Concept learning by pigeons: Matching-to-sample with trial-unique video picture stimuli

Pigeons were trained to match-to-sample with several new methodologies: a large number of stimuli, computer-drawn color picture stimuli, responses monitored by a computer touch screen, stimuli presented horizontally from the floor, and grain reinforcement delivered onto the picture stimuli. Following acquisition, matching-to-sample concept learning was assessed by transfer to novel stimuli on the first exposure to pairs of novel stimuli. One group (trial-unique), trained with 152 different pictures presented once daily, showed excellent transfer (80% correct). Transfer and baseline performances were equivalent, indicating that the matching-to-sample concept had been learned. A second group (2-stimulus), trained with only two different pictures, showed no evidence of transfer. These results are discussed in terms of the effect of numbers of exemplars on previous failures to find concept learning in pigeons, and the implications of the positive finding from this experiment on abstract concept learning and evolutionary cognitive development.     

New Technology and Educational Television

The first part of the article provides a historical account of the broad phases of development that educational television has passed through as a result of social and technological influences:

• its beginnings in broadcasting in the fifties and sixties;

• its development through the video age in the seventies and eighties, with widening scope and opportunity as a result of developments in production and reception/recording equipment and an expansion of communication channels;

• its present potential, at the dawn of the interactive age, as a result of the influences of new technology.

The article then examines the problems of integrating new television‐related technologies into the educational system and draws attention to:

• the frequent past failures of the educational system to fully exploit new technologies, resulting in superficial integration and ineffectual use;

• the current tensions between the traditional educational technology approach and the drives behind much new technology;

• the need for appropriate systems and structures to ensure that the evaluation of such new technologies is properly resourced and effectively carried out.

     

Development of the attitude toward science in school assessment and its use to investigate the relationship between science achievement and attitude toward science in school

There is much interest in science courses in high school and student attitudes toward those courses. A valid and reliable instrument that measures such attitudes is not available. This study first developed and validated the Attitude toward Science in School Assessment (ATSSA). The instrument was used to evaluate the relationship between such attitude and achievement in science. A low correlation was found between attitude and various achievement tests. A moderate correlation was found between attitude and achievement that included an evaluation of the quality of work, as in a course grade.     

Issues in cross-cultural counseling: An examination of the meaning and dimensions of tolerance

While there is a clear need to address the ethical dimensions of cross-cultural counseling, the current literature lacks both a theoretical model of ethnic tolerance and a suitable measure for assessing the construct. The present study addressed this gap in the extant literature by (a) developing a measure of ethnic tolerance based upon extensive field work, (b) examining the measure's reliability and construct validity in light of two models of ethnic tolerance, and (c) examining the relationship of several factors (e.g., age, gender, and exposure to those of a different culture) to scores on the tolerance measure. Results indicated that the tolerance measure was best viewed as a unidimensional construct, had substantial content validity, and had modest construct validity. Respondents with more social contact with immigrants, as well as those who had positive experiences with immigrants, tended to score higher on the tolerance measure. Results underscore both the complexity of factors associated with tolerance and the need for counselor education programs to provide arenas for students to become aware of their own values and biases and how these may affect culturally-different clients.     

Research Experience as a Component of Science and Mathematics Teacher Preparation

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Evaluating Classroom Assessment Training in Teacher Education Programs

What should training for teachers look like? Do our assessment practices align well with what we would like our students to do? How can you self-assess assessment training at your institution?     

The Validity of Comparative Educational Studies

What are the conditions that will allow for appropriate comparisons among groups" Should the concept of comparative validity be added to the lexicon of the psychometrician"     

Ordinal position in the serial learning of rats

Rats were runway trained on each of two, three-trial series consisting of different varieties of reward (X, Y, and Z) and nonreward (N) serving as trial outcomes. The two series are represented as XNY and ZNN. Distinguishing the two series were different brightness and texture cues on the runway floor. Transfer tests, conducted after the rats had developed faster running for rewarded trials than for nonrewarded trials and slower running on Trial 2 of ZNN than on Trial 2 of XNY, provided evidence that trial position, rather than item memories, was controlling the discriminations. In Experiment 1, reversing the floor cues completely reversed the discriminations. In Experiment 2, transfer to NNN did not change the routine patterns of approach that had been established.     

A Good Job Is Hard to Find … Until Students Know What They Do Best

Why don't more students use the career center? Shane J. Lopez argues that the traditional career center has not kept up with students’ needs. He suggests that they reimagine themselves as places where students identify and nurture their strengths in order to find fulfilling work and create fulfilling lives.