The arithmetic connection

From test and interview data obtained during an investigation into Grade 10 students' conceptions of algebraic generalisation and justification, we have extracted evidence of the extent to which these students have coordinated the worlds of arithmetic and algebra, and can move freely between them. The data show more dissociation than we expected, even among students who were successful at standard algebraic tasks. Conceiving algebra as generalised arithmetic may obscure the many genuine obstacles that the learner has to overcome in moving from fluent performance in arithmetic to fluent performance in algebra while achieving and maintaining a smooth coordination of both modes of action.     

Personal therapy: An essential aspect of counsellor training,or a distraction from focussing on the client?

As part of a research project investigating therapist/counsellor orientation and the therapeutic alliance with anorexic or bulimic clients, data was collected not only on therapist orientation but also on training, supervision and personal therapy of the counsellors. While no significant correlation was found between length of training or supervision and the therapeutic alliance score, there was a significant negative correlation between the amount of personal therapy the counsellors had had and the measure of the therapeutic alliance achieved with their clients. Further investigation produced other studies on personal therapy and effectiveness of counselling, in which at best no positive correlation was found between personal therapy and outcome, and at worst, personal therapy was negatively correlated with outcome.These research findings challenge the assumption often made that personal therapy is a desirable if not essential aspect of counsellor training. The arguments for and against personal therapy being included in the training of counsellors are discussed.     

Incidental spatial memory in the domestic dog (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis familiaris</Emphasis>)

We built upon previous work by Fujita et al. (2012, Animal Cognition, 15(6), 1055–1063) to create an experiment that investigated the presence of incidental memory for the spatial location of uneaten food in the domestic dog. Here, we dissociated potentially incidental spatial memory from the incidental memory for the characteristics of objects, in this case, food bowls. Eighteen household domestic dogs of various breeds and age were presented with four bowls. Each bowl contained either a novel object, treats the dog could consume, treats it could not consume, or it was left empty. Following a delay, the dogs returned to the laboratory and were presented with empty bowls in the same spatial orientation as the initial exposure and could move freely between bowls. This experiment required no previous training outside of basic obedience and so avoids the possibility that performance on the test was a conditioned response. We hypothesized that domestic dogs would be able to remember the location of uneaten food when presented with an unexpected memory test. We found that dogs in this study showed no evidence that they encoded spatial location in the absence of other cues that could be used to distinguish food bowls at specific locations. This suggests that dogs in previous experiments were more dependent on incidentally encoding the “what” and “in what” of this task than the “where,” in the absence of features making each location distinct.     

Effects of restraint on open-field activity,shock avoidance learning,and gastric lesions in the rat

Many rat studies of learned helplessness confound the stress of restraint with inescapable shock. In the present experiment, albino rats were held immobile for 0, 2, 8, 14, or 18 h. Behavioral deficits were observed in an open-field activity maze and in two-way shuttlebox avoidance acquisition. In the activity maze, a sex X restraint interaction was observed for latency to leave the center square, ambulation, and frequency of center square crossing. Males were slower to leave the center square, had fewer ambulations, and crossed the center square less frequently than females. These effects were potentiated by restraint. Males reared significantly less than females, and restrained animals reared significantly less than nonrestrained animals. Restraint also significantly increased the frequency of grooming. On the avoidance tasks, a significant restraint X trial block interaction indicated slower learning for restrained animals. The severity of the decrements increased with restraint duration. The presence of stomach lesions was positively correlated with stress duration and the severity of the behavioral decrement. The results indicate that restraint produces a variety of behavioral changes which may result in interpretive difficulties for helplessness studies that confound restraint and shock.     

Neurosecretory hormones in insects

Although the existence of hormones in insects has been known for many years, it is only comparatively recently — with the benefit of sensitive new techniques of assay, isolation, and sequencing — that an overall picture of their nature has begun to emerge. From this it is clear that, like vertebrate hormones —with which they have some structural affinity — they fall into related families. Apart from their great intrinsic scientific interest, these studies suggest new lines of approach to the development of more potent or discriminating drugs and insecticides.     

Focused Correlation and Confirmation

This essay presents results about a deviation from independencemeasure called focused correlation. This measure explicatesthe formal relationship between probabilistic dependence ofan evidence set and the incremental confirmation of a hypothesis,resolves a basic question underlying Peter Klein and Ted Warfield's‘truth-conduciveness’ problem for Bayesian coherentism,and provides a qualified rebuttal to Erik Olsson's claim thatthere is no informative link between correlation and confirmation.The generality of the result is compared to recent programsin Bayesian epistemology that attempt to link correlation andconfirmation by utilizing a conditional evidential independencecondition. Several properties of focused correlation are alsohighlighted.

1. Introduction
2. Correlation Measures

   2.1 Standard covarianceand correlation measures

   2.2 The Wayne–Shogenjimeasure

   2.3 Interpreting correlation measures

   2.4 Correlationandevidential independence

3. Focused Correlation
4. Conclusion

Appendix