Black-white discrimination and orienting behavior in the desert iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis)

Six desert iguanas (Dipsosaurus dorsalis) were trained on a black-white discrimination problem using a modified Lashley maze I. The results, in terms of number of trials to criterion, compared favorably to those reported for turtles on the same brightness difference. Efficiency of learning was attributed to (1) the angle separating the discriminanda, (2) intertrial substrate temperature, and (3) visual attentional characteristics of the apparatus. In addition, orienting responses (VTE) varied in expected directions according to speed of learning and difficulty of maze choice points.     

Perceptions of academic quality and approaches to studying among technology students in distance education

Primary objective. To examine perceptions of academic quality and approaches to studying in students taking six technology courses by distance education.

Research design. Students taking four courses received an end-of-course questionnaire. The following year, students taking all six courses received a mid-course questionnaire.

Method. The Course Experience Questionnaire and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory were administered in a postal survey to 3539 students of the UK Open University.

Outcomes and results. Across successive levels of study, students were progressively less likely to adopt a deep approach, were more likely to adopt a surface approach and rated their courses less favourably, especially with regard to the workload and materials. Between the middle and end of a course, students were more likely to adopt a deep approach and gave more positive ratings with regard to the materials and amount of choice.

Conclusions. The survey instruments can be recommended as useful tools for monitoring the experiences of engineering and technology students.     

英国大学在出版业专业化发展中的作用

英国出版业是世界最发达也最具竞争力的一个行业。但此行业一直对职员岗前资格认证及岗后职业培训缺乏兴趣 ,投资很少。当今出版业面临着一系列的新变化 ,这一切都使行业内不得不更新观念 ,关注专业化的问题。大学可以通过岗前培训、专业进修教育、职业标准的推行、研究出版状况、进行咨询等方式发挥职业化的作用 ,为出版业推行职业标准、不断走向国际化做出贡献 ,为出版业非商业化问题的讨论提供论坛。     

Linking ethnic/racial discrimination to adolescent mental health: Sleep disturbances as an explanatory pathway

Ethnic/racial discrimination is associated with negative psychosocial outcomes, and this study considered sleep disturbance as a mediating pathway. Employing a combination of daily diary and biannual surveys, multilevel structural equation models estimated the indirect effects of sleep/wake concerns on negative, anxious, and positive mood, rumination, and somatic symptoms. In a sample of 350 urban Asian (74% Chinese, 8% Korean, 4% Indian, 1% Filipinx, 1% Vietnamese, and 12% other), Black, and Latinx (25% Dominican, 24% South American, 22% Mexican, 15% Puerto Rican, 5% Central American, and 9% other) youth (M = 14.27 years, 69% female, 77% U.S. born, 76% monoethnic/racial, data collected from 2015 to 2018), there was evidence for sleep disturbances mediating the impact of ethnic/racial discrimination on adjustment. Nighttime disturbance, daytime dysfunction, and daytime sleepiness evidenced partial or full mediation for daily- and person-level outcomes (υ = 0.1%–17.9%). Reciprocal associations between sleep disturbances and negative mood and rumination were also observed.     

Reading difference: picture book retellings as contexts for exploring personal meanings of race and culture

In racially and culturally homogeneous school settings, opportunities for children to interact with those who are unlike themselves are not always available. Picture book retellings provide contexts within which students are exposed to racial and cultural differences by allowing them to engage in vicarious events with people they might not otherwise encounter. In this article, the authors explore two fourth graders' aided and unaided picture book retellings. They argue that retellings are dialogic literacy events that provide children with opportunities to explore difference through social imagination and develop empathetic response to a wide range of fictional others.     

Listening to Another's Distress in Everyday Relationships

Talking about a difficult event may reduce discloser distress, but it may increase it in the listener. This essay offers a model that assesses some antecedent and interactional variables proposed to be involved with listening and connected with listeners' negative distress. Based on 82 reports of interactions with close relational others, levels of negative distress correlated positively with the amount of responsibility people felt for the other and time reported listening to the others' disclosure. Those who reported validating the other also reported more negative distress than did those who said their response style was to give advice. This article offers possible modifications to the model based in these results.