Changing patterns of school enrolment in Australia

The various explanations offered for the decline in government school enrolments since the mid-1970s are considered in this article. Changing parental perceptions of the educational strengths and weaknesses of school systems are held to be of critical importance. Changes in government funding policy have been very important too, in their effects not only on enrolments but also on the educational policies of some non-government schools and, indeed, whole systems. The need is stressed for further research into parental concerns about education and the effects of funding policies on educational decisions.     

The Seminar as an Instructional Strategy in Distance Education

The data from this study indicated that those students who attended one seminar early in the course and those who did not tended to be different subsets of the course population. There was some evidence that seminar attenders progressed more rapidly through the first part of the course and had higher completion rates than non-attenders. However, seminar attenders appeared to take longer to complete the course than non-attenders. The results from the study were strictly correlational and it was not possible to determine the extent to which seminars attracted high performance students or contributed to higher performance.     

Children's Thinking During Collaborative Computer‐based Problem Solving

In previous experiments we have found that co‐operative working around a computer leads to performance gains, but that not all groups benefit equally. Specifically, we have found that mixed gender pairings have shown the least benefit of co‐operative working and we hypothesised that this was due to the nature of the interaction within these groups. The present experiment attempted to identify the specific components of co‐operative discussion that are associated with variations in performance. A Cloze task and a spatial programming task were used to observe gender pair differences in performance and discussion. Programming generated more co‐operation than did the Cloze task, and pairs of boys were especially reluctant to share the Cloze task. Analyses of dialogues indicated more positive socio‐emotional comments during programming than during the Cloze task, and there were also differences in problem‐focused informative statements between tasks. Programming elicited more suggestions of answers and also more negative socio‐emotional comments, while the Cloze task elicited more analysis and evaluation. These analytic comments were particularly frequent in discussions between girls.     

Can Quality Assurance Survive the Market? Accreditation and Audit at the Crossroads

This article provides a comparative analysis of the systems used for the ‘accreditation’ of degree‐granting institutions in the USA (accreditation) and the UK (audit). The authors begin by outlining the similarities and differences between the two processes. They point out that audit is not the subject of political controversy in the way that accreditation currently is. However, they add that this does not necessarily mean that all is set fair and potential sources of disturbance are highlighted. The article then considers what changes can be expected in the two processes as a result of increased market pressures, and whether such changes will make them more effective vehicles for quality improvement. An alternative approach, which would involve merging the regulatory role of the QAA with the regulatory functions of the Funding Councils, as part of a complete scheme of risk assessment, is suggested. The article also asks to whom the accrediting agencies in both countries are accountable for their work. According to the authors, neither process is foolproof; both can be manipulated and are open to abuse. In addition, it is argued that on neither side of the Atlantic are there currently adequte arrangements to “inspect the inspectors”. The authors conclude by warning that with the growing tendency to resort to the legal process, more questions will be asked about the accountability of those whose judgements are being questioned. In their view, the stronger the market pressures, the greater will be the recourse to legal process in both countries.     

Stimulus control of topographically tagged responding

Pigeons’ responses on an operant key were reinforced according to either multiple variable-interval variable-interval or multiple variable-interval extinction schedules. The multiple-schedule components were signaled by line-tilt stimuli on a second key (signal key). Signal-key responses never produced reinforcement, and operant-key responses were not reinforced if they followed within 1 sec of a signal-key response. Behavioral contrast was not observed on the operant key, although there was a small, but reliable, increase in signal-key responding in the variable-interval component of the multiple variable-interval extinction condition. Generalization tests were interspersed between sessions of multiple variable-interval extinction training. Generalization gradients along the line-tilt dimension exhibited peak shift for both operant-key and signal-key responding following intradimensional (line tilt) discrimination training. Line-tilt generalization gradients following interdimensional discrimination did not exhibit peak shift. Gradients following intradimensional discrimination were sharper than gradients following interdimensional discrimination for both operant-key and signal-key responding. It was concluded that dimensional stimulus control of topographically tagged responding maintained by the stimulusreinforcer relation parallels that maintained by the response-reinforcer relation.     

The role of comparison in perceptual learning: effects of concurrent exposure to similar stimuli on the perceptual effectiveness of their unique features

In three experiments, rats were given concurrent exposure to a compound flavor (AX) and to one of the elements of the compound (X). The perceptual effectiveness of A was then assessed by a test involving generalization of a conditioned aversion. Comparison was made with a preexposure procedure in which the compound and the common element were presented on separate trials, either in alternation or in separate blocks of trials. The effectiveness of the unique cue was less after blocked preexposure than after either of the other procedures; concurrent preexposure did not produce a greater effect than did alternating preexposure. These results challenge the suggestion that concurrent preexposure engages a special comparison process that will facilitate this form of perceptual learning.     

Stimulus generalization decrement in latent inhibition to a compound following exposure to the elements or the compound

In two experiments using the taste-aversion paradigm, we attempted to replicate a result reported by Holland and Forbes (1980), in which exposure to the elements of a compound produced more interference with future conditioning (latent inhibition) to the compound than did exposure to the compound itself. In our first experiment, a compound of HC1 and sucrose was used and the amount of fluid consumed during exposure and the first conditioning trial was controlled. Rather than finding enhanced interference produced by exposure to the elements, we found reduced interference relative to exposure to the compound. In Experiment 2, a compound of NaCl and sucrose was used and a method similar to that used by Holland and Forbes was employed. We replicated the result of our Experiment 1. We interpret these results as posing problems for some associative accounts of latent inhibition but as being easily explained as an instance of stimulus generalization decrement.     

On two effects of signaling the consequences for remembering

Five pigeons were trained to perform a delayed matching-to-sample task in which red- and green-colored keys were presented as sample and choice stimuli, and the duration of a delay interval varied across trials. Experiment 1 investigated the effects on delayed-matching accuracy of signaling different durations of food access for the two correct responses (the differential-outcomes effect), and of signaling nondifferential but larger durations for both responses (the signaled-magnitudes effect). In Condition 1, a vertical bar on either sample signaled different rewards (or different outcomes, DOs) for correct red and correct green responses (0.5 and 3.5 sec, respectively), and a horizontal bar signaled equal durations of food access (or same outcomes, SOs) for these responses (1.5 sec). In Condition 2, the horizontal bar signaled equally large rewards for the two correct responses (3.5 sec), and the vertical bar signaled equally small rewards (0.5 sec). Delayed-matching accuracies were higher on DO trials than on SO trials, and they were higher on large-reward trials than on small-reward trials. However, analyses of discriminability estimates as a function of delay-interval duration revealed differences between the forgetting functions reflecting these two effects. Signaling DOs increased the initial level of the function and reduced its slope relative to signaling SOs, whereas signaling larger rewards increased the initial level of the function but did not affect its slope relative to signaling smaller rewards. Experiment 2 investigated whether the difference between the initial levels of DO and SO functions in Condition 1 resulted from overall longer food access on the former trials. However, varying the food-access times on SO trials across three conditions (0.5, 3.5, and 1.5 sec) failed to produce systematic effects consistent with this hypothesis. The results are discussed with respect to the mechanisms that could be responsible for the two effects.