Behavioral CRs elicited by a lithium- or an amphetamine-paired contextual test chamber

The behavioral CRs elicited by a drug-paired contextual cue in rats were measured in a series of experiments. The first three experiments measured the pattern of CRs elicited by a lithiumand an amphetamine-paired CS chamber. The final experiment measured the pattern of URs elicited by lithium or amphetamine when administered in the same chamber. The suppression of grooming-related activities (body washing, face washing, and/or scratching) appeared as a nonspecific effect of both drug USs that was capable of becoming conditioned to the contextual chamber cue. A number of other behaviors differed among conditions, which provides evidence that contextual cue-drug associations are drug-specific. Of the behaviors that differed between the two US drug conditions, lithium CRs showed evidence of behavioral activation (enhanced rearing and limb flicking), but amphetamine CRs showed evidence of behavioral suppression (line crossing, rearing, and shaking). The UR patterns shared some similar and some dissimilar elements of the CR patterns elicited by the CS chamber for both lithium and amphetamine; in fact, by the activity and rearing measures, the URs and CRs were opposite in direction. The results exclusively supported neither stimulus substitution nor conditioned compensatory response accounts of Pavlovian conditioning; instead, each process appears to have accounted for different components of the overall CR pattern.     

Activist dispositions for social justice in advantaged and disadvantaged contexts of schooling

This article advances current conceptions of teacher activism through an exploration of the social justice dispositions of teachers in advantaged and disadvantaged contexts of schooling. We interrogate the practices of teachers in a government school, with a high proportion of refugee students and students from low socio-economic backgrounds, in a high-fees, multi-campus independent school, and in a disadvantaged Systemic Catholic school to illustrate how Bourdieu’s notion of dispositions (which are constitutive of the habitus) and Fraser’s distinction between affirmative and transformative justice are together productive of four types of teacher activism. Specifically, we show that activist dispositions can be characterised as either affirmative or transformative in stance and as either internally or externally focused in relation to the education field. We argue that the social, cultural and material conditions of schools are linked to teachers’ activist dispositions and conclude with the challenge for redressing educational inequalities by fostering a transformative activism in teachers’ practices.     

Higher Education and Emerging Technologies: Shifting Trends in Student Usage

This study serves as an update to a previous study by Sam Houston State University librarians about the use and preferences of Internet, communication, and educational technologies among students. Since the previous study was initiated in 2010, the iPad has made its debut and significantly altered the educational technology landscape. In this new landscape, this study investigates student usage of such technologies as instant messaging, cell phones, e-readers, social networking, RSS feeds, podcasts, and tablets. In addition, this study aims to determine which technologies students prefer the library to utilize for a variety of services, such as reference assistance or book renewals, and which technologies may not be worth the investment, such as geosocial networking. The information gained from this survey is intended to provide guidance for libraries looking to provide services utilizing the most popular technologies with the most efficient use of resources. Survey results show an increasing use and dependence on educational technologies and a desire for basic library services to be available on a variety of platforms and technologies.     

The “pinpointing effect” vs. the “diffusion effect” of peer influence

Classroom teachers are learning to employ the peer group to “shape up” dissidents. However, singling out a child may produce undesirable side effects such as emotional behavior, resentment, etc. Can the same result be obtained by rewarding the class for ignoring the target behavior of everyone in the room? Twelve subjects were selected from six middle school classes, two from each class. Each entire class was rewarded for increased ignoring of the target behavior (whispering): in the three P (pinpointed) classes, for ignoring the whispering of Designated (target) subjects; in the three D (diffusion) classes, for ignoring whispering by all class members. The results indicate that a peer group can decrease reinforcement of a disruptive behavior and thereby decelerate it in a singled-out child (Pinpointing Effect) or a behavior emitted by any child in class (Diffusion Effect) with equal effectiveness. However, patterns in the data suggest that peers ignored P-Designated subjects most, D subjects next most, and P-Undesignated subjects the least and that this pattern of ignoring was mirrored in the pattern of deceleration of the target behaviors in the three groups. These patterns suggest that the Pinpointing Effect may be stronger than the Diffusion Effect, but further study is needed.