Three experiments show that, contrary to the current view, comprehenders do not unconditionally deactivate information marked by negation. Instead, they discard negated information when it is functionally motivated. In Experiment 1, comprehenders discarded negated concepts when cued by a topic shift to dampen recently processed information.…

In four experiments, Malt and Sloman [Malt, B. C., & Sloman, S. A. (2007). Category essence or essentially pragmatic? Creator's intention in naming and what's really what. "Cognition, 105," 615-648] show that the naming of artifacts is affected by discourse context. They see this phenomenon as posing a problem for the intentional-history theory of…

Leading meaningful school improvement and reform has proven to be a difficult process. This article looks at some of the interactive, contextual variables that lend to the complexity of this challenge. These include complexities inherent in schools, in change processes and in the leadership role itself.

Educational researchers have conducted numerous studies regarding the effects of class size on student learning, yet the disparity of their findings make it difficult to draw overall conclusions. This paper first provides a description of some of the major class size studies in an effort to illustrate this point. Next, a research approach is…

The learning object remains an ill-defined concept, despite numerous and extensive discussion in the literature. This paper attempts to address this problem by providing a classification that potentially brings together various perspectives of what a learning object may be. Six unique types of learning objects are proposed and discussed:…

Whilst findings from experimental studies suggest that perceptual mechanisms underpinning musical cognition are preserved or enhanced in autism, little is known about how higher-level, structural aspects of music are processed. Twenty participants with autism, together with age and intelligence matched controls, completed a musical priming task in…

Eighteen undergraduates participated in studies designed to examine the factors that produce transfer of contextual functions to novel stimuli in second-order conditional discriminations. In Study 1, participants selected comparison B1 given sample A1 and comparison B2 given sample A2 in a matching-to-sample procedure. Contextual stimuli X1 or X2…

This qualitative study examined 88 experienced teachers' responses related to mentoring. Our findings suggest mentors possess the willingness and expertise to enhance the professional development and growth of a beginning teacher. Mentors were motivated by the opportunity to express an altruistic value, to provide affective support, to grow…

The impetus for this project stemmed from a curiosity about two particular areas in the history of usability research. For one, I began research for this project with a desire to learn about patterns in the theory, practice, attitude, and perception about usability work, both in academic contexts and in corporate contexts, with a focus on the…

Many colleges and universities are grappling with the ever-increasing challenge of understanding the impact that college has on students. Research has validated the fact that student engagement has a significant impact on academic performance, satisfaction with college experience, and graduation rates. Student engagement is the connection that…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of electronic mail and other portable and wireless devices on the traditional out of classroom communications which take place between students and professors in colleges and universities. The environment in which higher education instruction occurs has changed dramatically in the last two…

As postsecondary education is promoted as necessary for participating in the 21st century knowledge economy, academics, policymakers, and the public have voiced concerns about the quality and coherence of undergraduate education (AAC & U, 2007; Barr and Tagg, 1995; U.S. Department of Education, 2006). Critics point to the size, scope, and multiple…

Chinese supplementary schools have been accused of having "old-fashioned" and ineffective teaching methods, with most teaching being undertaken by "unqualified" volunteer parent teachers. But how do pupils themselves interpret and experience the complementary school setting and to what extent do they feel it affects their…

Technological advances have revolutionized the communication patterns and behaviors of district leaders. In this information-based society, the ability of the leader to select the form of communication most appropriate to the context and situation qualifies his or her effectiveness at communication. The findings emerging from this study highlight…

"Teaching Business Ethics in the Age of Madoff" provides a brief overview of the field of business ethics, including a quick history, with particular attention to the role of scandals. The authors dispute four commonly held misconceptions about business: Markets are perfect, or at least efficient; human beings are always self-interested; economic…