Haptics in teaching handwriting: the role of perceptual and visuo-motor skills

Two studies were carried out in order to better understand the role of perceptual and visuo-motor skills in handwriting. Two training programs, visual-haptic (VH) and visual (V), were compared which differed in the way children explored the letters. The results revealed that improvements of VH training on letter recognition and handwriting quality were higher than improvements after V training. We suppose that VH training was more efficient because it improved both perceptual and visuo-motor skills. In the second experiment, in order to investigate the part of each component, we assessed the link between visuo-motor skills, perceptual skills and handwriting. The results showed that only the visuo-motor tasks predict handwriting copying performance. These results are discussed in relation to the respective roles of the perceptual and visuo-motor skills on letter shape learning and handwriting movement execution.     

The Role of Goal Orientations in Explaining Academic Cheating in Students With Learning Disabilities: An Application of the Cusp Catastrophe

The purpose of the present study was to predict and explain the academic cheating behaviors of elementary school students with learning disabilities (LD) by applying the cusp catastrophe model. Participants were 32 students with identified LD from state governmental agencies although all both them and the typical students participated in the experimental manipulation (N = 480). Academic cheating was assessed using an empirical paradigm where true achievement was subtracted from achievement in a test without proper invigilation. Data analysis supported the proposed cusp catastrophe models, where mastery-related motives acted as asymmetry and performance goals as bifurcation variables respectively. These findings were confirmed with application of the interactive goal hypothesis (Barron & Harackiewicz, 2001), where the interactive approach and avoidance performance goal term functioned as a splitting factor in the relationship between adaptive motivation and performance.     

Évaluation de l’orthographe des élèves dysphasiques en situation de narration communicative : variations selon le type d’orthographe,lexicale versus morphologique

IntroductionThe overall goal of the study was to draw, in French language, a complete picture of spelling abilities in young students with SLI, enrolling in ordinary classes.ObjectiveThe main aim was to show how the developmental trajectories of lexical spelling and the morphological spelling are different when a large age span is observed (7 to 18 years old).MethodsThe spelling abilities were evaluated through a narrative communicative. Two groups of students with SLI (7–11 years and 12–18 years) were compared with two groups of typical students matched on chronological age.ResultsThe lexical spelling was acquired before the morphological spelling for SLI and typical participants. At 12–18 of age, the SLI participants did not produce more lexical errors than the typical group. For the lexical spelling, at 7–11 years, the SLI participants had a specific difficulty with the segmentation of the words: they produced words that do not exist in the language and which by definition have no morphological markers.ConclusionThe SLI participants need more time to learn than the typical participants. At 7–11 years, before learning of morphology, they must be able to control segmentation the segmentation of words. The low number of morphological errors in the school SLI group of 7–11 years is not necessarily a sign of difficulty. The increase in the number of errors at 12–18 years is the sign that this problem has been exceeded and that the learning of the written morphological markers can really begin.     

Spiritual sensitivity in the classroom: a teaching experiment in Finnish upper secondary religious education

The interest to research spirituality in the classroom has been constant over the last decade. However, empirical research into classroom pedagogy and the lived experience of religious education has been scarce. This study describes a small-scale intervention that aimed to promote students’ spiritual reflection in Finnish upper secondary school RE classes by using stimulating tasks. One class (N?=?23) of upper secondary school students (16–18?years of age) participated in the study. Analysis of students’ responses after the silent reflection moments suggested that the tasks were successful in eliciting some level of spiritual reflection for most of the students. In this article, we describe the experiment and the content and nature of this reflection, as well as discuss the advantages and challenges of spiritually sensitive teaching methods in a classroom of heterogeneous worldviews.     

有时间压力下学习率对学习时间分配议程的影响:来自眼动的证据

利用眼动分析技术,通过设置不同难度和分值的计算项目,探讨了在有时间压力下学习者的学习时间分配。结果发现:(1)在首次项目选择上,学习者优先选择学习率最高的项目;(2)在学习过程中,学习者的项目选择次序也是根据学习率由高到低。总之,在学习时间分配上,如果需要权衡难度与分值,学习者会考虑单位时间的获益,也就是以学习率为议程的主要依据。研究不仅利用眼动分析技术证实了基于议程的学习时间分配模型,而且进一步揭示了学习率是设置学习时间分配议程的重要依据。     

睡眠对知觉与动作序列内隐学习离线巩固效应的影响

离线阶段发生的学习被称为离线巩固, 即在最初获得知识之后, 即使没有额外的练习, 其记忆痕迹也会保持稳定或提高。有研究初步探究了睡眠对知觉和动作序列内隐学习离线巩固的影响, 然而, 这些研究未能实现知觉序列与动作序列的完全分离, 序列类型是否调节睡眠对内隐序列学习离线巩固的影响仍需进一步探讨。此外, 既往外显学习的研究发现相对于简单的序列, 复杂的序列更容易从睡眠中获益, 表现出基于睡眠的离线巩固效应。睡眠对知觉序列与动作序列内隐学习离线巩固的影响是否会受到序列复杂程度的调节尚不明确。为此, 本研究在完全分离知觉序列和动作序列的情况下, 通过3个实验操纵序列的长度及结构, 设置3种不同复杂程度的序列规则, 考察了这一问题。结果发现, 对于动作序列, 序列规则复杂程度较低时, 无论是否经过睡眠都会发生离线巩固效应, 而当动作序列规则较为复杂时, 只有经历睡眠才会引起离线巩固效应; 对于知觉序列, 无论何种难易程度的规则, 均未发生离线巩固效应。上述结果表明内隐序列知识基于睡眠的离线巩固会受到序列类型及序列复杂程度的调节, 这为内隐学习的离线巩固争论提供了新的视角。     

The importance of reflection and evaluation processes in daily training sessions for progression toward elite level swimming performance

Self-regulated learning (SRL) involves self-directed metacognitive subprocesses and motivational beliefs that facilitate more effective and efficient learning. We investigated whether youth swimmers who are on track to becoming elite swimmers apply SRL subprocesses more frequently in their daily training sessions compared with swimmers who are not on this track. Insights into swimmers’ use of training-centered SRL could advance understanding about underlying individual characteristics that contribute to optimal engagement in daily training and, consequently, progression toward elite level swimming performance. We collected data on training-centered SRL subprocesses (evaluation, planning, reflection, speaking up, effort and self-efficacy) and performance data for 157 youth swimmers aged 12–21 years (73 males and 84 females). The results of a multivariate analysis of covariance revealed significantly higher scores for reflection processes during training for high-performing swimmers but lower scores for effort compared with lower-performing swimmers (p < 0.05). A closer examination of the high-performing group showed that those demonstrating greater improvement during a season scored significantly higher for evaluation processes after training compared with those evidencing less improvement during a season (p < 0.05). Significant between-group differences in SRL subprocesses remained after adjusting for differences in weekly training hours. Youth swimmers on track to becoming elite swimmers are characterized by more frequent use of reflection processes during training and evaluation processes after training, which suggests that these swimmers’ learning and training processes are more effective and efficient. Ultimately, this could contribute to a higher quality of daily training, which may result in greater improvements during a season, higher performance levels, and a greater chance of reaching the level of elite swimming performance.     

统计学习与双语认知的关系

统计学习是提取环境输入潜在规则的一种认知机制,其与语言的关联已得到证实。双语认知是学界关注的热点之一。统计学习与双语认知的关系如何?文章先介绍统计学习认知机制及其与语言的关系,然后从“统计学习能力可否预测二语学习表现”、“统计学习训练能否促进二语学习”和“双语经验能否提高统计学习能力”三个维度述评相关文献,并指出未来可从输入特征、个体差异和神经科学角度进一步探讨统计学习与双语认知的关系。     

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex mediates working memory processes in motor skill learning

Neuroimaging studies have shown that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is recruited during motor skill learning, which suggests the involvement of the DLPFC in working memory (WM) processes, such as selection and integration of motor representations temporarily stored in WM. However, direct evidence linking activation of the DLPFC to WM storage and manipulation during motor skill learning in real-time is rare. In this study, we conducted two experiments to investigate the causal role of DLPFC activity in WM storage and manipulation during motor skill learning under low and high WM-demand conditions. Participants received continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) and sham stimulation (crossover design) over the left DLPFC (experiment 1) or right DLPFC (experiment 2). Before and after stimulation, participants in both experiments performed a sequential finger-tapping (SFT) task containing repeated sequence (low-WM demand) and non-repeated sequence (high-WM demand) conditions which are used to study WM processes. The number of correct sequences (NoCS) and reproduction error rate were analyzed. Learning gains in NoCS improved significantly with the practice for both sequence types in the presence of either stimulation type. Compared to sham stimulation, cTBS over the left DLPFC resulted in significantly reduced learning gains in NoCS for non-repeated sequences. These results suggest that the left DLPFC contributes to WM manipulation during motor skill learning.     

来自屏幕的纽带：视频聊天与儿童发展

随着近几年视频聊天的兴起, 越来越多的研究者开始探索视频聊天对儿童发展的影响。相较于传统通讯技术, 视频聊天具备了视听结合与即时互动的特征; 但同时, 作为数字媒体, 视频聊天仍然保持了传统屏幕媒体二维性的特征。汇总以往视频聊天与儿童学习的实证研究发现, 与录制视频教学比较, 视频聊天在婴幼儿词汇学习(d = 0.33)和动作学习(d = 0.90)上的教学效果更佳; 同时, 视频聊天也能够使婴幼儿在教学过程中保持较高的注意水平(d = 0.90)。视频聊天对儿童远距离亲子关系和同伴关系上均有一定的促进作用。视频聊天也可以作为一种辅助治疗手段应用于特殊儿童的干预中。未来研究仍需关注扩大视频聊天学习中儿童被试的年龄范围、共同观看者的不同支持行为对儿童视频聊天学习的效果产生的影响。