What observer rats don’t learn about foods from demonstrator rats

Naive “observer” rats that interact with conspecific “demonstrators” fed a distinctive food increase intake of the food their demonstrators have eaten. Here we found that observer rats that had interacted simultaneously with 2 demonstrator rats, 1 fed a distinctively flavored, protein-poor food, the other a distinctively flavored, protein-rich food, did not prefer the former. Similarly, observer rats ate equal amounts of two distinctively flavored foods after interacting simultaneously with 2 demonstrator rats, 1 that had consumed all food available to it, the other fed from a surplus of the second food. Last, observer rats that had interacted with both a “trustworthy” demonstrator (1 an observer had learned ate only nutritious foods) and an “untrustworthy” demonstrator (1 an observer had learned ate noxious substances) did not prefer unfamiliar foods eaten by trustworthy demonstrators to those eaten by untrustworthy demonstrators. These findings suggest limits on social information observers use in selecting foods.     

Manipulating visual informational constraints during practice enhances the acquisition of catching skill in children.

Previous motor learning studies examining the effects of practicing to catch one-handed under varying informational constraints on subsequent skill acquisition are equivocal, perhaps due to the use of relatively inexperienced adult participants. Ecological theory predicts that directing the learner's search for information in the perceptual-motor workspace can enhance skill acquisition. This study manipulated visual informational constraints on novice children (ages 9-10 years) learning to catch one-handed. A crossover transfer design was implemented in which one group acted as controls while two other groups practiced either without visual restrictions before transferring to full vision, or vice versa. The data indicated that learners forced to seek additional information sources under restricted viewing conditions demonstrated a greater positive, accumulative residual effect on acquiring a catching skill. The findings contradict current work on the specificity of practice hypothesis and suggest that varying visual informational constraints to encourage exploratory practice may represent a significant pedagogical approach to motor learning in sport.     

虚拟国际规范文档——连接德国国家图书馆和美国国会图书馆的规范文档

德国国家图书馆、美国国会图书馆和OCLC联机计算机图书馆中心联合开发了一个个人名称的虚拟国际规范文档(VIAF),它连接世界各国国家书目机构的规范记录,并免费提供网上检索,以证明自动连接不同国家规范文档的规范记录的可行性和优点.美国国会图书馆和德国国家图书馆的规范文档和书目文档被用来创建初始的VIAF,其中包括600多万个名称和50多万个连接.该项目的一个关键点是利用规范记录和其对应书目记录的信息开发自动名称匹配算法.该项目显示了用算法建立不同国家规范文档的个人名称之间连接的实用性.VIAF项目的长远目标是将许多国家图书馆和其他重要来源的规范名称结合起来,形成一个共享的全球规范服务.参考文献3.     

A definition of dyslexia

This paper elaborates on the components of a working definition of developmental dyslexia. It follows the general format of a paper by Lyon published in Annals of Dyslexia in 1995, which elaborated on a working definition proposed in 1994 (Lyon, 1995). The current definition agreed on by the work group updates and expands on the working definition from 1994.     

Assessing cultural values: developing an attitudinal scale

Effective measurement of cultural value is often elusive because of its multidimensional nature. It is also influenced by sociodemographic characteristics (manifest variables) and attitudinal characteristics (latent variables) of populations. While the former is easily available to researchers, the latter has not been fully studied. This paper suggests the use of a cultural worldview scale that was developed to measure cultural attitudes of people, using factor and cluster analysis. Four factors comprise the scale: cultural linkages, recognition of cultural values, cultural loss and preservation of traditions and customs. Some advantages of using this scale are demonstrated, and relationships with sociodemographic variables are investigated. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.