Investigation of Single-Case Multiple-Baseline Randomization Tests of Trend and Variability

Educational Psychology Review - Previous simulation studies of randomization tests applied in single-case educational intervention research contexts have typically focused on A-to-B phase changes...     

Mnemonic-strategy reduction of prose-learning interference

One hundred and sixty college students read three fictitious biographical passages according to either imagery-mnemonic or no-strategy control instructions. In one mnemonic condition, subjects formed separate images involving each biographical name and its associated facts: in another mnemonic condition, the biographical name and its associated facts were integrated within a single composite image. Relative to an interference-control condition, integrated mnemonic subjects recalled more factual information, whereas separate mnemonic subjects did not. In addition, the recall of integrated mnemonic subjects was statistically no different from that of a noninterference control condition, whereas the recall of separate mnemonic subjects was lower. Both theoretical and educational implications of the results are discussed. The first author’s contribution to this work was supported by an Organized Research Grant from the Graduate School of Illinois State University. The second author’s contribution was supported by the National Institute of Education under Grant No. NIE-G-81-0009 to the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and was facilitated by a Romnes Faculty Fellowship from the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.     

The subversion of healthy development and play: Teachers' reactions to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

In the spring of 1990, theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) movie was released to the biggest grossing box office sales of a spring release movie in history. The movie followed on the heels of more than a year of the TMNT television cartoon and its accompanying line of toys. After the movie's release, interest in the Turtles was kept high by the daily dose of the TV cartoon, TMNT home videos, video games, and the presence of more than 1,000 toys and other products marketed with the TMNT logo. And then, a year after the first movie, on March 22, 1991, the sequel,TMNT II: The Secret of the Ooze, opened at cinemas around the country.Nancy Carlsson-Paige is Associate Professor of Education, Lesley College Graduate School, Cambridge, MA. Diane E. Levin is Associate Professor of Education, Wheelock College, Boston, MA.     

In search of the keyword method/vocabulary comprehension link

Previous research has indicated that the keyword method of vocabulary learning facilitates students' performance not just on simple tests of definition recall, but on comprehension-demanding tasks as well. The present study was conducted to determine whether the “comprehension” finding could be accounted for by keyword subjects' superior definition recall per se. The results generally supported that conclusion: When conditions and subjects within conditions were equated with respect to their initial levels of definition recall, the comprehension advantage of keyword subjects disappeared.     

Mnemonic artwork-learning strategies: Helping students remember more than “Who painted what?”

In two experiments, a recently devised mnemonic strategy was examined in the context of college students recalling the theme and contents of various paintings. With the painting-artist mnemonic strategy: (a) the artist's name is first recoded as a more concrete proxy; and (b) the recoded stimulus is then related to a prominent feature of the painting. Previous research has demonstrated that such a strategy enhances students' recall of artist names when cued with the associated paintings. The present study extends those findings by demonstrating that the strategy similarly facilitates students' recall of paintings and painting information when cued with the associated artist names. Of three different mnemonic variations included, one that incorporates a verbally described mnemonic interaction into the painting proved most effective. Suggestions for future research and educational implications are included in the discussion.     

The failure of the public schools and the free market remedy

A Summary The replacement of the existing system of publicly operated schools by a market of private ones-supported by government vouchers—would probably yield mixed results. On the one hand, some parents would have greater choices among schools and some schools would have to be productive in order to survive in the competitive framework. The increase in consumer choice and the resultant competition among schools would be likely to lead to greater educational benefits for many students and their families (private benefits) than those which they receive under the present monopolistic system.On the other hand, the schools are also expected to fulfill certain social functions. It is in these that a market approach to schooling is likely to yield poor results. For example, basic schooling represents the primary device for equalizing opportunities among racial and social groups. Yet, advantaged children would probably receive far better schooling under the market proposal than would disadvantaged ones, and it is likely that this disparity would lead to larger future inequalities in opportunity between the children of the middle class and those of the poor. Further, it is not clear that a set of largely autonomous schools could provide the common set of values and knowledge necessary for the functioning of a democratic society. Finally, it is likely that the market proposal would increase racial and social stratification of students among schools. Whatever the success of the market in meeting consumer preferences, it would be offset by the market's failure to satisfy the social goals of basic schooling.Fortunately, we are not limited to choosing between the traditional educational bureaucracy on the one hand or an unmitigated free market for educational services on the other. There are several ways to create competition within a public school system. Jencks, Sizer, and Coleman have suggested particular plans based upon the competitive framework, and the proposal for community schools represents a more general framework in which the competition of the market place might be used to advantage. The time is ripe to experiment with at least one of these plans for the children of the ghetto. Do we have any buyers? Henry M. Levin is a research associate with the Economic Studies Division of the Brookings Institute. He has written on economic and educational matters in the Saturday Review, the Journal of Human Resources,and other publications. He is currently organizing a Brookings conference on the community school.     

A developmental analysis of early time concepts: the equivalence and additivity of the effect of interfering cues on duration comparisons of young children

Young children compare durations correctly and explain their conclusions logically only when no interfering cues such as distance and speed are introduced. We investigated whether type of cue and additivity of interfering cues affect children's duration comparisons. 4- and 5-year-old children were asked to compare the burning times of pairs of partially synchronous lights differing in intensity, bulb size, or both. Those who erred tended to attribute longer duration to the brighter or larger bulb, brightness having a stronger interfering effect than size. Since brightness might qualify as "work" more than bulb size might, the finding that the former interferes more than the latter supports Piaget's basic claim of children's confusion of time with "work." The fact that bulb size interferes at all, which does not fit into Piaget's framework, may be explained in terms of children's inability to distinguish clearly between time-related and time-unrelated cues and their assumption of direct relations between dimensions. Additivity of interference did not emerge, indicating that the previous finding which suggested its existence--distance plus speed interfering with duration comparisons more than speed alone--should be reassessed in terms of type of interfering cues, that is, distance interferes more than speed with time.