Software Tools in Logic Education: Some Examples

Computers are increasingly present in education and make manyresources and activities available to teachers and pupils. Newpedagogical resources development is very interesting for both.Our digital library Summa Logicae is overtly involved in innovationand pedagogical systematization. It includes some software toolsfor teaching logic developed by computer science students, andin this article we present two of these tools. The MAFIA toolis especially attractive for first year students and helps themto understand the basic concepts of logic in an interactiveway using sematic tableaux. It also allows them to solve thecrazy cases in Mafia which their fellow students from previousyears proposed. The Modelos de Kripke tool, oriented to a moreadvanced level, serves for understanding the link between theproperties of the accessibility relation and the modal formulas,which is at the basis of the current developments of modal logic.     

Habiletés phonologiques chez des enfants dysphasiques de GS et CP : étude comparative avec des enfants au développement langagier normal

The aim of this study was to investigate the deficit in phonological skills of pre-reader and beginning reader children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). We compared their performances in different metaphonological tasks (a common unit detection task (syllable vs phoneme) and a phoneme deletion task) with those of children with Normal Language Development (NLD) of the same school level. Phoneme detection task is very difficult for all children in kindergarten. The performances of SLI children are poorer than those of NLD children for syllables and phonemes in first grade. The forced choice phoneme deletion tasks point out a specific difficulty for children with SLI to focus on the phonological properties of words when their attention must shift from content to form.     

A Preliminary Analysis of Counseling Students' Attitudes Toward Counseling Women and Women of Color: Implications for Cultural Competency Training

In this study, 56 counseling students responded to peer‐generated presentations on counseling women and counseling women of color. Qualitative methodology was used to identify students' racial, ethnic, and gender attitudes in counseling contexts. Implications for cultural competency training are provided.     

Cognitive ability in virtual reality: Validity evidence for VR game‐based assessments

Virtual reality (VR) technology may provide unique benefits for assessing individual characteristics, in contrast with traditional assessments. This study examined validity evidence for the use of VR game (VRG) scores to indicate specific cognitive abilities. Participants completed three VRGs, three computer‐based assessments (CBAs), and additional scales. To evaluate convergent validity, VRG scores were compared with CBA scores. For divergent validity, VRG scores were compared with five factors of personality based on the Five Factor Model. For criterion‐related validity, VRG scores were compared with academic achievement (i.e., grade point average). Findings generally provided support that the VRG scores are related to certain spatial reasoning subdimensions of cognitive ability. However, further research is needed to examine the qualities of VRGs as assessment tools.     

Adapting Work Analysis to a Fast-Paced and Electronic Business World

The reliance of traditional job analysis on job incumbents as the primary source of work-analytic data is critically examined. It is argued that the sole use of incumbents is practically and theoretically unjustified. The incorporation of non-incumbents to the work analysis process is advocated, especially when abstract human attributes and strategic requirements are evaluated. The time and resource savings afforded by the use of mechanical estimation of work dimensions are also discussed. A revision of traditional formats of data collection in job analysis such as paper-and-pencil surveys and face-to-face interviews is proposed. Instead, the potential work-analytic uses of electronic records of work information nowadays available in electronic performance monitoring systems are outlined.     

Effects of neonatal treatment with cyproterone acetate on aggressive behavior induced by footshock in adult male rats

High levels of androgens are required to organize aggressive behavior in adult male rats. Footshock-induced aggression was tested in Wistar rats allocated to one of three experimental groups: control (oil-injected) males (M), males neonatally injected with the antiandrogen cyproterone acetate (CA), and males treated as in the CA group but gonadectomized just before puberty (CAG). An antiaggressive effect of CA in those adult male rats neonatally treated with this compound was found. Neonatal exposure to cyproterone acetate exerts an antiandrogenic effect over the expression of shock-induced aggressive behavior. The behavioral effects of CA were not countered by adult treatment with testosterone propionate.     

Emotional expressions facilitate human–human trust when using automation in high-risk situations

This study investigated the utility of emotional expression for human decision aids, when human aids conflict with an automated decision support system (DSS). The increasing presence of automation in society has resulted in critical, and often life threatening, situations when information from human and automated sources disagree. It has been known that reliance on human aids decrease during high-risk situations, while reliance on automated aids increase. However, it is also possible that human decision aids gain credibility from users when they embody the charismatic and emotionally expressive gesticulations seen in successful organizational leaders. The present study tested how a human agent's expressiveness when providing information would influence participants' behavioral reliance. Using the program Convoy Leader, participants (n=56) engaged in three decision-making scenarios where risk was manipulated as a within-subject factor and emotional expression as a between-subject factor. Emotional susceptibility, perceived risk, and trust for human as well as automated aids were measured. Overall trust was higher for the automated tool than human decision aid, and that pattern was amplified in conditions without an emotionally expressive human aid. Reliance was greater for emotionally expressive human aids, than stoic human aids, particularly during high risk conditions. The findings suggest that emotional expression of a human aid significantly impacts both reliance and trust of a decision aid, especially at higher risk levels. Emotionally expressive human agents should be utilized in decision conflicts where the automated system has certainly failed.     

Blood quantum and perceptions of black-white biracial targets: the black ancestry prototype model of affirmative action

The present study examined the causal role of amount of Black ancestry in targets' perceived fit with Black prototypes and perceivers' categorization of biracial targets. Greater Black ancestry increased the likelihood that perceivers categorized biracial targets as Black and perceived targets as fitting Black prototypes (e.g., experiencing racial discrimination, possessing stereotypic traits). These results persisted, controlling for perceptions of phenotype that stem from ancestry information. Perceivers' beliefs about how society would categorize the biracial targets predicted perceptions of discrimination, whereas perceivers' beliefs about the targets' self-categorization predicted trait perceptions. The results of this study support the Black ancestry prototype model of affirmative action, which reveals the downstream consequences of Black ancestry for the distribution of minority resources (e.g., affirmative action) to biracial targets.     

Working through the pain: working memory capacity and differences in processing and storage under pain

It has been suggested that pain perception and attention are closely linked at both a neural and a behavioural level. If pain and attention are so linked, it is reasonable to speculate that those who vary in working memory capacity (WMC) should be affected by pain differently. This study compares the performance of individuals who differ in WMC as they perform processing and memory span tasks while under mild pain and not. While processing performance under mild pain does not interact with WMC, the ability to store information for later recall does. This suggests that pain operates much like an additional processing burden, and that the ability to overcome this physical sensation is related to differences in WMC.