Triangulation; Strengthening Your Best Guess

Triangulation was originated by navigators who located or verified positions with multiple bearings or measurements, but it is developing into a holistic tool that can be used by training and development researchers. Triangulation in research involves using multiple measures or methods to examine a research question where a single data set would not be appropriate In real life, data may be restricted from competitors or internally withheld from general availability. Despite such restrictions, examination of a research question may be done by taking such data as may be available and comparing the results with data results obtained through other types or methods of measurement. The article presents a brief developmental history of triangulation as a research tool and the provides an explanation of the ways that triangulation can be used. Guidelines for implementation are given and the concept of convergence or data agreement is explained.     

Remembering: The role of extraneous reinforcement

In two experiments, pigeons' responding on an extraneous task was explicitly reinforced during delayed matching-to-sample trials. In Experiment 1, red or green sample stimuli were followed by retention intervals of 0.2, 1, 4, or 12 sec, during which pecks to a white center key were reinforced with 2.5-sec access to wheat according to extinction, variable-interval 30-sec, and variable-interval 15-sec schedules in different conditions. A proportion of .2, .5, .7, or .9 of subsequent red or green choice responses that matched the sample were reinforced with 3-sec access to wheat. The result was that increasing center key reinforcement, or reducing reinforcer probability, lowered overall accuracy. Initial discriminability fell, but with no change in the rate of forgetting. In Experiment 2, initial discriminability was affected by extraneous reinforcers that were contingent on center key pecking, but not by noncontingent reinforcers. A plausible conclusion is that initial discriminability decreases when reinforcers strengthen competing behaviors.     

我们的孩子需要体育课

出于增加学生的学习时间和节约开支的目的,许多学校都压缩了体育课。缺乏运动严重影响了孩子们的健康。教育专家呼吁人们注意这一现象。     

Standardization of Work: Co-constructed Practice

There is strong pressure to achieve greater uniformity, standardization and application of best practices in the service professions, a sector that is growing in presence and importance. At the same time, there is a conflicting demand for the delivery of high-quality (or high-priced or “knowledge-intensive”) specialized or localized services. Our article analyzes information systems-enabled standardizing of service work through an in-depth interpretative study of an ongoing standardization initiative within the field of nursing. Nursing provides a graphic illustration of the dilemmas involved in the standardization of service work. In nursing, standardization is commonly a feature of projects to improve both efficiency and quality in health care. In contrast to the dominant conception of standardization as a largely top-down, imposed process, we offer a view of standardization as incomplete, co-constructed with users, and with significant unintended consequences. The article contributes by (a) developing a theoretical perspective for the standardization of information-system-embedded service work and (2) providing operational and practical implications for system design and health care management.