The influence of partner cues on the extinction of causal judgments in people

Studies in laboratory animals have shown that the extinction of a conditioned stimulus, A, is regulated by the associative history of a second stimulus, X, when the two are extinguished in simultaneous compound: An inhibitory X protects A from extinction (Rescorla Learning & Behavior, 31, 124–132, 2003), whereas an excitatory X facilitates, and under some circumstances deepens, the extinction of A (Rescorla Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 26, 251–260, 2000, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 32, 135–144, 2006). In the present study, we used the allergist task to examine whether the extinction of causal judgments in people is similarly regulated by the causal status of co-present stimuli. Experiment 1 showed that a cue trained as a conditioned inhibitor protected a target cue from extinction: The target extinguished in compound with the inhibitor was rated as being more causal of the outcome than was a target extinguished in compound with a control cue lacking inhibitory properties. In contrast, the remaining experiments showed that the extinction of a target cue was regulated by the presence, but not the causal status, of a partner cue: Target cues extinguished in compound were protected from extinction, and no evidence showed that an already extinguished partner conferred more protection (Exp. 2), or that an excitatory partner conferred any less protection (Exps. 2 and 3), or that an excitatory partner deepened the extinction of its already extinguished target. These findings are inconsistent with elemental models that rely on a common error term to explain associative changes in extinction. They are largely, but not completely, consistent with the configural model proposed by Pearce (Psychological Review, 94, 61–73, 1987), which predicts an ordering of levels of protection that was not observed.     

The relationship between behavioural integrity,competence, goodwill,trustworthiness, and motivating language of a principal

Utilising the oral language of a principal leading an inner-city at-risk elementary school in a large urban school district in the southwestern USA, the researchers tested behavioural integrity and the dimensions of source credibility (competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness) as antecedents to Motivating Language Theory and the ML Model. Teacher perception data at the Title I elementary school was used for this quantitative study. Over 95% of the teachers responded to a survey each year for a three-year period. Each year, there were statistically significant correlations between each of the antecedents and motivating language. The antecedents accounted for 66–75% of the total variance for motivating language depending on the year based on regression analysis. The results of this study extend the field of Motivating Language Theory and the ML Model, and further explain how the work of principals is accomplished.     

Hierarchical Mentoring: A Transformative Strategy for Improving Diversity and Retention in Undergraduate STEM Disciplines

In the United States, less than half of the students who enter into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate curricula as freshmen will actually graduate with a STEM degree. There is even greater disparity in the national STEM graduation rates of students from underrepresented groups with approximately three-fourths of minority students leaving STEM disciplines at the undergraduate level. A host of programs have been designed and implemented to model best practices in retaining students in STEM disciplines. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Professors Program at Louisiana State University, under leadership of HHMI Professor Isiah M. Warner, represents one of these programs and reports on a mentoring model that addresses the key factors that impact STEM student attrition at the undergraduate level. By integrating mentoring and strategic academic interventions into a structured research program, an innovative model has been developed to guide STEM undergraduate majors in adopting the metacognitive strategies that allow them to excel in their programs of study, as they learn to appreciate and understand science more completely. Comparisons of the persistence of participants and nonparticipants in STEM curricular, at the host university and with other national universities and colleges, show the impact of the model’s salient features on improving STEM retention through graduation for all students, particularly those from underrepresented groups.     

JOINT CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE WOODCOCK‐JOHNSON TESTS OF COGNITIVE ABILITIES,THIRD EDITION,AND THE STANFORD‐BINET INTELLIGENCE SCALES,FIFTH EDITION,WITH A PRESCHOOL POPULATION

This study examined the underlying constructs measured by the Woodcock‐Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, Third Edition (WJ‐III COG) and the Stanford‐Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5), based on the Cattell‐Horn‐Carrol (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities. This study reports the results of the first joint confirmatory factor analysis of the WJ‐III COG and SB5 with an independently collected preschool‐aged sample. The WJ‐III COG and SB5 were administered to 200 preschool‐aged children of 4 to 5 with no known disorders or disabilities. Confirmatory factor analyses using maximum likelihood estimation were conducted to evaluate three models of increasing complexity and two alternative models to determine which model best describe the underlying constructs measured by the WJ‐III COG and the SB5. Though none of the models displayed a good fit to the data, results showed that the underlying construct of the two tests was best represented by a Three‐Stratum alternative CHC model in which the Gf factor and subtests were omitted. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to provide further insights into the actual latent structure underlying the data. Implications of findings to guide school‐based practitioners in using cross‐battery assessment with preschool children were addressed.