Learning history in fear of blushing

Two studies, investigating the learning history (i.e. traumatic conditioning experiences, vicarious learning, informational learning) of individuals with and without fear of blushing, are presented. In study 1, individuals high (n=61) and low (n=59) in fear of blushing completed the (revised) Phobic Origin Questionnaire [POQ; Öst, L. G., & Hugdahl, K. (1981). Acquisition of phobias and anxiety response patterns in clinical patients. Behavior Research and Therapy, 19, 439–447]. In study 2, individuals who applied for treatment for fear of blushing (n=31) and a nonfearful, matched control group (n=31) were interviewed with the same instrument, taking into account only specific memories. High fearful individuals reported more negative learning experiences in connection with blushing than low fearful individuals, irrespective of the type of questioning. Meanwhile, study 1 (written POQ) produced higher percentages of negative learning experiences for both high and low fearful individuals than study 2 (interview). It is concluded that the POQ interview showed a more realistic picture than the written POQ. The possible role of learning history in the acquisition of fear of blushing is discussed.     

Children’s career development: A research review from a learning perspective

Recent advances in career theory have resulted in widespread acceptance of the lifespan perspective on development. However, a review of research and practice conducted during 2001 revealed that little attention has been paid to the career development of children (Whiston & Brecheisen, 2002). In response to calls for a greater concentration on this important stage in the lifespan, the present article uses learning as a unifying theme to structure a research review of career development in children. This theme highlights the need to understand more holistically the influences on and the process of career development learning in children. The learning framework accommodates the dynamic and interactional nature of career development and suggests the need for dual focus research that examines the what and the how of children’s career development learning.     

Generality, repetition, and the role of descriptive learning models

Previous studies of learning in certain classes of games appear to lead to inconsistent conclusions. Studies that focus on the observed sequential changes in behavior support models that imply high-action inertia and allow for different parameters in different games. Studies that use simulation-based analysis and focus on the prediction of behavior in new games support models that imply little-action inertia, and demonstrate the value of models that assume general parameters over certain classes of games. We show that this apparent inconsistency emerges even when analyzing a large data set with a single model. We then show that the inconsistency between the two analyses can be a product of the tendency by subjects to repeat past choices.     

Behavioral and genetic characterization of habituation using Caenorhabditis elegans

This review surveys the literature that investigates the behavioral characterization and cellular and molecular mechanisms of habituation using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. In 1990, C. elegans was first observed to show habituation to a non-localized mechanical tap. The parameters that govern this behavioral plasticity in C. elegans were subsequently characterized, which lead to the important hypothesis that habituation is mediated by multiple mechanisms. Many tools are available to C. elegans researchers that allow for relatively easy genetic manipulation. This has lead to a number of recent genetic studies that have begun to identify key genes and molecules that play a role in the mechanisms of habituation. Some of these genes include a vesicular glutamate transporter, a glutamate receptor subunit, a dopamine receptor and downstream intracellular signaling molecules, such as G proteins and kinases. Some of these genes only affect certain parameters of habituation, but not others supporting the hypothesis that multiple mechanisms mediate habituation. The field of research has also led to the dissection of different phases of memory (short-term vs. long-term memory for habituation), which are triggered by different training paradigms. The differences in mechanism between these various forms of memory are also beginning to be revealed.     

The easily learned,easily remembered heuristic in children

A previous study with adults [Koriat, A. (2008a). Easy comes, easy goes? The link between learning and remembering and its exploitation in metacognition. Memory & Cognition, 36, 416–428] established a correlation between learning and remembering: items requiring more trials to acquisition (TTA) were less likely to be recalled than those requiring fewer trials. Furthermore, learners’ judgments of learning (JOLs) seemed to rely on the easily learned, easily remembered (ELER) heuristic, that items requiring fewer TTAs are more likely to be recalled. This study extended investigation of these effects to 2nd- and 4th-grade children. When the list included hard and easy paired-associates (Experiment 1, N = 40, 7–10 years), recall and JOL decreased with increasing TTAs for both grades, supporting the validity of the ELER heuristic and its utilization in monitoring one's own learning. When presented only with hard pairs (Experiment 2, N = 60, 7–10 years), however, 4th graders’ but not 2nd graders’ JOLs evidenced reliance on this heuristic. The results suggest an early development of metacognitive heuristics that incorporate information about the links between characteristics of the encoding process and subsequent remembering.     

Launching the post-college career: A study of mentoring antecedents

Drawing upon role-making theory, this study examines which new job market entrants, following college graduation, find informal mentors and how much mentoring they receive from these mentors using a predictive design. Our results suggest that individuals lower in negative affectivity and higher in cognitive ability as well as women, individuals who have previously had a mentor, and those who go to work for organizations with developmental climates are more likely to find informal mentors. In contrast, individuals higher in learning goal orientation and mentoring instrumentality receive more mentoring once a mentoring relationship has been established.     

The interactivist model

A shift from a metaphysical framework of substance to one of process enables an integrated account of the emergence of normative phenomena. I show how substance assumptions block genuine ontological emergence, especially the emergence of normativity, and how a process framework permits a thermodynamic-based account of normative emergence. The focus is on two foundational forms of normativity, that of normative function and of representation as emergent in a particular kind of function. This process model of representation, called interactivism, compels changes in many related domains. The discussion ends with brief attention to three domains in which changes are induced by the representational model: perception, learning, and language.     

Development and learning: a TASC-based perspective of the acquisition of perceptual-motor behaviors

The concepts of development and learning are discussed in terms of different theoretical orientations to the study of motor behavior. It is argued that although these concepts are commonly used to discuss various aspects of change across the life span, there is little agreement regarding the definition of these terms and even whether these are useful concepts for researchers studying change over time. A theoretical approach, the TASC-based approach is presented as an alternative account for examining change over time. The TASC label stands for a focus on particular tasks, adaptation and selection of behaviors as a function of constraints. This account is grounded in evolutionary theory and assumes that variability, selection, and adaptation are central to change over time within individuals. Emphasis is placed on the tasks individuals attempt to solve in achieving particular goals given the constraints of the local environment and the organism. An alternative manner to conceptualize the concepts of development and learning are presented within the TASC-based approach.     

Rater Agreement on IQ and Achievement Tests: Effect on Evaluations of Learning Disabilities

Protocols from 110 evaluations utilizing the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) and the Woodcock/Johnson Tests of Achievement-Revised (W/J-R) were scored by two different raters to determine (a) whether subtests with more difficult levels of scoring yield lower interrater correlation coefficients, (b) whether scoring errors on subtests affect broad score estimates, (c) the effect of expertise of rater on scoring errors, and (d) whether scoring errors affect a learning disability determination based on IQ/achievement discrepancy. Scoring errors were found on almost 25% of Comprehension and Vocabulary subtests; however, the effect of these scoring errors was minimal. About 42% of Writing Samples subtests had scoring errors, resulting in a mean change of 1.75 points on the Broad Written Language Cluster subtest. On the WISC-III, but not the W/J-R, there were significantly more errors made by inexperienced testers. Scoring errors resulted in two cases in which learning disability determination would be changed. Overall, the study corroborates previous findings of strong interrater reliability on most subtests of common IQ and achievement tests and indicates that novice scorers are not likely to make scoring mistakes that will significantly impact an IQ/achievement discrepancy-based documentation of learning disability.     

Matching and oddity relational learning by pigeons (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Columba livia</Emphasis>): transfer from color to shape

Relational learning, as opposed to perceptual learning, is based on the abstract properties of the stimuli. Although at present there is no doubt that pigeons are capable of relational behavior, this study aims to further disclose the conditions under which it occurs. Pigeons were trained in an outdoor cage on a matching-to-sample or an oddity-from-sample task, with colored cardboard stimuli presented horizontally. The apparatus involved three sliding lids on which the stimuli were drawn and which, when displaced, revealed the reinforcement. The lids were either adjacent to each other or somewhat separated. Training sessions involved two colors, and test sessions six different colors (same dimension test), or six different shapes (different dimension test). One group of birds trained under the ‘adjacent’ condition failed when tested with new stimuli, but succeeded in both dimension tests after training under the ‘separate’ condition. Two other groups of birds succeeded in all tests after training under the latter condition. These results show that depending on procedural details, pigeons are or are not able to transfer from one visual dimension to another, thus extending previous related findings.