Temporal primacy overrides prior training in serial compound conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response

Conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response was conducted with a serial compound CSA-CSB-US. In the present experiments, prior training of CSB was pitted against the temporal primacy of CSA. Prior training of CSB was able to only weakly block CR acquisition to the added CSA, but CSA caused a pronounced decline in responding to the pretrained CSB. By the end of training, high levels of responding were sustained only in the final portion of the serial compound in which CSA or its traces coincided with CSB. These results provide support for real-time models as exemplified by Sutton and Barto (1981).     

Objectivity of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (adhd) and their mothers when responding to a caricatured portrayal of adhd

In a recent theoretical model of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) it is proposed that a core deficit in response inhibition affects, among other things, an individual's objectivity in their reaction to events. In the context of this, the ability of boys diagnosed with ADHD objectively to differentiate their own behaviour from that of a caricatured portrayal of ADHD by Bart Simpson was examined. Four segments, each lasting 10–15 seconds, depicting ADHD related behaviours were isolated from a television episode of The Simpsons and shown in random order to 39 boys diagnosed with ADHD, their mothers, and two paediatricians. After watching each segment, the boys were asked to show how similar they believed their behaviours were to those exhibited by Bart Simpson by simultaneously placing two figures (one a replica of Bart and another representing themselves) on a chequer board. Mothers were subsequently administered the same procedure to indicate how they viewed their sons' behaviour in relation to Bart's. The distance measured between the two figures was representative of their levels of objectivity compared to a benchmark level set by the two paediatricians using the same chequer board procedure. While the results overall indicate that boys with ADHD and their mothers are able to make distinctions between caricatured and typical ADHD behaviours, the results are mediated by both ADHD subtype and the specific ADHD behaviour portrayed in the video segment.     

‘I am not the teacher!’: some effects of remodelling the roles of teaching assistants in English primary schools

Remodelling the roles, responsibilities and working practices of all school staff has been central to the government's modernisation agenda for English state schools. This is typified by a determination to review and change the distribution of tasks undertaken by teachers and teaching assistants (TAs). Whilst there has been a substantial increase in the numbers of TAs employed in schools there is still a lack of clarity about their roles and about the impact of remodelling on the working lives of both teachers and assistants. Evidence from the Transforming the School Workforce: Pathfinder Project, conducted immediately prior to the launch of the National Agreement in 2003, indicates that initial concerns about the ways in which TAs were being deployed are still very apparent. Here the authors focus on management and professional development issues arising from TAs adopting more pedagogical roles in schools.     

Manager Coaching Skills: What Makes a Good Coach?

The concept of “manager as coach” is increasingly popular in the management literature as a mechanism for improving employee involvement and performance. This paper summarizes a study we conducted to evaluate “coaching skills” among sales managers. The study used telephone interviews with managers' subordinates to collect data regarding managers' coaching effectiveness. During the interviews, subordinates rated their supervisors' coaching skills and provided a rationale for their rankings. This study analyzes the ratings and the comments, and outlines the behaviors associated with both high and low ratings of manager coaching skills.