SAT Performance: Understanding the Contributions of Cognitive/Learning and Social/Personality Factors

This study identifies a number of sources of individual differences in SAT performance by examining the simultaneous contributions of factors from two otherwise disparate research areas, namely cognition/learning and social/personality. Preliminary analysis revealed that just the cognitive/learning measures accounted for 37.8, 41.4 and 21.9% of the variance in SAT, V-SAT and Q-SAT performance, respectively while just the social/personality measures accounted for 21.4, 18.2 and 17.3% of the variance. When combined, cognitive/learning and social/personality factors accounted for even larger amounts of variance in performance; specifically 43.4, 44.6 and 28% for the SAT, V-SAT and Q-SAT, respectively. Finally, the results revealed that three measures consistently predicted performance on the SAT, V-SAT and Q-SAT; two measures were the learning/cognitive factors of working memory and integration of new text-based information with information from long-term memory and one measure was the social/personality factor, test anxiety.     

Contributions of Neuroscience to Our Understanding of Cognitive Development

ABSTRACT— One major contribution of neuroscience to understanding cognitive development has been in demonstrating that biology is not destiny—that is, demonstrating the remarkable role of experience in shaping the mind, brain, and body. Only rarely has neuroscience provided wholly new insights into cognitive development, but often it has provided evidence of mechanisms by which observations of developmental psychologists could be explained. Behavioral findings have often remained controversial until an underlying biological mechanism for them was offered. Neuroscience has demonstrated promise for detecting cognitive problems before they are behaviorally observable—and, hence, promise for early intervention. In this article, we discuss examples drawn from imitation and mirror neurons, phenylketonuria (PKU) and prefrontal dopamine, maternal touch and stress reactivity, and nongenetic (behavioral) intergenerational transmission of biological characteristics.     

学习不良儿童的策略信念与理解水平

使用结构访谈法对120名儿童(其中学习不良儿童60名)的策略信念与策略理解水平进行了研究。结果显示:学习不良儿童组与一般儿童组的差异更多体现在对具体策略的元认知因果解释水平上,他们更多持有较低水平的“信息获得”解释,而对照组儿童则更多持有较高水平的“信息加工”解释,提示对策略理解水平的差异可能是导致学习不良儿童难以将新学到的策略主动应用到其它情景中去的一个重要原因。     

Understanding Student Complaints in the Service Learning Pedagogy

This study draws upon student evaluations across 3 years of service learning (SL) courses at a large, urban, faith-based university identifying issues of greatest concern to students. Analysis of qualitative responses revealed perspectives on the limits, pitfalls, and barriers to successful SL student work in the community replicated over the 3 year timeframe. Over 2,200 written responses were coded and tested for reliability for each of 3 years. The top three comments SL students were most likely to express included: (1) concern about their placement in the community, for example, that sites were not prepared or that further goal-setting, communication and training by the university was necessary; (2) that the university’s choice of sites may have been ill considered; and, (3) that there were problems with time and scheduling. Ongoing assessment of students’ perspectives on their placement experience identifies practices that can enhance their learning and contributions toward building stronger communities.     

Our Growing Understanding of Subtle Energies and Their Function in the Evolving Universe

This article focuses on subtle energies (those energies that fall outside the four regularly recognized energy forces of gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces). Research and insights from the social, physical, and healing sciences are discussed. Key concepts from these disciplines are explored creating a cross-disciplinary analysis of recent research. A case is made for building upon the growing understanding of the influence and importance of the subtle energies in our daily lives as well as the ongoing evolution of our species and planet. The author advocates for increased explorations in the use of these energies for positive social transformation and healing.     

The Creativity Matrix: Spotlights and Blind Spots in Our Understanding of the Phenomenon

In this paper, we organize past and present theories and models of creativity by using a new conceptual framework—the creativity matrix—with the aim of highlighting the dimensions of creativity we know a lot about and those we tend to either ignore or find difficult to study. This matrix is formed by bringing together a developmental model of creativity (the 4 C's) and a structural one (the 5 A's). We start by briefly describing these two conceptual frameworks, and then, we proceed to exploring the matrix itself by describing how the 5 A's are dynamically organized at each “level” of the 4 C's. Importantly, our overview of the matrix is informed by existing models and concepts that address one of more of the C's and the A's. This gives us a unique opportunity to take stock of what has been studied so far and, toward the end, consider new avenues for the development of theory and research agendas within creativity studies.     

学习障碍儿童情绪理解特点比较研究

本研究以90名学习障碍儿童和90名一般儿童为对象,采用表情图片和情境故事法, 探讨学习障碍儿童情绪理解特点.研究发现,学习障碍儿童在情绪理解方面存在一定缺陷,具体表现为:(1)表情识别能力差;(2)自我意识情绪识别水平低下;(3)混合情绪识别较差;(4)情绪原因理解落后;(5)情绪隐藏理解较差;(6)情绪改变理解水平低下.     

Learning to Live in the Anthropocene: Our Children and Ourselves

This essay responds to recent philosophical interest in the Anthropocene by asking (Trachtenberg in Inhabiting the Anthropocene: how we live changes everything, 2016): Can and should educators adopt, form, transmit, teach ways of living to maintain, if not enhance Earth’s habitability, especially its habitability for diverse children? This inquiry therefore calls for conceptual study of learning to live through the Anthropocene—with, despite, after, before, amid, among, away from, and against its myriad harms, possible and actual, especially its harms to children. Examining cases of environmental racism in Checker’s Polluted Promises (2005), and other cases of environmental threats to children’s health, in Steingraber’s Raising Elijah (2011), this study begins by proposing the ecological gap in philosophy of education consequential for children resides within another epistemological gap, variously designated gender gap, love gap, care gap (Martin in The schoolhome: rethinking schools for changing families. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1992; Education reconfigured: culture, encounter, and change. Routledge, New York, 2011; Warren in Ecofeminist philosophy: a Western persepctive on what it is and why it matters. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, 2000). Ruddick’s maternal thinking (1984, 1988) provides a conceptual frame for theorizing three moral aims of learning to live in the Anthropocene that might inform public schooling.     

Learning from Our Mistakes: Error Management Training for Mature Learners

This research explored the effects of training goal (learning goal vs. performance goal) and training type (error management vs. error avoidance) on word processing skill acquisition with older workers. Sixty-seven participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions and attended two interactive tutorial training sessions. Results indicated that error management training lead to significantly higher performance test scores, learning quiz scores, and requests for assistance compared to error avoidant training. Additionally, learning goals generated significantly higher performance test scores and intrinsic motivation levels relative to performance goals. Other applications of error management training are discussed.     

Situating Culturally Embodied Play Ecologies of Preschool Children: Lost in Transition

This article contributes as a commentary to Min’s critical evaluation of the challenges and resistances that have presented themselves during the recent process of changing the pedagogical practices ofChinese preschools to more closely resemble those seen in Scandinavian. The focus is on how decisions of how to structure the particular environment in preschool settings have direct and indirect implications for children’s learning and learning possibilities, and the importance of understanding these as mediated signifiers of the particular culture values. The discussions stress the importance of weighing cross-cultural pedagogical practices in terms of the functions they each serve in themselves, and in regard to the sociocultural history from which they have emerged and serve within. This means enculturation of new didactic practices should be understood as a gradual, smooth processes that allows itself to merge useful aspects of new educational models and practices with existing practices and cultural values.     

他人知识状态觉知对幼儿名词学习的影响

本研究采用两个实验考察了他人知识状态觉知对不同语言能力幼儿名词习得的影响。参加实验的被试是来自上海市三所幼儿园的89名3～4岁幼儿。实验一发现,高语言能力幼儿在确定和不确定两种实验条件下的名词习得有显著差异,确定条件下的得分高于不确定条件。一般语言能力幼儿未表现出上述区别;实验二进一步发现高语言能力幼儿能忽视表面的语气线索所表达的迟疑,影响他们词语学习的是对他人知识状态的深层觉知。     

Effects of Simulated Learning and Facilitated Debriefing on Student Understanding of Mental Illness

Occupational therapy educators have studied various methods regarding student attitudes towards people with disabling conditions. Among the methods that have been studied is simulated learning. This paper describes the effects of a simulated learning exercise and facilitated debriefing on occupational therapy student understanding of mental illness. Results indicate that students had significant change relative to understanding that mental illnesses are brain diseases that respond to treatment (p < .01) on the post-test. Themes derived from qualitative data revealed that students believed that the learning experience increased their understanding, empathy, and insight into daily life with a mental illness.     

On Our Understanding of Singular Negative Existential Statements: A Defense of Shallow Pretense Theory

Philosophia - In uttering negative existential sentences, we do not mention but use an empty singular term. A pretense account explains the use in terms of pretense. I argue that our understanding...