The effects of stating problems in bilingual students' first and second languages on solving mathematical word problems

Researchers have suggested that among bilinguals, solving word problems in mathematics is influenced by linguistic factors (K. Durkin & B. Shire, 1991; L. Verschaffel, B. Greer, & E. De Corte, 2000). Others have suggested that students exhibit a strong tendency to exclude real-world constraints in solving mathematics word problems (L. Verschaffel, E. De Corte, & S. Lasure, 1994). In the present study, the authors explored the effects of stating word problems in either Filipino or English on how Filipino-English bilingual students solved word problems in which the solution required the application of real-world knowledge. The authors asked bilingual students to solve word problems in either their first or second language. For some of the word problems, real-life constraints prevented straightforward application of mathematical procedures. The authors analyzed the students' solutions to determine whether the language of the word problems affected the tendency to apply real-life constraints in the solution. Results showed that the bilingual students (a) rarely considered real-life constraints in their solutions, (b) were more successful in understanding and solving word problems that were stated in their first language, and (c) were more likely to experience failure in finding a solution to problems stated in their second language. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between linguistic and mathematical problem-solving processes among bilinguals.     

Differential Predictability: Selection of Handicapped and Non-handicapped

This research is concerned with the question of differential predictability of handicapped and non-handicapped subgroups. The specific question posed was: Is the performance of non-handicapped subgroups of skilled, clerical, and non-skilled workers more predictable than that of handicapped subgroups when aptitude measures are used as predictors? Correlations between scores on selected scales of the GATB and a composite performance criterion were obtained for each of the subgroups. Results showed a pattern of consistently lower validities for the handicapped which suggests that aptitude measures typically used in selection may not be appropriate for the handicapped, and that validity coefficients may be diluted by the inclusion of this subgroup with the non-handicapped in validity studies.     

A device for concurrent bilateral measurement of outer eyelid closures in the rabbit

This paper describes a transducer that allows for the concurrent recording of outer eyelid closure on both the left and the right eyes of a rabbit. The device makes use of voltage induced across a current-carrying conductor when the conductor is exposed to a magnetic field perpendicular to its axis (the Hall effect). The transducer is relatively compact, inexpensive, and allows the animal to be loosely restrained.     

Gender displaying television commercials: A comparative study of television commercials in the 1950s and 1980s

Recent researchers have argued both that there has been change in the way gender is portrayed in television commercials and that gender images have remained stereotypical. Comparing television commercials from the 1950s/early 1960s to commercials from the 1980s, this study explores the issue of how much, if any, change has occurred in gender images. Additionally, the study focuses on the gender display of main characters and the circumstances under which it varies. Results indicate that there has been change in the images of women but not men. The activity that women are pictured in significantly changed from the 1950s to the 1980s, and a change in activity has the strongest effect on the display of gender.Partial funding for this research was provided by the Academic Senate of the University of California, Riverside. Statistical assistance was provided by Masako Ishii-Kuntz. Research assistance was provided by Kathryn Bigelow, Saralyn Caloff, and Eloy Zarate. We gratefully acknowledge the use of films housed at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Our thanks to the anonymous reviewers atSex Roles for their helpful comments.     

The widespread influence of the Rescorla-Wagner model

The theory of Pavlovian conditioning presented by Robert Rescorla and Allan Wagner in 1972 (the Rescorla-Wagner model) has been enormously important in animal learning research. It also has been applied in a variety of areas other than animal learning. We summarize the contribution of the Rescorla-Wagner model to research in verbal learning, social psychology, human category learning, human judgments of correlational relationships, transitive inference, color aftereffects, and physiological regulation. We conclude that there have been few models in experimental psychology as influential as the Rescorla-Wagner model.     

Visual position discrimination: A model relating temporal and spatial factors

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - This paper presents a decision theory model of the perceptual processes by which an observer compares two visual stimuli presented at different points...     

Effects on pupil size of manual and verbal indicators of cognitive task fulfillment

A total of20 Ss attempted to generate images to concrete and abstract stimulus words while pupillary activity was continuously photographed. One group (N =5) was required to press a key when an image occurred, a second to describe the image, and a third to press a key as well as describe the image. No overt indicator was required of a fourth group. Results showed that greater dilation occurred during the imagery task than during a control period only in those conditions in which an overt response indicated task fulfillment. Consistent with earlier findings significantly greater dilation occurred to abstract than concrete stimulus words in the key press condition.     

Overshadowing and blocking of the orientation-contingent color aftereffect: Evidence for a conditioning mechanism

Orientation-contingent color aftereffects have been interpreted by nonassociative mechanisms (adaptation of neural units that are both color and orientation specific) and by associative mechanisms (conditioning resulting from the pairing of pattern and hue). To evaluate associative accounts, contingent aftereffects were induced by exposing subjects to compound chromatic grid patterns consisting of two component gratings: one was horizontal or vertical, and the other a left- or right-learning diagonal. The ability of a component grating to elicit a color aftereffect depended on the relative salience and the aftereffect training history of the grating components. That is, orientation-contingent color aftereffects, like other conditional responses, display overshadowing and blocking. The results suggest that conditioning contributes to these aftereffects.