Acquired equivalence of cues in pigeon autoshaping: Effects of training with common consequences and with common antecedents

In three experiments, we sought evidence for the acquired equivalence of cues in pigeons trained in an autoshaping paradigm. In Experiment 1, presentations of each of a pair of cues (different keylight stimuli) preceded a common consequence (a different keylight stimulus). The pattern of response then established by further training given to one member of the pair was found to generalize preferentially to the other, demonstrating equivalence between cues that had shared a common consequence. The same test procedure was used in Experiment 2, but with a training procedure in which each cue of a pair was preceded by a given stimulus. This too resulted in enhanced generalization between members of the pair, showing that equivalence can be established when cues have been experienced along with a common antecedent. Both training procedures were combined in Experiment 3 to confirm the reliability of the effects previously obtained. The discussion is focused on ways in which the associative explanation offered for cases of equivalence mediated by a common consequence might be extended to accommodate equivalence mediated by a common antecedent.     

Filipino Arts Among Elders in Institutionalized Care Settings

The use of traditional art in recreational therapies is unexplored. This paper, thus, attempts to surface the unique power of traditional Filipino arts (TFA) as synergizing lens in capturing the individual and the collective experiences of a select group of Filipino elderly in an institutionalized care setting relative to their feelings of depression and self-esteem. Three Filipino elderly housed in an institutionalized care setting were chosen for this phenomenological study, a robotfoto and a series of semistructured interviews constitute the main data gathering tool. Field texts were subjected to phenomenological reduction via the repertory grid analysis. Emerged themes were subjected to a series of member checking procedures to ensure the trustworthiness of the reported data. Depression and self-esteem were interpreted via two emerged themes. The themes were Me, Myself, and Melancholy and Will Not Let My Worth Wither. Through recreational therapies in the form of traditional Filipino arts, participants found novel psychological crutches that overcame the challenges of depression and give them hope toward more positive views of themselves and life.     

You cannot do this alone! Increasing task interdependence in cooperative educational videogames to encourage collaboration

Complex, multimedia software such as educational videogames offer a wide range of elements to modify learner behavior. The adjustment of such software might support learning, especially in complex settings like collaborative or cooperative scenarios. Coming from a theoretical background of educational psychology, our experiment seeks to implement the “jigsaw strategy” within educational videogames. We conducted an experiment with sixty participants to compare conditions with or without increased task interdependence through the jigsaw strategy (i.e., the distribution of game elements and essential information). The participants had to rebuild a house from the 1894 novel Effi Briest within an adjusted version of the “sandbox” game Minecraft. The results show increased play performance, and learning outcomes with increased task interdependence. We conducted mediator and moderator analysis, which revealed a strong impact of play performance on learning outcomes. Additional analyses of mental effort, cognitive load, and efficiency allowed for deep insights into the playing and learning process. These insights enrich current theories about collaboration, mental strain, and the working memory effect and highlight the applicability of collaborative mechanics within educational videogames.     

一吻定情

Along with leprechauns and shamrocks, the Blarney Stone is one of the most famous symbols of Ireland. Unlike the first two, however, few people can accurately describe the Blarney Stone if asked to do so.     

Assessment of balance among adolescent track and field athletes

Track and field events place different demands on athletes and may have an effect on balance. This study investigated the effects of event specialty, gender, and leg dominance on balance among adolescent track and field athletes. Forty healthy adolescent track and field athletes (male = 23, female = 17) categorised into three different groups (sprinter = 20, distance runners = 13, throwers = 7) had their single leg static balance measured with the eyes open and the eyes closed using an AMTI force platform. Dependent variables included average displacement (cm) of the centre of pressure (COP) in the anterior/posterior direction and medial/lateral directions, the average velocity of the COP (cm/s) and the 95% ellipse area (cm²). Variables were analysed using a 3 (event specialty) × 2 (gender) × 2 (leg) ANOVA with repeated measures on the leg variable (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the average displacement of the COP in the medial/lateral direction for both the eyes open and closed condition, with the non-dominant leg demonstrating greater displacement than the dominant leg. This might increase the risk of injury for the non-dominant leg, but additional data should be collected and analysed on both dynamic balance and performance.     

The Impact of an Interest-Major Fit Signal on College Major Certainty

Research in Higher Education - Students’ choice of college major is related to their interests (Porter and Umbach in Res High Educ 47:429–449, 2006), and students whose major is...     

Breaking Barriers: Evaluating a Pilot STEM Intervention for Latinx Children of Spanish-Speaking Families

Journal of Science Education and Technology - STEM achievement gaps between Latinx and their non-Hispanic White (NHW) counterparts emerge in early childhood and persist through adulthood....     

Motor-Cognitive Stimulation of the Elderly

This article shows the cognitive and motor-perceptive effects of the application of a cognitive stimulating program through motor function on 234 elderly people. The assessment was carried out prior to and after the program. Significant improvements in the experimental group were observed (p ≤ .05) in six of the eight measurements. The control group achieved significant improvements (p ≤ .05) in two of the measurements and significant deterioration in motor memory.     

A review of research and a meta-analysis of the seductive detail effect

Seductive details constitute interesting but irrelevant information that are not necessary to achieve the instructional objective. The seductive detail effect occurs when people learn more deeply from instructional messages that exclude rather than include these details. This effect is mainly explained by assuming an overloading of the working memory, attention distraction, schema interference or coherence disruption. This review presents 39 experimental effects in the form of text passages, illustrations and other kinds of seductive details. This meta-analysis reveals a significant seductive detail effect with small to medium (retention performance) and medium (transfer performance) effects. Furthermore, empirical evidence for moderating effects and various explanations of the seductive detail effect are reviewed. Empirical data supports, but also calls into question, each of the four explanations. The review concludes by discussing the theoretical and practical implications, as well as the limitations and future directions of this research.     

Economic Crisis,War, Humor,and Lessons From Shakespeare for Adult Learning and Human Resource Development

This paper addresses the problem of teaching adult learners who are going through difficult economic and political times. Lessons are learned from Shakespeare＇s King Lear. Humor is at the same time both a powerful educational tool and a course content that can be used to highlight tragic social realities. Through thoughtful laughter, humor comforts people. On the one hand, humor eases tension. On the other hand, humor intensifies tension by exposing harsh realities in a comic way. Hence, humor can be used as an instructional tool to facilitate learning about complex issues and tragedies both inside and outside the classroom （formal education）, the community （informal education）, and the workplace （non-formal education and human resource development）.