The effect of training on visual alignment discrimination and grating resolution.

The effect of training on an observer's ability to detect the misalignment of three points, a hyperacuity, and to resolve a six-line grating was studied in a transfer-of-training design with observers (4 in each of two experiments) who were experienced in making psychophysical judgments of other visual stimuli. The transfer-of-training design enabled us to look for any training-based improvement. Long periods of training produced no statistically significant improvement in performance under any condition. There were small practice-based improvements, but the primary patterns indicated threshold fluctuation rather than improvement. We interpret the results to indicate that the neural mechanisms underlying three-point alignment and grating discrimination, like those for gap bisection (Klein & Levi, 1985), are not malleable to any significant extent.     

Training research in aging on the fluid ability of inductive reasoning

The modifiability of older adults' performance on Induction tasks was examined through cognitive training. The posttraining performance of 52 older adults ($\text{X}\text{age = 70.3}\text{years}$) was assessed with regard to a transfer-of-training paradigm and maintenance of training effects at three posttests (one week, one month, six months). A pattern of differential training transfer across the posttest battery of fluid and crystallized intelligence measures was predicted, with the largest training effects expected for near transfer (Induction) measures. The predicted pattern of training transfer was obtained at one-week and one-month posttests, with significant training effects to the nearest Induction measure. Large retest (practice) effects across posttests also occurred for training and control groups. This research contributes to the position that modifiability of intellectual performance through cognitive intervention extends across the adult life span.     

How does practice reduce dual-task interference: Integration, automatization, or just stage-shortening?

The present study assessed three hypotheses of how practice reduces dual-task interference: Practice teaches participants to efficiently integrate performance of a task pair; practice promotes automatization of individual tasks, allowing the central bottleneck to be bypassed; practice leaves the bottleneck intact but shorter in duration. These hypotheses were tested in two transfer-of-training experiments. Participants received one of three training types (Task 1 only, or Task 2 only, or dual-task), followed by dual-task test sessions. Practice effects in Experiment 1 (Task 1: auditory-vocal; Task 2: visual-manual) were fully explained by the intact bottleneck hypothesis, without task integration or automatization. This hypothesis also accounted well for the majority of participants when the task order was reversed (Experiment 2). In this case, however, there were multiple indicators that several participants had succeeded in eliminating the bottleneck by automatizing one or both tasks. Neither experiment provided any evidence that practice promotes efficient task integration.     

Short‐term numerosity training promotes symbolic arithmetic in children with developmental dyscalculia: The mediating role of visual form perception

Studies have shown that numerosity‐based arithmetic training can promote arithmetic learning in typically developing children as well as children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), but the cognitive mechanism underlying this training effect remains unclear. The main aim of the current study was to examine the role of visual form perception in arithmetic improvement through an 8‐day numerosity training for DD children. Eighty DD children were selected from four Chinese primary schools. They were randomly divided into the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received training on an apple‐collecting game, whereas the control group received an English dictation task. Children's cognitive and arithmetic performances were assessed before and after training. The results showed that the intervention group showed a significant improvement in arithmetic performance, approximate number system (ANS) acuity, and visual form perception, but not in spatial processing and sentence comprehension. The control group showed no significant improvement in any cognitive ability. Mediation analysis further showed that training‐related improvement in arithmetic performance was fully mediated by the improvement in visual form perception. The results suggest that short‐term numerosity training enhances the arithmetic performance of DD children by improving their visual form perception.     

The effects of short-term L2 training on components of executive control in Indian bilinguals

This study investigated whether a short training (8 weeks) in the second-language (English) has any facilitative effect on components of executive functions in young adults. A pre-post design was used with two groups of participants: one group (experimental group) of students received English language training for eight weeks, and another group (control group) matched on age and background did not. Executive function tasks (Flanker, Stroop, and color-shape switching task) along with the object naming and working memory tasks were administered before and after the training. We observed that the experimental group demonstrated significant improvement in task switching, working memory capacity, and language skills. Findings from the study provide evidence that short training in second-language can enhance some components of executive functions besides improving language skills in young adult students. This finding contributes to a better understanding of language training and executive function among young adult bilinguals.

     

Effect of phonetics training on lingual awareness

This investigation assessed the effect of phonetics training on lingual awareness in normal adult speakers of English. The study also compared Trained subjects' scores from a study in 2000 by Lohman and Fucci to subjects' posttraining scores in this investigation. Subjects were 36 students (M age=19.7, SD=.7) enrolled in an undergraduate phonetics class. All passed a speech and hearing screening. A pretest-posttest design was used. Subjects received approximately 40 hours of phonetics training over a 10-wk. period. The lingual awareness test required subjects imitate seven syllables and respond to four multiple-choice questions about each syllable. Subjects were aided by a line drawing of the oral cavity. A significant improvement in lingual awareness was found following training. However, scores for only two phonemes (sh and k) improved significantly. No significant difference was found between posttest scores and scores from Lohman and Fucci's Trained group.     

Tactile learning is task specific but transfers between fingers

Practice-related improvement in visual perception is highly specific for properties of the stimulus used in training. We explored the specificity of such perceptual learning in the human tactile system, using gratings consisting of alternating ridges and grooves. Practice effects on grating discrimination showed limited transfer between grating sets defined by spatial variation in either groove width or ridge width, consistent with partially overlapping neural representations of these two spatial parameters. In contrast, substantial interdigital transfer of practice effects occurred for discrimination of gratings varying in either spatial parameter and also for spatial acuity-dependent discrimination of grating orientation. We conclude that tactile learning, although quite as task specific as in other sensory systems, generalizes with considerable facility across fingers, unlike visual learning, which is highly location specific.     

THE EFFECTS OF BEHAVIORAL SKILLS TRAINING ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PICTURE EXCHANGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

The effectiveness of a behavioral skills training (BST) package to teach the implementation of the first three phases of the picture exchange communication system (PECS) was evaluated with 3 adults who had no history teaching any functional communication system. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training package, which consisted of a video, written and verbal instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Results showed significant improvements relative to baseline in a short amount of training time and that skills generalized to a learner with a severe developmental disability. Skills were maintained at 1 month follow‐up for 1 participant.     

Varying cautionary instructions, monetary incentives, and comorbid diagnostic training in malingered psychopathology research

In this article, we combine two analogue experiments in which we empirically examined three malingering methodological issues in individuals trained and instructed to simulate posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI; Briere, 1995). In Experiment 1, we examined TSI scale effects of the following manipulations using a 2 x 2 design with 330 college students: (a) inclusion or exclusion of cautionary instructions regarding believability of participants' simulation and (b) different financial incentive levels. In Experiment 2, we examined comorbid psychiatric diagnostic training with 180 college students who were either trained to simulate PTSD and comorbid major depressive disorder or trained to simulate only PTSD. Caution main effects were significant for all but two TSI Clinical Scales, incentive main effects and interactions were only significant for one Clinical scale each, and the comorbidity manipulation did not yield any scale differences. We discuss malingering research design implications regarding the use of cautionary instructions, financial incentive levels, and comorbid training.     

Training two severely retarded adolescents to ask questions

Two retarded boys were taught to discriminate items they knew how to label (training items) from items they did not know (probe items), to respond appropriately by naming any training items, and to ask a question about any probe items. The boys did not learn to question when appropriate questioning was modelled by the experimenter; however, when they were prompted and rewarded for asking questions about some training items, they then began asking questions about probe items. Both the modelling-and prompting-reinforcement procedures were introduced in an across-subject, multiple baseline design.     

教师共情对学生学业成绩的促进:基于动画叙述模拟测量的多层线性分析

以往研究认为教师共情能促进学生的社交能力和情绪的发展,但教师共情能否促进学生学业成绩呢?以往研究存在较多的分歧。本研究为进一步考察教师共情对学生学业成绩的作用,开发和运用针对教师职业特殊性的ANVs共情测量工具,采用准实验的方式,运用共情培训对20位实验组教师进行干预(另外20位教师作为控制组),同时收集相应实验组803名学生、控制组852名学生的期中、期末成绩,并采用多层线性的方式控制无关变量,关注学生原有成绩的影响,从而检验教师共情与学生学业成绩的关系。结果表明:(1)教师共情能力的提高能够促进学生学业成绩的提高;(2)在教师共情对学生学业成绩的促进作用中,学生原有成绩起到调节作用。     

Comparison of two training methods to enhance awareness of the oral cavity

This investigation assessed two training methods to heighten awareness of the oral cavity in normal adult speakers of English. A pretest-posttest design was used. 40 subjects (M age=25.6 yr., SD=8.7) who passed a speech and hearing screening were placed into two equal-sized groups. Each group received 10 hr. of training over 3 wk. The Experimental group received verbal instructions regarding how the phonemes of English are produced, including tongue height, location, and contact with other structures in the oral cavity. Subjects in the Experimental group also used a tongue blade to enhance lingual awareness. The Control group received instructions in articulatory placement only. The Lingual Awareness Test required subjects to imitate 7 English syllables and answer 4 multiple-choice questions regarding lingual contact for each syllable. Posttest scores for the Experimental group were significantly better for one phoneme. The Control group made no significant improvement.     

Visual acuity improvement following fading and feedback training—II. Relationship to changes in refractive error

The present study evaluated the effects of behavioral training on visual acuity and refractive error in myopic adults. Twenty volunteers were matched on the basis of refractive error and one member of each matched pair was randomly assigned to either Fading and Feedback training or a no-treatment control condition. Visual acuity was measured with both recognition and resolution measures. Refractive error was measured subjectively using the LaserSpec optometer, and objectively by two retinoscopic examinations performed by an ophthalmologist with and without cycloplegia. The results indicated significant increases in recognition visual acuity, but not resolution visual acuity for trained subjects compared to the no-treatment controls. Trained subjects did not show improvement in refractive error on any measure, and refractive error changes were not correlated with changes in either measure of visual acuity. These data suggest that the visual acuity improvements typically found with behavioral training are not associated with changes in refractive error.     

Does Wechsler Intelligence Scale administration and scoring proficiency improve during assessment training?

Studies have found that Wechsler scale administration and scoring proficiency is not easily attained during graduate training. These findings may be related to methodological issues. Using a single-group repeated measures design, this study documents statistically significant, though modest, error reduction on the WAIS-III and WISC-III during a graduate course in assessment. The study design does not permit the isolation of training factors related to error reduction, or assessment of whether error reduction is a function of mere practice. However, the results do indicate that previous study findings of no or inconsistent improvement in scoring proficiency may have been the result of methodological factors. Implications for teaching individual intelligence testing and further research are discussed.     

个体差异对工作记忆训练迁移效果的调节

本研究考察了流体智力基线水平对工作记忆训练迁移效果的影响。采用前后测设计,以视觉和听觉双任务n-back作为工作记忆训练任务,对训练组进行为期一个月的训练;积极对照组采用阅读任务进行训练。结果发现积极控制组的流体智力水平在基线与后测之间无显著变化;而训练组流体智力水平在后测时与基线相比有显著提高,且工作记忆训练提升量越大的个体其流体智力改善越大。说明认知训练有效迁移到了流体智力水平的改善上。我们还发现流体智力基线水平调节了工作记忆训练对流体智力水平的迁移,即工作记忆训练提升量越大,流体智力改善值越大,对于那些流体智力基线水平较高的人来说,工作记忆训练对流体智力改善的效果更大。流体智力基线水平、工作记忆训练提升量及两者的乘积共同影响了流体智力改善值。这一结果表明个体差异如流体智力基线水平可以调节工作记忆训练对流体智力水平的迁移。     

Predicting transfer from training performance.

The research in this paper was designed to examine the extent to which improvement on a training task can be used to predict performance on a transfer task. This aim involved evaluating the proposition that when old skills are executed in the context of new tasks, they continue to improve as if stimulus conditions have not changed. That is, power functions that describe improvement on old skills during their initial acquisition should predict further improvement on these skills during their execution in new tasks. Three experiments were performed to achieve the aim of testing this proposition. Experiment 1 revealed that old skills were executed slower in the context of a new task than was predicted on the basis of training performance. Hence improvement in the old skills appeared to be disrupted by performance of the new task. Experiment 2 was designed to examine whether this disruption was due to an increase in complexity in the task from training to transfer, or simply due to any change in task. The results suggested that any change may cause some disruption, but this disruption was greatest with an increase in task complexity. Experiment 3 was designed to examine two variables that may affect the magnitude of this effect: the relative change in task complexity from training to transfer, and the amount of practice on a task prior to a change in task. The results indicated that only the former variable had any effect. In all three experiments no effects on performance accuracy were noted, and response times in the transfer tasks eventually returned to levels predicted by training learning functions. These results were interpreted as indicating that old skills do continue to improve in new tasks as if conditions are not altered, but that disruptions caused by transfer are related to performance overheads associated with reconceptualising the task.     

Discriminative performance of the domestic hen in a visual acuity task

The performance of 6 domestic hens on a visual acuity task was studied using a spatial discrete-trial conditional discrimination procedure. Gray stimuli and vertical square-wave gratings, ranging in spatial frequency from 1 to 10 cycles per millimeter, were presented in a descending and ascending series of probes. On each trial, either a grating or gray stimulus was presented. Only one spatial frequency of grating was presented during each session. Between probe sessions, training continued at the coarsest grating value. Stimulus discriminability, measured as values of log d, changed with changes in grating spatial frequency for both probe series. Fitted lines described the linear portion of the psychometric functions. Thresholds estimated from the lines generally ranged from four to six cycles per degree, with slightly greater estimates from data from the descending probe series. There were no systematic changes in response bias as a function of grating spatial frequency.     

SEQUENTIAL APPLICATION OF MAJOR HABIT-REVERSAL COMPONENTS TO TREAT MOTOR TICS IN CHILDREN

In this study, we sequentially administered up to four components of the habit-reversal treatment to 4 children with motor tics within a multiple baseline design. The habit-reversal components included (a) awareness training; (b) awareness training and self-monitoring; (c) awareness training, self-monitoring, and social support; and (d) awareness training, social support, and the use of a competing response. Results demonstrated that the combined use of awareness training, social support, and competing response training was effective in eliminating motor tics in 2 of 4 children, that awareness training alone was effective for 1 child, and that a combination of awareness training and self-monitoring was effective for the 4th child. The treatment and ensuing improvement were found to be socially valid. We discuss possible explanations for these results and recommend directions for future research.     

Electronics for generating simultaneous random-dot cyclopean and monocular stimuli

We present a design for a versatile electronic device that produces simultaneous dynamic cyclopean (disparity) and monocular visual stimuli on standard monitors. These stimuli consist of dynamic random-dot cinematograms with the cyclopean and monocular components under real-time simultaneous but independent control. For example, one possible stimulus consists of a horizontal sinusoidal disparity grating moving upward in the frontal plane, made from randomdot fields that move to the right at an arbitrary speed. The device can be controlled by any microcomputer with serial input/output capability.     

Evaluation of a Train-The-Trainers Model for Family Peer Advocates in Children’s Mental Health

Standardized training and credentialing is increasingly important to states and healthcare systems. Workforce shortages in children's mental health can be addressed through training and credentialing of professional peer parents (called family peer advocates or FPAs), who deliver a range of services to caregivers. A theory-based training program for FPAs targeting skills and knowledge about childhood mental health services (Parent Empowerment Program, or PEP) was developed through a partnership among a statewide family-run organization, state policy leaders, and academic researchers. Prior studies by this team using highly-experienced family peer advocates (who were also co-developers of the training program) as trainers found improvements in knowledge about mental health services and self-efficacy. In 2010, to meet demands and scale the model, a training of trainers (TOT) model was developed to build a cohort of locally-trained FPAs to deliver PEP training. A pre/post design was used to evaluate the impact of TOT model on knowledge and self-efficacy among 318 FPAs across the state. Participants showed significant pre-post (6 month) changes in knowledge about mental health services and self-efficacy. There were no significant associations between any FPA demographic characteristics and their knowledge or self-efficacy scores. A theory-based training model for professional peer parents working in the children's mental health system can be taught to local FPAs, and it improves knowledge about the mental health system and self-efficacy. Studies that evaluate the effectiveness of different training modalities are critical to ensure that high-quality trainings are maintained.