Trial number and compound stimuli temporal relationship as joint determinants of second-order conditioning and conditioned inhibition

Two conditioned lick suppression experiments with rats used feature-negative training (A-footshock trials intermixed with nonreinforced XA presentations) to analyze the role of the number of XA compound presentations and the temporal relationship of the elements within the compound (simultaneous or serial) as determinants of the resulting behavioral control. Second-order conditioning (i.e., excitatory behavioral control by X) was observed to decline as the number of XA compound trials was increased. This decline was more rapid if X and A were presented simultaneously, as opposed to serially (i.e., X before A; Experiment 1). Conditioned inhibition to X, as assessed by a summation test (Experiment 1) and a retardation test (Experiment 2), increased with the number of XA trials and did so more quickly for simultaneous than for serial pairings of X and A. The results help to clarify previously discrepant findings regarding factors that promote excitation versus inhibition with this protocol.     

The impact of peer collaboration on teachers’ practical knowledge

Due to changes in Dutch mathematics education, teachers are expected to use new teaching methods such as enquiry-based teaching. In this study, we investigate how teachers design, implement and evaluate new methods for statistics teaching for 7^th-graders during a professional development trajectory based on peer collaboration. We monitored teachers’ development in a network of four mathematics teachers from the same school. By using a mixed-methods approach in which we combined data from interviews, concept maps and classroom observations, we describe changes in teachers’ practical knowledge. We found how the nature of these changes highly depends on teachers’ personal concerns that emerge during the trajectory. Some teachers considered their concerns as challenges stimulating their learning, while other teachers experienced their concerns as a reason to fall back to previous teaching methods. Based on our results, we give some recommendations for organising teacher networks.     

Dominance hierarchies: Observational techniques applied to the study of children at play

The seven major observational techniques generally used in experimental or naturalistic settings are discussed within the context of research on dominance relationships in young children. In particular, findings related to sex differerces and developmental changes in children's social interactions are presented. The observational techniques used in these studies are described in terms of the type of data collected (frequency counts versus measures of duration of the behaviors), and the research questions answerable through use of each technique.Illustrations of other types of data (e.g., from questionnaires) are presented to show how the results relate to the findings from observational data. The use of more than one technique in many of the dominance relationship studies shows how different techniques can be used to examine various facets of complex social interactions.The strengths and weaknesses of each method are discussed within the framework of the illustrative studies. Problems associated with the use of One-zero or Time-Sampling techniques are discussed in detail.     

Educating homeless young children

Desiree, a four-year-old homeless child, spent the night in a subway station and has been in three different emergency shelters during the last nine months. Despite her transient life, she has missed only 10 days of her Head Start program during the school year.Sally Koblinsky is Professor, Family and Community Development, University of Maryland. Martha Taylor is Associate Professor, Food, Nutrition and Food Service Management, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Stacey Relkin is Staff Assistant, House of Representatives Democratic Caucus.     

The impact of machine-readable data bases on library and information services

Library and information services already feel the impact of the burgeoning development in the field of bibliographic data bases, and this effect will increase in the future. This article explores the growth, origins, technological development, and current activities of bibliographic data bases and examines the NCLIS National Program relative to these aspects. The relationships between data base function, funding, and use are set forth in a discussion of data base producers. Discussions of data formats, data elements and file structure provide the groundwork for a closer look at the methods and purposes underlying the retrospective and current awareness search capabilities of existent data bases. A review of related data base and data base center characteristics highlights the discussion of retrospective and current awareness search functions and intermediary search services. In all data base activity the prime objective of making available information easily accessible to all who need it emerges as no small task, especially in light of the realities of scattered resources and unsteady funding. Data base networking and resource sharing constitute one means to the achievement of this ideal. The greatest potential of the NCLIS National Program lies in this direction, in its ability to promote and provide a framework for the coordination of data base-related activities and research in response to national needs.     

Credentialism among graduate students

Writers on higher education frequently assume that American undergraduate and graduate students enroll mainly to obtain credentials, and care little about acquiring competence. An exploratory study of students entering four elite fields found that most soughtboth credentials and competence. Empty credentials appealed to some, but stiff competition within their chosen occupations evidently led the great majority of students to seek every advantage that graduate education could provide.     

Initial Characteristics and Mentoring Satisfaction of College Women Mentoring Youth: Implications for Training

Being a youth mentor is popular among college students, yet little is known about how their initial characteristics are related to mentoring satisfaction. Survey data from college women enrolled in a youth mentoring program (n = 158) and a comparison group (n = 136) were analyzed to determine how initial characteristics of youth mentors (a) differ from comparisons and (b) are associated with mentors’ satisfaction. Mentors reported higher autonomy, cultural sensitivity, and lower depression pre-participation than the comparison group, and their pre-participation GPA, cognitive empathy, and depression predicted post-participation mentoring satisfaction. Implications for mentor training are discussed.     

Working Memory and Strategy Use Contribute to Gender Differences in Spatial Ability

In this review, a new model that is grounded in information-processing theory is proposed to account for gender differences in spatial ability. The proposed model assumes that the relative strength of working memory, as expressed by the ratio of visuospatial working memory to verbal working memory, influences the type of strategies used on spatial ability tasks. Strategy use, in turn, influences performance on spatial ability tasks. Gender differences in spatial ability can be explained by gender differences in strategy use as a function of the relative strength of visuospatial working memory to verbal working memory.     

Exploring the actions behind the words “learning‐centered institution”

More than just labels and symbolic gestures are needed to distinguish a college or university as a place where learning matters most. A president, provost, and vice president for student affairs describe the work of changing a whole campus.     

Impact of a Mentoring Experience on College Students’ Beliefs about Early Childhood Development

With the increasing demands placed on working families and the push downward of academics from the K-12 system, there is a critical need to provide high-quality early childhood programming for our nation’s children, particularly those considered at risk for academic failure. This study attempts to (a) understand the beliefs of college students about early childhood development and developmentally appropriate practices, and (b) determine if these beliefs change after their yearlong involvement in Jumpstart, a national intensive mentoring program for academically at-risk preschoolers. Surveys from this national program investigated college students’ beliefs about early childhood development and developmentally appropriate practices. Results indicate that a yearlong mentoring program positively impacts college students’ beliefs. These beliefs become less skills-based more and child-centered and constructivist.