The effects of varying the interreinforcement interval on appetitive contextual conditioning

Appetitive contextual conditioning in rats and ringdoves was investigated in six experiments. In Experiment 1, differential contextual training produced greater anticipatory activity in rats in the presence of a context paired with food than it did in rats in the presence of a different context in which food was never presented. Furthermore, the rats showed a preference for the context associated with food when they were given a simultaneous choice test between contexts. In Experiment 2, rats were more active in and preferred a context associated with a variable-time 30-sec (VT30) schedule as opposed to a VT180 schedule. Experiment 3 was a between-subjects replication of the previous experiment. As expected, rats exhibited significantly more anticipatory activity in a context in which food had been presented on a VT30 schedule than they did in a context in which food had been presented on a VT180 schedule. Experiment 4 showed that anticipatory activity was a reflection of context-US associations in ringdoves, and in Experiments 5 and 6, ringdoves also exhibited an inverse relationship between the. amount of anticipatory activity and the length of the interreinforcement interval (IRI). These results reveal a relation between ERI and contextual conditioning opposite from that obtained in studies of aversive conditioning.     

Effects of Class Size and Equipment Availability on Student Involvement in Physical Education

This study examined the effects of two different environmental conditions upon the classroom behaviors of teachers and students. Three primary school physical education teachers were videotaped teaching introductory soccer lessons to year 5 and 6 students. Class sizes were 12, 24, and 44; equipment availability was either unlimited or limited to two balls and four markers. The “academic learning time-physical education” instrument was used to measure teachers’ time allocations to subject matter and student involvement. Students in the double-sized class conditions spent significantly more time in nonacademic tasks and in game/scrimmage motor activities, whereas more time in the half-sized class condition was spent in skill practice. Student involvement showed significantly more motor-appropriate activity and more cognitive and less organizational activity in classes where there were unlimited amounts of equipment available, irrespective of class size. These data are interpreted as demonstrating that teacher decision making and resultant pupil opportunity to respond are strongly influenced by environmental variables and that such influence can be both systematic and predictable. The reporting of significant environmental features and increased attention to their effects is thus seen as essential for future research in the teaching of physical education.     

The influence of competences and support on school performance feedback use

Information‐rich environments are created to promote data use in schools for the purpose of self‐evaluation and quality assurance. However, providing feedback does not guarantee that schools will actually put it to use. One of the main stumbling blocks relates to the interpretation and diagnosis of the information. This study examines the relationship between data literacy competences, support given in interpreting the information, actual use of the feedback and potential school improvement effect. A randomised field experiment with 188 school principals from primary education was set up and a post‐test was used to investigate the effects of a support initiative. The results revealed that a minority of schools invested significantly in the interpretation and diagnosis of the school performance feedback (SPF), despite the fact that most of the respondents showed an interest in the SPF report. In addition, data competence support and the subsequent use of feedback were found to be limited.     

Time Spent Gaming and Social Competence in Children: Reciprocal Effects Across Childhood

Electronic games are popular and many children spend much time on this activity. Here we investigate whether the quantity of time children spend on gaming is related to their social development, making this the first study to examine this relationship in children. We examine prospective relations between time spent gaming and social competence in a community sample of Norwegian 6 year olds (n = 873) followed up at ages 8, 10, and 12, controlling for socioeconomic status, body mass index, and time spent gaming together with friends. Results revealed that greater social competence at both 8 and 10 years predicted less gaming 2 years later and that more age-10 gaming predicted less social competence at age 12 but only among girls.     

Eliciting Mathematics Interest: New Directions for Context Personalization and Example Choice

Building on common assumptions in theories of interest and mathematics education, this experimental study examined the effect of context personalization based on individual preferences, group personalization, and example choice with preselected popular examples on middle school students' situational interest and performance in mathematics. Participants (N = 713) learned a principle in probability calculus in one of four instructional conditions. Individual interest and perceived competence were examined as moderators on triggered and maintained situational interest, perceived value, task effort, and performance. Results showed that example choice triggered situational interest in the learning activity and that context personalization influenced perceived value and effort, contingent on students' perceived competence and individual interest in mathematics. We discuss results in relation to previous findings on interest-based interventions and the theoretical and practical implications.     

Maternal Representations of Attachment during Pregnancy Predict the Organization of Infant-Mother Attachment at One Year of Age

While strong retrospective and concurrent associations between maternal and infant patterns of attachment have been noted, this is one of the first reports of a prospective investigation of such associations. The Adult Attachment Interview was administered to 100 mothers expecting their first child, and, at 1-year follow-up, 96 of these were seen with their infants at 12 months in the Strange Situation. Maternal representations of attachment (autonomous vs. dismissing or preoccupied) predicted subsequent infant-mother attachment patterns (secure vs. insecure) 75% of the time. These observed concordances, as well as the discordances, are discussed in terms of the uniquely powerful contribution the Adult Attachment Interview makes to the study of representational and intergenerational influences on the development of the infant-mother attachment.     

Links between socio-emotional skills,behavior, mathematics and literacy performance of preschool children in Serbia

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Young children’s socio-emotional skills are important for understanding their own and others’ behaviors and interactions. No study in...     

What characterizes children nominated as gifted by teachers? A closer consideration of working memory and intelligence

Teacher nominations are often used in school settings to identify gifted children. However, although high intelligence is part of almost all definitions of giftedness, prior research has consistently shown that not all children nominated as gifted by teachers have high intelligence. In order to further understand the characteristics of these students, we herein explore the role of another cognitive construct, namely working memory (WM). In a sample comprising N = 81 fourth graders, both WM and intelligence showed the same predictive value for characterizing teacher-nominated gifted children, pointing to the importance of the thus-far-unattended WM for characterizing these students.