The conflicts of postmodern and traditional epistemologies in curricular reform: A dialogue

A radical opponent of Western higher education asserts that its pedagogy and content depend on belief in objective truth and knowledge. This epistemology and education are attacked as exclusive and domineering toward women, minorities, and non-Westerners. The critic puts forward a pragmatist epistemology, leading to multi-cultural education aimed at social criticism and personal autonomy. The critic's dialogue with a defender of traditional epistemological ideas provides a critical introduction to the claims justifying many radical criticisms of Western curricula and pedagogy.     

What is educational theory and how to make it?

An analysis is provided detailing the conditions for the appropriate theoretical study of the object of educational science: pedagogy.     

The second offspring of General Process Learning Theory: Overt behavior as the ambassador of the mind

Wasserman suggested in a recent book review that the study of intervening cognitive processes represents a current focus of interest in animal learning and that this has led to a revitalization of comparative psychology. An examination of the volume reviewed suggests that he may have overstated the case. Most of the authors to whom he refers expressed dissatisfaction with traditional stimulus-response associationism but few argued for the extreme (information processing) sort of cognitive approach described by Wasserman.     

VISITING THE DENTIST: A BEHAVIORAL COMMUNITY ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPATION IN A DENTAL HEALTH SCREENING AND REFERRAL PROGRAM

One-hundred and twenty-five families in the Medicaid Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Program were assigned to one of five treatments to encourage parents to obtain health care service following the dental screening of their children: (a) a control procedure, in which parents were given a dentist's name; (b) a multiple contact procedure, in which parents received a postcard and two telephone call reminders; (c) a problem-solve procedure, in which a social worker aide conducted a brief session with the parent; (d) an incentive procedure, in which parents selected among four gifts that were contingent on seeking care; (e) an incentive + problem-solve procedure, in which the latter two treatments were combined. The multiple contact, incentive, and incentive + problem-solve techniques were significantly more effective in initiating dental visits than the control procedures. Families assigned to the intensive strategies were most likely to complete treatment. A cost-efficiency analysis showed the multiple contact technique to be a low-cost and highly effective procedure.     

On the self-perpetuating nature of stereotypes about women and men

An experiment was conducted to investigate an interpersonal process that contributes to the perpetuation of stereotyped beliefs about women and men. Male-female pairs of unacquainted individuals interacted to negotiate a division of labor on a series of work-like tasks (that differed in their sex-role connotations) in a situation that permitted control over the information that male perceivers received about the apparent sex of female targets. The perceivers' beliefs about the sex of their targets initiated a chain of events that resulted in targets providing behavioral confirmation for perceivers' beliefs about their sex. Targets believed by perceivers to be male chose tasks relatively masculine in nature, and targets believed by perceivers to be female chose tasks relatively feminine in nature. Although this behavioral confirmation effect was initially elicited as reactions to overtures made by perceivers, it persevered so that eventually targets came to initiate behaviors “appropriate” to the sex with which they had been labeled by perceivers. The specific roles of perceivers and targets in the behavioral confirmation process are examined. Implications of these findings for the perpetuation of stereotyped beliefs about the sexes are discussed.     

Comparison of observational recordings in vivo, via mirror, and via television

Simultaneous observational recordings were made in vivo, via an observation mirror, and via closed circuit television. Three of nine observers had extensive experience recording behavior in vivo; three had extensive experience recording behavior via mirror; and three had extensive experience recording via television. Observers recorded nine categories of disruptive behavior for children in a special class setting. Frequencies of behavior recorded in vivo, via mirror, and via television differed significantly for only one category, vocalization. There were no significant main effects or interactions involving the observers' previous experience. Occurrence reliability coefficients computed within and between media demonstrated the similarity of observer agreement in all three media. Data collection procedures using an observational mirror or closed circuit television appear to be reasonable alternatives to in vivo observation in circumstances similar to those in the present study.     

Effects of self-monitoring and feedback on residential electricity consumption

Prior research has indicated that frequent feedback could reduce residential electricity consumption by 10% to 15%. However, because feedback was primarily given in written form, this procedure might not be practical. The present study evaluated a potentially more practical feedback procedure during peak-use periods with high electricity consuming households. The study was conducted during the winter in an upper-middle class neighborhood of almost identical, all-electric townhouses (N = 71) that averaged about 170 KWH per day per household for a monthly bill of over $200. Twelve households received daily written feedback. Sixteen households (self-monitoring) were taught to read their outdoor electricity meter and to record KWH used every day. A comparison group was composed of 14 households that had volunteered to participate and 29 others that had only given permission to have their meters read. During a 1-month period that the procedures were in effect, the feedback group reduced consumption by 13% and the self-monitoring group by about 7%. These reductions, relative to the comparison group, were maintained during an early spring 1-month follow-up period and, to a lesser extent, during a 6-week warm spring period. Self-monitoring participants were highly reliable and persistent meter readers. Reductions in electricity use were reported by households to be largely attributable to lowering of the heat thermostat, and large monetary and KWH savings were found. Techniques to make self-monitoring cost-effective important components of the self-monitoring procedure, methods to apply self-monitoring more broadly, and plans to combine behavioral procedures with physical technology are discussed.     

Reward and number of choices in children's probability learning: An attempt to reconcile conflicting findings

Five event schedules (75:0, 75:25, 75:0:0, 72:25:0, 75:12.5:12.5) were examined in a size discrimination task with penny rewards and plastic token markers. The subjects were 100 fourth graders (mean age = 9.4 years) and 100 undergraduates of both sexes. Whether or not the event probabilities summed to unity proved to be a more important determiner of terminal performance than the number of response alternatives in the task (p < .01). Females maximized more than males (p < .001) and college students more than fourth graders (p < .001). Greater maximization was exhibited by fourth graders in the reward condition (p < .01). These reward effects appeared to be more consistent with a detrimental-effects-of-reward interpretation than either utility or expectancy interpretations.     

Reducing residential electrical energy use: payments, information, and feedback

Monetary payments, energy information, and daily feedback on consumption were employed to reduce electricity use in four units of a university student housing complex. A combined multiple-baseline and withdrawal design permitted both within- and between-unit comparisons. Payments produced immediate and substantial reductions in consumption in all units, even when the magnitude of the payments was reduced considerably. Feedback also produced reductions, but information about ways to conserve and about the cost of using various appliances did not. It was also found that, in general, payments combined with either information or feedback produced no greater effect than payments alone.