The effect of mindfulness on extinction and behavioral resurgence

In the present experiments, we investigated the effects of mindfulness on behavioral extinction and resurgence. Participants received instrumental training; either they received FI training (Experiment 1), or they were trained to emit high rates and low rates of response via exposure to a multiple VR yoked-VI schedule prior to exposure to a multiple FI FI schedule in order to alter their rates of responding learned during Experiment 2. Participants were then exposed to either a focused- (mindfulness) or an unfocused-attention induction task. All participants were finally exposed to an extinction schedule in order to determine whether a mindfulness induction task presented immediately prior to extinction training affected extinction (Experiment 1) and behavioral resurgence (Experiment 2). During the extinction phase, the rates of responding were higher in the control group than in the mindfulness group, indicating that the mindfulness group was more sensitive to the contingencies and, thus, their prior performance extinguished more readily (Experiment 1). Moreover, rates of response in the extinction components less precisely reflected previous training in the mindfulness group, suggesting less resurgence of past behaviors after the mindfulness induction (Experiment 2).     

Extinction of enhanced latent inhibition

Hungry rats were used in a classical conditioning procedure in which visual stimuli were paired with food. Conditions in which nonreinforced exposure to a nontarget stimulus was followed by exposure to a simultaneous compound nontarget/target stimulus (a blocking procedure) resulted in enhanced latent inhibition to the target relative to exposure to the nontarget, followed by exposure to the target stimulus alone. A third phase of nonreinforced exposure training, in which the target was exposed alone following the compound, reduced levels of latent inhibition relative to results obtained with the blocking procedure. Experiments also suggested that this was not the result of restoration of associability by the omission of an expected presentation of the nontarget stimulus in the final preexposure phase. These results suggest that enhanced latent inhibition is due to summation of a direct-target-no-event association and a second-order association of these elements via target-nontarget and nontarget-no-event association. Exposure to the target after compound exposure extinguished the target-nontarget association and reduced the sources of no-event learning for the target.     

The role of response-reinforcer correlation in signaled reinforcement effects

In three experiments, we examined the effects of signaling reinforcement during operant responding in order to illuminate the factors underlying instrumental overshadowing and potentiation effects. Specifically, we examined whether signaling reinforcement produces an enhancement and attentuation of responding when the response-reinforcer correlation is weak and strong, respectively. In Experiment 1, rats responded on variable-ratio (VR) or variable-interval (VI) schedules that were equated for the number of responses emitted per reinforcer. A signal correlated with reinforcement enhanced response rates on the VR schedule, but attenuated response rates were produced by the signal on the VI schedule. In Experiment 2, two groups of rats responded on a VI schedule while the two other groups received a conjoint VI, negative fixed-ratio schedule in which the subjects lost the availability of reinforcements if they emitted high response rates. A reinforcement signal attenuated responding for the simple VI groups but not for the animals given the negative fixed-ratio component, although the signal improved response efficiency in both groups. In Experiment 3, a poor correlation between responding and reinforcement was produced by a VI schedule onto which the delivery of response-independent food was superimposed. A signal for reinforcement initially elevated responding on this schedule, relative to an unsignaled condition; however, this pattern was reversed with further training. In sum, the present experiments provide little support for the view that signaling reinforcement enhances responding when the response-reinforcer correlation is weak and attenuates responding when this correlation is strong.     

Understanding Learning Culturally: Overcoming the Dualism Between Social and Individual Views of Learning

This paper identifies limitations within the current literature on understanding learning. Overcoming these limitations entails replacing dualist views of learning as either individual or social, by using a theory of learning cultures and a cultural theory of learning, which articulate with each other. To do this, we argue that it is possible and indeed necessary to combine major elements of participatory or situated views of learning with elements of Deweyan embodied construction. Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and field are used to achieve this purpose, together with the use of ‘becoming’ as a metaphor to help understand learning more holistically. This theorizing has a predominantly heuristic purpose, and we argue that it enables researchers to better explain data. We also suggest that a cultural approach of the sort proposed here leads toward the asking of better questions about learning and its improvement and has high practical significance.

Child sexual abuse: A study of prevalence in Great Britain

Of 2019 men and women (aged 15 years and over) interviewed as part of a MORI Survey of a nationally representative sample of Great Britain, 10% reported that they had been sexually abused before the age of 16 (12% of females; 8% of males). There was no increased risk associated with specific social class categories or area of residence. For all types of sexual abuse, the mean age of victims when first abused was significantly lower for females. Subjective reports of the effects of sexual abuse indicated that the majority (51%) felt harmed by the experience, while only 4% reported that it had improved the quality of their life. We estimate that there are over 4.5 million adults in Great Britain who were sexually abused as children, and that a potential 1,117,000 children will be sexually abused before they are 15 years of age. At least 143,000 of these will be abused within the family. The social and mental health implications are enormous, and the authors suggest that an effective intervention and prevention policy is urgently required.     

The expansion of English-medium instruction in the Nordic countries: Can top-down university language policies encourage bottom-up disciplinary literacy goals?

Recently, in the wake of the Bologna Declaration and similar international initiatives, there has been a rapid increase in the number of university courses and programmes taught through the medium of English. Surveys have consistently shown the Nordic countries to be at the forefront of this trend towards English-medium instruction (EMI). In this paper, we discuss the introduction of EMI in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). We present the educational setting and the EMI debate in each of these countries and summarize relevant research findings. We then make some tentative suggestions for the introduction of EMI in higher education in other countries. In particular, we are interested in university language policies and their relevance for the day-to-day work of faculty. We problematize one-size-fits-all university language policies, suggesting that in order for policies to be seen as relevant they need to be flexible enough to take into account disciplinary differences. In this respect, we make some specific suggestions about the content of university language policies and EMI course syllabuses. Here we recommend that university language policies should encourage the discussion of disciplinary literacy goals and require course syllabuses to detail disciplinary-specific language-learning outcomes.     

Making a class act: as seen in one Year 8 English lesson

This article reports on active teaching and learning approaches taken by one English teacher and a secondary PGCE student‐teacher to bring about changes to the work culture in a Year 8 mixed‐ability class. It is written by the PGCE tutor, student‐teacher, class teacher and external examiner, following an observation of one lesson, in a series of lessons, given by the student‐teacher. This lesson is analysed through its motivating content, approach to critical reading, inherent creativity and active approaches to learning. It indicates how a challenging class has been changed by approaches that provide alternatives to currently advocated objectives‐driven and direct instructional approaches.     

The Role of the Secondary School Subject Mentor: an evaluation of the UWIC experience

Since the publication of circular 9/92 the responsibilities of school mentors have been considerably increased. In this article an account is given of the role of the subject mentor within the secondary school partnership operated by the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff as it has evolved over the past five years. An evaluation of the extent to which teachers at 90 schools have been able to meet all the expectations of this role reveals a number of important constraints, especially time, resources and lack of training for staff newly appointed to the post. In the light of these findings some suggestions are offered for future policy.     

Foreign and International Communication

Approaches to Communication Planning edited by John Middleton (1980, 300 pp.)

Communication Planning for Development: An Operational Framework by Alan Hancock (1981, 198 pp.)

Impact of Modern Communication Technology I: Australia, by Chris Duke (n.d., 122 pp.)

Impact of Modern Communication Technology II: Indonesia (n.d., 72 pp)

Flow of News in the Gulf, by Phil Harris, et al. (n.d., 70 pp.)

Protection of Journalists (no author, n.d., but 142 pp.)

82. The Book in Multilingual Countries by Abul Masan (1978, 40 pp.)

83. National Communication Polic Councils: Principles and Experiences by M.A. Rodrigues Dias, et al. (1979. 44 pp.)

84. Mass Media: The Image, Role, and Social Conditions of Women: A Collection and Analysis of Research Materials (1979, 78 pp.)

85. News Values and Principles of Cross-Cultural Communication (1980, 51 pp.)

(86) Special Issue: Mass Media Codes of Ethics and Councils: A Comprehensive International Study on Professional Standards by J. Clement Jones (1980, 80 pp.)

87. Communication in the Community (this title not yet seen)

88. Rural Journalism in Africa by Paul Ansah, et al. (1981, 35 pp.)

89. The SACl/EXERN Project in Brazil: An Analytical Case Study by Emile G. Mc- Anany et al. (1981, 46 pp.)

90. Community Communications: The Role of Community Media in Development by Frances Berrigan (1981, 50 pp.)

1. Historical Development of Media Systems–Japan by Shinichi Ito, et al. (1979, 69 pp.)

2. Historical Development of Media Systems–German Democratic Republic by Emil Dusiska (1979, 35 pp.)

3. Communication Indicators I: Communication Indicators and Indicators of Socio-Economic Development by Rita Cruise O'Brien, et al. (1979, 96 pp.)

4. Communication Indicators II: 100 Years of Mass Communication in Germany by Anton Galli, et al. (1979, 28 pp.)

5. Sccio-Economic and CommunicatioA Indicators in Development Planning: A Case Study of Iran by Majid Tehranian (n.d., 126 pp.)

6. Communication Methods to Promote Grass-Roots Participation by Jeremiah O'Sullivan-Ryan (n.d., 155 pp.)

7. Importation of Films for Cinema and Television in Egypt by Gehan Rachty (n.d., 77 pp.)

Reporting of International News and Roles of the Gatekeepers (1980) is a summary of two late 1979 meetings on the subject in Paris. (18 pp.)

Intergovernmental Conference on Communication Policies in Africa (1981, 81 pp. plus 47 page working paper for same meeting)

Intergovernmental Conference for Co-operation on Activities, Needs and Programmes for Communication Development (1980, 65 pp. plus 32 page working paper)

List of Documents and Publications in the Field of Mass Communication 1979 (no. 5 in the series, 1980, 187 pp.)

Mass Media and the Transnational Corporation by Basskaran Nair (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1980—$12.50/7.50)

Mass Media and National Cultures, by the International Association for Mass Communication Research (Leicester, U.K.: Adam Bros., and Shardlow Ltd., 1980—price not known, paper)

Organisations Internationales et Regionales de Journalistes [International and Regional Organizations of Journalists] (Prague: International Organization of Journalists, 1980—price, if any, not given, paper)

Bruce L. Cook, Understanding Pictures in Papua New Guinea (David C. Cook Foundation, Cook Square, Elgin, Ill. 60120—$8.95, paper)

Paul Lendvai, The Bureaucracy of Truth: How Communist Governments Manage the News (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1981—$24.75)