Static headspace analysis of accelerants from suspected arsons is accomplished by placing an arson sample in a sealed container with a carbon strip suspended above the sample. The sample is heated, cooled to room temperature, and then the organic components are extracted from the carbon strip with carbon disulfide followed by gas chromatography…

In this article, which includes three video clips, the author argues that the small experiments, inventions, strategies, and pauses in young children's play seen in the clips reveal a legitimate form of scientific thinking. He notes that science and play both represent a frame of mind, an attitude toward the events one observes. (Contains 3…

In 2 experiments, we examined whether the stimulus equivalence instructional paradigm could be used to teach relations among names, definitions, causes, and common treatments for disabilities using a selection-based intraverbal training format. Participants were pre- and posttested on vocal intraverbal relations and were trained using…

Reaction time is often shorter when the irrelevant graspable handle of an object corresponds with the location of a keypress response to the relevant attribute than when it does not. This object-based Simon effect has been attributed to an affordance for grasping the handle with the hand to the same side. Because a grasping affordance should…

This paper describes an action research approach toward an implementation of a new teaching methodology (specifically active learning) in a preparatory college chemistry classroom. The initial implementation involved the use of process-orientated guided inquiry (POGIL) activities. The treatment classes with either all POGIL activities during…

Metal oxalate synthesis and pyrolysis provides an opportunity for students to (i) learn stoichiometry, (ii) experience the consequences of proper stoichiometric calculations and experimental techniques, and (iii) be introduced to the relevance of chemistry by highlighting oxalates in context, for example, usages and health effects. At our…

In this laboratory experiment, high school students are challenged to prepare a six-layered chemical "rainbow" in a test tube. Students start with six unknown, colorless liquids and six pigments ranging from violet to red. The experiment is problem based and forces the students to apply their knowledge of solubility and density and combine it with…

Liquid-vapor, solid-vapor, and solid-liquid-vapor equilibria are studied for the pure substance water, using modern equipment that includes specially fabricated glass cells. Samples are evaporatively frozen initially, during which they typically supercool to -5 to -10 [degrees]C before spontaneously freezing. Vacuum pumping lowers the temperature…

This case study places the high school student as a researcher for Carbonation Creators (fictional entity), a company responsible for making the Fizzy Forcer (a device to improve carbonation in previously opened bottles of soft drinks). The company faces a class-action lawsuit claiming that the Fizzy Forcer does not retain carbonation levels in…

Purpose: The current investigation compared directed scanning and group-item scanning among typically developing 4-year-old children. Of specific interest were their accuracy, selection speed, and efficiency of cursor movement in selecting colored line drawn symbols representing object vocabulary. Method: Twelve 4-year-olds made selections in both…

This article presents a dual system model (DSM) of decision making under risk and uncertainty according to which the value of a gamble is a combination of the values assigned to it independently by the affective and deliberative systems. On the basis of research on dual process theories and empirical research in Hsee and Rottenstreich (2004) and…

Apraxic patients are known for deficits in producing and comprehending skilled movements. Two experiments tested their implicit and explicit knowledge about manipulable objects in order to examine whether such deficits accompany impairment in the conceptual representation of manipulation features. An eyetracking method was used to test implicit…

Wood is transparent for microwaves and due to its anisotropic structure has anisotropic dielectric properties. A laboratory experiment that allows for the qualitative demonstration and quantitative measurements of linear dichroism and birefringence in the microwave region is presented. As the proposed experiments are based on the anisotropy (of…

We investigated two active reading techniques intended to eliminate the negative effect on reading comprehension of preexisting, inappropriate highlighting. College students read passages in three highlighting conditions: no highlighting, appropriate highlighting, and inappropriate highlighting. In Experiment 1, 30 students read the passages while…

The relationship between object files and visual working memory (VWM) was investigated in a new paradigm combining features of traditional VWM experiments (color change detection) and object-file experiments (memory for the properties of moving objects). Object-file theory was found to account for a key component of object-position binding in VWM:…