Individual Differences in Infant Visual Attention: Four-Month-Olds' Discrimination and Generalization of Global and Local Stimulus Properties

Cognitive performance and development is negatively correlated with fixation duration patterns during infancy, and evidence suggests that long-looking infants may process visual information more slowly than short-looking infants. 3 experiments described here tested the possibility that these differences may be due to differential sensitivity to global and local visual information. Infants were administered discrimination and generalization tasks involving global and local information at varying levels of familiarization time. Results indicated that 4-month-olds process visual information in a global-to-local sequence. Both long- and short-looking infants were sensitive to both types of information, although long lookers required additional familiarization time to match the performance of short lookers. Finally, apparent "generalization" of global information at brief familiarization levels was traced to insensitivity to local stimulus properties. The results do not support the hypothesis that long- and short-looking infants are differentially sensitive to global versus local visual information at 4 months of age.     

Signaling functions of the second-order CS: Partial reinforcement during second-order conditioning of the pigeon’s keypeck

The signaling function of the second-order CS (S2) was manipulated in second-order autoshaping by arranging a partial reinforcement schedule. S2 was paired with a well-conditioned first-order CS (SI) on a continuous reinforcement or a 25% reinforcement schedule in different groups. Schedule of reinforcement did not influence the number of S2-S1 pairings required to establish keypecking to S2. However, in the postacquisition sessions, responding to S2 was initially weaker but persisted for many more sessions on the 25% schedule than on the 100% schedule. The data indicate that S2-S1 pairings are responsible both for the acquisition of second-order keypecking to S2 and for the subsequent conversion of S2 into an inhibitory stimulus.     

The effects of early sexual abuse on adult risky sexual behaviors among persons with severe mental illness

OBJECTIVE: There were two aims: first, to examine the relationship between prior sexual abuse and three types of adult risky sexual behaviors [(1) ever traded sex for drugs or money, (2) had unprotected sex in the past 6 months, and (3) frequency of unprotected sex in the past 6 months] among persons with severe mental illness (SMI), and second, to examine the potential mediating effects of adult rape, substance use, and PTSD. METHOD: Using a pooled sample of individuals with SMI (N=609), logistic and negative binomial regression analyses were used to investigate the impact of prior sexual abuse on these adult risky sexual behaviors. RESULTS: Childhood sexual abuse was associated with having ever traded sex for money and having engaged in unprotected sex in the past 6 months. However, childhood sexual abuse was inversely associated with the number of times males had unprotected sex in the past 6 months. Results differed between males and females and the impact of potential mediators also varied by gender and type of outcome studied. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a complex link between childhood sexual abuse and adult risky sexual behaviors in persons with SMI. Clinical assessments of child abuse sequelae should include a variety of indicators and parameters of adult risky sexual behavior, as persons with SMI are at an increased risk of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors and tend to have a higher exposure to childhood sexual abuse than does the general population.     

Learning Styles Among Mature‐Age Students: Some Comments on the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI‐S)

The short form of Entwistle's (1981) Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI‐S) was administered to 503 mature‐aged students, most of whom identified themselves as disadvantaged and were returning to study after many years absence. Analysis of the 503 responses showed that internal consistency estimates for the seven subscales of the ASI‐S were generally low, but that confirmatory factor analysis could recover two major dimensions corresponding to deep and surface orientations to learning. To examine the predictive validity of the ASI‐S with this population, results for a mathematics unit which they were studying were regressed on factor scores. Results of the structural analysis indicated that the deep orientation was unrelated to academic progression in mathematics but that high scores on the surface orientation were associated with poor academic performance ( = 0.092). These findings indicate that broad learning orientations are fundamental and can be identified in a group of students returning to study after a long absence. The study also emphasises the importance of examining the particular study context when evaluating the effect of learning orientations. The effect of deep and surface orientations may be positive or negative depending on the subject area and the learning context.     

Salary increases and teaching effectiveness

The relationship between salary increases and student ratings of teaching effectiveness was studied for a sample of 266 faculty members at Kansas State University. Three measures of teaching effectiveness (student progress in meeting relevant course objectives, liking the instructor, and appreciation of the field of study) and two salary criteria (percent and dollar increases) were used. Several measures of the emphasis on the teaching function were used to determine if this variable moderated the relationship between salaries and student ratings. The effect of discipline was also examined.In general, there was a modest but significant correlation between ratings of teaching effectiveness and percent salary increase. The amount of emphasis given to the teaching function was a significant determinant of the strength of this relationship. Correlations were generally more pronounced in social science and humanities than in the science areas. Student motivation was highly correlated with effectiveness ratings, but was not regularly taken into account in salary recommendations.     

Attention and curiosity in museums

Two hundred and thirty-four museum visitors of all ages were observed as they entered the Object Gallery area of the Florida State Museum. Visitors were observed under conditions where objects were available for close inspection but could not be manipulated (baseline data) and later when the same objects were placed on tables and were available for visitors to touch, move, and use a variety of senses to inspect them (intervention data). Data were recorded on the sex, age, and number of subjects in these areas under each of the above conditions. The results obtained show a significant increase in the number of visitors entering this section of the museum when manipulatable objects were available. Baseline data showed that 58.5% of the people who entered the Object Gallery went into the drawer section. However, when manipulatable objects were made available this increased to 82.3%. Chi-square analysis was used to determine whether the presence of manipulatable objects in the area increased the number of people who entered the area. It did (p < 0.05). Chi-square analysis was also used to determine whether entering the drawer section depended on age or sex. It was found that more children entered the drawer section than adults (p < 0.05) and significantly more female children and female adults entered as a result of intervention (p < 0.05). At the same time, more male children than adults entered after intervention (p < 0.05) than before. These data are supported by considerable curiosity research indicating that both children and adults are attracted to novel as well as complex stimuli which can be manipulated in both formal and free-choice environments. The data also support the growing movement to hands-on exhibits in natural history museums and science centers around the country, as well as hands-on classroom activities from the perspective of their attention attracting and holding power and their curiosity evoking characteristics. Whether these positive factors also lead to increased knowledge or skill development is a question yet to be explored.     

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of social media data privacy policies

Matters of data privacy related to social media are increasingly relevant for educators as happenings such as the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal have attracted public attention. Many educators use social media for professional purposes, including with their students and should, therefore, be knowledgeable regarding data privacy issues that impact education. This research explores this issue from an interpretive paradigm based on a mixed-methods approach derived from survey data from an international sample of 148 pre-service teachers who were studying education courses at three universities. Data suggest that pre-service teachers see both educational and distracting potential in social media, but lack knowledge regarding relevant policies and regulations, which reflects trends in the broader population. Attitudes toward educational social media use were not correlated with awareness of data privacy policies. However, comfort with companies’ use of personal and student data and faith in governments’ capacity to regulate social media companies were correlated. We discuss our findings in relation to the use of social media and related data privacy considerations and the need for data literacy training in teacher education programs. We include recommendations in light of the findings.     

Comparison of online and classroom-based student evaluations of instruction

In recent years, colleges have been moving from traditional, classroom‐based student evaluations of instruction to online evaluations. Because of the importance of these evaluations in decisions regarding retention, promotion and tenure, instructors are justifiably concerned about how this trend might affect their ratings. We recruited faculty members who were teaching two or more sections of the same course in a single semester and assigned at least one section to receive online evaluations and the other section(s) to receive classroom evaluations. We hypothesised that the online evaluations would yield a lower response rate than the classroom administration. We also predicted that there would be no significant differences in the overall ratings, the number of written comments, and the valence (positive/neutral/negative) of students’ comments. A total of 32 instructors participated in the study over two semesters, providing evaluation data from 2057 students. As expected, online evaluations had a significantly lower response rate than classroom evaluations. Additionally, there were no differences in the mean ratings, the percentage of students who provided written comments or the proportion of comments in the three valence categories. Thus, even with the lower response rate for online evaluations, the two administration formats seemed to produce comparable data.     

Exploring Innovative Entrepreneurship and Its Ties to Higher Educational Experiences

The purpose of this paper was to explore innovative entrepreneurship and to gain insight into the educational practices and experiences that increase the likelihood that a student would graduate with innovative entrepreneurial intentions. To this end, we administered a battery of assessments to 3,700 undergraduate seniors who matriculated in the spring of 2007; these students attended one of five institutions participating in this study. Results showed that, after controlling for a host of personality, demographic, educational, and political covariates, taking an entrepreneurial course and the assessments faculty use as pedagogical strategies for teaching course content were significantly related to innovation intentions. Implications for higher education stakeholders are discussed.