Procedures for Identifying Persons with Potential for Public School Administrative Positions by William C. Schutz

This investigation is based on over 400 American Group Psychotherapy Association members involved in 41 intensive, two-day training experiences for mental health professionals. The participants completed a questionnaire immediately after their group sessions to evaluate the process and leadership variables that contributed to a constructive learning experience. A similar questionnaire was mailed to participants three to four months later to explore the impact of training on group interventions within their clinical practices. One third of the trainees responded to the follow-up survey. Overall, the findings suggest that successful outcomes are related to a range of group processes, such as self-disclosure, feedback, and interpersonal support, as well as personal qualities and technical expertise modeled by the leaders of the training groups. Both the immediate and delayed assessments demonstrate that the groups were regarded as highly valuable learning opportunities.     

Discrimination of geometric angles by adult humans

Men and women learned to discriminate between two different size angles presented to them as objects within a real-world task. During Experiment 1, participants in group 50 were trained to choose a 50° angle and participants in group 75 were trained to choose a 75° angle. During testing, both groups were provided with a choice between their training angle and one of a set of test angles that was either smaller or larger than the training angle. Results showed a generalized pattern of responding, with group 50 showing increased responding to test angles smaller than 50° and group 75 showing increased responding to test angles larger than 75°. Further analysis of the response patterns revealed that participants in group 50 showed evidence of absolute learning, whereas participants in group 75 showed evidence of relational learning. During Experiment 2, a third group of participants (group 25) trained to choose a smaller angle (25°) was included in addition to group 50 and group 75. Participants were trained with three angles present and tested with just two, one being their training angle and the other being one of a set of novel test angles. Similar to the participants from Experiment 1, group 75 showed evidence of relational learning. Group 50, for which no relational rule could be applied during training, showed an absolute learning pattern with no response shift to test angles smaller or larger than their training angle. Group 25 showed evidence of absolute responding that was more pronounced than that found for the smallest training angle during Experiment 1. These findings suggest differential learning of geometric angles based on amplitude with smaller angles perceived as more distinct and thus more resistant to broader generalization than larger angles. Implications of these results are that certain geometric properties may be subject to different learning processes based on the specific magnitude of that property.     

Improving self‐regulated learning of preschool children: Evaluation of training for kindergarten teachers

Background In the context of lifelong learning, self‐regulated learning is an important competence. Children between 4 and 6 years of age are at a crucial step in their life to develop self‐regulatory competence. That is why their kindergarten teachers play an important role as instructors as well as role models. Aim This study tested the effects of self‐regulation training for kindergarten teachers concerning their own self‐regulation and methods to foster self‐regulation in children at preschool age whom they were teaching. Sample In this study, 35 German kindergarten teachers and 97 children participated. All adult participants were graduated kindergarten teachers. Method The kindergarten teachers were tested with a questionnaire 2 weeks before and after the training. At the same time, the preschoolers were interviewed. A waiting control group design was applied. Results and conclusions The results obtained by means of analyses of variance show that the self‐regulation of the kindergarten teachers as well as the self‐regulated learning of preschoolers whose kindergarten teachers took part in the training improved significantly. The results indicate that it is possible to improve self‐regulated learning of preschool children by a training programme for kindergarten teachers.     

Reducing the own-race bias in face recognition by shifting attention

The own-race bias (ORB) in face recognition can be interpreted as a failure to generalize expert perceptual encoding developed for own-race faces to other-race faces. Further, black participants appear to use different features to describe faces from those used by white participants (Shepherd & Deregowski, 1981). An experiment is reported where the size of the ORB was assessed using a standard face recognition procedure. Four groups were tested at two time intervals. One group received a training regime involving learning to distinguish faces that varied only on their chin, cheeks, nose, and mouth. Three control groups did not receive this training. The ORB, present prior to training, was reduced after the critical perceptual training. It is concluded that the ORB is a consequence of a failure of attention being directed to those features of other race faces that are useful for identification.     

Reducing the own-race bias in face recognition by shifting attention

The own-race bias (ORB) in face recognition can be interpreted as a failure to generalize expert perceptual encoding developed for own-race faces to other-race faces. Further, black participants appear to use different features to describe faces from those used by white participants (Shepherd & Deregowski, 1981). An experiment is reported where the size of the ORB was assessed using a standard face recognition procedure. Four groups were tested at two time intervals. One group received a training regime involving learning to distinguish faces that varied only on their chin, cheeks, nose, and mouth. Three control groups did not receive this training. The ORB, present prior to training, was reduced after the critical perceptual training. It is concluded that the ORB is a consequence of a failure of attention being directed to those features of other race faces that are useful for identification.     

Perceptual training methods compared: the relative efficacy of different approaches to enhancing sport-specific anticipation

The comparative efficacy of different perceptual training approaches for the improvement of anticipation was examined using a goalkeeping task from European handball that required the rapid prediction of shot direction. Novice participants (N = 60) were assigned equally to four different training groups and two different control groups (a placebo group and a group who undertook no training). The training groups received either (i) explicit rules to guide anticipation; (ii) direction as to the location of the key anticipatory cues provided either just verbally (verbal cueing) or supplemented with color highlighting (color cueing); or (iii) undertook a matching judgment task to encourage implicit learning. Performance of the groups was compared on an anticipation test administered before training, after the training intervention, under a condition involving evaluative stress, and after a 5-month retention period. The explicit learning, verbal cueing, and implicit learning conditions provided the greatest sustained improvements in performance whereas the group given color cueing performed no better than the control groups. Only the implicit learning group showed performance superior to the control groups under the stress situation. The verbal cueing, color cueing, and implicit learning groups formulated the lowest number of explicit rules related to the critical shoulder cue although the reported use of general cues and rules based on all cues did not differ between any of the groups. Anticipation can be improved through a variety of different perceptual training approaches with the relative efficacy of the different approaches being contingent upon both the time scale and conditions under which learning is assessed.     

Facilitation of learning spatial relations among locations by visual cues: Implications for theoretical accounts of spatial learning

Human participants searched in a real environment or interactive 3-D virtual environment open field for four hidden goal locations arranged in a 2 × 2 square configuration in a 5 × 5 matrix of raised bins. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: cues 1 pattern or pattern only. The participants experienced a training phase, followed by a testing phase. Visual cues specified the goal locations during training only for the cues 1 pattern group. Both groups were then tested in the absence of visual cues. The results in both environments indicated that the participants learned the spatial relations among goal locations. However, visual cues during training facilitated learning of the spatial relations among goal locations: In both environments, the participants trained with the visual cues made fewer errors during testing than did those trained only with the pattern. The results suggest that learning based on the spatial relations among locations may not be susceptible to cue competition effects and have implications for standard associative and dual-system accounts of spatial learning.     

Self-controlled practice: Autonomy protects perceptions of competence and enhances motor learning

ObjectiveIn previous self-controlled feedback studies, it was observed that participants who could control their own feedback schedules usually use a strategy of choosing feedback after successful trials, and present superior motor learning when compared with participants who were not allowed to choose. Yoked participants of these studies, however, were thwarted not only regarding autonomy but also, presumably, regarding perceived competence, as their feedback schedules were provided randomly, regarding good or bad trials. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether self-controlled feedback schedules would have differential effects on learning if yoked participants are provided with feedback after good trials at the same rate as their self-controlled counterparts.DesignExperimental study with two groups. Timing accuracy was assessed in two different experimental phases, supplemented by questionnaire data.MethodParticipants practiced a coincident-anticipation timing task with a self-controlled or yoked feedback schedule during practice. Participants of the self-controlled group were able to ask for feedback for two trials, after each of five 6-trial practice blocks. Yoked participants received a feedback schedule matching the self-control group schedule, according to accuracy.ResultsParticipants asked for (self-controlled group) and received (yoked group) feedback, mainly after relatively good trials. However, participants of the self-controlled group reported greater self-efficacy at the end of practice, and performed with greater accuracy one day later, on the retention test, than the yoked group.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that the autonomy provided by self-controlled feedback protocols can raise learners' perceptions of competence, with positive consequences on motor learning.     

Implicit motor sequence learning is represented in response locations

Previous work (Willingham, 1999) has indicated that implicit motor sequence learning is not primarily perceptual; that is, what is learned is not a sequence of stimuli. Still other work has indicated that implicit motor sequence learning is not specific to particular muscle groups or effectors. In the present work, we tested whether implicit motor sequence learning would be represented as a sequence of response locations. In Experiment 1, learning showed very poor transfer when the response locations were changed, even though the stimulus positions were unchanged. In Experiment 2, participants switched their hand positions at transfer, so that one group of participants pushed the same sequence of keys but used a different sequence of finger movements to do so, whereas another group pushed a different sequence of keys but used the same sequence of finger movements used at training. Knowledge of the sequence was shown at transfer only if the sequence of response locations was maintained, not the sequence of finger movements.     

Satisfaction with therapist-delivered vs. self-administered online cognitive behavioural treatments for depression symptoms in college students

Participants with symptoms of depression received either eight sessions of therapist-delivered email cognitive behaviour therapy (eCBT; n=37), or eight sessions of computerised CBT self-administered treatment (cCBT; n=43). At post-treatment participants completed a questionnaire to determine what they found satisfying about their online treatment. Quantitative and qualitative analysis was employed to report outcomes. A sample of 25 participants(eCBT n=10; cCBT n=15) completed the satisfaction questionnaire. Both groups were satisfied with accessing and using an online treatment and that they had self-control over their treatment. Perceived anonymity was important for the eCBT group. For the cCBT group they found the treatment user-friendly, engaging and also a source of learning. Both groups disliked that the online treatment could at times be complicated and impersonal.     

Sequential learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia: evidence from artificial grammar learning

We examined sequential learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia (n = 12) and healthy age-matched participants (n = 12) using an artificial grammar. Artificial grammar acquisition, 24-hour retention, and the potential benefits of additional training were examined by administering an artificial grammar judgment test (1) immediately following auditory exposure-based training, (2) one day after training, and (3) after a second training session on the second day. An untrained control group (n = 12 healthy age-matched participants) completed the tests on the same time schedule. The trained healthy and aphasic groups showed greater sensitivity to the detection of grammatical items than the control group. No significant correlations between sequential learning and language abilities were observed among the aphasic participants. The results suggest that individuals with agrammatic aphasia show sequential learning, but the underlying processes involved in this learning may be different than for healthy adults.     

The effects of a programme of training in structured group counselling

This study examined the effects of a programmes of experiential training in structured group counselling, based on the approach of Sheldon Rose. Participants were 32 undergraduate and graduate students, divided into three groups, who participated in the group work as part of a course in Core Counseling skills. The groups met for two hours per week for eight weeks. At the end of each exercise the participants completed a 12-item questionnaire giving their evalution and experience of the exercise they had just finished. The questionnaires were initially factors analysed and produced three main factg43ors, labelled task orientation, cohesion and conflict. Factor scores were used for all subsequent analyses. A series of one-way analyses of variance showed how the groups reacted to the different exercises, and discriminant analysis was used to determine how the climate and method of the individual groups could be differentially characterised in terms of the questionnaire factors. It was concluded that the membership of structured groups may be a major determinant of the group climate and experience.     

Human behaviour in severe tunnel accidents: Effects of information and behavioural training

Immediate user self-evacuation is crucial in case of fire in road tunnels. This study investigated the effects of information with or without additional virtual reality (VR) behavioural training on self-evacuation during a simulated emergency situation in a road tunnel. Forty-three participants were randomly assigned to three groups with accumulating preventive training: The control group only filled in questionnaires, the informed group additionally read an information brochure on tunnel safety, and the VR training group received an additional behavioural training in a VR tunnel scenario. One week later, during the test session, all participants conducted a drive through a real road tunnel in which they were confronted with a collision of two vehicles and intense smoke. The informed and the behaviourally trained participants evacuated themselves more reliably from the tunnel than participants of the control group. Trained participants showed better and faster behavioural responses than informed only participants. Interestingly, the few participants in the control group who reacted adequately to the scenario were all female. A 1 year follow-up online questionnaire showed a decrease of safety knowledge, but still the trained group had somewhat more safety relevant knowledge than the two other groups. Information and especially VR behavioural training both seem promising to foster adequate self-evacuation during crisis situations in tunnels, although long term beneficial behavioural effects have to be demonstrated. Measures aiming to improve users’ behaviour should take individual difference such as gender into account.     

Effects of normative feedback on motor learning are dependent on the frequency of knowledge of results

Studies on normative feedback have shown superior motor learning outcomes for individuals who believe that they are performing better than others through increased self-efficacy. Nevertheless, the effects of normative feedback were never dissociated from the knowledge of results (KR) provided to the learners which potentially interacts with self-efficacy as well. Thus, we investigated whether the effects of normative feedback on motor learning, associated with self-efficacy, would be dependent on the amount of KR provided. Fifty-six participants were randomly assigned to four experimental groups in terms of KR frequency (100% and 33%) and normative feedback (positive and negative). In the acquisition phase, all groups received the average KR of their performance at the end of each block of trials (True feedback) and a fake KR based on their own performance (but said to be from a group of participants who practiced the same task) (False Feedback). The False Feedback indicated better or worse performance of the participant in comparison to the fake group, depending on their experimental group. Retention tests were performed immediately and after 24 h from the acquisition phase. To measure self-efficacy, a questionnaire on participant's efficacy was applied before the first block, after each block of trials and before the retention tests. The results revealed superiority of positive normative feedback and 100% KR frequency, compared to negative normative feedback and 100% KR frequency in the 24h retention test. No difference was found between the groups with a frequency of 33% of KR (positive and negative). All groups increased self-efficacy during practice, but there was no difference between groups at any stage of the study. We conclude that the effects of normative feedback on motor learning are dependent on the KR frequency. However, they were not associated with self-efficacy.     

Positive social-comparative feedback enhances motor learning in children

ObjectivesThe present study investigated the influence of social-comparative feedback on the learning of a throwing task in 10-year-old children.DesignTwo-group experimental design, including a practice phase and retention test.MethodBoth groups of participants, a positive social-comparative feedback and a control group, received veridical feedback about their performance (accuracy score) after each practice trial. In addition, after each block of 10 trials, the positive feedback group was given bogus feedback suggesting that their own performance was better than that of a peer group's on that block. One day after the practice phase, a retention test without (veridical or social-comparative) feedback was performed to assess learning effects as a function of feedback.ResultsThe positive feedback group demonstrated greater throwing accuracy than the control group on the retention test. In addition, questionnaire results indicated that this group scored higher in terms of perceived competence than the control group.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate that feedback can have an important motivational function that affects the learning of motor skills in children.     

How does prior knowledge affect implicit and explicit concept learning?

Two experiments investigated the effect of prior knowledge on implicit and explicit learning. Implicit as opposed to explicit learning is sometimes characterized as unselective or purely statistical. During training, one group of participants was presented with category exemplars whose features could be tied together by integrative knowledge, whereas another group saw category exemplars with unrelated feature combinations. Half of the participants in each group learned these categories under a secondary-task condition (meant to discourage explicit learning), and the remaining half performed the categorization task under a single-task condition (meant to favour explicit learning). In a test phase, participants classified only the individual features of the training exemplars. Secondary- as opposed to single-task conditions impaired explicit but not implicit knowledge (as determined by subjective measures). Importantly, prior knowledge resulted in increased amounts of both implicit and explicit knowledge.     

Apprentissage, mémorisation, et généralisation de nouveaux noms chez l'enfant trisomique 21. Une comparaison avec l'enfant en développement normal

We compared a group of Down syndrome participants with a group of normally developing children matched on mental age in a lexical learning task. Participants had to learn the name of four unfamiliar animals or musical instruments. Training was assessed through a naming and a pointing task, immediately after the end of the training phase, two days later, or two weeks later. Results revealed that participants with Down syndrome were better than the control group in the naming (production) task. We conclude that the learning processes involved in a novel name-learning task are not impaired in the Down syndrome persons. The two groups used the contextual cues in the same way. Finally, the notion of fast mapping in lexical learning is also discussed.     

Sleep dependent consolidation of gross motor sequence learning with motor imagery

Acquisition of gross motor sequence learning with physical and mental training elicits gains in performance. However, the effects of sleep or daytime consolidation after both types of practice remain unclear, especially the effects upon the goal- and movement-based components of a gross motor sequential task. The main purpose of this study was to test the effect of physical practice (PP) and motor imagery practice (MIP) on the acquisition and consolidation processes of gross motor sequence learning.Seventy-six participants were tested before and after PP or MIP on a whole-body sequential paradigm, following either a night of sleep (PP_sleep and MIP_sleep groups) or an equivalent daytime period (PP_day and MIP_day groups). Control groups without training were tested following similar timespans (CTRL_sleep and CTRL_day groups). The number of sequential movements and the centre of mass displacement – corresponding to goal and movement-based components, respectively – were assessed.Results showed that relative to the CTRL groups, the PP and MIP groups improved performance during acquisition. Importantly, only the MIP_sleep group further improved performance after a night of sleep; participants of other groups stabilised their performance after consolidation. Additionally, the number of sequential movements and the centre of mass displacement evolved conjointly without being influenced by the type of training or the nature of the consolidation.To conclude, these results confirm that sleep contributes to the consolidation of gross motor sequence learning acquired with MIP but not PP. The relationship between the goal- and movement-based components of a gross motor sequential task is discussed.     

The role of oculomotor information in the learning of sequential aiming movements

With their eyes initially on either the home, midline, or final end position, 30 participants practiced a 2-target aiming movement. After 120 acquisition trials, participants performed a retention test and were then transferred to each of the other 2 eye conditions. During acquisition, all groups improved over practice, but the home group showed the greatest improvement. The temporal improvement was most pronounced in the times spent after peak velocity. Retention and transfer tests indicated that participants performed best under eye-movement conditions that were the same as the 1 they had practiced in. There was also positive transfer of training between conditions in which the oculomotor information was similar. Thus, to optimize learning, one should practice under the same afferent and oculomotor conditions that will be required for the final performance.     

Maternal Knowledge and Behaviors Regarding Discipline: The Effectiveness of a Hands-on Education Program in Positive Guidance

This study examined which method is most effective in supporting parents to use positive guidance techniques, a lecture-based only parent training series or a lecture-based plus hands-on parent training series. Maternal characteristics of depression, stress level, and attitudes towards positive guidance were explored as possible moderators. In this sample of 49 mother–child dyads, results indicated that the cognitive understanding of the use of positive guidance over time of the participants in the lecture-based only versus the lecture-based plus hands-on groups did not significantly differ. However, both groups improved in their cognitive understanding of positive guidance over time. Results also indicated that the behavioral use of positive guidance over time of the participants in both groups significantly differed. Further investigation revealed that, although the two groups did not differ in their behavioral use of positive guidance before the program, the lecture-based plus hands-on group improved over time whereas the lecture-based only group did not. Depression, stress level, and attitudes towards positive guidance did not moderate the effects of being in either group on participants’ behavioral use of positive guidance. Findings showed that all participants gained a better understanding of effective parenting techniques, but a hands-on component in parent training programs may be necessary for parents to incorporate these strategies into their parenting behaviors. The results have implications for early childhood professionals working with parents to address children’s behavior issues, as well as for the design of parent-support programs.