Behaviorism, latent learning, and cognitive maps: needed revisions in introductory psychology textbooks

This paper critically assesses the scholarship in introductory psychology textbooks in relation to the topic of latent learning. A review of the treatment of latent learning in 48 introductory psychology textbooks published between 1948 and 2004, with 21 of these texts published since 1999, reveals that the scholarship on the topic of latent learning demonstrated in introductory textbooks warrants improvement. Errors that persist in textbooks include the assertion that the latent learning experiments demonstrate unequivocally that reinforcement was not necessary for learning to occur, that behavioral theories could not account for the results of the latent learning experiments, that B. F. Skinner was an S-R association behaviorist who argued that reinforcement is necessary for learning to occur, and that because behavioral theories (including that of B. F. Skinner) were unable explain the results of the latent learning experiments the cognitive map invoked by Edward Tolman is the only explanation for latent learning. Finally, the validity of the cognitive map is typically accepted without question. Implications of the presence of these errors for students and the discipline are considered. Lastly, remedies are offered to improve the scholarship found in introductory psychology textbooks.     

Observed classroom behavior of children with ADHD: relationship to gender and comorbidity

Examined hypothesized gender and comorbidity differences in the observed classroom behavior of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The behavior of 403 boys and 99 girls with ADHD, ages 7–10, was compared (a) to observed, sex-specific classroom behavior norms, (b) by sex, and (c) by comorbid subgroups. Boys and girls with ADHD deviated significantly from classroom norms on 15/16 and 13/16 categories, respectively. Compared to comparison girls, girls with ADHD had relatively high rates of verbal aggression to children. Boys with ADHD engaged in more rule-breaking and externalizing behaviors than did girls with ADHD, but the sexes did not differ on more neutral, unobtrusive behaviors. The sex differences are consistent with notions of why girls with ADHD are identified and referred later than boys. Contrary to hypothesis, the presence of comorbid anxiety disorder (ANX) was not associated with behavioral suppression; yet, as hypothesized, children with a comorbid disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) had higher rates of rule-breaking, and impulsive and aggressive behavior, than did children with ADHD alone and those with ADHD+ANX. Elevated rates of ADHD behaviors were also observed in children with comorbid DBD, indicating that these behaviors are truly present and suggesting that reports of higher ADHD ratings in this subgroup are not simply a consequence of negative halo effects and rater biases.     

(Re)imagining Literacy and Teacher Preparation Through Collaboration

This article reports the outcomes of the first 3 years of an ongoing participatory action research (PAR) project that brought together literacy and content-area teacher educators. The purpose of our collaboration was two-fold: (a) to develop shared understandings or theories related to literacy and the place of literacy instruction in content-area classrooms, and (b) to make changes to our work with preservice teachers in order to prepare them to support adolescents’ content learning and discipline-specific literacy development. The findings reveal that the collaborative activities allowed participants to embrace broad notions of text and literacy that are useful in making sense of disciplinary aims and pedagogy. Furthermore, as teacher educators came to shift their thinking about literacy and disciplinary learning and teaching, their work with preservice teachers changed. Implications for future collaborative activities to promote content-area literacy are discussed.     

Index for Volume 24

In this article, the development of the increasingly differentiated control of the joints necessary to transform the spontaneous leg movements of early infancy into adaptive and functional actions is described. The hypothesis—that increasing joint control requires the capability for disassociation of joint action, the active modulation of joint stiffness, and a transition from proximal to distal control of the joints—is proposed. Kinematic and kinetic analyses of the vertical kicks of infants 2 weeks, 3 months, and 7 months of age (as well as a comparative group of adults) indicated increasing joint independence as well as phase-dependent and joint-dependent control modifications. The kicks of the younger infants were dominated by a proximal control strategy and minimal adjustments of the limb energetics during the flexion and extension phases of the kick. By 7 months of age, much larger modulations of the kick phases were observed as well as increasing evidence of distal control. These results revealed kinematic and kinetic patterns of emerging limb control between 2 weeks and 7 months of age.     

The Development of Compensatory Stepping Skills in Children

The development of the ability to use the step for balance recovery was studied among twenty-five 9- to 19-month-old children. The children were grouped according to walking experience (4 levels) and exposed to backward support surface translations, 8 cm in amplitude, under 3 velocity conditions: 15, 20, and 25 cm/s. New walkers (up to 2 weeks' walking experience) used the step infrequently and ineffectively in response to threats to balance. Intermediate walkers (1-3 months' walking experience) showed an increasing use of the step and significant improvement in step execution compared with new walkers. Advanced walkers (> 3 months' walking experience) experienced no falls throughout the protocol, capturing balance with feet-in-place or step responses under all perturbation conditions. A significant developmental transition in the emergence of the compensatory step occurred between the new walker and the intermediate walker experience levels, that is, within the first 3 months of walking experience. Three to 6 months' experience was required for the development of an effective stepping response. A concomitant change in mediolateral stability paralleled the emergence of compensatory stepping.     

Merleau-Ponty and McDowell on the Transparency of the Mind

Abstract

McDowell and Merleau-Ponty share a critical attitude towards a certain Cartesian picture of the mind. According to the picture in question nothing which properly belongs to subjectivity can be hidden to the subject herself. Nevertheless there is a striking asymmetry in how the two philosophers portray the problematic consequences of such a picture. They can seem to offer exact opposite views of these consequences, which, given the almost identical characterization of the transparency claim, is puzzling. I argue that a closer look at the prima facie puzzling asymmetry dissolves the apparent disagreement and reveals a deeper agreement concerning both the nature and the origin of the problems haunting the Cartesian picture in question. Both McDowell and Merleau-Ponty argue that on the picture of the relation of between mind and world in question, we lose our grip on the very idea of a perceptual appearance. Furthermore, the two authors regard a certain conception of nature as conceived in the image of science, as one of the crucial elements in making the picture of the mind in question look attractive.     

Thermal-equilibrium processes and electronic transport in undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Abstract

The temperature and time dependence of the d.c. conductivity of undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon is presented. Measurements of the electronic transport are reported, with particular emphasis on the effects of annealing and cooling the samples. Two regimes of behaviour are observed. When samples are rapidly cooled from 200°C below a temperature T _E～145°C a non-equilibrium dark conductivity, higher than that corresponding to slow cooling, is observed. The electronic and atomic structure then slowly relax and the time dependence of the excess conductivity is well described by a stretched exponential function. The second regime above T _E corresponds to a relaxation time short compared to experimental times and the conductivity is independent of which order the annealing temperature is chosen. Thus the thermal equilibrium processes observed in undoped samples are qualitatively very similar to those observed in doped samples as recently reported in the literature.