Effects of Mass and Interpersonal Communication on Breast Cancer Screening: Advancing Agenda-Setting Theory in Health Contexts

Drawing on components of agenda-setting theory and the two-step flow of information from mass media to news audiences, this study examines the effects of mass and interpersonal communication on breast cancer screening practices among college- and middle-aged women (n = 284). We theorized that screening behaviors among younger women would be influenced more by interpersonal sources of information while screening among middle-aged women would be more influenced by exposure to mass-mediated information. Findings supported anticipated patterns, revealing important and varying roles for both mass and interpersonal communication in the health behaviors of women. Implications for health practitioners and campaign planners, as well as recommendations for future research, are discussed.     

Priming urban learners' attitudes toward the relevancy of science: A mixed-methods study testing the importance of context

The development of three-dimensional learning among all K-12 student demographics remains a prominent goal for the field of science education. However, substantial research in science teacher education for urban populations showcases hurdles to overcome in order to achieve this goal, particularly for elementary teachers. Research shows that urban elementary teachers are often ill-prepared to develop a type of science pedagogy responsive to students' learning needs. The fidelity of such pedagogies that these teachers adhere to when trying to implement such a requested content–relationality between these populations and how their local contexts can be used as sites to learn science in relevant ways are often not fully realized, as well. Given that science achievement gaps exhibit racial disparities starting in primary grades and attitudes toward science have been shown to affect academic achievement and motivation, we argue that one way to ameliorate, in at least an incremental way, this disparity is to design novel learning experiences to prime students to see the relevancy of science in their local contexts before such three-dimensional designed learning is set to occur. In this research, we leveraged the immersive nature of Virtual Reality 360 videos and present a design-based research iteration testing how this novel technologically enhanced learning experience may have influenced close to 400 urban elementary students' attitudes toward science around those attitudes labeled as “behavioral beliefs” by the field. Using a concurrent, convergent mixed-methods design with a two-way multivariate analysis of covariance quantitative data set triangulated with students' qualitative self-reports that were transformed into quantitative preponderances in graphic form, the data support that our design iteration emphasizing the importance of context as a design focus can prime students who struggle to see science as relevant to change their attitudes. Implications are discussed around relationality, novel technological affordances, and the use of local contexts as learning resources.     

Student achievement and differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior: Hand raising

Workbook reading achievement of five second-grade girls was assessed under two teacher-contact contingencies. Under one contingency, teacher contacts were made during on-task behavior. Under the other contingency, differential reinforcement of an incompatible behavior (DRI) was in effect, with teacher contacts contingent on students' hand-raising behavior. Both reading achievement and time on task were greater under the on-task contingency than under DRI for hand raising.     

Development of Category‐Based Induction and Semantic Knowledge

Category‐based induction is a hallmark of mature cognition; however, little is known about its origins. This study evaluated the hypothesis that category‐based induction is related to semantic development. Computational studies suggest that early on there is little differentiation among concepts, but learning and development lead to increased differentiation based on taxonomic relatedness. This study reports findings from a new task aimed to (a) examine this putative increase in semantic differentiation and (b) test whether individual differences in semantic differentiation are related to category‐based induction in 4‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 85). The results provide the first empirical evidence of an age‐related increase in differentiation of representations of animal concepts and suggest that category‐based induction is related to increased semantic differentiation.     

Guiding Attention Aids the Acquisition of Anticipatory Skill in Novice Soccer Goalkeepers

Purpose: The ability to anticipate the actions of opponents can be enhanced through perceptual-skill training, though there is doubt regarding the most effective form of doing so. We sought to evaluate whether perceptual-skill learning would be enhanced when supplemented with guiding visual information. Method: Twenty-eight participants without soccer-playing experience were assigned to a guided perceptual-training group (n = 9), an unguided perceptual-training group (n = 10), or a control group (n = 9). The guided perceptual-training group received half of their trials with color cueing that highlighted either the key kinematic changes in the kicker's action or the known visual search strategy of expert goalkeepers. The unguided perceptual-training group undertook an equal number of trials of practice, but all trials were without guidance. The control group undertook no training intervention. All participants completed an anticipation test immediately before and after the 7-day training intervention, as well as a 24-hr retention test. Results: The guided perceptual-training group significantly improved their response accuracy for anticipating the direction of soccer penalty kicks from preintervention to postintervention, whereas no change in performance was evident at posttest for either the unguided perceptual-training group or the control group. The superior performance of the guided perceptual-training group was preserved in the retention test and was confirmed when relative changes in response time were controlled using a covariate analysis. Conclusions: Perceptual training supplemented with guiding information provides a level of improvement in perceptual anticipatory skill that is not seen without guidance.     

Teachers' and At‐Risk Students' Stimulated Recall of Instruction

Abstract

Using the stimulated recall of instruction methodology, we interviewed teachers and students at risk for referral to special education about their perceptions, judgments, and decision making during the course of instruction. The results of the teacher interviews suggest that teachers respond to complex collections of student cues in their decision making about students. Teachers described themselves as more frequently monitoring the at‐risk students, although their attempts to modify instruction consisted primarily of attempts to motivate these students. The at‐risk students indicated awareness that they are experiencing difficulty in class, had somewhat less understanding of how teachers attempt to help them, and responded with anger and frustration to their learning problems.