Confidence judgments in real classroom settings: monitoring performance in different types of tests

During testing, students have a valuable opportunity to exercise and improve their self-regulatory skills. However, the extent to which they profit from those experiences may vary according to some personal, test-related, and environmental factors. This study investigated the effects of metacognitive skills and test types on students' test performances, confidence judgments, and on the accuracy of those judgments. A sample of 129 psychology undergraduate students (50 men and 79 women, mean age = 18.9 years) were categorized according to their metacognitive skills (high vs average vs low) and had their test performances and monitoring processes in two different types of tests (i.e., multiple-choice and short-answer tests) compared throughout one academic term. Their test preparation practices, along with their attributional and regulatory processes during test-taking, were also compared by using open-ended questions. The results showed that: (1) high-metacognitive students presented more effective test preparation practices, better test performances, and superior attributional, regulatory, and monitoring processes than their counterparts; (2) differences in performance and judgment accuracy were significantly larger in the short-answer tests than in the multiple-choice tests; and (3) over time, students' performances and confidence levels varied in specific patterns according to the type of test being taken. The results are discussed, focusing on the educational implications of the interactions observed and on how they may determine what students can learn from test-taking experiences. In addition, based on the results obtained, specific suggestions on how to increase the metacognitive awareness of university students through instruction and on how to improve their academic assessment are provided.     

WITHIN‐SUBJECT REVERSIBILITY OF DISCRIMINATIVE FUNCTION IN THE COMPOSITE‐STIMULUS CONTROL OF BEHAVIOR

According to the composite-stimulus control model (Weiss, 1969, 1972b), an individual discriminative stimulus (S^D) is composed of that S^D''s on-state plus the off-states of all other relevant S^Ds. The present experiment investigated the reversibility of composite-stimulus control. Separate groups of rats were trained to lever-press for food whenever a tone or a light S^D was present. For one group, the nonreinforced S^Δ condition was tone-and-light absence ($\bar{T}$+$\bar{L}$). Tone-plus-light (T+L) was S^Δ in the other group. On a “stimulus compounding” test that recombined composite elements, maximum responding occurred to that composite consisting only of elements occasioning response increase. That was T+L for the group trained with $\bar{T}$+$\bar{L}$ as S^Δ and $\bar{T}$+$\bar{L}$ for the group trained with T+L as S^Δ. The S^Δ composite was next reversed over groups in Phase 2. In Phase 2 tests, maximum responding that was comparable in magnitude to that of Phase 1 was again controlled by the composite consisting only of elements most recently occasioning response increase—whether T+L or $\bar{T}$+$\bar{L}$. The inhibitory conditioning history of both composite-elements currently occasioning responding did not weaken the summative effect. These results confirm and extend Weiss''s composite-stimulus control model, and demonstrate that such control is fully reversible. We discuss how translating conditions of the stimulus-compounding paradigm to a composite continuum creates a functional and logical connection to intradimensional control measured through stimulus generalization, reducing the number of different behavioral phenomena requiring unique explanations.     

Persistence of emphasis in language production: A cross-linguistic approach

This study investigates the way in which speakers determine which aspects of an utterance to emphasize and how this affects the form of utterances. To do this, we ask whether the binding between emphasis and thematic roles persists between utterances. In one within-language (Dutch-Dutch) and three cross-linguistic (Dutch-English) structural priming experiments, we measured persistence effects for four different Dutch transitives (actives, PP-initial passives, PP-medial passives, and PP-final passives). Whereas English allows only one passive (PP-final passive), Dutch allows three different variants with the same functional assignment, but different constituent structures. Additionally, the degree of emphasis on the agent differs significantly between the PP-initial passive and the other passives (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 showed persistence of actives, PP-medial, and PP-final passives in Dutch, but no priming between passives with different constituent structures. Experiments 3 and 4, however, showed that both PP-medial and PP-final passives prime the use of English passives. Experiment 5 confirmed that the emphasis on thematic roles persists: the proportion of passives in the PP-initial passive condition fell midway between the proportions produced in the active and PP-medial passive condition.     

句子语境中语义联系效应和句法效应的研究

通过对比研究句子语境中句法成分和语义联系对目标词加工的不同影响,来探讨句子语境的作用机制和作用点问题。实验一采用词汇命名任务研究发现,句法违反对词汇命名会产生抑制作用,而语义违反对词汇命名却没有发现抑制作用。实验二利用词汇决定任务发现,句法和语义成分影响词汇决定任务,句法违反和语义违反对词汇决定任务均会产生抑制作用。结果表明,句子语境加工中,对内容词语义整合过程中存在一个句法成分的独立加工水平。     

焦虑水平与体育高考生竞技状态关系及其对策

通过对体育高考学生焦虑状况的调查与评定 ,探讨焦虑水平与体育高考生竞技状态的关系。采用Spielberger状态 -特质焦虑量表对 2 5 9名考生进行调查 ,其中男 2 0 5人 ,女 5 4人。结果表明 ,在体育高考的情境压力下 ,学生的焦虑水平普遍提高 ,女生明显高于男生 (p <0 .0 1) ,其状态焦虑得分既非常显著地高于常模 (p <0 .0 1) ,也高于相关研究报告中普通高考学生的平均得分。体育高考学生适宜的状态焦虑水平为男 38～ 5 0分 ,女 4 1～ 5 2分。作者对结果进行了讨论分析 ,认为这反映了体育高考情境的特殊性 ,也反映了个体间最佳焦虑水平的差异性。其结果为我们重视对体育高考学生这一特殊的应试群体进行心理技能训练提供了依据。     

Recognition of partly occluded objects by fish

The ability to visually complete partly occluded objects (so-called “amodal completion”) has been documented in mammals and birds. Here, we report the first evidence of such a perceptual ability in a fish species. Fish (Xenotoca eiseni) were trained to discriminate between a complete and an amputated disk. Thereafter, the fish performed test trials in which hexagonal polygons were either exactly juxtaposed or only placed close to the missing sectors of the disk in order to produce or not produce the impression (to a human observer) of an occlusion of the missing sectors of the disk by the polygon. In another experiment, fish were first trained to discriminate between hexagonal polygons that were either exactly juxtaposed or only placed close to the missing sectors of a disk, and then tested for choice between a complete and an amputated disk. In both experiments, fish behaved as if they were experiencing visual completion of the partly occluded stimuli. These findings suggest that the ability to visually complete partly occluded objects may be widespread among vertebrates, possibly inherited in mammals, birds and fish from early vertebrate ancestors.     

Validité de construit d’une épreuve de jeu de rôle dans le cadre d’un centre d’évaluation chez des officiers de marine.

The present study was designed to obtain validity estimates for a role-play test. Participants were 125 french Navy officers who were rated by a pool of professional assessors and psychologists. All the assessors received reccurring training sessions, focusing on the behavioral checklist, on rating errors, and on share frame of reference. The assessment procedure included role play exercise, cognitive ability scale (g factor) and personality scale (big five factors). First, exploratory factor analyses were conducted on the data gathered, and four factors were identified (authoritarianism, oral communication, consideration with others and frankness). In a nomological perspective, we also analysed the links between the exercises dimensions, personality inventorie and intelligence scale. The findings suggest that role play dimension, personality and intelligence seem to measure different thinks.     

中学生物理力学问题的分类及表征研究

采用自由分类和标签分类法,以16道中学物理力学应用题为实验材料,探讨不同学业水平中学生对物理问题的分类及表征差异,以及题目陈述方式(有无示意图)对分类的影响.结果发现: (1)自由分类实验中,学优生侧重于按问题的深层特征(物理原理表征)进行分类,学困生侧重于问题的表面特征(文字表征);题目陈述方式对优困生的分类时间和分类表征也有影响. (2)标签分类实验中,学优生的正确分类题目数量显著高于学困生,有示意图下学优生的正确分类题目数量显著高于无示意图下.     

A Dilemma for Rule-Consequentialism

Rule-consequentialists tend to argue for their normative theory by claiming that their view matches our moral convictions just as well as a pluralist set of Rossian duties. As an additional advantage, rule-consequentialism offers a unifying justification for these duties. I challenge the first part of the ruleconsequentialist argument and show that Rossian duties match our moral convictions better than the rule-consequentialist principles. I ask the rule-consequentialists a simple question. In the case that circumstances change, is the wrongness of acts determined by the ideal principles for the earlier circumstances or by the ideal ones for the new circumstances? I argue that whichever answer the rule-consequentialists give the view leads to normative conclusions that conflict with our moral intuitions. Because some set of Rossian duties can avoid similar problems, rule-consequentialism fails in the reflective equilibrium test advocated by the rule-consequentialists.     

Individual differences in processing styles: validity of the Rational-Experiential Inventory

In Study 1 (N= 203) the factor structure of a Swedish translation of Pacini and Epstein's Rational-Experiential Inventory (REI-40) was investigated using confirmatory factor analysis. The hypothesized model with rationality and experientiality as orthogonal factors had satisfactory fit to the data, significantly better than alternative models (with two correlated factors or a single factor). Inclusion of "ability" and "favorability" subscales for rationality and experientiality increased fit further. It was concluded that the structural validity of the REI is adequate. In Study 2 (N= 72) the REI-factors were shown to have theoretically meaningful correlations to other personality traits, indicating convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, scores on the rationality scale were negatively related to risky choice framing effects in Kahneman and Tversky's Asian disease task, indicating concurrent validity. On the basis of these findings it was concluded that the test has satisfactory psychometric properties.