The distinction between perceiving and memorizing in the presence of category cues.

The study proposed and tested 2 hypotheses to account for the claim by Appel, Cooper, Knight, McCarrell, Yussen, and Flavell (1972) that "memorizing and perceiving are functionally undifferentiated for the young child" by presenting preschool, second-, and fifth-grade children a "memory" and a "look" problem under several treatments in which semantic category cues were present. Surprisingly, preschoolers showed functional differentiation even in the absence of semantic cues--a finding interpreted as evidence for a functional differentiation in the young child's deployment of attention. Second and fifth graders also exhibited functional differentiation in the absence of semantic cues, and there were age changes in the facilitating effects of input and retrieval cues on children's memory.     

The necessity of each phase of the learning cycle in teaching high school physics

The learning cycle is a method of teaching—it is also a curriculum organization principle and is derived directly from the mental functioning model invented by Piaget. Although Jean Piaget contributed to the formation of the learning cycle (Piaget, 1973), its present structure has to be attributed to Dr. Robert Karplus and the persons who developed the materials of the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). It was through the SCIS activities that many of us learned how to develop curricula and teach with the learning cycle. The learning cycle is built upon the premise that three distinct phases are necessary in developing understanding of a concept, that those phases have a definite sequence, and each phase has a definite structure or form. The research done in testing the form variable has already been reported in this journal (Renner, Abraham, & Birnie, 1985). This report explores whether or not each learning-cycle phase is necessary in learning a concept.     

Deaf teacher candidates in hearing classrooms: a unique teacher preparation program

An undergraduate teacher education program at Gallaudet University prepares deaf students in "regular" education. This includes a required full-time internship with hearing students (assisted by sign language interpreters). Graduates then continue in a master's degree program in deaf education, thus acquiring dual certification. Several studies indicate that these deaf candidates progress through the same developmental stages as hearing candidates and that they develop high expectations for deaf learners. Issues related to implementing such a program are discussed.     

Characteristics of child sexual abuse treatment programs

Within the professional community, a vast number of sexual abuse treatment programs have emerged to meet the needs of victims and their families. Significant variations among these programs can be observed due to differences in philosophy, system context, client focus, problem definition, and the treatment strategy adopted. Unfortunately, little comparative information is available regarding the operation of different programs and, more importantly, their relative treatment effectiveness. This article presents the findings from a nationwide survey of 553 sexual abuse treatment programs. The survey focused on program context, client, and service characteristics. Overall it was found that most programs are affiliated with a larger public or private agency, focus on treating victims, and rely on a combination of individual, family, dyad, and group therapy approaches.     

Adjunctive drinking during variable and random-interval food reinforcement schedules

Rats were trained to leverpress for food and subsequently exposed to either arithmetic series or random variable-interval reinforcement schedules. Adjunctive drinking developed in all subjects exposed to arithmetic variable-interval reinforcement, but did not develop in six of the eight animals trained on the random schedule. The results suggest that adjunctive drinking is the result of an interaction between the tendency of rats to drink after eating and the ability of locally low probabilities of reinforcement within schedules to induce conditioned behavioral states.     

Response-cost punishment with pigeons: Further evidence of response suppression via token loss

Four pigeons responded on a two-component multiple token-reinforcement schedule, in which tokens were produced according to a random-interval 30-sec schedule and exchanged according to a variable-ratio 4 schedule in both components. To assess the effects of contingent token loss, tokens were removed after every second response (i.e., fixed-ratio 2 loss) in one of the components. Response rates were selectively lower in the loss components relative to baseline (no-loss) conditions, as well as to the within-condition no-loss components. Response rates were decreased to a greater degree in the presence of tokens than in their absence. To control for the effects of changes in the density of token and food reinforcement, two parts consisted of additional conditions where food density and token loss were yoked to those in a previous loss condition. In the yoked-food condition, tokens were produced as usual in both components, but the overall density of food reinforcement in one of the components was yoked to that obtained during a previous token-loss condition. In the yoked token-loss condition, tokens were removed during one component of the multiple schedule at a rate that approximately matched the obtained rate of loss from a previous token-loss condition. Response rates in these yoked components were less affected than those in comparable loss components, despite similar densities of token, exchange, and food reinforcement. On the whole, the results support the conclusion that contingent token loss serves as an effective punisher with pigeons.     

Teaching a Psychopharmacology Course to Counselors: Justification,Structure, and Methods

The use of medication to treat various psychological disorders has expanded greatly over the last decade. Therefore, counselors need more sophisticated knowledge about psychopharmacology to work effectively in school and community settings. This article describes the curriculum, structure, resources, and teaching methods for effective instruction in psychopharmacology for counselors.