The Influence of Reading Expertise in Mirror‐Letter Perception: Evidence From Beginning and Expert Readers

The visual word recognition system recruits neuronal systems originally developed for object perception which are characterized by orientation insensitivity to mirror reversals. It has been proposed that during reading acquisition beginning readers have to “unlearn” this natural tolerance to mirror reversals in order to efficiently discriminate letters and words. Therefore, it is supposed that this unlearning process takes place in a gradual way and that reading expertise modulates mirror‐letter discrimination. However, to date no supporting evidence for this has been obtained. We present data from an eye‐movement study that investigated the degree of sensitivity to mirror‐letters in a group of beginning readers and a group of expert readers. Participants had to decide which of the two strings presented on a screen corresponded to an auditorily presented word. Visual displays always included the correct target word and one distractor word. Results showed that those distractors that were the same as the target word except for the mirror lateralization of two internal letters attracted participants' attention more than distractors created by replacement of 2 internal letters. Interestingly, the time course of the effects was found to be different for the 2 groups, with beginning readers showing a greater tolerance (decreased sensitivity) to mirror‐letters than expert readers. Implications of these findings are discussed within the framework of preceding evidence showing how reading expertise modulates letter identification.     

Precollegiate international schools: Leach's “ideal-type” and today's “reality”

International schools were begun to provide precollegiate education to children whose families lived abroad. In 1969 Robert Leach outlined a conceptual framework that would insure the formation of a spirit of internationalism throughout the school. The research described in this paper compared Leach's original model with perceptions held in the 1990s by educators, administrators, and board members working in those schools. The survey involved 185 respondents from 87 international schools in 11 countries. Results indicate that the elements Leach identified continue to be integral to international schools today.

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Zusammenfassung Internationale Schulen wurden für die Schulausbildung von Schülern eingerichtet, die mit ihren Familien im Ausland leben. Robert Leach entwarf 1969 einen konzeptionellen Rahmen, der die Schaffung eines Geistes des Internationalismus innerhalb der Schule sichern sollte. Die in diesem Artikel beschriebene Forschungsarbeit vergleicht das ursprüngliche Modell von Leach mit den Beobachtungen, die Lehrer, Verwalter und Aufsichtsratsmitglieder 1990 in diesen Schulen machten. Die Studie beinhaltete 187 Beteiligte aus 87 internationalen Schulen in 11 Ländern. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die von Leach identifizierten Elemente weiterhin Bestandteil der internationalen Schulen von heute sind.

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Resumen Los colegios internacionales comenzaron a ofrecer educaión preescolar a ninos cuyas familias vivían en el extranjero. En 1969, Robert Leach creó un delineamiento conceptual que aspiraba a asegurar la formación de un espíritu de internacionalismo a través de los colegios. El estudio descrito en este trabajo compara el modelo original de Leach con las percepciones que en los años noventa tuvieron educadores, administradores y miembros de la dirección que trabajaban en esos colegios. El estudio abarcaba a 185 sujetos de estudio de 87 colegios internacionales en 11 países. Los resultados indican que los elementos que Leach había identificado siguen formando parte de los colegios internacionales hoy en día.

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Résumé Les écoles internationales ont été créées afin de dispenser des cours aux enfants de familles vivant à l'étranger. En 1969 Robert Leach esquisse un cadre de travail conceptuel qui assurerait la formation d'un esprit d'internationalisme par l'intermédiaire de l'école. La recherche évoquée dans cet article compare le modèle original de Leach avec les expériences des éducateurs, administrateurs et membres des comités directeurs de ces écoles dans les années 90. L'étude concernait 185 personnes travaillant dans 87 écoles internationales réparties dans 11 pays. Les résultats montrent que les éléments identifiés par Leach continuent d'être partie intégrante des écoles internationales d'aujourd'hui.

     

Librarians as Mentors in an Undergraduate Research Program

Projects in undergraduate research programs differ from assignments in courses in that they are independent of an institution's curriculum, and faculty mentoring plays a more important role. These programs can be fertile ground for librarians interested in participating. Whether such librarians would make good mentors for undergraduate researchers depends largely on their experience and education. Texas Tech University has two of these programs, but library support for them has been sporadic. The time is overdue for librarians involved in campus outreach and instruction to examine how they can best support Texas Tech's undergraduate research activities, and, in particular, whether they are adequately prepared to provide effective mentoring to undergraduate research students. This article reports on such an examination.     

Inductive Influence

Objective Bayesianism has been criticised for not allowing learningfrom experience: it is claimed that an agent must give degreeof belief