Short-term memory for haptic cues in monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

Short-term memory (STM) for haptic information was examined in a delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) task. Three rhesus monkeys were tested in DMTS with all possible combinations of different-size spheres and cubes as the sample and comparison stimuli. The results showed that the decrease in percentage correct as a function of the retention intervals was relatively independent of the size and shape of the sample and comparison stimuli. In general, at each retention interval, percentage correct was higher when the (1) comparison stimuli differed in both size and shape than when the comparison stimuli differed in only size or shape, (2) size differences between the comparison stimuli increased, and (3) samples were spheres rather than cubes. This pattern of results suggests that dimensions of the haptic stimuli influenced discrimination but had little effect on the animals’ STM. In Experiment 2, the same three monkeys responded to the sample and comparison stimuli with the same hand or responded to the sample with one hand and the comparison stimuli with the opposite hand. The decrease in percentage correct across retention intervals was comparable for all possible hand combinations. These results suggest that the loss of information from STM is comparable when the sample and comparison stimuli are both felt with the same hand or with opposite hands.     

Teacher assignment,hiring, and preparation: Minority teachers in New York City

This article examines issues related to minority teachers in New York City. Although increasing proportions of teachers hired in the last decade are black, Hispanic, or Asian, the gap between proportions of pupils and teachers remains due to increases in minority pupils. There are strong correlations between proportions of teachers and pupils in districts within racial and ethnic groups. The converse is also true; there are strong negative correlations between black and Hispanic teachers, for example, and percent of white and Asian pupils. Districts with larger proportions of minority pupils tend to have more emergency new teachers, fewer fully certified teachers, and fewer experienced teachers. Only 58% of the new black or Hispanic teachers, compared with 82% of white teachers, indicated they intend to remain in teaching after five years. Interviews with personnel directors suggest there are no systematic constraints on selection processes. New minority teachers queried about their job-search practices suggest somewhat more frustration with the process and less use of local leads than white teachers. Together these data suggest that the ability to increase the number of minority teachers is a more complex problem than recruitment and training. Moreover, minority pupils do not appear to have equal access to experienced and fully qualified teachers.     

Preparing Counselors to Advocate for Social Justice: A Liberation Model

There are few pedagogical resources that describe how counselor educators can prepare counseling students to advocate for social justice. This article highlights a constructivist approach to social justice advocacy training called the Liberation Model. The principles of the Liberation Model are discussed, and recommendations for implementing the model in graduate counseling courses are provided. The purpose of the model is to help students develop the knowledge, awareness, and skills necessary for social justice advocacy.     

A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Early Prelinguistic Gesture Development and Its Relationship to Language Development

Many Western industrialized nations have high levels of ethnic diversity but to date there are very few studies which investigate prelinguistic and early language development in infants from ethnic minority backgrounds. This study tracked the development of infant communicative gestures from 10 to 12 months (n = 59) in three culturally distinct groups in the United Kingdom and measured their relationship, along with maternal utterance frequency and responsiveness, to vocabulary development at 12 and 18 months. No significant differences were found in infant gesture development and maternal responsiveness across the groups, but relationships were identified between gesture, maternal responsiveness, and vocabulary development.     

Child Temperament and Total Diurnal Cortisol in Out-of-Home Center-Based Child Care and in At-Home Parental Care

The association between child temperament characteristics and total diurnal saliva cortisol in 84 children (M = 2.3 years, SD = 0.6) attending out-of-home, center-based child care and 79 children (M = 2.0 years, SD = 0.5) attending at-home parental care was examined. Saliva samples were collected during two consecutive days, that is, Sunday and Monday, with four samples taken per day. While children higher in surgency had higher total diurnal cortisol production, we did not find evidence that temperament moderated the associations between child-care context and total diurnal cortisol. Negative affectivity and effortful control were not related to cortisol output. Our findings suggest that temperamental surgency may be associated with higher total cortisol production in early childhood across child-care settings.     

A schematic–Theoretic view of problem solving and development of algebraic thinking

This study explored the problem-solving schemas developed by 7th-grade pre-algebra students as they participated in a teaching experiment that was designed to help students develop effective schemas for solving algebraic problem situations involving contexts of (1) growth and change and (2) size and shape. This article describes the qualities and types of schemas that students developed through examples of problems used to develop schemas, examples of students' reasoning and writing, and excerpts from student interviews. Findings from the study indicated that there is a link between the type of generalizations students construct and the schemas they are forming. By using these schemas students recognize, extend, and generalize patterns and quantitative relationships both verbally and symbolically. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.