Behavioral momentum theory fails to account for the effects of reinforcement rate on resurgence

The behavioral‐momentum model of resurgence predicts reinforcer rates within a resurgence preparation should have three effects on target behavior. First, higher reinforcer rates in baseline (Phase 1) produce more persistent target behavior during extinction plus alternative reinforcement. Second, higher rate alternative reinforcement during Phase 2 generates greater disruption of target responding during extinction. Finally, higher rates of either reinforcement source should produce greater responding when alternative reinforcement is suspended in Phase 3. Recent empirical reports have produced mixed results in terms of these predictions. Thus, the present experiment further examined reinforcer‐rate effects on persistence and resurgence. Rats pressed target levers for high‐rate or low‐rate variable‐interval food during Phase 1. In Phase 2, target‐lever pressing was extinguished, an alternative nose‐poke became available, and nose‐poking produced either high‐rate variable‐interval, low‐rate variable‐interval, or no (an extinction control) alternative reinforcement. Alternative reinforcement was suspended in Phase 3. For groups that received no alternative reinforcement, target‐lever pressing was less persistent following high‐rate than low‐rate Phase‐1 reinforcement. Target behavior was more persistent with low‐rate alternative reinforcement than with high‐rate alternative reinforcement or extinction alone. Finally, no differences in Phase‐3 responding were observed for groups that received either high‐rate or low‐rate alternative reinforcement, and resurgence occurred only following high‐rate alternative reinforcement. These findings are inconsistent with the momentum‐based model of resurgence. We conclude this model mischaracterizes the effects of reinforcer rates on persistence and resurgence of operant behavior.     

A single session of meditation reduces of physiological indices of anger in both experienced and novice meditators

The goal of the present study was to explore how anger reduction via a single session of meditation might be measured using psychophysiological methodologies. To achieve this, 15 novice meditators (Experiment 1) and 12 practiced meditators (Experiment 2) completed autobiographical anger inductions prior to, and following, meditation training while respiration rate, heart rate, and blood pressure were measured. Participants also reported subjective anger via a visual analog scale. At both stages, the experienced meditators’ physiological reaction to the anger induction reflected that of relaxation: slowed breathing and heart rate and decreased blood pressure. Naïve meditators exhibited physiological reactions that were consistent with anger during the pre-meditation stage, while after meditation training and a second anger induction they elicited physiological evidence of relaxation. The current results examining meditation training show that the naïve group’s physiological measures mimicked those of the experienced group following a single session of meditation training.     

Anxiety and motor performance: More evidence for the effectiveness of holistic process goals as a solution to the process goal paradox

ObjectivesRecent research has reported the benefits of using holistic rather than part process goals to avoid the negative effects associated with the conscious processing of task relevant information by skilled but anxious athletes. This experiment compared the efficacy of these two goal focus strategies in a neutral condition and a competitive condition in which cognitive state anxiety was elevated.DesignLaboratory-based experimental design using a mixed model with between (process goal groups) and within-subjects (neutral and competitive) conditions.MethodThirty male and female undergraduate students aged between 19 and 44 years of age completed 896 practice repetitions of a race car driving simulation using discovery learning. Participants were then placed in either a holistic or part process goal group using stratified random assignment. The practice phase was followed by neutral and competitive conditions, during which driving performance and psychophysiological measures were collected.ResultsAnalysis of variance of lap times and driving errors revealed that the holistic process goal group outperformed the part process goal group in the competition condition. Analysis of psychophysiological measures suggested that the performance of both process goal groups in the competitive condition was associated with the investment of compensatory effort.ConclusionsCompared to part process goals, holistic process goals confer performance benefits for skilled athletes who perform under competitive pressure.     

Joint Book Reading and Receptive Vocabulary: A Parallel Process Model

The purpose of the present study was to understand the reciprocal, bidirectional longitudinal relation between joint book reading and English receptive vocabulary. To address the research goals, a nationally representative sample of Head Start children, the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (2003 cohort), was used for analysis. The children were aged 3–4 years at programme entry. The mothers' average age at programme entry was 39 years old. A parallel process model was utilized to examine the growth factors of joint book reading and receptive vocabulary in parallel. Three significant findings emerged: (1) initial levels of English receptive vocabulary and joint book reading positively covaried; (2) English receptive vocabulary and joint book reading were positively and reciprocally related to each other; and (3) slopes for joint book reading and English receptive vocabulary negatively covaried. Results suggest that joint book reading can support and scaffold Head Start children's English receptive vocabulary. Reciprocally, Head Start children's English receptive vocabulary appears to predict the extent to which they engage in joint book reading at home. Moreover, the frequency of joint book reading decreases as the children demonstrate higher levels of English receptive vocabulary. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of contextual diversity on semantic decision and reading aloud: evidence from a word learning study in English as a second language / Efectos de la diversidad contextual en la decisión semántica y la lectura en voz alta: evidencia de un estudio de aprendizaje de palabras en inglés como segundo idioma

This experiment investigated contextual diversity effects on novel word learning in English as a second language (L2). A group of advanced English speakers, whose native language was Spanish, participated in the study. Participants learned the meaning of real but obscure words that were embedded in either two or 12 different sentences and learned over two days (frequency of exposure was kept constant). On day three, participants were tested using reading aloud and semantic decision tasks. The results showed that participants learned the meaning of words in both conditions fairly well as revealed by their accuracy in the semantic decision task. However, words experienced in 12 different contexts generated more accurate and faster reaction times (RTs), suggesting the acquisition of more robust semantic representations. Strikingly, reading latencies were also faster for the 12-sentence condition, which might imply that semantics has an effect on reading newly learned words in English as a second language. These results are discussed and accommodated in view of the DRC and the PDP models of single-word reading.     

Mothers' Attention‐getting Utterances During Shared Book Reading: Links to Low‐income Preschoolers' Verbal Engagement,Visual Attention,and Early Literacy

This study examined associations among low‐income mothers' use of attention‐getting utterances during shared book reading, preschoolers' verbal engagement and visual attention to reading, and their early literacy skills (N = 51). Mother–child shared book reading sessions were videotaped and coded for each utterance, including attention talk, contextualized talk, de‐contextualized talk, and print talk. Preschoolers' attention during book reading was assessed using two measures: verbal engagement by using a rating scale of preschoolers' involvement in book reading discussion and visual attention by coding visual gaze. Findings indicated that mothers' attention talk was positively associated with children's verbal engagement, while maternal print talk was associated with children's visual attention. Further, low‐level maternal print talk was associated with higher early decoding scores of children when it was accompanied with high‐level maternal attention talk. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparing OECD PISA Reading in English to Other Languages: Identifying Potential Sources of Non-Invariance

The use of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) across nations, cultures, and languages has been criticized. The key criticisms point to the linguistic and cultural biases potentially underlying the design of reading comprehension tests, raising doubts about the legitimacy of comparisons across economies. Our research focused on the type and magnitude of invariance or non-invariance in the PISA Reading Comprehension test by language, culture, and economic development relative to performance of the Australian English-speaking reference group used to develop the tests. Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis based on means and covariance structure (MACS) modeling was used to establish a d_MACS effect size index for each economy for the degree of non-invariance. Only three wealthy, English-speaking countries had scalar invariance with Australia. Moderate or large effects were observed in just 31% of the comparisons. PISA index of economic, social and cultural status had a moderate inverse correlation with dMACS suggesting that socioeconomic resourcing of education played a significant role in measurement invariance, while educational practice and language factors seemed to play a further small role in non-invariance. Alternative approaches to reporting PISA results consistent with non-invariance are suggested.     

Does It Matter Whether One Takes a Test on an iPad or a Desktop Computer?

To investigate possible iPad related mode effect, we tested 403 8th graders in Indiana, Maryland, and New Jersey under three mode conditions through random assignment: a desktop computer, an iPad alone, and an iPad with an external keyboard. All students had used an iPad or computer for six months or longer. The 2-hour test included reading, math, and writing items adapted from released NAEP 8th grade tests. Overall, no significant difference was found on the reading, math, or writing section scores or section response time among the three mode conditions. Further, roughly comparable numbers of students reportedly favored testing using an iPad or a desktop computer, but using a preferred mode did not lead to significantly higher section scores. These findings suggest that there is no noticeable disadvantage associated with taking a test on an iPad than on a desktop computer for experienced users of these two studied devices.     

Encouraging prediction during production facilitates subsequent comprehension: Evidence from interleaved object naming in sentence context and sentence reading

Many studies have shown that a supportive context facilitates language comprehension. A currently influential view is that language production may support prediction in language comprehension. Experimental evidence for this, however, is relatively sparse. Here we explored whether encouraging prediction in a language production task encourages the use of predictive contexts in an interleaved comprehension task. In Experiment 1a, participants listened to the first part of a sentence and provided the final word by naming aloud a picture. The picture name was predictable or not predictable from the sentence context. Pictures were named faster when they could be predicted than when this was not the case. In Experiment 1b the same sentences, augmented by a final spill-over region, were presented in a self-paced reading task. No difference in reading times for predictive versus non-predictive sentences was found. In Experiment 2, reading and naming trials were intermixed. In the naming task, the advantage for predictable picture names was replicated. More importantly, now reading times for the spill-over region were considerable faster for predictive than for non-predictive sentences. We conjecture that these findings fit best with the notion that prediction in the service of language production encourages the use of predictive contexts in comprehension. Further research is required to identify the exact mechanisms by which production exerts its influence on comprehension.