The role of IQ, expertise, and motivation in the recall of familiar information

High- and low-IQ children in the first, third, and fifth grades performed two free-recall tasks: a sort-recall task with sets of categorically related pictures, and a class-recall task, with children recalling the current members of their school class. All children were deemed to be experts concerning the composition of their school class, but, unlike experts in other domains, had no special motivation associated with their expertise. Recall and clustering on both tasks were high. The high-IQ children performed better than low-IQ children only on the sort-recall task. IQ was significantly correlated with measures of performance on the sort-recall task but not on the class-recall task. The results reflect the fact that the memory benefits associated with being an expert (here, elimination of IQ effects) are related to the greater knowledge the expert possesses and not to factors of motivation.     

School Work,Homework and Gender

This paper explores female and male students' attitudes towards school work in terms of application and achievement. The data are drawn from interviews with students, teachers, careers officers and welfare officers in three semi‐rural comprehensive schools in one local education authority (LEA) [1]. (The students were in their last year of compulsory schooling, Year 11, and were aged 16 [2].) The three schools had invited the authors to explore why boys were achieving below their potential in terms of course work and end of course grades. The findings of the study show how school, peer group and community factors influence students' attitudes towards school work and homework. However, the situation is not just one of boys' under‐performance: the pattern of girls' achievement at 16 (the school leaving age) is not always carried through post‐16 or into career destinations. The problem is one of ‘equalising opportunities’ for all young people, taking into account the different patterns of need at different stages in their school careers.     

语言学习的革新

Auralog公司是1987年在法国成立的,基于一个语音实验室.这个语音实验室将语音识别技术发展得非常成熟.1990年该公司把E-Learning技术运用到了外语学习上,形成了一套完整的外语学习解决方案.到目前为止我们的客户在全球已达到六十七个国家.     

Connective Leadership in an Interdependent and Diverse World

Expressing strong agreement with Robert Sternberg’s rationale for changing our methods for identifying intelligence, this analysis emphasizes connections with leadership failures. In recognition that a changing world requires connective ethical leadership, it discusses the nine-factor behavioral model portraying achieving styles that can facilitate effective leadership in a changing world. Leaders operating along these lines can identify high-potential initiatives and artfully adjust their behaviors to achieve the best outcomes.     

Stereotyping and Intergroup Perceptions of Disabled and Nondisabled Children: A New Perspective

This research seeks to establish relationships between the stereotypes, self‐ratings and peer‐ratings of students in an experimental secondary school attended by both disabled and nondisabled young people. To study the influence that contact with disabled classmates has upon intergroup perceptions, responses of these students were compared with those of students attending a secondary school that does not practise mainstreaming.Results vary, depending upon whether subjects were asked to attribute adjectives from a list to classmates, some of whom were disabled, or to the disabled persons in general. This research highlights the need to adopt a new approach to intergroup relations.     

Taking stock of science in the schoolhouse: four ideas to foster effective instruction

In the opening discussion of this special issue, I take stock of science and schooling for students with learning disabilities (LD) before probing four ideas to foster effective instruction in contemporary schools: (a) Turn to science as the best trick we know for solving educational problems; (b) specify clearly what we hope to achieve in our instructional decisions for students with LD; (c) rely on instruction as the best tool we have for improving student performance; and (d) cultivate-and keep-competent and caring personnel. I invite commentary, from the perspectives of researchers, practitioners, and those who prepare teachers and administrators, to assess the status of science in the schoolhouse and to offer practical strategies for how the scientific orientation of schools might be enhanced.     

Case study: use of problem-based learning to develop students' technical and professional skills

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogy that has attracted attention for many biomedical engineering curricula. The aim of the current study was to address the research question, ‘Does PBL enable students to develop desirable professional engineering skills?’ The desirable skills identified were communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-directed learning. Forty-seven students enrolled in a biomedical materials course participated in the case study. Students worked in teams to complete a series of problems throughout the semester. The results showed that students made significant improvements in their problem-solving skills, written communication and self-directed learning. Students also demonstrated an ability to work in teams and communicate orally. In conclusion, this case study provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of PBL on student learning. We discuss findings from our study and provide observations of student performance and perceptions that could be useful for faculty and researchers interested in PBL for biomedical engineering education.     

Effects of signaled reward in instrumental conditioning: Enhanced learning on DRL and DRH schedules of reinforcement

The effects of signaled reward were examined using DRL and DRH schedules of reinforcement. In each case, one group of rats received a brief cue between the reinforced response and the reward, and a second group received brief cues at random times. With the DRL schedule (Experiment 1), signaled reward decreased response rate, increased response efficiency (number of responses per reinforcer), and increased resistence to satiation relative to the control group. With the DRH schedule (Experiment 2), signaled reward increased response rate, efficiency, and resistance to satiation. These results refute an overshadowing explanation of the effects of signaled reward and suggest that food-correlated cues enhance learning of the reinforcement contingencies.     

The stimulus-response overshadowing phenomenon with VI versus FI schedules of reinforcement

Previous research has shown that response rates on a variable interval (VI) schedule of reinforcement decrease if a brief response-produced signal is given prior to reward. One explanation is that the signal overshadows the response because it is a better predictor of reinforcement. The S-R overshadowing effect does not occur with variable ratio (VR) schedules, however. Tarpy, Lea, and Midgley (1983) explained this fact by suggesting that the signal functions to enhance the salience of the temporal interval offset on the VI schedule (a characteristic not possessed by VR schedules), which then overshadows the response. In this experiment, the salience of the temporal interval was enhanced in another way: signaled or unsignaled reward was provided to rats responding on either a VI or fixed interval (FI) reward schedule. As predicted, rates were lowest for animals receiving signaled reinforcement on an FI schedule and highest for those receiving unsignaled reinforcement on a VI schedule.