Examining the unfolding of moral decisions across time using the reach-to-touch paradigm

Abstract

Recent theories of decision making are characterised by a growing emphasis on understanding the cognitive mechanisms that produce decisions. This has seen a growth in methods that allow for the continuous collection of data during reasoning. Current applications of these methods to complex decision making have been limited in their ability to examine the dynamics of responding across time. In the current study we address this issue by examining the online dynamics of moral decisions. Participants were required to respond to moral dilemmas that differed according to harm or intention by reaching out and touching one of two response panels. Utilitarian and deontological responses to personal moral dilemmas were found to differ across time. Utilitarian decisions did not emerge more slowly overall, but rather emerged across a wider (less consistent) time period. Importantly, this result did not generalise to a set of standardized moral scenarios. Taken together these findings highlight how dilemma-specific variables can significantly influence moral reasoning and emphasize the importance of using well controlled stimuli together with a measure capable of examining decisions as they unfold over time.     

Expository Texts in First-Grade Classroom Libraries: Issues in Teacher Selection

Abstract

In 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted by most states in the US. The authors of these standards called for a shift from previous standards by recommending that young children experience a 50-50 balance between informational and literary reading. For this mixed-methods study, researchers examined the contents of 23 first-grade classroom libraries 8?years after the implementation of the CCSS to determine the percentage of expository texts found in these libraries and if these percentages differed based on the SES of the school or the number of years a teacher had been teaching. In addition, researchers interviewed twelve selected classroom teachers to gain an understanding of how they selected books for their libraries and what influenced their decisions. Results indicated that 22.8% of the texts found in first-grade classroom libraries were expository and there was no difference based on SES of the school or years a teacher had been in the classroom. Teacher interviews indicated that book cost, reading level, student interest, and genre (both narrative and expository/nonfiction) influenced their library text selections. Only two teachers indicated that the CCSS impacted their book choices.