An easy-to-hard effect after nonreinforced preexposure in a sweetness discrimination

Experiments 1A and 1B used a taste-aversion procedure with rats to demonstrate that exposure to easily discriminated flavors along a dimension (1 % and 10 % sucrose) can facilitate learning a subsequent hard discrimination (4 % and 7 % sucrose) when one of those flavors is paired with illness. Experiment 1A compared the effects of preexposure to the easily discriminated flavors against exposure to the same stimuli used in the discrimination training or no exposure at all. Experiment 1B replicated the conditions in Experiment 1A, with 2 additional days of training and unrestricted access to the flavors on CS+/CS– trials in discrimination training. Contrary to findings with multidimensional stimuli (Scahill & Mackintosh, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 30, 96–103, 2004; Suret & McLaren, The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56B, 30–42, 2003), we found that preexposure to the easily discriminable stimuli varying along a single dimension of sweetness facilitated subsequent discrimination training over the other conditions in each experiment. We discuss the results in terms of the ideas presented by Gibson (1969) and Mackintosh (Psychological Review, 82, 276–298, 1975) and in terms of hedonic variables not considered by theories of perceptual learning.     

Fischer,Frank et al (2013) Grand challenges in technology enhanced learning Springer (Berlin) isbn 978‐3‐319‐01666‐5 79 pp £44.99 http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/learning+%26+instruction/book/978‐3‐319‐01666‐5

The world of education progresses by succeeding in its own challenges. This attractive volume excels in suggesting key issues that will need to be addressed in the next years by researchers, teachers and students. If you think the content of this book may be relevant, I recommend that you buy a copy for your own use. Jesús García Laborda     

Ethnic and Racial Identity in Adolescence: Implications for Psychosocial,Academic, and Health Outcomes

The construction of an ethnic or racial identity is considered an important developmental milestone for youth of color. This review summarizes research on links between ethnic and racial identity (ERI) with psychosocial, academic, and health risk outcomes among ethnic minority adolescents. With notable exceptions, aspects of ERI are generally associated with adaptive outcomes. ERI are generally beneficial for African American adolescents' adjustment across all three domains, whereas the evidence is somewhat mixed for Latino and American Indian youth. There is a dearth of research for academic and health risk outcomes among Asian American and Pacific Islander adolescents. The review concludes with suggestions for future research on ERI among minority youth.     

Feeling Good,Happy, and Proud: A Meta‐Analysis of Positive Ethnic–Racial Affect and Adjustment

One point of intersection in ethnic and racial identity research is the conceptual attention paid to how positively youth feel about their ethnicity or race, or positive ethnic–racial affect. This article reports results of a series of meta‐analyses based on 46 studies of this dimension and psychosocial, academic, and health risk outcomes among ethnic and racial minority youth. The overall pattern of results suggests that positive ethnic–racial affect exhibited small to medium associations (r range = |.11| to |.37|) with depressive symptoms, positive social functioning, self‐esteem, well‐being, internalizing, externalizing, academic achievement, academic attitudes, and health risk outcomes. Implications for theory and research about the role of positive ethnic–racial affect among youth growing up in an increasingly diverse society are discussed.     

Comparative analysis of student self-reflections on course projects

This study presents the skills, experiences, and values identified in project self-reflections of 161 undergraduate engineering students. Self-reflections from two different engineering design courses, which provide experiences in project-based learning (PBL), are analysed through the content analysis methodology. Results show that ‘application’, ‘true life’, ‘satisfaction’, and ‘communication’ are the common keywords shared in the reflections. Multiple hypothesis tests to identify differences between courses, project types, years, and gender suggest that there are no significant differences between experiences, skills, and values self-reported by students who completed either a case study or an industry project. Based on research findings, recommendations will be provided to enhance the engineering curriculum based on PBL experiences to support the development of relevant professional skills and experiences.     

Competences in demand within the Spanish agricultural engineering sector

The Rural Engineering Department (Technical University of Madrid) ran three competence surveys during the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 academic years and evaluated: (1) the competences gained by agricultural engineer's degree and agricultural technical engineer's degree students (360 respondents); (2) the competences demanded by agricultural employers (50 farming sector employers); (3) competences required by farming sector professionals and former students (70 professionals). The surveys show significant differences between what competences agricultural employers require of graduates and the competences they acquire during their agricultural engineering degree courses. Recruiters are looking for generic competences such as the ability to coordinate groups and place less importance on knowledge of engineering, biology, applied economics and legislation. Of the computer-related competences, those most in demand by sector professionals were related to the use of Microsoft Office/Excel (used by 79% of professionals). Surveys were used to redesign some subjects of the degrees.     

Executive function and verbal self-regulation in childhood: Developmental linkages between partially internalized private speech and cognitive flexibility

Recent studies have noted that executive function and the use of self-regulatory private speech are related in childhood, and proposed that the critical leap that occurs in the development of executive function between the ages of three and six years may be due to the onset of language-based self-regulatory functions at this age. This research explored the relationship between executive function and private speech in a cross-sectional study of 81 children between four and seven years of age. The children performed an executive function task, the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), and children's use of private speech was observed during a categorization task. The results indicated that, after controlling for children's age, gender, verbal abilities, and fluid reasoning, children's use of partially internalized private speech during the categorization task was significantly related to the number of phases successfully passed on the DCCS task, which required them to switch between card sorting rules. Children who used more partially internalized private speech were more likely to pass the most challenging phase of the DCCS task that assesses the ability to flexibly use different sorting rules according to a higher-order rule. We discuss the role of verbal mediation in the development of cognitive flexibility and its implications for the design of intervention programs for children who possess deficits of executive function.     

Building Authenticity in Social Media Tools to Recruit Postsecondary Students

An increasing number of institutions utilize social media tools, including student-written blogs, on their admission websites in an effort to enhance authenticity in their recruitment marketing materials. This study offers a framework for understanding what contributes to prospective college students’ perceptions of social media authenticity and how their perceptions shape expectations of the college experience. The results of the study are based on qualitative data comprising 16 in-depth interviews, 165 journal entries, and an eight-member focus group interview with college-bound students. Prospective college students perceived student-written blogs to be authentic when student bloggers disclosed personal details and feelings about campus life, even when the topic of the blog was contrived to focus on admission and college-related activities. Recognizing a blog as authentic occurred through the process of internalizing the experience described in the blog post and identifying with the blogger.     

Media Concentration in the Hispanic Market: A Case Study of TV Azteca vs. Televisa

If one wanted to measure the historic level of multimedia industry concentration in Mexico, it would not be necessary to use statistics, financial analysis, viewer ratings, or other evaluation systems. The maximum level of concentration is 1, and, in Mexico, that number belonged for 20 years to Grupo Televisa (1973–1993). Televisa's position was lost in 1993 when entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas Pliego launched TV Azteca. This paper explores the principal strategies used by TV Azteca to overcome the entry barriers set by the Televisa monopoly. The paper also presents an economic valuation of this duopoly market 7 years after the shift in market structure.