The influence of shock during response prevention upon resistance to extinction of an avoidance response

A recent study found that avoidance extinction is equally facilitated by response prevention (blocking) whether the latter involves CS-alone or CS-shock presentations. An experiment was performed to determine whether this result was due to the use of a lengthy shock (5 sec) during response prevention. Five groups of rats were extinguished: (1) without prior blocking, (2) after blocking with CS only, (3) after blocking with a lengthy (5 sec) CS-contingent shock, (4) after blocking with a brief (.5 sec) CS-contingent shock, or (5) after blocking with a brief (.5 sec) shock only. The group blocked with the brief CS-contingent shock was substantially more resistant to extinction than the other four groups. The unblocked group and the group blocked with brief shock only required more trials to extinguish than the groups blocked with CS only or with lengthy CS-contingent shock, but did not differ from each other. The groups blocked with CS only or with lengthy CS-contingent shock also failed to differ from one another. The data support a significant role for Pavlovian conditioning processes in the effect of response prevention upon avoidance extinction.     

Evaluating admission criteria effects for under-represented groups

The effects that admission criteria may have for under-represented groups are an important concern for programs seeking to improve access to post-secondary education. Using data from a large preservice teacher education program in the Canadian province of Ontario, we demonstrate two approaches to evaluating the effects of admission criteria. The first approach uses survival analysis to compare the effects of minimum admission criteria for determining the admissibility of applicants. The second approach compares the actual admission decisions with the decisions that would have been made using eight alternative sets of rules with varying emphases on academic preparation, ratings of applicants’ essays and applicants’ demographic information. Both approaches offer insights into the roles of specific admission criteria in addressing under-representation.     

Chafing borderlands: obstacles for science teaching and learning in preschool teacher education

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This study examines preservice preschool teachers’ university science education experience. The empirical data are from a research and intervention...     

Using a Mobile Dichotomous Key iPad application as a scaffolding tool in a museum setting

This study tested an iPad application using a dichotomous key as a scaffolding tool to help students make more detailed observations as they identified various species of birds on display in a museum of natural science. The Mobile Dichotomous Key (MDK) iPad application was used by groups of fifth- and seventh-grade students. Analysis of the findings suggests that the MDK was equally as effective and in some ways more effective than the educator-led intervention at improving students' scientific observation skills. In general, the scaffolding key in both mobile and educator-led form was found to be more effective for fifth-grade students than for seventh-grade students. In addition, it was found to be effective at improving the level of detail students provided and the number of scientific terms they used, but not at improving the number of valid inferences students made.     

Prediction of child abuse: A prospective study of feasibility

Feasibility of identifying risk for child abuse prospectively was determined by interviewing 1400 expectant mothers and predicting that 273 were high risk. Nonaccidental child injuries were subsequently reported to authorities for 6% of these versus 1% of the remaining 1127 families. Prediction was only effective for 24 months following interview. Thus prenatal prediction was feasible although the rate of false positive high risk assignment would limit practical application of the interview we used. As a first step to improve prediction accuracy, a group of the 20 strongest predictors was selected from the interview by regression analysis. The correlation of these with abuse was .44 compared to .15 for the original interview. Important predictors included subjective impressions of interviewers, residency transience, untruthfulness, disturbed childhood nurture, unwanted pregnancy, and perhaps conditions that increased parent-child exposure.     

What makes a vibble a vibble? A developmental study of category generalization

Young children appear to know when a novel label for a novel object is a common noun. The present study was concerned with the properties of a named object that children assume to be true of other members of the category that is specified by such a noun. Preschoolers, second graders, and college students were shown drawings of objects and given nonsense labels for those objects. They then viewed other objects that varied from the labeled ones along 4 particular attributes and were asked to decide if those other objects should also receive the same label. Preschoolers focused mostly on single attributes in making category decisions, and their choices of attributes were evenly distributed among the 4 types. Older individuals primarily exhibited multiple attribute rules. The results are discussed in terms of developmental differences in the modes of processing that are used and in the types of knowledge that are brought to bear on the word learning situation.     

Deaf education in China: history, current issues, and emerging deaf voices

An overview is provided of (a) deaf education in China, (b) views of deaf Chinese, and (c) recent empowering international collaborations. China's national policy focuses on oral/aural education and hearing rehabilitation. However, everyday practice in schools for deaf children includes various forms of Chinese Sign Language. Early childhood education focuses on speech and hearing. Elementary and secondary school curricula reflect low expectations for deaf students and lack the same academic content provided to hearing students. There are limited higher education opportunities. There are no support services such as note takers or interpreters for mainstreamed students. There are no deaf teacher preparation or interpreter training programs. Jobs are few; the vast majority of deaf adults are unemployed. Deaf people interviewed for the article describe their needs, their dreams, and the changes they are witnessing, which result in part from recent empowering international collaborations.     

Measuring Science Instructional Practice: A Survey Tool for the Age of NGSS

Ambitious efforts are taking place to implement a new vision for science education in the United States, in both Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-adopted states and those states creating their own, often related, standards. In-service and pre-service teacher educators are involved in supporting teacher shifts in practice toward the new standards. With these efforts, it will be important to document shifts in science instruction toward the goals of NGSS and broader science education reform. Survey instruments are often used to capture instructional practices; however, existing surveys primarily measure inquiry based on previous definitions and standards and with a few exceptions, disregard key instructional practices considered outside the scope of inquiry. A comprehensive survey and a clearly defined set of items do not exist. Moreover, items specific to the NGSS Science and Engineering practices have not yet been tested. To address this need, we developed and validated a Science Instructional Practices survey instrument that is appropriate for NGSS and other related science standards. Survey construction was based on a literature review establishing key areas of science instruction, followed by a systematic process for identifying and creating items. Instrument validity and reliability were then tested through a procedure that included cognitive interviews, expert review, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (using independent samples), and analysis of criterion validity. Based on these analyses, final subscales include: Instigating an Investigation, Data Collection and Analysis, Critique, Explanation and Argumentation, Modeling, Traditional Instruction, Prior Knowledge, Science Communication, and Discourse.