Effects of maternal interference on the attachment and exploratory behavior of one-year-olds

Effects of maternal interference on social behavior toward mother and exploratory play were examined in a laboratory experimental paradigm. Subjects were 40 1-year-olds and their mothers. Mothers of the 20 interference-group infants were instructed periodically to physically interfere with their child's independent object play during the first half of the observation session. A postinterference free-play period immediately followed. The 20 control-group infants were permitted by mother to play freely throughout the session. Groups were matched for exposure to play materials. Despite its aversiveness, interference had no subsequent effect on infant social initiatives to mother, responsiveness to mother's social bids, or exploratory play.     

Collaborative Research in Scotland: a New Departure

A programme of collaborative research has been attempting to decentralize control over the process of research into Scottish education. Teachers and other practitioners have been involved in analysing data collected in surveys of Scottish school leavers, and stored in the Scottish Education Data Archive. Some of their analyses have been published in the Collaborative Research Newsletter. This paper briefly describes the programme, and summarizes some of the Newsletter articles in two areas of study: the secondary school curriculum, and the attitudes and experiences of non‐Certificate school leavers.     

Researching the efficacy of online learning: A collaborative effort amongst scholars in Asian open universities

This article reports on a collaborative effort amongst scholars from ODL institutions across Asia that resulted in an analysis of the status of online learning. Eleven leading open universities participated in this project, each having representatives join the project team. The exchange among team members and data collection was conducted solely online and comprised the following three stages: (1) continuous email exchange; (2) institutional profile survey; and (3) student perception survey of online learning. Altogether, 1906 students returned valid questionnaires. The results reveal an array of methodologies used to design, implement and deliver online learning and include the perceptions of users on the advantages, disadvantages and barriers to learning online from an ODL perspective in Asia.     

Orientation Effects in the Development of Linear Object Tracking in Early Infancy

Infants' oculomotor tracking develops rapidly but is poorer when there are horizontal and vertical movement components. Additionally, persistence of objects moving through occlusion emerges at 4 months but initially is absent for objects moving obliquely. In two experiments, we recorded eye movements of thirty-two 4-month-old and thirty-two 6-month-old infants (mainly Caucasian-White) tracking horizontal, vertical, and oblique trajectories. Infants tracked oblique trajectories less accurately, but 6-month olds tracked more accurately such that they tracked oblique trajectories as accurately as 4-month olds tracked horizontal and vertical trajectories. Similar results emerged when the object was temporarily occluded. Thus, 4-month olds’ tracking of oblique trajectories may be insufficient to support object persistence, whereas 6-month olds may track sufficiently accurately to perceive object persistence for all trajectory orientations.