forms, raising important questions about what constitutes good practice, what counts as evidence of such practice and how it can be known. This paper responds to Göransson and Nilholm’s critical review of research on inclusive education by considering why a clear working definition of inclusion has thus far proved elusive. It agrees that new types of studies and more theoretically informed work is needed if knowledge about inclusive education is to advance. A framework designed to capture evidence of inclusive education in action is presented as an example of a tool that is both theoretically informed and can be used to transcend contextual differences to obtain a deeper understanding of the ways in which teachers enact inclusive pedagogical practices.