Unidirectional Mazes for use with Animals

One hundred twenty goldfish were differentially trained with large and small reward in a shuttle swimway. The end compartments and the swimming directions for a given S were consistently identifiable over all trials with either a large or small magnitude of reward. Negative contrast effects were obtained in the start measure for Ss with short intervals between trials. The results suggest similar mechanisms for rat and goldfish performance in differential conditioning studies.     

A Global Dialogue on Learning and Studying

Studies in Philosophy and Education -     

Gender Differences in Pointing Accuracy in Computer-Simulated 3D Mazes

Gender differences in pointing accuracy incomputer-simulated mazes were studied as a function ofmaze complexity and training effects. College students(primarily White) were led through mazes with different numbers of turns; at the end of each maze, theywere asked to indicate the direction of the maze origin(starting point). Pointing accuracy declined with numberof turns, but men were consistently more accurate than women by about 20°,regardless of maze complexity. Training participants totrack the relative position of the maze origin whilemoving through the maze produced equivalent benefits inpointing accuracy for both women and men. Thus, althoughpointing accuracy of men remained higher than that ofwomen, the results suggest that pointing performance canbe modified by experience.     

The High Relief Finger Maze for Human Learning

Albino rats in independent studies were administered varying dosages of diazepam and methylphenidate prior to a daily shock traumatization experience in infancy. All animals were tested on avoidance conditioning in adulthood. Both drugs were found to be effective in modifying the typically obtained shock deficit. The results failed to substantiate that increased dosage level resulted in more effective modification of trauma effects. Delayed consequences of methylphenidate administration included modification of central nervous system reactivity as manifested in quicker reaction times and growth depression as manifested in lessened body weights in this group in comparison to the diazepam group. An additional feature of the study was the finding that male and female animals responded differently to the drug and shock experiences.     

国外婴儿动词习得的两种研究范式

通过介绍国外婴儿动词习得的研究范式, 一是习惯化研究(Habituation paradigm), 二是多通道优先注视范式(IPLP), 来揭示婴儿语言前概念形成的认知心理。国外的研究表明, 婴儿的动词习得晚于名词学习; 动词的成分习得(路径成分或是方式成分)在婴儿周岁前也有时间先后; 动词完整意义的获得还与母语的输入有密切关系。综述说明, 采用这两种研究范式研究语前婴儿的语言认知是较为经济和有效的。     

Mazes in Which Rats Take the Longer Path to Food

Two previous studies which supported a cognitive interpretation of the social deprivation-satiation effect with middle class children were replicated with lower class Ss. In the first experiment 40 middle class and 40 lower class children were given a social deprivation or a satiation treatment, followed by a binary discrimination test, given either by the same or by another E. In the second experiment, 74 middle class and 74 lower class Ss were given information about their E's “reinforcing habits” prior to the treatment. In that experiment both treatment and test were given by the same E. The findings for the middle class samples were as follows: the deprivation-satiation effect was person-specific, not generalizable from one E to another; the informational input caused a deprivation-satiation like effect and modified the effect of actual treatments on subsequent performance. The lower class children reacted mostly to the most immediate, salient, and concrete aspects of the situation. The intangible reinforcing stimulus word Good was an effective reinforcer for them, but only a non-significant trend toward a deprivation-satiation effect was observed, with no person-specificity. The informational input had no effect on the performance of the lower class children.     

A Jewish View of Human Learning

This paper offers a rabbinic reading of the Hebrew Bible's conception of human learning. Although addressed to adults, and focused on initiation of both young and old into its vision of the good, the Bible nonetheless offers a conception of how children ought to be educated. Central to this pedagogy is the view that education is fundamentally an ethical activity whose purpose is to nurture and affirm the moral potential of each person through the internalization of divine teachings.     

易学中的人学思想

易学是“范围天地”、“曲成万物”,利用自然现象以求人事、关心人之学。但不无遗憾的是从来无人把易学作为人学来研究。本文认为易学即人学。人学是关心人、研究人的学问。易学从人的生命意义、生命价值的基础上探索人在自然界的形成、演化以及人性的内容等,在解释《易经》的系统中,阐述了人其所以为人的内容,从天地设位、大化流行、三材之道、性命之理、裁成辅相、弥纶天地、情见乎辞、继之者善、自强不息、人文化成等十个方面,构建了一个古老的人学系统。     

Rethinking the Learning Society: Giorgio Agamben on Studying,Stupidity, and Impotence

In this article, the author rethinks critiques of the learning society using Giorgio Agamben’s theory of potentiality. Summarizing several major contributions to our understanding of the limitations of the discourse of learning, the author proposes that critics thus far have failed to fully pinpoint the exact danger of learning. Importantly, learning is not only a rejection of the democratic or political dimension of education but it is first and foremost predicated on a false ontology of potentiality. What is put at risk in learning is a sacrifice of our (im)potential, our capacity to be or not to be this or that within the order of things. Through a reconstruction of Agamben’s theory of studying, the author argues for a different conceptualization of freedom in education, of teaching, and of the time of education.