Contrasting two models of academic self‐efficacy – domain‐specific versus cross‐domain – in children receiving and not receiving special instruction in mathematics

In social cognitive theory, self‐efficacy is domain‐specific. An alternative model, the cross‐domain influence model, would predict that self‐efficacy beliefs in one domain might influence performance in other domains. Research has also found that children who receive special instruction are not good at estimating their performance. The aim was to test two models of how self‐efficacy beliefs influence achievement, and to contrast children receiving special instruction in mathematics with normally‐achieving children. The participants were 73 fifth‐grade children who receive special instruction and 70 children who do not receive any special instruction. In year four and five, the children's skills in mathematics and reading were assessed by national curriculum tests, and in their fifth year, self‐efficacy in mathematics and reading were measured. Structural equation modeling showed that in domains where children do not receive special instruction in mathematics, self‐efficacy is a mediating variable between earlier and later achievement in the same domain. Achievement in mathematics was not mediated by self‐efficacy in mathematics for children who receive special instruction. For normal achieving children, earlier achievement in the language domain had an influence on later self‐efficacy in the mathematics domain, and self‐efficacy beliefs in different domains were correlated. Self‐efficacy is mostly domain specific, but may play a different role in academic performance depending on whether children receive special instruction. The results of the present study provided some support of the Cross‐Domain Influence Model for normal achieving children.     

Analysis of the Impact of Creative Technique on the Motivation of Physical Education Students in Dance Content: Gender Differences

The aim of this study was to learn about the effectiveness of two dance teaching techniques, the creative examination technique and the direct instruction technique, on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, the level of self‐determination, the perception of usefulness, enjoyment and effort of physical education students. Likewise, it purports to analyze the gender difference in the psychological variables addressed in agreement with the teaching technique used, to guide and personalize the treatment of these contents in physical education. A quasi‐experimental design was carried out with four natural groups from two school centers. The direct instruction technique was applied with two groups and the creative examination technique with the other two, in a total of 12 sessions. An initial and final measurement was taken in both groups, and the results revealed the complexity to motivate students after 12 sessions. However, the gender‐dependent analyses offer methodological guidelines, as the creative technique causes adaptative consequences on the male gender and disadaptative consequences on the female gender. By way of conclusion, we can highlight the need to devote more sessions to dance teaching and to apply different treatments depending on the gender.     

Emergent verbal behavior in preschool children learning a second language

We evaluated the emergence of untaught second‐language skills following directly taught listener and intraverbal responses. Three preschool children were taught first‐language (English) listener responses (e.g., “Point to the horse”) and second‐language (Welsh) intraverbal responses (e.g., “What is horse in Welsh?” [ceffyl]). After intervention, increases in untaught second‐language tacts (e.g., “What is this in Welsh?” [ceffyl]) and listener responses (e.g., “Point to the ceffyl”) were observed for all 3 participants.     

A Slippery Myth: How Learning Style Beliefs Shape Reasoning about Multimodal Instruction and Related Scientific Evidence

The learning style myth is a commonly held myth that matching instruction to a student's “learning style” will result in improved learning, while providing mismatched instruction will result in suboptimal learning. The present study used a short online reasoning exercise about the efficacy of multimodal instruction to investigate the nature of learning styles beliefs. We aimed to: understand how learning style beliefs interact with beliefs about multimodal learning; characterize the potential complexity of learning style beliefs and understand how this short exercise might influence endorsements of learning styles. Many participants who believed in the learning style myth supported the efficacy of multimodal learning, and many were willing to revise their belief in the myth after the exercise. Personal experiences and worldviews were commonly cited as reasons for maintaining beliefs in learning styles. Findings reveal the complexity of learning style beliefs, and how they interact with evidence in previously undocumented ways.     

The effects of video modeling with voiceover instruction on accurate implementation of discrete-trial instruction

The present study replicates and extends previous research on the use of video modeling (VM) with voiceover instruction to train staff to implement discrete-trial instruction (DTI). After staff trainees reached the mastery criterion when teaching an adult confederate with VM, they taught a child with a developmental disability using DTI. The results showed that the staff trainees' accurate implementation of DTI remained high, and both child participants acquired new skills. These findings provide additional support that VM may be an effective method to train staff members to conduct DTI.     

Generalized instruction following with pictorial prompts

The benefits of permanent pictorial prompts in enhancing maintenance and generalization are likely dependent on their degree of stimulus control and the extent to which their use is generalized. Although several studies on the use of pictorial prompts have demonstrated their efficacy (e.g., Pierce & Schreibman, 1994; Wacker & Berg, 1983; Wacker, Berg, Berrie, & Swatta, 1985), there is still some question regarding what ultimately controlled responding. The present study allowed an explicit examination of stimulus control by pictorial prompts. Three 4-year-old children with developmental disabilities were taught to complete 4 instructional sets (5 steps each) using pictorial prompts such that the prompts would control responding. All 3 participants showed generalization to the final set after training with 3 sets. These results suggest that training a single task sequence may not be sufficient for acquisition of generalized pictorial instruction following. However, establishing stimulus control by the pictorial prompts rather than teaching behavioral chains may facilitate acquisition of a generalized repertoire.     

Evaluation of a self-instruction package for conducting stimulus preference assessments

Research suggests that inexperienced individuals cannot accurately implement stimulus preference assessments given written instructions alone. Training that includes written instructions supplemented with feedback from a professional with expertise in conducting preference assessments has proven effective; unfortunately, expert-facilitated direct training may not be widely available. In the current study, we used multiple baseline designs to evaluate the efficacy of an antecedent-only self-instructional package to train staff members to implement two methods of stimulus preference assessments. Accuracy was low when participants had access to written instructions alone. When access to enhanced written instructions was provided (i.e., technical jargon was minimized; instructions included pictures, diagrams, and step-by-step examples), inexperienced staff accurately implemented the assessments. Results are discussed in terms of opportunities to disseminate behavior-analytic technologies through self-instruction and print resources.     

Training Motor Sequences: Effects of Speed and Accuracy Instructions

Participants practiced a fixed 3- and a fixed 6-key press sequence for 144 times each. In the speed group, they were instructed to execute their sequences fast without bothering much about errors while the accurate group was instructed to be careful and prevent errors. In the test phase, participants executed series of 3 and 6 responses (a) when all element-specific stimuli were displayed in the familiar order, (b) in response to just the familiar first stimulus, and (c) by responding to random stimuli. The speed instruction yielded stronger sequencing skill while the accuracy instruction developed stronger reaction skill.