Do infants see emotional expressions in static faces?

To determine whether young infants discriminate photographs of different emotions on an affect-relevant basis or on the basis of isolated features unrelated to emotion, groups of 17-, 23-, and 29-week-olds were habituated to slides of 8 women posing either Toothy Angry, Nontoothy Angry, or Nontoothy Smiling facial expressions and were then shown 2 new women in the familiarized expression and in a novel Toothy Smiling expression. At all 3 ages, recovery to the novel Toothy Smiling faces occurred only after habituation to Nontoothy faces (whether smiling or angry), not after habituation to Toothy Angry faces, indicating that infants had been responsive to nonspecific features of the photographs (presence or absence of bared teeth) rather than to affectively relevant configurations of features. In a second experiment, 2 older age groups (35 and 41 weeks) also proved to be insensitive to affect-related aspects of still faces, though more so for angry than for happy expressions. It is suggested that the young infant's difficulty in extracting emotional information from static stimuli may be attributable to the absence of the critical invariants (dynamic, multimodally specified) that characterize naturalistic expressions of emotion.     

Children's heart rate reactivity responses to three school tasks

The effects of three routine classroom tasks upon heart rate reactivity were investigated with a sample of 30 typical fifth-grade children. Instructions for a mental arithmetic task, the mental arithmetic task itself, and silent reading were administered under standardized conditions, with a reward being offered for performance on the mental arithmetic task to enhance competition. Heart rate was individually monitored each second during these tasks, and data were collected on mental arithmetic performance and reading ability. Results indicated that some children showed large increases in their heart rates during the three tasks, and that these children should be considered as at-risk in terms of their cardiac health.     

Developing POPTRAN,a population modelling package

Collaboration between subject matter specialists, computer programmers and educational technologists has resulted in the production of POPTRAN, a computer assisted learning package designed to teach the basic concepts of population studies. Its evaluation in developing countries, with both naive and specialist users, and subsequent revision, has produced a package of both academic quality and teaching effectiveness.     

Concept learning by pigeons: Matching-to-sample with trial-unique video picture stimuli

Pigeons were trained to match-to-sample with several new methodologies: a large number of stimuli, computer-drawn color picture stimuli, responses monitored by a computer touch screen, stimuli presented horizontally from the floor, and grain reinforcement delivered onto the picture stimuli. Following acquisition, matching-to-sample concept learning was assessed by transfer to novel stimuli on the first exposure to pairs of novel stimuli. One group (trial-unique), trained with 152 different pictures presented once daily, showed excellent transfer (80% correct). Transfer and baseline performances were equivalent, indicating that the matching-to-sample concept had been learned. A second group (2-stimulus), trained with only two different pictures, showed no evidence of transfer. These results are discussed in terms of the effect of numbers of exemplars on previous failures to find concept learning in pigeons, and the implications of the positive finding from this experiment on abstract concept learning and evolutionary cognitive development.     

New Technology and Educational Television

The first part of the article provides a historical account of the broad phases of development that educational television has passed through as a result of social and technological influences:

• its beginnings in broadcasting in the fifties and sixties;

• its development through the video age in the seventies and eighties, with widening scope and opportunity as a result of developments in production and reception/recording equipment and an expansion of communication channels;

• its present potential, at the dawn of the interactive age, as a result of the influences of new technology.

The article then examines the problems of integrating new television‐related technologies into the educational system and draws attention to:

• the frequent past failures of the educational system to fully exploit new technologies, resulting in superficial integration and ineffectual use;

• the current tensions between the traditional educational technology approach and the drives behind much new technology;

• the need for appropriate systems and structures to ensure that the evaluation of such new technologies is properly resourced and effectively carried out.

     

Early transition into adult roles: some antecedents and some outcomes

The transition to adult roles usually occurs within a normative age span. By focusing on preadolescence to late adolescence using 2-wave panel data, this research seeks to develop a more informed picture of how "early" exit from the student role and "early" entry into the adult role of parent or spouse reflect factors operating prior to adolescence. The short term consequences of adult role transition on teenage status aspirations, life plans, other psychological orientations, and parental influence are also examined. Even though multiple role transition is frequently observed, only leaving school early appears to be related to preadolescent career decisions and academic performance in high school. The determinants of early transition to the role of parent or spouse do not appear to be socioeconomic origins, parental child rearing techniques or other specific influences, academic ability or performance, or preadolescent aspirations, as has generally been hypothesized in the literature. Research dilemmas and policy implications are discussed.     

Using the College Outcome Measures Project to measure college outcomes

This article describes one institution's use of the College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) in comparing outcomes for graduates of traditional and non-traditional programs. The study was designed to answer three questions concerning the use of COMP in evaluating traditional and non-traditional programs. Results obtained in a study of 96 University of Minnesota graduating seniors suggest greater potential usefulness in distinguishing among institutions than in comparing outcomes of programs within an institution. The authors conclude that as new approaches and instruments for measuring college outcomes become available, criteria for instrument selection need to be shared among individuals charged with conducting outcome studies.     

Reflective Practice in Physical Education and Physical Education Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature Since 1995

Reflection and reflective practice are key concepts in the educational literature as well as in research on physical education (PE) and physical education teacher education (PETE). The purpose of this article is to review the current empirical knowledge base for reflection and reflective practice in PE and PETE from 1995 to 2011. The review includes empirical research published in peer reviewed journals on the topics on reflection and reflective practice in the contexts of PE and PETE. There were 33 articles included in the review. Most of the research is conducted in the PETE context, where it was found that pre-service teachers do develop their reflective capabilities. However, the results also indicate students make little progress on critical reflections. In the PE context, it was found that teachers express a need for reflective communities. Theoretical and methodological challenges with the reviewed literature are discussed and suggestions for further research proposed.