New perspectives in gaze sensitivity research

Attending to where others are looking is thought to be of great adaptive benefit for animals when avoiding predators and interacting with group members. Many animals have been reported to respond to the gaze of others, by co-orienting their gaze with group members (gaze following) and/or responding fearfully to the gaze of predators or competitors (i.e., gaze aversion). Much of the literature has focused on the cognitive underpinnings of gaze sensitivity, namely whether animals have an understanding of the attention and visual perspectives in others. Yet there remain several unanswered questions regarding how animals learn to follow or avoid gaze and how experience may influence their behavioral responses. Many studies on the ontogeny of gaze sensitivity have shed light on how and when gaze abilities emerge and change across development, indicating the necessity to explore gaze sensitivity when animals are exposed to additional information from their environment as adults. Gaze aversion may be dependent upon experience and proximity to different predator types, other cues of predation risk, and the salience of gaze cues. Gaze following in the context of information transfer within social groups may also be dependent upon experience with group-members; therefore we propose novel means to explore the degree to which animals respond to gaze in a flexible manner, namely by inhibiting or enhancing gaze following responses. We hope this review will stimulate gaze sensitivity research to expand beyond the narrow scope of investigating underlying cognitive mechanisms, and to explore how gaze cues may function to communicate information other than attention.     

Teaching instructional design in a computer literacy course

Knowledge of instructional design principles can help teachers integrate technology such as computers into their classroom instruction. This article describes a required computer literacy course for preservice teachers which was redesigned to include substantial components to teach instructional design. Also described are the results of a study conducted to examine the effectiveness of the instructional design training. End-of-course measures indicated that the preservice teachers learned the essential principles of instructional design and believed that the instruction would help them develop better lesson plans for effective use of computers in their classroom instruction.     

How Interest in Science Negatively Influences Perceptions of Women

We examined whether women who pursue scientific training are viewed negatively by college students. Participants (N = 114 college students; 56 women, 58 men) saw a woman describe her major (either chemistry or the humanities) and express either strong commitment to her course of study or ambivalence about it. Participants then provided judgments about the speaker's traits (such as assertiveness and sociability), social behaviors (including how often she dates), and her future potential (including happiness and fulfillment with her career, as well as starting salary). Results indicated that both major and commitment level influenced perceptions of the speaker. Commitment to the major increased judgments of future career fulfillment, intellectual competence, school achievement, and assertiveness. Pursuit of chemistry, however, was perceived as negative, as people judged the woman as less sociable when she was committed to being a chemist, and women participants predicted she would have a less fulfilling career. Men participants said they would not want to date her. Although women may understand that they could make more money in the sciences, negative judgments about their social capabilities and future happiness may contribute to their propensity to avoid science.     

Hypothesis Testing Using the Films of The Three Stooges

The use of The Three Stooges' films as a source of data in an introductory statistics class is described. The Stooges' films are separated into three populations. Using these populations, students may conduct hypothesis tests with data they collect.     

The law and special educational needs in Ireland: perspectives from the legal profession

This article outlines parents’ struggle to secure adequate educational resources for their child(ren) with special educational needs within the Irish State system. The authors challenge the view that legislation facilitates practical advances that are meaningful to individual families. This small-scale exploratory study reports the findings from five in-depth interviews with experienced legal practitioners in the area of special educational needs in Ireland. These were selected due to their involvement in a number of high profile cases taken against the State. The findings underline the challenges faced by parents pursuing the legal route and the need for supportive structures to be put in place prior to the ligation process.