INSTRUCTIONS,FEEDBACK, AND REINFORCEMENT IN REDUCING ACTIVITY LEVELS IN THE CLASSROOM

The biomotometer, an electronic device which simultaneously measures motor activity and provides auditory feedback, was used in combination with material reinforcers in an experiment to reduce children's activity level in a classroom setting. Subjects were nine boys and two girls, aged 9–13, from a day hospital program for emotionally disturbed children. After five baseline trials, each child had five contingent reinforcement trials in which he/she received feedback “beeps” from the biomotometer and was given toy or candy rewards after each trial in which activity fell at least 20% below mean baseline level. Then five noncontingent reinforcement trials were run in which children received rewards for wearing the apparatus without the feedback attachment. Results indicated that the intervention “package,” including instructions, feedback, and contingent reinforcement, was successful in all five trials for 8 of 11 children. Activity levels increased during the final noncontingent phase.     

社会网络视角的团队情绪智力

据估计, 60%的团队都没有达到它们的目标, 这给学术界提出了重要且具有挑战性的研究课题。情绪智力(emotional intelligence)是在人际关系基础上发展起来的重要概念。研究发现, 基于微观个体或宏观整体的团队情绪智力在团队成功达到目标过程中起到重要作用。然而, 当前尚无研究探讨基于团队局部成员间情绪智力行为交换而产生的团队情绪智力对团队的影响。为此, 本课题从配对层次(一对一关系中两个人, 即actor-target)这一新角度探讨团队情绪智力, 通过把它看做团队过程中一种产生的状态(emergent state), 在整合团队成员交换理论和社会网络方法基础上对它进行研究。具体围绕团队内配对单元存在的交换关系(指目标者感受到行动者对其实施的情绪智力行为)在团队中形成的网络所代表的团队情绪智力开展实证研究, 以期从理论上揭示团队内情绪智力行为交换的特征, 情绪智力自下而上(bottom-up)由个体发展到团队的过程, 以及配对基础的团队情绪智力的影响效应, 从而为团队管理实践提供具体的改善建议。     

随机截距潜在转变分析(RI-LTA)——个案自我转变与个案间差异的分离

传统的潜在转变分析属于单水平分析, 但其同样也可以看作二水平分析。Muthén和Asparouhov就以二水平分析的视角在单水平分析框架内提出了随机截距潜在转变分析(RI-LTA), 其中跨时间点产生的自我转变可以看作在水平1进行分析, 跨时间点不变的个案间差异可以看作在水平2进行分析, 使个案的自我转变和个案间的初始差异分离, 避免了高估保留在初始类别的概率。某研究型大学2016级本科生的追踪调查数据被用于演示使用随机截距潜在转变分析的过程。该方法的最大优势是通过引入随机截距避免了高估保留在本类别的转变概率。未来研究可以运用蒙特卡洛模拟研究探究随机截距潜在转变分析模型的适用性, 也可以用多水平分析的思路为灵感, 探究多水平随机截距潜在转变分析在统计软件中的实现。     

Exploring the benefits of conversing with a digital voice assistant during automated driving: A parametric duration model of takeover time

Vehicle automation allows drivers to disengage from driving causing a potential decline in their alertness. One of the major challenges of highly automated vehicles is to ensure a timely (with respect to safety and situation awareness) takeover in such conditions. For this purpose, the current study investigated the role of an in-vehicle digital voice-assistant (VA) in conditionally automated vehicles, offering spoken discourse relating specifically to contextual factors, such as the traffic situation and road environment. The study involved twenty-four participants, each taking two drives (counterbalanced): with VA and without VA, in a driving simulator. Participants were required to takeover vehicle control following the issuance of a takeover request (TOR) near the end of each drive. A parametric duration model was adopted to find the key factors determining takeover time (TOT). Paired comparisons showed higher alertness and higher active workload (mean NASA-TLX rating) during automation when accompanied by the VA. Paired t-test comparison of gaze behavior prior to takeover showed significantly higher instances of checking traffic signal, roadside objects, and the roadway during the drive with VA, indicating higher situation awareness. The parametric model indicated that the VA increased the likelihood of making a timely takeover by 39%. There was also some evidence suggesting that male drivers are likely to resume control 1.21 times earlier than female drivers. The study findings highlight the benefits of adopting a digital voice assistant to keep the drivers alert and aware about the recent traffic environment in partially automated vehicles.     

Utility of virtual reality environments to examine physiological reactivity and subjective distress in adults who stutter

PurposeVirtual reality environments (VREs) allow for immersion in speaking environments that mimic real-life interactions while maintaining researcher control. VREs have been used successfully to engender arousal in other disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of virtual reality environments to examine physiological reactivity and subjective ratings of distress in persons who stutter (PWS).MethodSubjective and objective measures of arousal were collected from 10 PWS during four-minute speeches to a virtual audience and to a virtual empty room.ResultsStuttering frequency and physiological measures (skin conductance level and heart rate) did not differ across speaking conditions, but subjective ratings of distress were significantly higher in the virtual audience condition compared to the virtual empty room.ConclusionVREs have utility in elevating subjective ratings of distress in PWS. VREs have the potential to be useful tools for practicing treatment targets in a safe, controlled, and systematic manner.     

Re‐construing politics: The dual impacts of abstraction on political ideology

The influence of construal level on political ideology is unclear. Some research says that abstraction polarizes political attitudes by making liberals more liberal and conservatives more conservative. Other research instead argues that an abstract construal causes people to exhibit similar political attitudes as each other. The current research presents two experiments in which abstraction polarizes political attitudes on issues of social inequality. However, abstraction also increases traditionalism, and so it increases a preference for maintaining the societal status quo, such as by increasing one's disagreement with or opposition to homosexuality. The dual impacts of abstraction parallel the two distinct dimensions of political ideology (i.e., acceptance of social inequality and preference for the status quo), both of which prior research on construal level has not yet considered. Overall, the current findings indicate that the effects of construal level and the dimensions underlying political ideology need to be teased apart to fully understand the exact relationship between the two.     

Compression and texture in socks enhance football kicking performance

The purpose of this study was to observe effects of wearing textured insoles and clinical compression socks on organisation of lower limb interceptive actions in developing athletes of different skill levels in association football. Six advanced learners and six completely novice football players (15.4 ± 0.9 years) performed 20 instep kicks with maximum velocity, in four randomly organised insoles and socks conditions, (a) Smooth Socks with Smooth Insoles (SSSI); (b) Smooth Socks with Textured Insoles (SSTI); (c) Compression Socks with Smooth Insoles (CSSI) and (d), Compression Socks with Textured Insoles (CSTI). Reflective markers were placed on key anatomical locations and the ball to facilitate three-dimensional (3D) movement recording and analysis. Data on 3D kinematic variables and initial ball velocity were analysed using one-way mixed model ANOVAs. Results revealed that wearing textured and compression materials enhanced performance in key variables, such as the maximum velocity of the instep kick and increased initial ball velocity, among advanced learners compared to the use of non-textured and compression materials. Adding texture to football boot insoles appeared to interact with compression materials to improve kicking performance, captured by these important measures. This improvement in kicking performance is likely to have occurred through enhanced somatosensory system feedback utilised for foot placement and movement organisation of the lower limbs. Data suggested that advanced learners were better at harnessing the augmented feedback information from compression and texture to regulate emerging movement patterns compared to novices.     

Development of students’ knowledge about didactics during their first year of the master’s programme in didactics

In this study, I reflect critically on my own experiences as a university teacher of students’ expressed knowledge about the academic subject of didactics at the beginning and end of their first semester as students in the Master’s Programme in Didactics. My reflections are made using a phenomenographic approach to learning, which regards learning as a qualitatively deeper and different way of understanding content. The results of the study are expected to deepen my understanding of knowledge expressed about didactics in two different student groups, and give insight on what is critical for knowledge development in higher education. The first course design consisted of 12 lectures in total by 12 different teachers representing different fields of didactics, such as general didactics and subject-based didactics in different specializations. The second course design consisted of eight seminars where course literature about didactics was discussed, together with three seminars in smaller groups wherein the students in each specialization of didactics met. A comparison between the groups is made, based on a qualitative analysis of the responses on an open question before and after the first semester forms the basis of my own reflections. The analysis aims to establish in what way the students’ explanations of didactics might have changed during the courses, and if there are differences in this development which could be explained by differences in course design. In the first student group, 10 students (in-service teachers) answered both questionnaires, and 11 students in the second group answered both questionnaires.     

无意识信息的刺激表征及其时间特性

无意识信息是否存在刺激表征有待解决。实验采用字母Flanker任务, 通过目标和flanker在刺激水平和反应水平上的冲突效应, 重点考察阈下flanker在刺激水平的表征。在相同的实验设计下, flanker可觉察时(实验1A), 观察到经典的刺激冲突效应和反应冲突效应; 而flanker无意识时(实验1B), 重复了反应冲突效应, 却观察到刺激冲突效应发生反转, 提示了无意识信息的反应加工及刺激加工。实验2采用符号材料促使刺激−反应的自动联结, 减少刺激−反应规则的难度, 结果重复了实验1B的发现--无意识信息引起反转的刺激冲突。刺激冲突下反转效应的一致结果表明无意识信息的刺激表征影响了认知加工。实验3考察这种影响在时间进程上的特点。无意识刺激表征的影响随反应时变化：在快速反应中观察到刺激冲突效应, 之后该效应发生反转且反转量随反应时增加而增大。相反, 无意识反应表征的影响在不同反应时下保持稳定。以上结果提供了无意识信息存在刺激表征的行为学证据并揭示了其时间特性, 提供了无意识领域中不一致研究结果的整合思路。     

智能结构三层次理论述评

近些年来,在认知领域,理论整合的趋势日益强烈,德米特里欧提出了一个关于人类智能结构与发展的“三层次”理论,使人们看到了理论整合令人鼓舞的前景。该理论认为人类智能是一个三层次体系,包括限定了信息加工潜力的加工系统、由一组用以理解不同现实和知识领域的专门化的能力系统组成的环境指向系统以及对这些系统起监控作用的超认知系统。最后,对该理论作了评价。