Pigeons discriminate pictures of a geographic location

Four pigeons previously trained to home to the roof of the University of British Columbia psychology building and 4 nonhoming pigeons were trained to discriminate between two sets of color slides projected onto a pecking panel of a Skinner box. One slide set consisted of photographs taken in the vicinity of the psychology building; the other set consisted of similar views taken at locations not previously visited by the homing subjects. All subjects were rewarded for pecking during slides from the first but not the second set. Every few sessions, new “Home” and “Away” slides were introduced during transfer tests. In a final transfer test, a completely new tray of Home and Away slides was introduced. The homing pigeons were slightly (but not statistically significantly) better at discriminating Home from Away slides. The implications of these results for understanding pigeons’ homing behavior, concept attainment, and spatial memory are discussed.     

Impact of professional development on preschool teachers’ conversational responsivity and children's linguistic productivity and complexity

The present study investigated the effect of professional development (PD) on preschool teachers’ conversational responsivity in the classroom, defined as teachers’ use of strategies to promote children's participation in extended conversational exchanges (communication-facilitating strategies) and exposure to advanced linguistic models (language-developing strategies), and the resultant impact on proximal child language outcomes. We randomly-assigned 49 preschool teachers to receive 15–20 h of such PD (PD; n = 25) or to a comparison condition (n = 24). Growth curve analysis indicated that trained teachers used significantly more communication-facilitating strategies across the year but no such difference for language-developing strategies. Moreover, children in these classrooms showed greater linguistic productivity and complexity in their talk. These findings suggest that PD may alter some aspects of teachers’ conservational responsivity responsible for increasing the amount and complexity of child language. Alteration of some strategies, however, may require more intensive PD efforts.     

Preschool Teachers' Sense of Community,Instructional Quality,and Children's Language and Literacy Gains

Research Findings: This study investigated relations among preschool teachers' (n = 75) sense of community, classroom language and literacy instructional quality, and children's (n = 398) gains in vocabulary and print concept knowledge during an academic year. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) results indicated that teachers' language and literacy instructional quality significantly predicted children's gains in print concept knowledge. Also, HLM results revealed significant interactions among teachers' sense of community, language and literacy instructional quality, and vocabulary and print concept knowledge gains. Higher levels of teachers' sense of community were associated with greater gains in children's vocabulary and print concept knowledge when children were in classrooms with higher quality language and literacy instruction. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore the importance of evaluating both language and literacy instructional quality and teachers' sense of community when considering high-quality preschool education.     

Cultural Identity Tensions in a Post-Acquisition Organization

This study examines the problems associated with cultural integration in the aftermath of a corporate acquisition. Based on focus groups and one-on-one interviews with members of a post-acquisition organization (PAO), the results reveal three identity tensions used by organization members to reconcile conflicting pulls toward identification and disidentification: collaboration/competition, assimilation/autonomy, and consensus/command. Findings indicate that members across the four sites of the PAO reconcile these identity tensions differently, resulting in more evidence of disidentification at the two sites that had been acquired by the larger organization, than at the other two sites which had been long-standing locations of the acquiring organization. Implications are discussed relative to cultural and identity issues during periods of organization mergers and acquisitions.     

Assessing the Undergraduate Dissertation

This paper reports on a study of assessment of undergraduate dissertations in the seven departments which constitute the School of Social Sciences and Law at Oxford Brookes University. Information was gathered from documented material and interviews regarding criteria used in assessment of dissertations. This was analysed to identify the range of criteria across disciplines. Criteria were also examined by administration of a questionnaire asking staff to define commonly listed criteria. Finally, a content analysis of completed assessment forms was undertaken to gauge the extent to which identified criteria were actually applied and to gain insight into those that were implicit. The study revealed considerable ambiguity as regards use, meaning and application of criteria. The paper concludes by outlining the policies and practices that are now being developed in the School in the light of these findings, and situates the study in the UK national context of concern to establish graduate threshold standards.     

The Bender Gestalt Test: A review of reported research with school-age subjects, 1966-1977

The past 11 years of published research investigating the use of the Bender Gestalt Test with school-age children are reviewed. Seen as a psychometric instrument, scored according to standardized procedures, this recent work does not conclusively support the use of the test for prediction of school achievement. Nor does it offer any substantial support for individual diagnosis of neurological impairment or emotional disturbance. Test scores from group and individual administration appear equivalent. Deprived and minority group performance has differed significantly from the Koppitz norms in a number of studies and bears further investigation.     

Relations among preschool teachers' self-efficacy,classroom quality,and children's language and literacy gains

This study examined the relations among preschool teachers' self-efficacy (n = 67), classroom quality (instructional and emotional support), and children's (n = 328) gains in print awareness and vocabulary knowledge over an academic year in the US. Results indicated that teachers' self-efficacy and classroom quality served as significant and positive predictors of children's gains in print awareness but not vocabulary knowledge. However, results also showed a significant interaction among teachers' self-efficacy, classroom quality, and vocabulary gains: for children of teachers with higher levels of self-efficacy, higher levels of classroom quality (emotional support) were associated with higher vocabulary gains.     

Fostering alphabet knowledge development: a comparison of two instructional approaches

Preschool-aged children (n = 58) were randomly assigned to receive small group instruction in letter names and/or sounds or numbers (treated control). Alphabet instruction followed one of two approaches currently utilized in early childhood classrooms: combined letter name and sound instruction or letter sound only instruction. Thirty-four 15 minute lessons were provided, with children pre- and post-tested on alphabet, phonological awareness, letter–word identification, emergent reading, and developmental spelling measures. Results suggest benefits of combined letter name and sound instruction in promoting children’s letter sound acquisition. Benefits did not generalize to other emergent literacy skills.     

Individualizing Student Instruction Precisely: Effects of Child × Instruction Interactions on First Graders' Literacy Development

Recent findings demonstrate that the most effective reading instruction may vary with children's language and literacy skills. These Child × Instruction interactions imply that individualizing instruction would be a potent strategy for improving students' literacy. A cluster-randomized control field trial, conducted in 10 high-moderate poverty schools, examined effects of individualizing literacy instruction. The instruction each first grader received ( n = 461 in 47 classrooms, mean age = 6.7 years) during fall, winter, and spring was recorded. Comparing intervention-recommended amounts of instruction with observed amounts revealed that intervention teachers individualized instruction more precisely than did comparison teachers. Importantly, the more precisely the children received recommended amounts of instruction, the stronger was their literacy skill growth. Results provide strong evidence of Child × Instruction interaction effects on literacy outcomes.     

Teachers’ content knowledge about oral language: measure development and evidence of initial validity

Reading and Writing - Efforts to improve classroom language practices and children’s language learning, as a means of supporting reading comprehension, may depend on teachers’ knowledge...