In four conditioned taste aversion experiments with rats as subjects, the effects of extinguished or pre-exposed flavors on retardation and summation tests was compared. Experiment 1 showed that when steps were taken to ensure similar exposure to the target flavor in all conditions, acquisition after pre-exposure and reacquisition after extinction…

Two experiments investigated the influence of sentential context on the relative ease of deriving a particular meaning for novel and familiar compounds. Experiment 1 determined which of two possible meanings was preferred for a set of novel phrases. Experiment 2 used both novel (e.g., "brain sponge") and familiar compounds (e.g., "bug spray"). The…

There are reasons to believe that infant-directed (ID) speech may make language acquisition easier for infants. However, the effects of ID speech on infants' learning remain poorly understood. The experiments reported here assess whether ID speech facilitates word segmentation from fluent speech. One group of infants heard a set of nonsense…

E. J. Wisniewski and G. L. Murphy (see record EJ689195) suggested that the apparent effects of relation frequency in C. L. Gagne and E. J. Shoben's (1997) conceptual combination experiments could be explained by differences between the familiarity and plausibility of their stimuli (noun-noun phrases). However, C. L. Gagne and T. L. Spalding argued…

Students with fine motor problems can benefit from occupational therapy. Yet not all students receive the services because of a lack of teacher awareness about the problems and the services. This study aims to evaluate a workshop designed to improve teacher awareness about fine motor problems and occupational therapy. The study involved three…

Perceptual grouping by luminance similarity and by proximity was investigated in infants with Williams syndrome (WS) aged between 6 and 36 months (visit 1, N=29). WS infants who were still under 36 months old, 8 months later, repeated the testing procedure (visit 2, N=15). Performance was compared to typically developing (TD) infants aged from 2…

After becoming a podcasting convert, the author talked with other students at colleges and universities across North America about their iPod and MP3 use, their familiarity with podcasting, and how they see podcasting as part of the classroom. As more and more colleges and universities jump on board the podcasting bandwagon, it's vital that…

In 3 experiments, 9-month-old infants' expectations for what distinct count noun labels refer to were investigated. In Experiment 1, a box was opened to reveal 2 objects inside during familiarization: either 2 identical objects or 2 different objects. Test trials followed the same procedure, except before the box was opened, the contents were…

This case study explores the learning experiences of three international students who were enrolled in an online master's program offered by a large university in Canada. The aim of the study was to understand the international students' experiences with, and perspectives on, the online learning environment. Findings indicate that previous…

This study examined the extent to which student engagement is associated with a traditional assessment of student knowledge. In this study, ETS Business Major Field Test (MFT) scores were compared to student's self-reported survey responses to specific questions on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Areas of the NSSE survey such as…

Safety and security are crucial parts of a functioning educational facility. Despite an apparent slowdown in security threats and particularly dramatic incidents of violence, thanks to heightened vigilance, student safety is still a fundamental concern, made more complex by our times, experts say. According to Kenneth S. Trump, president of the…

Tested hypothesis from Bahrick and Pickens' infant attention model that retrieval cues increase memory accessibility and shift visual preferences toward greater novelty to resemble recent memories. Found that after retention intervals associated with remote or intermediate memory, previous familiarity preferences shifted to null or novelty…

Describes a survey of science faculty and researchers at the University of Michigan that investigated their information needs as well as resource use and preferences in diverse research contexts. Discusses speed, convenience, familiarity, currency, authoritativeness, reliable availability, and barriers in information-seeking. (Author/LRW)

Explored age-related memory differences for performed action events of varying familiarity in 50 adults aged 18-31 and 50 adults aged 55-84. Type of encoding and item familiarity influenced immediate and delayed free recall in both age groups. (RJC)

Studied 4- to 10-year-olds' familiarity judgments of peers. Found that, contrary to adults, external facial features were key. Also found that the switch to adult recognition pattern takes place after the ninth year. (ETB)