数独世界冠军专栏

正三届数独世界冠军托马斯·辛德(Thomas Snyder)为《大学生》读者们专门设计数独题。辛德曾三次获得数独世界冠军,五次夺得美国数独冠军,他的专业是化学,本科毕业于加州理工学院,在哈佛大学取得博士学位,现是斯坦福大学生物工程学助理研究员。辛德爱好数独,用艺术手法设计数独题。请看题:游戏规则:在9X9的方阵中,每一行与每一列都有1到9的数字,每个3X3的小方阵也有1到9的数字,并且一个数字在每行、每列及小方阵中只能出现一次,既不能重复也不能缺少。     

Educational electronic book activity supports language retention among children at risk for learning disabilities

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of an activity with an educational electronic book (e-book) on language retention among children at risk for learning disabilities (LD) (seven weeks after the intervention). Two modes of the educational e-book were investigated: with and without metacognitive guidance. Seventy seven kindergarteners aged 4.5–7 were randomly divided into three groups: (1) reading an e-book which included metacognitive guidance (EBM); (2) reading an e-book which did not include metacognitive guidance (EB); (3) receiving the regular kindergarten program (control). The children’s vocabulary was assessed before the intervention, immediately after the intervention (post 1) and seven weeks later (post 2). Story comprehension was assessed only following the intervention (post 1 and 2). The findings showed a long-term effect of the activity with the e-book on vocabulary. However, for story comprehension, a decrease in recall of words and quotes and an increase in the recall of main ideas from the story were found seven weeks after the activity with the e-book. No significant difference in retention was found between the two intervention groups (with and without metacognitive guidance). The implications of these results for kindergarteners at risk for LD are discussed.     

Negative Advertising Effects on Presidential Support Ratings During the 2012 Election: A Hierarchical Linear Modeling and Serial Dependency Study

In a literature where different research approaches generate inconsistent effects, we examine negative TV advertising effects on public support ratings of presidential candidates over time. Weekly national advertising and poll data from 2011 and 2012 were analyzed via (a) pooled time series analysis with growth curve modeling and (b) individual time serial dependency analysis with autoregressive integrated moving average. Study results support a social influence model derived from attribution theory, wherein negative TV ads did, in fact, influence poll results or public support ratings. In particular, spending on negative advertising increased the support for the sponsor of such ads. We also uncover a reciprocal effect of negative advertising between the competing candidates over time, such that spending on negative advertising attacking Mitt Romney predicted spending on advertising attacking Barack Obama in about 4 weeks at Lag 3 and Lag 4. Findings establishing the efficacy of negative advertising are discussed in the context of game theory.     

Collaborations across “Sister” community colleges: a strategy to strengthen programs and support student persistence

Community colleges are typically relied upon to address many challenges in United States higher education and, more recently, are under public pressure to increase student completion rates. This article presents a case study of colleagues at three Minnesota community colleges as they work together to address student and program needs. While traditionally community colleges tend to focus primarily on gaining transfer partnerships with universities, we suggest that collaborations across community college programs may be key to long-term success. If done well, such sister program collaborations can support a trajectory of programmatic strength that not only bolsters the curriculum, enrollment, and program visibility, but also ultimately supports students’ ability to complete and successfully transfer. The result, then, is that university partners are attracted and sustained by a vibrant network of colleagues and a pipeline of student support.     

Vagal Suppression Buffers Against the Negative Effects of Psychological Inflexibility on Parenting Behaviors in Combat Deployed Fathers

SYNOPSIS

Objective : Vagal suppression is a parasympathetic physiological indicator of emotion regulation and social engagement behaviors, often measured via heart rate variability. Experiential avoidance reflects psychological inflexibility or poor emotion regulation. We tested the interaction effects of parental vagal suppression and experiential avoidance on observed parenting behaviors among combat deployed fathers. Design . We analyzed data from 92 male National Guard/Reserve members who had returned from a deployment to Iraq and/or Afghanistan since 2001. They were mostly European American, in their 30s, middle-class, and married. All fathers participated in home-based assessments with their spouses (if married) and a target child aged 4–13 years. Fathers’ vagal suppression was measured as the decrease in cardiac vagal tone (i.e., high frequency heart rate variability) from a neutral reading task to a father-child conflict resolution task. Experiential avoidance was self-reported. Parenting behaviors were observed during family interaction tasks and coded into positive engagement and withdrawal avoidance using a macro-level coding system. Results . Multiple regression analysis showed no main effects of vagal suppression on observed parenting, but interaction effects of experiential avoidance by vagal suppression on observed parenting. Specifically, among fathers with higher vagal suppression, we found no relations between experiential avoidance and observed parenting; among fathers with lower vagal suppression, we found an inverse association between experiential avoidance and positive engagement as well as a positive association between experiential avoidance and withdrawal avoidance. Conclusions . The effect of psychological inflexibility on military fathers’ parenting behaviors was moderated by vagal suppression. The findings have implications for the linkage between emotion regulation and parenting in military fathers.     

Professionals' and Families' Perceptions of Family-Centered Practices in Infant-Toddler Services

The purposes of this study were to determine the extent of family-centered practices, professionals' and families' values about the practices, and the extent to which selected characteristics of participants explained variance in the practices. Professionals (N = 198) and families (N = 118) completed two questionnaires. Professionals tended to report more family-centered typical practice than did families, but ideal practices generally did not vary between groups. Agency type and the Setting x Experience interaction predicted professionals' ideal-practice scores and their self-ratings of the frequency of implementing family-centered practices: Home-based services were most predictive of frequent reports of these practices. The frequency with which families reported receiving these practices was predicted by the amount of time the family had been in early intervention: The longer, the more frequently families experienced the practices.     

Young Children From Three Diverse Cultures Spontaneously and Consistently Prepare for Alternative Future Possibilities

This study examined future-oriented behavior in children (3–6 years; N = 193) from three diverse societies—one industrialized Western city and two small, geographically isolated communities. Children had the opportunity to prepare for two alternative versions of an immediate future event over six trials. Some 3-year-olds from all cultures demonstrated competence, and a majority of the oldest children from each culture prepared for both future possibilities on every trial. Although there were some cultural differences in the youngest age groups that approached ceiling performance, the overall results indicate that children across these communities become able to prepare for alternative futures during early childhood. This acquisition period is therefore not contingent on Western upbringing, and may instead indicate normal cognitive maturation.     

Sensitivity to linguistic stress,phonological awareness and early reading ability in preschoolers

Recent research has found that sensitivity to linguistic stress is related to phonological awareness and reading development. This study investigated the roles of two types of linguistic stress sensitivity (lexical and metrical stress) in the phonological awareness and reading development of young children. Forty‐five kindergarten children were tested on a battery of tasks that examined linguistic stress sensitivity and early reading ability. Results indicated that lexical stress, but not metrical stress sensitivity, is significantly related to phonological awareness and early reading ability. However, lexical stress is not able to predict unique variance in early reading ability once phonological awareness is controlled for. The relationships of both lexical and metrical stress sensitivity with phonological awareness and early reading development are discussed.     

Preliminary evidence for color stimuli discrimination in the Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea)

Color discrimination ability can be determined through anatomy or perceptual ability. In this study we tested perceptual ability. Three Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinerea), one male and two females, were trained via operant conditioning to discriminate stimuli within a training task. If they passed criteria for this task, they were tested on as many as six delayed matching-to-sample experimental tasks. These experimental tasks involved comparing varying saturations of the colors blue, green, and red against varying shades of gray, as well as against each other. The male reached criterion on five of the experimental tasks, indicating an ability to discriminate the stimuli. One female participated in only two tasks and did not achieve the criteria as set. The second female did not pass the training task, and thus was not experimentally tested. This study overall showed some early evidence that Asian small-clawed otters may have the ability to learn to discriminate different stimuli on the basis of color cues. Sensory studies conducted on two other otter species and the results of this study indicate that color vision may be a common trait across Lutrinae species.