Flavor-evaluative conditioning is unaffected by contingency knowledge during training with color-flavor compounds

In two experiments, participants inspected and drank a series of drinks, half of which contained sugar and half unpalatable Tween20 (tween). Each sugar and tween drink had a particular flavor and color. Following this training, the flavors of the sugar drinks were assigned higher hedonic evaluations than were those of the tween drinks, even though the participants did not reliably report which flavors had been present in the sugar and tween drinks during training. Moreover, the evaluative conditioning of the flavors was unaffected by whether or not the colors alone had been pretrained to predict the presence of sugar or tween in the drinks. In accord with Baeyens, Eelen, van den Bergh, and Crombez (1990), we conclude that flavor-evaluative conditioning is not mediated by contingency learning.     

Using the web to encourage student-generated questions in large-format introductory biology classes

Students rarely ask questions related to course content in large-format introductory classes. The use of a Web-based forum devoted to student-generated questions was explored in a second-semester introductory biology course. Approximately 80% of the enrolled students asked at least one question about course content during each of three semesters during which this approach was implemented. About 95% of the students who posted questions reported reading the instructor's response to their questions. Although doing so did not contribute to their grade in the course, approximately 75% of the students reported reading questions posted by other students in the class. Approximately 60% of the students reported that the Web-based question-asking activity contributed to their learning of biology.     

Relation between reading problems and internalizing behavior in school for preadolescent children from economically disadvantaged families

This longitudinal study of 105 economically disadvantaged children examined the relation between reading problems and internalizing behavior in 3rd- and 5th-grade assessments (8- to 12-year olds). The variable-centered results showed that reading problems predicted change in internalizing behavior in the context of child and family predictors. The person-centered results showed that children with reading problems in both grades had higher internalizing scores in 5th grade but not in 3rd grade than children with reading problems in 3rd grade or no problems. Child-reported negative emotion experiences varied similarly across grade. The results tie reading problems to emotional distress in school and support conclusions about the direction of effects and the internalization of academic difficulty for disadvantaged children.     

CHE Principles: facilitating authentic and dialogical semi-structured interviews in educational research

This paper examines the values of the CHE principles of Connectivity, Humanness and Empathy as a guiding framework for maximizing the ethical and methodological advantages of semi-structured interview research practices. The authors draw from two separate educational studies and apply the CHE principles to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of decision-making in facilitating sustainable relationships with the participants in each study. Findings highlight that dialogical relations with participants were evident in both studies, and identify significant junctures where decision-making and actions influenced effective rapport-building and respectful and reciprocal relationships with participants in the research. The CHE principles emerge as providing a robust framework for educational researchers to employ when auditing their decision-making prior to and during their engagement in qualitative interviews.     

The use of paradoxical intention with oppositional behavior in the classroom

Time-out procedures often seem to be overused by teachers and tend to emphasize a linear view of problem behavior. Paradoxical strategies appear to provide a change in the dynamics of the teacher-child relationship and are thus a more systemic way of viewing the behavior. Three case studies are presented where the paradoxical strategies have varying degrees of success. The cases are discussed in terms of the critical aspects of the approach, as demonstrated in the case studies.     

Competency and interpersonal ratings of teacher specialties: What teachers think of each other

The perceptions of 135 teachers of elementary, secondary, and mentally retarded students on the competency and interpersonal skill characteristics of teachers within their teacher subgroup and toward the two other subgroups were assessed by a semantic differential instrument. Two-factor (3×3) analysis of variance indicated that teachers of mentally retarded students and teachers of elementary students were rated higher than secondary teachers on the Competency and Interpersonal scales. Teachers of mentally retarded students were rated higher than elementary teachers on the Interpersonal scale. Professional self-esteem of teachers and its implications for school psychologists was discussed in light of these findings, and additional research was urged to determine the generalizability of the results.