Strategy selection for cognitive skill acquisition depends on task demands and working memory capacity

The involvement of working memory capacity (WMC) in ruled-based cognitive skill acquisition is well-established, but the duration of its involvement and its role in learning strategy selection are less certain. Participants (N = 610) learned four logic rules, their corresponding symbols, or logic gates, and the appropriate input–output combinations in three-gate circuit patterns. Participants practiced 120 repetitions of each rule (480 total gates) over the course of 10 training blocks. Memory load varied between subjects. The confluence of task demands and individual differences in WMC (N = 518) dramatically affected speed–accuracy tradeoffs and strategic use of a computerized help function. Cluster analysis revealed five distinct groups of participants based on the combination of response accuracy, latency, and help use. Some groups with moderate to high mean WMC acquired the task with predictable performance patterns. Other groups, prevalently under a memory load and with low mean WMC, failed to learn or overused help.     

Parallel and divergent interpreting in an elementary school classroom

The study examined the extent to which a highly qualified interpreter remained parallel with or diverged from the original classroom discourse in her interpreting for a 3rd-grade deaf student in science, social studies, and resource room. The interpreter's signed and verbalized expressions were compared to the class participants' expressions for meaning equivalence. Parallel interpreting, occurring 33.2% of the time, closely matched the content of the speaker's message. Divergent interpreting, whereby the interpreter added or dropped elements of meaning, occurred 66.8% of the time. Qualitative analyses of classroom footage as well as interviews with the interpreter and the teachers revealed how, when, and why the interpreter diverged from the message. While the interpreter often made intentional reductions and additions to the discourse to achieve greater student understanding of language and course content, there was little awareness of these changes among individualized educational program team members.     

The relationship between intelligence and performance on the test of variables of attention (TOVA)

The present study explored the relationship between the intelligence of young adults and their performance on the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA). The study also examined whether significant differences existed between adults with and without attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on TOVA errors of omission, errors of commission, mean correct response time, and variability, as well as on performance on the freedom from distractibility (FD) factor on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). Seventy-nine adults participated in the study, including 17 with ADHD and 62 college students without ADHD. Pearson product-moment correlations indicated that none of the correlations between Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) and TOVA variables were significant. Analysis of variance results revealed that adults with ADHD made more errors of omission on the TOVA than did controls. Between-group differences were not found on the remaining dependent variables.     

Applied positive psychology: Improving everyday life,health, schools,work, and society

Multiple disciplines guide our practice, but none is more relevant than the wholesome approach of positive psychology. In Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society (2011), the editors address four core areas: society, human development, institutional organizations, and future directions. The strength of this book lies in its comprehensive compilation of research‐based, applied, and integrated practices for improving the living, working, and social conditions of those we strive to help every day. Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society (ISBN: 978‐0‐415‐87781‐7) is published by Routledge.     

What does it look like and what can it do? Category structure influences how infants categorize

Despite a large body of research demonstrating the kinds of categories to which infants respond, few studies have directly assessed how infants' categorization unfolds over time. Four experiments used a visual familiarization task to evaluate 10-month-old infants' (N = 98) learning of exemplars characterized by commonalities in appearance or function. When learning exemplars with a common function, infants initially responded to the common feature, apparently forming a category, and only learned the individual features with more extensive familiarization. When learning exemplars with a common appearance, infants initially learned the individual features and apparently only formed a category with more extensive familiarization. The results are discussed in terms of models of category learning.     

Child forensic interviewing in Children's Advocacy Centers: empirical data on a practice model

OBJECTIVE: Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) aim to improve child forensic interviewing following allegations of child abuse by coordinating multiple investigations, providing child-friendly interviewing locations, and limiting redundant interviewing. This analysis presents one of the first rigorous evaluations of CACs' implementation of these methods. METHODS: This analysis is part of a quasi-experimental study, the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children's Advocacy Centers, which evaluated four CACs relative to within-state non-CAC comparison communities. Case abstractors collected data on investigation methods in 1,069 child sexual abuse cases with forensic interviews by reviewing case records from multiple agencies. RESULTS: CAC cases were more likely than comparison cases to feature police involvement in CPS cases (41% vs. 15%), multidisciplinary team (MDT) interviews (28% vs. 6%), case reviews (56% vs. 7%), joint police/child protective services (CPS) investigations (81% vs. 52%) and video/audiotaping of interviews (52% vs. 17%, all these comparisons p<.001). CACs varied in which coordination methods they used, and some comparison communities also used certain coordination methods more than the CAC with which they were paired. Eighty-five percent of CAC interviews took place in child-friendly CAC facilities, while notable proportions of comparison interviews took place at CPS offices (22%), police facilities (18%), home (16%), or school (19%). Ninety-five percent of children had no more than two forensic interviews, and CAC and comparison differences on number of interviews were mostly non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: Relative to the comparison communities, these CACs appear to have increased coordination on investigations and child forensic interviewing. The CAC setting was the location for the vast majority of CAC child interviews, while comparison communities often used settings that many consider undesirable. CACs showed no advantage on reducing the number of forensic interviews, which was consistently small across the sample.     

Research and teaching cultures in two contrasting UK policy contexts: Academic life in Education Departments in five English and Scottish universities

The paper explores academic staff and departmental research and teaching cultures in the Education Departments of five universities in Scotland and England, countries with increasingly diverging public policies in respect of education. The relationship between research and teaching, how the purposes of universities are defined and the status of research in Education are current UK higher education policy preoccupations. Data is drawn from interviews with 40 academics, observation of department settings, documentation and websites. The analysis draws on the work of Bourdieu, considering the changing habitus of individual academics, their departmental and academic subject context and the forms of symbolic capital now required in Scottish and English Education departments in response to new policies affecting their academic field. The paper also utilises recent literature on the research–teaching relationship. The career trajectories of respondents, their habitus and the forms of symbolic capital that they bring to academic life are examined, as are the extent to which the teaching and research cultures in each of the five departments studied mirror each other and whether these also reflect the two different policy contexts. The themes how academic cultures are shaped and research/teaching connections viewed have international as UK relevance.     

Evaluating fifth- and sixth-grade students’ expository writing: task development, scoring, and psychometric issues

Drawing from multiple theoretical frameworks representing cognitive and educational psychology, we present a writing task and scoring system for measurement of students’ informative writing. Participants in this study were 72 fifth- and sixth-grade students who wrote compositions describing real-world problems and how mathematics, science, and social studies information could be used to solve those problems. Of the 72 students, 69 were able to craft a cohesive response that not only demonstrated planning in writing structure but also elaboration of relevant knowledge in one or more domains. Many-facet Rasch Modeling (MFRM) techniques were used to examine the reliability and validity of scores for the writing rating scale. Additionally, comparison of fifth- and sixth-grade responses supported the validity of scores, as did the results of a correlational analysis with scores from an overall interest measure. Recommendations for improving writing scoring systems based on the findings of this investigation are provided.     

Sport-specific factors predicting player retention in junior cricket

Understanding factors that motivate young athletes to continue participation in sport can help key stakeholders cultivate an environment that fosters long-term participation. This investigation sought to determine the performance and participation factors that influenced continued participation in junior cricket. Administration-level data were collected each annual season across a seven-year period by a community-level junior cricket association in Australia and analysed to identify the performance and participation-based predictors of player retention. All players were males aged <16 years. Players were categorised according to whether they remained in (or departed from) the association at the end of each playing season. A multivariate logistic regression model with a stepwise variable selection was employed to identify significant independent predictors of player retention. The number of innings batted and overs bowled were significant participation-related contributors to junior cricket player retention. Performance factors such as the number of wickets taken and the number of runs scored also significantly influenced player retention. Finally, team age group, the number of previous seasons played and age were also significant factors in player retention. This demonstrates that sufficient opportunity for children to participate in the game and expression of skills competence are key factors for retention in cricket.