Comments on Where the Creativity Research Has Been and Where Is It Going

This Commentary examines where the creativity research has been and where it is going. They key points include evolving definitions of creativity, interdisciplinarity in the creativity research, divergent thinking as a reliable index of creative potential, improvements in testing, the impact of technology, the inclusion of political, moral, and everyday creativity in the research, the use of semantic networks and conceptual maps, the creative economy, and the need to extricate personal creativity from social recognition.     

The Genealogy of “Empirical Post-structuralist” STS,Retold in Two Conjunctures: The Legacy of Hegel and Althusser

Recent discussions in science and technology studies (STS) about the risks of science and technology have led to political economy occupying centre stage. Closely related to political economy as a field of investigation are a number of overarching concepts, such as class, capitalism and interest. However, reliance on such concepts is rejected in post-Actor Network Theory STS. This stand-off over overarching categories can be traced back to two conjuntures in the genealogy of STS. First, the influence of Hegel and his concept of “totality”; and second, the influence from anti-hegelian French epistemology with its celebration of the opposite concept, that of “multiplicity”.     

A systematic evaluation of token economies as a classroom management tool for students with challenging behavior

A two-part systematic review was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of token economies in increasing rates of appropriate classroom behavior for students demonstrating behavioral difficulties. The first part of the review utilized the recently published What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards for evaluating single-subject research to determine the extent to which eligible studies demonstrated sufficient evidence to classify the token economy as an evidence-based practice. The second part of the review employed meta-analytic techniques across four different types of effect sizes to evaluate the quantitative strength of the findings. Methodological strengths and weaknesses across the studies were systematically investigated. Results indicated that the extant research on token economies does not provide sufficient evidence to be deemed best-practice based on the WWC criteria.     

The effects of session length on demand functions generated using FR schedules

In comparing open and closed economies, researchers often arrange shorter sessions under the former condition than under the latter. Several studies indicate that session length per se can affect performance and there are some data that indicate that this variable can influence demand functions. To provide further data, the present study exposed domestic hens to series of increasing fixed-ratio schedules with the length of the open-economy sessions varied over 10, 40, 60, and 120 min. Session time affected the total-session response rates and pause lengths. The shortest session gave the greatest response rates and shortest pauses and the longest gave the lowest response rates and longest pauses. The total-session demand functions also changed with session length: The shortest session gave steeper initial slopes (i.e., the functions were more elastic at small ratios) and smaller rates of change of elasticity than the longest session. Response rates, pauses, and demand functions were, however, similar for equivalent periods of responding taken from within sessions of different overall lengths (e.g., total-session data for 10-min sessions and the data for the first 10 min of 120-min sessions). These findings suggest that differences in session length can confound the results of studies comparing open and closed economies when those economies are arranged in sessions that differ substantially in length, hence data for equivalent-length periods of responding, rather than total-session data, should be of primary interest under these conditions.     

Uncommon Schools: Stanley Cavell and the Teaching of Walden

Thoreau’s Walden is a text that has been misinterpreted in various ways, one consequence of which is a failure to appreciate its significance as a perfectionist and visionary text for education. This paper explores aspects of what might be called its teaching, especially via the kind of teaching that is offered by Stanley Cavell’s commentary, The Senses of Walden. Walden is considered especially in the light of its conception of language as the “father-tongue” and of the ideas of continual rebirth and departure that are associated with this. References to teaching and learning abound in the book, but it is Thoreau’s specific reference to the need for “uncommon schools” that provides a focus for the present discussion. Paul Standish is Professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of Sheffield. His recent books include The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Education (2003), co-edited with Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers and Richard Smith. He is Editor of the Journal of Philosophy of Education and Co-editor of the online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy of Education.     

Sharing economy promotes morality,not impedes it

Sharing economy (SE) is a rapidly growing economic model which has brought people efficiency and convenience; however, it also provides users the opportunity to misbehave, which has raised public concerns about the moral crisis that it might cause. We examined the effect of SE on individuals’ unethical behaviors through four studies. We found consistently that making people believe that they were using shared goods (Study 1) or priming them with abstract SE mindsets (Studies 2–4) reduced, not facilitated, their subsequent cheating on task performances to gain monetary rewards. Moreover, the effect of SE on cheating was mediated by a sense of connecting to others (Study 4). Thinking of using SE enhanced individuals’ interpersonal closeness, which in turn led to less unethical behavior. However, correlational analyses in Studies 3 and 4 showed that people who cheated more in studies in the laboratory also reported using SE more frequently in real life. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Using behavioral skills training with preservice teachers in the university classroom

Preservice and novice teachers often identify behavior management as an area of weakness that they attribute to a lack of sufficient instruction during their teacher preparation. Behavioral skills training (BST) is an evidence‐based teaching methodology based on the principles of applied behavior analysis used to teach new skills. This study investigated the use of BST in the university setting to teach undergraduate preservice teachers enrolled in a field‐based special education course to implement a token economy during small group instruction with children. A single‐case research design was used to assess the effectiveness of using BST by evaluating accuracy of implementation before and after BST. Results showed BST was an effective teaching procedure and social validity measures collected from the preservice teachers indicated BST was acceptable to all participants. Limitations and needs for future research are discussed.     

The Future of the Global Economy in the Light of Inflationary and Deflationary Trends and Long Cycles Theory

Recent years and months have evidenced an increase in deflationary phenomena. The present article defines the reasons for the problem, explains the irregularity of the inflation–deflation processes in the world and forecasts on this basis that the crisis-depressive phase of development in the global economy will continue for a relatively long time. Based on an analysis of available resources and the theory of long cycles, we believe that in the next 5–10 years, the global economy will continue being in the crisis-depression phase with rather sluggish and weak rises. The article also offers some forecasts for the forthcoming sixth Kondratieff wave (2020–the 2060/70s), identifies its possible technological basis, and discusses possible consequences of the forthcoming technological transformations.