In 1984, a teacher was successfully prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive. The case centred around chemically prepared hydrogen that was dried by bubbling it through concentrated sulfuric(VI) acid and then passed over hot copper(II) oxide. The procedure was often carried out quantitatively to find the mass of copper in a sample of…

A guided-inquiry lab was developed to analyze the Balmer series of the hydrogen atomic spectrum. The emission spectrum of hydrogen was recorded with a homemade benchtop spectrophotometer. By drawing graphs and a trial-and-error approach, students discover the linear relationship presented in the Rydberg formula and connect it with the Bohr model…

The Grignard reaction and the addition of protecting groups are standard reactions in an organic chemistry course. Organic students learn about the "quench" step of the Grignard reaction using acid and water and the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis to remove the protecting group, yet in the lecture students find these two reactions to be confusing in…

The surfaces of mammalian cells are coated with complex carbohydrates, many terminated with a negatively charged "N"-acetylneuraminic acid residue. This motif is specifically targeted by pathogens, including influenza viruses and many pathogenic bacteria, to gain entry into the cell. A necessary step in the influenza virus life cycle is the…

Normal-phase chromatography is an essential technique for monitoring chemical reactions, identifying the presence of specific components, as well as the purification of organic compounds. An experiment to facilitate the instruction and understanding of the concepts behind normal-phase chromatography at the introductory and intermediate…

It is well known that timing of rhythm production is disrupted by delayed auditory feedback (DAF), and that disruption varies with delay length. We tested the hypothesis that disruption depends on the state of the movement trajectory at the onset of DAF. Participants tapped isochronous rhythms at a rate specified by a metronome while hearing DAF…

Tool making evidences intelligent, flexible thinking. In Experiment 1, we confirmed that 4- to 7-year-olds chose a hook tool to retrieve a bucket from a tube. In Experiment 2, 3- to 5-year-olds consistently failed to innovate a simple hook tool. Eight-year-olds performed at mature levels. In contrast, making a tool following demonstration was easy…

To test young children's false belief theory of mind in a morally relevant context, two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, children (N=162) at 3.5, 5.5, and 7.5 years of age were administered three tasks: prototypic moral transgression task, false belief theory of mind task (ToM), and an "accidental transgressor" task, which measured a…

Three experiments with rat subjects examined resurgence of an extinguished instrumental response using the procedure introduced by Epstein (1983) with pigeons. There were three phases: (1) initial acquisition of pressing on a lever (L1) for pellet reward, (2) extinction of L1, and (3) a test session in which a second lever (L2) was inserted,…

The present human fear conditioning study examined whether the valence of an extinction cue has a differential effect on attenuating renewal that is induced by removal of the extinction context. Additionally, the study aimed to assess whether such attenuating effect is based on a modulatory or safety-signal role of the cue. In acquisition,…

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of common motor responses as the "speaker" behavior on stimulus class formation,and the emergence of functional classes. Experiment 1 examined whether training one motor response to a set of three stimuli and a second motor response to another set of three stimuli would result in correct…

A film script is a useful tool for allowing students to experiment with language variation. Scripts of love stories comprise a range of language contexts, each triggering a different style on a formal-neutral-informal linguistic continuum: (1) technical cinematographic language in camera directions; (2) narrative language in exposition of scenes,…

The way words are used in natural language can influence how the same words are understood by students in formal educational contexts. Here we argue that this so-called semantic contamination effect plays a role in determining how students engage with mathematical proof, a fundamental aspect of learning mathematics. Analyses of responses to…

In a regional young-earth creationist museum, objects are presented as if they speak for themselves, purportedly embodying proof that the earth is less than 10,000 years old, that humans have lived on earth throughout its history, and that dinosaurs and humans lived simultaneously. In public lectures, tours, and displays, museum associates…

Learning algebra is difficult for many students in part because of an emphasis on the memorization of abstract rules. Algebraic reasoners across expertise levels often rely on perceptual-motor strategies to make these rules meaningful and memorable. However, in many cases, rules are provided as patterns to be memorized verbally, with little overt…