Auditory frequency discrimination in children with dyslexia

A popular hypothesis holds that developmental dyslexia is caused by phonological processing problems and is therefore linked to difficulties in the analysis of spoken as well as written language. It has been suggested that these phonological deficits might be attributable to low‐level problems in processing the temporal fine structure of auditory cues. Evidence for this has come from studies showing poor performance of dyslexic individuals on measures of auditory frequency discrimination (FD). We compared the FD thresholds of 28 children with dyslexia to 28 age‐matched controls aged 6–13, on a task that minimised demands on short‐term memory. To investigate the mechanisms involved in potential FD deficits, FD thresholds were measured at 1 kHz, where temporal cues were available, and at 6 kHz, where they were not. The dyslexic group had significantly higher FD thresholds than controls in both the 1‐ and 6‐kHz conditions. These findings confirm that children with dyslexia often have poor FD, even when, as in this sample, they have normal language comprehension and expressive vocabulary, and when they are tested using a paradigm that minimises memory demands. However, their perceptual deficit was evident for both the 1‐ and 6‐kHz tones, and so cannot readily be explained in terms of problems in processing temporal fine structure.     

Rethinking vocational education: a case study in care

The authors explain how development of employability and educational interest might be enhanced by a radically different division of labour between FECs (Further Education Colleges) and the institutions in which students live and work. They argue that, rather than looking for ways in which FECs could teach vocational knowledge in a more relevant way, the role of FECs might be to develop students’ educational interest through analytical reflection on their life and work. The authors tried out these ideas with 25 adult returners to formal education who hope to secure jobs as professional carers. The theoretical perspective known as situated learning is contrasted with one which implies that transfer of learning from classroom to workplaces is relatively unproblematic and that cognitive operations are relatively unaffected by culture.     

Effects of the correlation between a positive and negative US on conditioned suppression in rats

For three groups of rats, an auditory CS, presented while the animals were responding on a variable-interval schedule for food reinforcement, was terminated on half of the trials with a noncontingent footshock. For two groups, half of the trials were also followed after 5 sec by the delivery of free food. In the positively correlated condition (PC) the free food was presented on shocked trials and in the negatively correlated condition (NC) on the nonshocked trials, while the remaining group (S) never received free food. In a fourth group the shock was omitted and free food delivered on half of the trials. Although all shocked groups showed a significant suppression, the magnitude was greater for Group PC than for Groups NC and S, which did not differ. Suppression did not result from the pairing of the CS with food alone. These results do not support the counterconditioning hypothesis that the pairing of a normally noxious stimulus with food reduces its aversiveness.     

Critical thinking and the academic vocational divide

There is considerable interest in unifying post-compulsory education and training systems through the common teaching of core or key skills. Critical thinking appears to be a very attractive example of such a skill but this article argues against the idea that critical thinking is a core skill that should be widely taught to bridge what is termed ‘the academic vocational divide’. Some of the attractions of this idea are acknowledged but it is argued that the very meanings of critical, academic and vocational depend upon the context and purpose of thinking and it is misleading to suggest that thinking is any kind of a skill. On the basis of this argument and an empirical study it is concluded that when the idea informs curricular policy and practice, far from bridging an academic vocational divide, the idea will actually widen it. If this conclusion is correct for what appears to be a most plausible candidate for a core or key skill, then policies designed to bridge an academic vocational divide that are based on the core or key skills idea should be abandoned.