'You think that I'm smoking and they're not': why mothers still smoke in the home.

PubMed

Robinson, Jude; Kirkcaldy, Andrew J

2007-08-01

Past research into smoking and motherhood has explained how smoking enables mothers to care in conditions of hardship and poverty. However, much of this research was conducted before the risks to the health of non-smokers of inhaling tobacco smoke were widely known, and so mothers' attitudes towards passive smoking and caring remain under explored. Children living with smokers are at risk of developing serious acute and chronic conditions during childhood and later life. Despite increased awareness of health messages among parents, young children are still exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the home, with maternal smoking identified as the primary source of exposure. In this paper, we present the findings from a project set up to explore the changing social and environmental context of smoking and motherhood. Using focus groups, 54 mothers of children aged under five years from the Merseyside area of England, who smoked, discussed their beliefs about smoking, passive smoking and the health of their children. Although mothers were aware of the messages linking ETS exposure to childhood illnesses they appeared to rely more on their own explanations for any ill health experienced by their children, discounting smoking as a primary cause and preferring alternative explanations including 'genetics' and 'pollution'. These alternative explanations were common both within and between groups, suggesting that they form part of a wider resistant dialogue constructed within families and communities, where information about smoking and child health is received, challenged, and reconciled with existing knowledge, before being either accepted or rejected. Crucially, this alternative dialogue supports the mothers' continued smoking, and is inevitably linked to their personal need to smoke while caring. These findings have implications for the development of future strategies for promoting the health of children with mothers who are reluctant, or feel unable, to accept that smoking can affect the health of their children.

Focus: the peculiar persistence of the naturalistic fallacy. Introduction.

PubMed

Milam, Erika Lorraine

2014-09-01

Although "naturalistic fallacy" is a term coined in the twentieth century, scholars have long voiced myriad anxieties over the mechanisms by which their contemporaries have derived moral, social, and political lessons from natural phenomena--often as gambits for advancing their own alternative explanations. The essays in this Focus section explore five episodes in the history of such concerns with naturalistic reasoning in order to shed new light on the persistence of naturalism itself.

Basal cortisol's relation to testosterone changes may not be driven by social challenges.

PubMed

Welker, Keith M; Prasad, Smrithi; Srivastava, Sanjay; Mehta, Pranjal H

2017-11-01

Multiple studies show a negative correlation between basal cortisol and testosterone changes in the presence of competition and social-evaluative stressors. These negative associations are proposed to be derived from psychological responses to competition and social-evaluative stress. However, we argue that the association between basal cortisol and testosterone change may instead be a statistical consequence of positively associated variables. In this paper, we present a mathematical rationale for this alternative explanation and examples from two studies that are consistent with this alternative explanation. Both studies show that the associations between basal cortisol and testosterone change have covariance patterns consistent with this alternative possibility. We conclude that the often-found positive association between basal cortisol and basal testosterone opens the door for alternative explanations of the basal cortisol-testosterone change association rooted in the patterns of associations between hormones measured over time. We also suggest future research directions and methods for testing alternative explanations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Causal cognition in human and nonhuman animals: a comparative, critical review.

PubMed

Penn, Derek C; Povinelli, Daniel J

2007-01-01

In this article, we review some of the most provocative experimental results to have emerged from comparative labs in the past few years, starting with research focusing on contingency learning and finishing with experiments exploring nonhuman animals' understanding of causal-logical relations. Although the theoretical explanation for these results is often inchoate, a clear pattern nevertheless emerges. The comparative evidence does not fit comfortably into either the traditional associationist or inferential alternatives that have dominated comparative debate for many decades now. Indeed, the similarities and differences between human and nonhuman causal cognition seem to be much more multifarious than these dichotomous alternatives allow.

Designing Critique for Knowledge Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Mie Elissa

Generating explanations is central to science and has the potential to have a powerful impact on students' conceptual understanding in science instruction. However, improving conceptual understanding by generating explanations is a fraught affair: students may struggle with the sense of false clarity that may arise from generating explanations, fail to detect gaps in their understanding, and dismiss salient information that contradict their beliefs. Critiquing explanations has the potential to counteract these pitfalls by exposing students to alternative ideas to contrast with their own. This dissertation seeks to clarify how to design critique in technology-enhanced science instruction to support students in revising their explanations about scientific phenomena, and in doing so, refining their conceptual understanding. Using the Knowledge Integration framework, I revised two technology-enhanced curriculum units, Plate Tectonics and Global Climate Change, in a design partnership between teachers, researchers, and technologists. I conducted a series of studies with sixth-grade students to investigate the conditions under which guided critique of explanations can support revision. The pilot critique study investigated the impact of the revised Plate Tectonics unit on students' understanding of convection, as well as of a preliminary design of critique where students generated and applied their own criteria for what makes a good explanation in science. The guidance study explored how incorporating a complex selection task that features meta-explanatory criteria into critique supports students in distinguishing among different criteria, as well as how students use peer or expert guidance on their initial explanation during revision. The critique study investigated how designing critique with a complex selection task that features plausible alternative ideas and giving guidance on students' critiques support students in distinguishing among a range of relevant ideas and making productive revisions to their initial explanations. These studies clarify how critique can be designed to help students sort through various ideas in their conceptual repertoire, be they ideas about meta-explanatory criteria or science ideas about a specific phenomenon. The study findings illuminate the challenges of guiding students to examine or re-examine the full range of ideas for knowledge integration. Students struggle to identify salient, missing, or normative ideas in their own or another explanation, and to incorporate their insights in a coherent way through revision. The studies demonstrate that embedding complex selection tasks in critique encourages students to consider a broad range of ideas and supports them in making conceptual revisions of their explanations. The results have implications for the design of critique in technology-enhanced science instruction.

Comment on Mroczek et al. Evaluation of Quality of Life of Those Living near a Wind Farm. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2015, 12, 6066-6083.

PubMed

Shepherd, Daniel

2017-02-01

An article published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health indicated that, far from degrading health, noise from wind turbines may actually be associated with positive health outcomes. Such a finding is counter to that reported elsewhere for general and wind turbine noise. This Commentary sets out to explore alternative explanations of these differences.

What's the Alternative?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lombardi, Doug; Sibley, Bret; Carroll, Kristoffer

2013-01-01

Scientifically literate citizens need to understand how scientists evaluate competing explanations. Likewise, students must learn to critically evaluate the quality of scientific knowledge and weigh alternative explanations. Regrettably, high school graduates often are not critically evaluative about scientific topics. To help remedy that, this…

Facilitating Preschoolers' Scientific Knowledge Construction via Computer Games Regarding Light and Shadow: The Effect of the Prediction-Observation-Explanation (POE) Strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsu, Chung-Yuan; Tsai, Chin-Chung; Liang, Jyh-Chong

2011-10-01

Educational researchers have suggested that computer games have a profound influence on students' motivation, knowledge construction, and learning performance, but little empirical research has targeted preschoolers. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of implementing a computer game that integrates the prediction-observation-explanation (POE) strategy (White and Gunstone in Probing understanding. Routledge, New York, 1992) on facilitating preschoolers' acquisition of scientific concepts regarding light and shadow. The children's alternative conceptions were explored as well. Fifty participants were randomly assigned into either an experimental group that played a computer game integrating the POE model or a control group that played a non-POE computer game. By assessing the students' conceptual understanding through interviews, this study revealed that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the concepts regarding "shadow formation in daylight" and "shadow orientation." However, children in both groups, after playing the games, still expressed some alternative conceptions such as "Shadows always appear behind a person" and "Shadows should be on the same side as the sun."

Why Do People with Delusions Fail to Choose More Realistic Explanations for Their Experiences? An Empirical Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeman, Daniel; Garety, Philippa A.; Fowler, David; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Bebbington, Paul E.; Dunn, Graham

2004-01-01

Delusions can be viewed as explanations of experiences. By definition, the experiences are insufficient to merit the delusional explanations. So why have delusions been accepted rather than more realistic explanations? The authors report a study of alternative explanations in 100 individuals with delusions. Patients were assessed on the following…

Students' explanations in complex learning of disciplinary programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, Camilo

Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) has been denominated as the third pillar of science and as a set of important skills to solve the problems of a global society. Along with the theoretical and the experimental approaches, computation offers a third alternative to solve complex problems that require processing large amounts of data, or representing complex phenomena that are not easy to experiment with. Despite the relevance of CSE, current professionals and scientists are not well prepared to take advantage of this set of tools and methods. Computation is usually taught in an isolated way from engineering disciplines, and therefore, engineers do not know how to exploit CSE affordances. This dissertation intends to introduce computational tools and methods contextualized within the Materials Science and Engineering curriculum. Considering that learning how to program is a complex task, the dissertation explores effective pedagogical practices that can support student disciplinary and computational learning. Two case studies will be evaluated to identify the characteristics of effective worked examples in the context of CSE. Specifically, this dissertation explores students explanations of these worked examples in two engineering courses with different levels of transparency: a programming course in materials science and engineering glass box and a thermodynamics course involving computational representations black box. Results from this study suggest that students benefit in different ways from writing in-code comments. These benefits include but are not limited to: connecting xv individual lines of code to the overall problem, getting familiar with the syntax, learning effective algorithm design strategies, and connecting computation with their discipline. Students in the glass box context generate higher quality explanations than students in the black box context. These explanations are related to students prior experiences. Specifically, students with low ability to do programming engage in a more thorough explanation process than students with high ability. This dissertation concludes proposing an adaptation to the instructional principles of worked-examples for the context of CSE education.

Some Student Conceptions of Electromagnetic Induction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thong, Wai Meng; Gunstone, Richard

2008-01-01

Introductory electromagnetism is a central part of undergraduate physics. Although there has been some research into student conceptions of electromagnetism, studies have been sparse and separated. This study sought to explore second year physics students’ conceptions of electromagnetism, to investigate to what extent the results from the present study are similar to these results from other studies, and to uncover any new forms of alternative conceptions. Data for this study came from 15 in-depth interviews. Three previously unreported alternative conceptions were identified in the study: 1) induced current varies proportionately with current in solenoid; 2) there must be contact between magnetic flux and the external coil in order for any emf to be induced in the coil; 3) coulombic or electrostatic potential difference is present in an induced electric field. These alternative conceptions were manifested in these students’ explanations of electromagnetic phenomena presented to them during the interviews.

Exploring the Basis for Gender Differences in the Demand-Withdraw Pattern

PubMed Central

Holley, Sarah R.; Sturm, Virginia E.; Levenson, Robert W.

2010-01-01

During marital conflict, wives tend to demand and husbands tend to withdraw. These behaviors were historically thought to stem from essential differences between men and women. An alternative explanation implicates one form of power differences—wives desire more change and therefore demand, whereas husbands desire less change and withdraw to maintain status quo. Studying same-sex as well as cross-sex couples enables an evaluation of both explanations. We examined demand-withdraw behaviors in 63 heterosexual, gay, and lesbian couples. The demand-withdraw pattern was seen regardless of type of couple. Further, for all couples, differences in the amount of change desired in partners during a conflict interaction predicted differences in demand and withdraw behaviors. These results offer further evidence that an oft-observed difference in heterosexual relationships may result from social conventions that afford men greater power and women less power. PMID:20455136

Understanding Wing Lift

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silva, J.; Soares, A. A.

2010-01-01

The conventional explanation of aerodynamic lift based on Bernoulli's equation is one of the most common mistakes in presentations to school students and is found in children's science books. The fallacies in this explanation together with an alternative explanation for aerofoil lift have already been presented in an excellent article by Babinsky…

Exploring Dominant Types of Explanations Built by General Chemistry Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talanquer, Vicente

2010-01-01

The central goal of our study was to explore the nature of the explanations generated by science and engineering majors with basic training in chemistry to account for the colligative properties of solutions. The work was motivated by our broader interest in the characterisation of the dominant types of explanations that science college students…

Synergy and Students' Explanations: Exploring the Role of Generic and Content-Specific Scaffolds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delen, Ibrahim; Krajcik, Joseph

2018-01-01

In this study, we explored how a teacher used a new mobile application that enables students to collect data inside and outside the classroom, and then use the data to create scientific explanations by using claim-evidence-reasoning framework. Previous technologies designed to support scientific explanations focused on how these programs improve…

"Why Does Rain Fall?": Children Prefer to Learn from an Informant Who Uses Noncircular Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corriveau, Kathleen H.; Kurkul, Katelyn E.

2014-01-01

These two studies explored 3- and 5-year-olds' evaluation of noncircular and circular explanations, and their use of such explanations to determine informant credibility. Although 5-year-olds demonstrated a selective preference for noncircular over circular explanations (Experiment 1: Long Explanations; Experiment 2: Short Explanations),…

The Impact of Television, Print, and Audio on Children's Recall of the News: A Study of Three Alternative Explanations for the Dual-Coding Hypothesis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walma Van Der Molen, Juliette H.; Van Der Voort, Tom H. A.

2000-01-01

Examines three alternative explanations that attribute children's superior recall of television news to (1) underutilization of the print medium; (2) a recall advantage of listening compared with reading; and (3) imperfect reading ability. Finds that the television presentation was remembered better than any of the other versions, consistent with…

Phantom gravastar supported for the explanation of compact dark matter objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Errehymy, Abdelghani; Daoud, Mohammed; Jammari, Mohammed Kamal

2017-11-01

The understanding of dark matter objects is one of the modern mysteries. Usually one interprets them as black holes, but there is no empirical evidence only a lack of alternatives. Proposing the idea of a phantom gravastar we will give an alternative explanation to these dark matter objects without supposing them to be black holes, in particular to the SgrA* and the MACHOs.

Between cheap and costly signals: the evolution of partially honest communication.

PubMed

Zollman, Kevin J S; Bergstrom, Carl T; Huttegger, Simon M

2013-01-07

Costly signalling theory has become a common explanation for honest communication when interests conflict. In this paper, we provide an alternative explanation for partially honest communication that does not require significant signal costs. We show that this alternative is at least as plausible as traditional costly signalling, and we suggest a number of experiments that might be used to distinguish the two theories.

Generative mechanistic explanation building in undergraduate molecular and cellular biology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Southard, Katelyn M.; Espindola, Melissa R.; Zaepfel, Samantha D.; Bolger, Molly S.

2017-09-01

When conducting scientific research, experts in molecular and cellular biology (MCB) use specific reasoning strategies to construct mechanistic explanations for the underlying causal features of molecular phenomena. We explored how undergraduate students applied this scientific practice in MCB. Drawing from studies of explanation building among scientists, we created and applied a theoretical framework to explore the strategies students use to construct explanations for 'novel' biological phenomena. Specifically, we explored how students navigated the multi-level nature of complex biological systems using generative mechanistic reasoning. Interviews were conducted with introductory and upper-division biology students at a large public university in the United States. Results of qualitative coding revealed key features of students' explanation building. Students used modular thinking to consider the functional subdivisions of the system, which they 'filled in' to varying degrees with mechanistic elements. They also hypothesised the involvement of mechanistic entities and instantiated abstract schema to adapt their explanations to unfamiliar biological contexts. Finally, we explored the flexible thinking that students used to hypothesise the impact of mutations on multi-leveled biological systems. Results revealed a number of ways that students drew mechanistic connections between molecules, functional modules (sets of molecules with an emergent function), cells, tissues, organisms and populations.

THE SEX DIFFERENCE IN ROD BALANCING: CONFIRMATION OF THE DIFFERENCE AND A TEST OF THREE HYPOTHETICAL EXPLANATIONS.

PubMed

Porras, Ileana C; Hiscock, Merrill; Layne, Charles S

2015-12-01

Previous studies have shown that men can balance a dowel rod on the index finger for a longer time than women can. The factors that account for the difference are unknown, but the difference may be attributable either to a difference in whole-body agility or a difference in the use of visual cues. Three experiments involving a total of 62 adult women with a mean age of 21.2 yr. (SD=3.8) and 62 adult men with a mean age of 21.9 yr. (SD=6.6) tested these potential explanations. Experiment 1 replicated the sex difference and assessed the relevance of whole-body agility by comparing standing and seated conditions. Experiments 2 and 3 explored the role of rod length and visual fixation point, respectively. Each experiment yielded a significant sex difference, but the difference was not affected by the participant's posture, the length of the rod, or the fixation point. Possible alternative explanations for the difference include differences in (1) the speed of processing degree of visual tilt; (2) arm mass, which affects the inertia of the balancing system; and (3) experience in open-skill sports.

Sex-Role Change, Anomie and Female Suicide: A Test of Alternative Durkheimian Explanations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austin, Roy L; And Others

1992-01-01

Used trend analysis of suicide rate and female/male suicide ratios from 1950 to 1984 and regression of ratio on educational attainment, labor force participation, fertility, and divorce rates to examine explanations for rate changes. General anomie explanation of female suicide trends was supported for middle-aged females; conjugal anomie…

The predictability of evolution: glimpses into a post-Darwinian world.

PubMed

Conway Morris, Simon

2009-11-01

The very success of the Darwinian explanation, in not only demonstrating evolution from multiple lines of evidence but also in providing some plausible explanations, paradoxically seems to have served to have stifled explorations into other areas of investigation. The fact of evolution is now almost universally yoked to the assumption that its outcomes are random, trends are little more than drunkard's walks, and most evolutionary products are masterpieces of improvisation and far from perfect. But is this correct? Let us consider some alternatives. Is there evidence that evolution could in anyway be predictable? Can we identify alternative forms of biological organizations and if so how viable are they? Why are some molecules so extraordinarily versatile, while others can be spoken of as "molecules of choice"? How fortuitous are the major transitions in the history of life? What implications might this have for the Tree of Life? To what extent is evolutionary diversification constrained or facilitated by prior states? Are evolutionary outcomes merely sufficient or alternatively are they highly efficient, even superb? Here I argue that in sharp contradistinction to an orthodox Darwinian view, not only is evolution much more predictable than generally assumed but also investigation of its organizational substrates, including those of sensory systems, which indicates that it is possible to identify a predictability to the process and outcomes of evolution. If correct, the implications may be of some significance, not least in separating the unexceptional Darwinian mechanisms from underlying organizational principles, which may indicate evolutionary inevitabilities.

Exploring a potential impact of a social marketing campaign on reducing oral cancer incidences in Michigan: an ecological study

PubMed Central

Lim, Sungwoo; Spavik, Georgia; Ismail, Amid I

2015-01-01

Objectives/Aims: The social marketing campaign was launched in 2005–2007 to address excess risk of oral cancer in Detroit tri-county area, Michigan. We assessed the extent to which the campaign might have contributed to decreasing risk of oral cancer using the modified interrupted time-series design. Materials and Methods: Oral cancer incidence and mortality data came from Michigan Department of Community Health, and trends of age-adjusted rates during 1990–2009 were compared between intervention and comparison counties via joinpoint regression. Results: Although mortality rates in both areas decreased in parallel manner, incidence rates decreased during and after the campaign only in the intervention counties. A similar trend was observed in the race-specific analysis. Alternative explanations, including population profiles, health-care access and pre-existing trends, were examined, and these characteristics were comparable between two areas in 1990s and 2000s. Conclusions: These results suggested that the campaign was more likely to be associated with the decreasing trend of oral cancer incidence in the intervention counties than alternative explanations. Although oral cancer is a deadly disease, its awareness has been relatively low. This study highlights a potential impact of concerted efforts to improve the oral cancer awareness in the high-risk communities. PMID:29607059

Exploring a potential impact of a social marketing campaign on reducing oral cancer incidences in Michigan: an ecological study.

PubMed

Lim, Sungwoo; Spavik, Georgia; Ismail, Amid I

2015-01-01

The social marketing campaign was launched in 2005-2007 to address excess risk of oral cancer in Detroit tri-county area, Michigan. We assessed the extent to which the campaign might have contributed to decreasing risk of oral cancer using the modified interrupted time-series design. Oral cancer incidence and mortality data came from Michigan Department of Community Health, and trends of age-adjusted rates during 1990-2009 were compared between intervention and comparison counties via joinpoint regression. Although mortality rates in both areas decreased in parallel manner, incidence rates decreased during and after the campaign only in the intervention counties. A similar trend was observed in the race-specific analysis. Alternative explanations, including population profiles, health-care access and pre-existing trends, were examined, and these characteristics were comparable between two areas in 1990s and 2000s. These results suggested that the campaign was more likely to be associated with the decreasing trend of oral cancer incidence in the intervention counties than alternative explanations. Although oral cancer is a deadly disease, its awareness has been relatively low. This study highlights a potential impact of concerted efforts to improve the oral cancer awareness in the high-risk communities.

Is Self-Explanation Worth the Time? A Comparison to Additional Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McEldoon, Katherine L.; Durkin, Kelley L.; Rittle-Johnson, Bethany

2013-01-01

Background: Self-explanation, or generating explanations to oneself in an attempt to make sense of new information, can promote learning. However, self-explaining takes time, and the learning benefits of this activity need to be rigorously evaluated against alternative uses of this time. Aims: In the current study, we compared the effectiveness of…

The Continuing Allure of Cure: A Response to Alex Broadbent's "Prediction, Understanding, and Medicine".

PubMed

Harris, Chadwin

2018-05-09

In "Prediction, Understanding, and Medicine," Alex Broadbent rejects the curative thesis, the view that the core medical competence is to cure, in favor of his predictive thesis that the main intellectual medical competence is to explain and the main practical medical competence is to predict. Broadbent thinks his account explains the phenomenon of multiple consultation, which is the fact that people persist in consulting alternative medical traditions despite having access to mainstream medicine. I argue that Broadbent's explanation of multiple consultation makes sense only from the perspective of patients who migrate from mainstream to alternative consultation. His explanation is not as convincing when we consider alternative-to-mainstream migration. I also provide an argument against Broadbent's view that prediction is medicine's main practical competence and argue that, when it comes to explaining most cases of multiple consultation, the curative thesis provides a more convincing explanation than the predictive thesis.

The Different Effects of Family on Objective Career Success across Gender: A Test of Alternative Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirchmeyer, Catherine

2006-01-01

Gender gaps in achieved rank and salary, common indicators of objective success, often are attributed to the different family roles and responsibilities of men and women. This study tested three explanations for the different effects of family on careers: that is, choice, performance, and signaling explanations. In a sample of American doctoral…

Revisiting the imaginary audience and personal fable constructs of adolescent egocentrism: a conceptual review.

PubMed

Vartanian, L R

2000-01-01

Adolescents are thought to believe that others are always watching and evaluating them, and that they are special and unique, labeled the imaginary audience and the personal fable, respectively. These two constructs have been fixtures in textbooks on adolescent development, and have been offered as explanations for self-consciousness and risk-taking. However, their characterization of adolescent social cognition as biased has not been supported empirically, the measures used to assess them lack construct validity, and alternative explanations for both ideation patterns have not been explored. Despite these issues, the imaginary audience and personal fable constructs continue to be considered prototypical representations of social cognitive processes during adolescence. This paper (1) reviews theoretical models of the imaginary audience and the personal fable, and the empirical data pertaining to each model, (2) highlights problems surrounding the two most commonly used measures, and (3) outlines directions for future research, so that a better understanding of the imaginary audience and personal fable, and their roles in adolescent development, may be achieved.

Preschool Children's Explanations of Plant Growth and Rain Formation: A Comparative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christidou, Vasilia; Hatzinikita, Vassilia

2006-01-01

This paper explores the different types and characteristics of preschool children's explanations of plant growth and rain formation. The children's explanations were categorized as naturalistic, non-naturalistic, or synthetic, i.e., explanations containing both naturalistic and non-naturalistic parts. In regards to plant growth the children…

A Social Control Perspective on Scientific Misconduct.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hackett, Edward J.

1994-01-01

Some explanations for scientific misconduct are examined, including those based on theories of individual psychopathology, anomie, and alienation. An alternative explanation, drawing on the concept of social control, is presented, and implications for research and policy are examined. (MSE)

Promoting Vicarious Learning of Physics Using Deep Questions with Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craig, Scotty D.; Gholson, Barry; Brittingham, Joshua K.; Williams, Joah L.; Shubeck, Keith T.

2012-01-01

Two experiments explored the role of vicarious "self" explanations in facilitating student learning gains during computer-presented instruction. In Exp. 1, college students with low or high knowledge on Newton's laws were tested in four conditions: (a) monologue (M), (b) questions (Q), (c) explanation (E), and (d) question + explanation (Q + E).…

A Cognitive Analysis of College Students’ Explanations for Engaging in Unprotected Sexual Intercourse

PubMed Central

O’Sullivan, Lucia F.; Udell, Wadiya; Montrose, Vernique A.; Antoniello, Patricia; Hoffman, Susie

2011-01-01

Young adults, including college students, engage in high levels of unprotected sexual activity despite relatively high rates of HIV/STI and pregnancy-related knowledge. Little is known about the cognitive strategies young people use to explain this inconsistency. The current study examined young people’s explanations for engaging in unprotected sexual activity in their committed relationships. Sixty-three young adults (32 women and 31 men) completed daily diaries over a three-week period, providing a total of 1,284 daily reports tracking their condom use and non-use during intercourse. Diary collection was followed by in-depth interviews designed to explore participants’ decision-making regarding their participation in sexual intercourse unprotected against infection or unwanted pregnancy. Less than one-quarter (24%) used condoms consistently; similar rates used contraception consistently. Participants primarily viewed condoms as a means of preventing pregnancy; few described disease prevention as a main motivation for their use. Analysis of the cognitions underlying their explanations for condom and contraception non-use were classified as (1) general biased risk evaluation, (2) biased evidence evaluation, (3) endorsement of poor alternatives, (4) focus on spurious justifications, (5) dismissing risk, and (6) ignoring risk. Prevention interventions should incorporate methods to challenge young people to acknowledge personal risk and commit themselves to taking steps to reduce this risk. PMID:19365717

Complementary and alternative medicine - representations in popular magazines.

PubMed

Dunne, Alexandra; Phillips, Christine

2010-09-01

More than half the patients who use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Australia do not discuss it with their doctors. Many consumers use popular media, especially women's magazines, to learn about CAM. To explore representations of CAM in popular Australian women's magazines. Content analysis of three Australian magazines: Australian Women's Weekly, Dolly and New Idea published from January to June 2008. Of 220 references to CAM (4-17 references per issue), most were to biologically based practices, particularly 'functional foods', which enhance health. Most representations of CAM were positive (81.3% positive, 16.4% neutral, 2.3% negative). Explanations of modes of action of CAM tended to be biological but relatively superficial. Australian magazines cast CAM as safe therapy which enhances patient engagement in healthcare, and works in ways analogous to orthodox medical treatments. General practitioners can use discussions with their patients about CAM to encourage health promoting practices.

Rise of Human Intelligence: Comments on Howard (1999).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gobet, Fernand; Campitelli, Guillermo; Waters, Andrew J.

2002-01-01

Finds several difficulties with the theory advanced by R. Howard and shows that alternative explanations relating to changes in the chess environment, including increased access to chess knowledge, offer better explanations for the increased presence of young players at top-level chess. (SLD)

Describing Acupuncture: A New Challenge for Technical Communicators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karanikas, Marianthe

1997-01-01

Considers acupuncture as an increasingly popular alternative medical therapy, but difficult to describe in technical communication. Notes that traditional Chinese medical explanations of acupuncture are unscientific, and that scientific explanations of acupuncture are inconclusive. Finds that technical communicators must translate acupuncture for…

Comment on “Reconciliation of the Devils Hole climate record with orbital forcing”

USGS Publications Warehouse

Winograd, Isaac J.

2016-01-01

Moseley et al. (Reports, 8 January 2016, p. 165) postulate an increase in dissolved thorium isotope 230Th with depth below the water table as the explanation for the differing ages of Termination II. Flow of geothermal water through the Devils Hole caverns precludes this explanation. Deposition of younger secondary calcite into the initial porosity of the calcite comprising their cores is a plausible alternate explanation.

Comment on “Reconciliation of the Devils Hole climate record with orbital forcing”

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winograd, Isaac J.

2016-10-01

Moseley et al. (Reports, 8 January 2016, p. 165) postulate an increase in dissolved thorium isotope 230Th with depth below the water table as the explanation for the differing ages of Termination II. Flow of geothermal water through the Devils Hole caverns precludes this explanation. Deposition of younger secondary calcite into the initial porosity of the calcite comprising their cores is a plausible alternate explanation.

Do chimpanzees seek explanations? Preliminary comparative investigations.

PubMed

Povinelli, D J; Dunphy-Lelii, S

2001-06-01

During the past decade, considerable effort has been devoted to understanding whether chimpanzees reason about unobservable variables as explanations for observable events. With respect to physical causality, these investigations have explored chimpanzees' understanding of gravity, force, mass, shape, and so on. With respect to social causality, this research has focused on the question of whether they reason about mental states such as emotions, desires, and beliefs. In the studies reported here, we explored whether the chimpanzee's natural motivation for object exploration is modulated by a cognitive system that seeks explanations for unexpected events. We confronted both chimpanzees and young children with simple tasks which occasionally could not be made to work. We coded their reactions to determine if they appeared to be searching for an apparent cause (or explanation) of the task failure. The results of these preliminary studies point to both similarities and differences in how young children and chimpanzees react to such circumstances.

On the self-serving function of an academic wooden leg: test anxiety as a self-handicapping strategy.

PubMed

Smith, C W; Snyder, D R; Handelsman, M M

1982-02-01

The present study investigated the hypothesis that psychological symptoms may serve a self-protective function by providing an alternative explanation for potential failure in evaluating situations. It was hypothesized that highly test-anxious subjects would report anxiety symptoms in a pattern that reflected strategic presentation of symptoms; more specifically, it was predicted that greater reported anxiety should result when anxiety was a viable explanation for poor performance on an intelligence test and that lower reported anxiety should result when anxiety was not a viable explanation for poor performance. Analysis of state measures of self-reported anxiety supported these predictions. Further analysis indicated that when anxiety was not a viable explanation for poor test performance, high test-anxiety subjects reported reduced effort as an alternative self-protective strategy. These results are discussed in terms of traditional models of symptoms as self-protective strategies, current social psychological models of symptoms, and in reference to recent theory and research about the nature and treatment of test anxiety.

Explanation and Categorization: How "Why?" Informs "What?"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lombrozo, Tania

2009-01-01

Recent theoretical and empirical work suggests that explanation and categorization are intimately related. This paper explores the hypothesis that explanations can help structure conceptual representations, and thereby influence the relative importance of features in categorization decisions. In particular, features may be differentially important…

7 CFR 1.671 - How do I propose an alternative?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... the project works for electricity production; (4) An explanation of how the alternative will affect... any scientific studies, literature, and other documented information relied on to support your...

Enhancing Elementary Students' Experiences Learning about Circuits Using an Exploration-Explanation Instructional Sequence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Timothy M.; Brown, Patrick L.

2010-01-01

Using an exploration-explanation sequence of science instruction helps teachers unveil students' prior knowledge about circuits and engage them in minds-on science learning. In these lessons, fourth grade students make predictions and test their ideas about circuits in series through hands-on investigations. The teacher helps students make…

Children Balance Theories and Evidence in Exploration, Explanation, and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonawitz, Elizabeth Baraff; van Schijndel, Tessa J. P.; Friel, Daniel; Schulz, Laura

2012-01-01

We look at the effect of evidence and prior beliefs on exploration, explanation and learning. In Experiment 1, we tested children both with and without differential prior beliefs about balance relationships (Center Theorists, mean: 82 months; Mass Theorists, mean: 89 months; No Theory children, mean: 62 months). Center and Mass Theory children who…

Cautionary note concerning the CuSO4 X-ray laser. [alternative to lasing action

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Billman, K. W.; Mark, H.

1973-01-01

For the so far unconfirmed lasing action claimed by Kepros et al. (1972) to have been obtained by focusing a 1.06-micron radiation of a q-switched Nd(3+) glass laser to a small cylindrical volume inside a CuSO4-doped gelatin medium supported between two glass plates, an alternate explanation is proposed that does not depend on the assumption of laser action in copper. The proposed explanation shows how collimated X-ray beams might be created under the experimental conditions described by Kepros et al.

How Is the Ideal Gas Law Explanatory?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woody, Andrea I.

2013-01-01

Using the ideal gas law as a comparative example, this essay reviews contemporary research in philosophy of science concerning scientific explanation. It outlines the inferential, causal, unification, and erotetic conceptions of explanation and discusses an alternative project, the functional perspective. In each case, the aim is to highlight…

The Importance of Qualitative Research for Causal Explanation in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, Joseph A.

2012-01-01

The concept of causation has long been controversial in qualitative research, and many qualitative researchers have rejected causal explanation as incompatible with an interpretivist or constructivist approach. This rejection conflates causation with the positivist "theory" of causation, and ignores an alternative understanding of causation,…

Barriers to Occupational Achievement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurman, Ernest B.

The under-representation of women in prestigious occupations and the lower average pay women earn has been of concern for many years. This study investigated two alternative explanations for this under-representation of females in prestigious and higher paying occupations. The first explanation was external barriers such as discrimination, and the…

43 CFR 45.71 - How do I propose an alternative?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... works for electricity production; (4) An explanation of how the alternative will affect: (i) Energy... quality; and (vi) Other aspects of environmental quality; and (5) Specific citations to any scientific...

Vessel co-option in primary human tumors and metastases: an obstacle to effective anti-angiogenic treatment?

PubMed

Donnem, Tom; Hu, Jiangting; Ferguson, Mary; Adighibe, Omanma; Snell, Cameron; Harris, Adrian L; Gatter, Kevin C; Pezzella, Francesco

2013-08-01

Angiogenesis has been regarded as essential for tumor growth and progression. Studies of many human tumors, however, suggest that their microcirculation may be provided by nonsprouting vessels and that a variety of tumors can grow and metastasize without angiogenesis. Vessel co-option, where tumor cells migrate along the preexisting vessels of the host organ, is regarded as an alternative tumor blood supply. Vessel co-option may occur in many malignancies, but so far mostly reported in highly vascularized tissues such as brain, lung, and liver. In primary and metastatic lung cancer and liver metastasis from different primary origins, as much as 10-30% of the tumors are reported to use this alternative blood supply. In addition, vessel co-option is introduced as a potential explanation of antiangiogenic drug resistance, although the impact of vessel co-option in this clinical setting is still to be further explored. In this review we discuss tumor vessel co-option with specific examples of vessel co-option in primary and secondary tumors and a consideration of the clinical implications of this alternative tumor blood supply.

20 CFR 404.2120 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 416.2220 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 404.2120 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 416.2220 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 404.2120 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 416.2220 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 404.2120 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 416.2220 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 416.2220 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

20 CFR 404.2120 - Audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... incurred. The State VR agency or alternate participant will be informed and given a full explanation of any... by the State VR agency or alternate participant will be given full consideration before a final... appropriate SSA Regional Commissioner will notify the State VR agency or alternate participant in writing of...

Generative Mechanistic Explanation Building in Undergraduate Molecular and Cellular Biology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southard, Katelyn M.; Espindola, Melissa R.; Zaepfel, Samantha D.; Bolger, Molly S.

2017-01-01

When conducting scientific research, experts in molecular and cellular biology (MCB) use specific reasoning strategies to construct mechanistic explanations for the underlying causal features of molecular phenomena. We explored how undergraduate students applied this scientific practice in MCB. Drawing from studies of explanation building among…

Contributions to an Understanding of the Music and Movement Connection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Susan

1996-01-01

Describes alternative conceptions to the connection between music and movement by relating aspects of recent research on infant-caregiver interaction to musical development. Claims that existing explanations seem to fall short of providing an explanation adequate for the immediate, expressive, and integrated nature of this bond. (MOK)

I Dream of J.J., or Affordances and Motion Pictures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Joseph D.

1995-01-01

Categorizes attempts to account for how viewers garner meanings from motion pictures as either semiotic, realist, or conventionalist. Proposes an alternative explanation based on J. J. Gibson's ecological theory of perception. Offers his concept of "affordances" as the key to an explanation of how meanings in motion pictures are…

The Effects of Self-Explanation and Reading Questions and Answers on Learning Computer Programming Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Nancy

2013-01-01

The current study explored the differential effects of two learning strategies, self-explanation and reading questions and answers, on students' test performance in the computer programming language JavaScript. Students' perceptions toward the two strategies as to their effectiveness in learning JavaScript was also explored by examining students'…

Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Extension, and Evaluation (5E) Learning Cycle and Conceptual Change Text as Learning Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balci, Sibel; Cakiroglu, Jale; Tekkaya, Ceren

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Extension, and Evaluation (5E) learning cycle, conceptual change texts, and traditional instructions on 8th grade students' understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants. Students' understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in…

Monitoring Perceptions of the Causes of Poverty in South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davids, Yul Derek; Gouws, Amanda

2013-01-01

This study explored how people perceive the causes of poverty. Literature revealed that there are three broad theoretical explanations of perceptions of the causes of poverty, namely individualistic explanations, where blame is placed squarely on the poor themselves; structural explanations, where poverty is blamed on external social and economic…

Transforming Biology Assessment with Machine Learning: Automated Scoring of Written Evolutionary Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nehm, Ross H.; Ha, Minsu; Mayfield, Elijah

2012-01-01

This study explored the use of machine learning to automatically evaluate the accuracy of students' written explanations of evolutionary change. Performance of the Summarization Integrated Development Environment (SIDE) program was compared to human expert scoring using a corpus of 2,260 evolutionary explanations written by 565 undergraduate…

Mysterious eclipses in the light curve of KIC8462852: a possible explanation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neslušan, L.; Budaj, J.

2017-04-01

Context. Apart from thousands of "regular" exoplanet candidates, Kepler satellite has discovered a small number of stars exhibiting peculiar eclipse-like events. They are most probably caused by disintegrating bodies transiting in front of the star. However, the nature of the bodies and obscuration events, such as those observed in KIC 8462852, remain mysterious. A swarm of comets or artificial alien mega-structures have been proposed as an explanation for the latter object. Aims: We explore the possibility that such eclipses are caused by the dust clouds associated with massive parent bodies orbiting the host star. Methods: We assumed a massive object and a simple model of the dust cloud surrounding the object. Then, we used the numerical integration to simulate the evolution of the cloud, its parent body, and resulting light-curves as they orbit and transit the star. Results: We found that it is possible to reproduce the basic features in the light-curve of KIC 8462852 with only four objects enshrouded in dust clouds. The fact that they are all on similar orbits and that such models require only a handful of free parameters provides additional support for this hypothesis. Conclusions: This model provides an alternative to the comet scenario. With such physical models at hand, at present, there is no need to invoke alien mega-structures for an explanation of these light-curves.

Models of the Opiate System in Self-Injurious Behavior: A Reply.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demet, Edward M.; Sandman, Curt A.

1991-01-01

This paper answers criticism (EC 601 030) of the authors' work regarding opioid explanations of self-injurious behavior. Possible withdrawal effects are ruled out as an explanation, in favor of opioid excess leading to sensory depression and addiction to relative excesses of opioid activity in the brain. Alternative models of consequences of…

The Nature and Development of Scientific Reasoning: A Synthetic View

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, Antone E.

2004-01-01

This paper presents a synthesis of what is currently known about the nature and development of scientific reasoning and why it plays a central role in acquiring scientific literacy. Science is viewed as a hypothetico-deductive (HD) enterprise engaging in the generation and test of alternative explanations. Explanation generation and test requires…

Rearview Mirror Dimming Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Layton, William

2011-01-01

Students are often unaware of the little tab on a rear-view mirror that is used to dim headlights from the rear. Those who know about this tab are usually interested in knowing how it works. Explanations of the optics involved can be found in Serway and Jewett and Jones and Edge. An alternate explanation is given.

Validating Measurement of Knowledge Integration in Science Using Multiple-Choice and Explanation Items

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Hee-Sun; Liu, Ou Lydia; Linn, Marcia C.

2011-01-01

This study explores measurement of a construct called knowledge integration in science using multiple-choice and explanation items. We use construct and instructional validity evidence to examine the role multiple-choice and explanation items plays in measuring students' knowledge integration ability. For construct validity, we analyze item…

Enhancing Student Explanations of Evolution: Comparing Elaborating and Competing Theory Prompts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donnelly, Dermot F.; Namdar, Bahadir; Vitale, Jonathan M.; Lai, Kevin; Linn, Marcia C.

2016-01-01

In this study, we explore how two different prompt types within an online computer-based inquiry learning environment enhance 392 7th grade students' explanations of evolution with three teachers. In the "elaborating" prompt condition, students are prompted to write explanations that support the accepted theory of evolution. In the…

The Correlates of Tracking Policy: Opportunity Hoarding, Status Competition, or a Technical-Functional Explanation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Sean; Price, Heather

2011-01-01

In this analysis, the authors explore the relationship between the social context of high schools and school-to-school variation in tracking policies. The authors consider three explanations for the implementation of highly elaborated tracking systems: opportunity hoarding, status competition, and a technical-functional explanation. Building on…

Preliminary Evolutionary Explanations: A Basic Framework for Conceptual Change and Explanatory Coherence in Evolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kampourakis, Kostas; Zogza, Vasso

2009-01-01

This study aimed to explore secondary students' explanations of evolutionary processes, and to determine how consistent these were, after a specific evolution instruction. In a previous study it was found that before instruction students provided different explanations for similar processes to tasks with different content. Hence, it seemed that…

Creating a Taken-as-Shared Understanding for Scientific Explanation: Classroom Norm Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saglam, Yilmaz; Karaaslan, Emre Harun; Ayas, Alipasa

2014-01-01

The study aimed to investigate whether classroom norm perspective influence the students' capability of elucidating a natural phenomena and beliefs about scientific explanation. In particular, our objective was to explore the process by which the norm for scientific explanation was established and discover how the students' explanation…

Funding an Alternative School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alternate Learning Project, Providence, RI.

Several types of funding for alternative schools such as list books on Federal grants, foundations, and other sources of money are described in this paper, along with explanations about some of the ways in which an alternative school budget differs from that of a traditional school. Probably the best option from the point of view of stability is…

Explanations - Styles of explanation in science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cornwell, John

2004-06-01

Our lives, states of health, relationships, behavior, experiences of the natural world, and the technologies that shape our contemporary existence are subject to a superfluity of competing, multi-faceted and sometimes incompatible explanations. Widespread confusion about the nature of "explanation" and its scope and limits pervades popular exposition of the natural sciences, popular history and philosophy of science. This fascinating book explores the way explanations work, why they vary between disciplines, periods, and cultures, and whether they have any necessary boundaries. In other words, Explanations aims to achieve a better understanding of explanation, both within the sciences and the humanities. It features contributions from expert writers from a wide range of disciplines, including science, philosophy, mathematics, and social anthropology.

Eliciting explanations: Constraints on when self-explanation aids learning.

PubMed

Rittle-Johnson, Bethany; Loehr, Abbey M

2017-10-01

Generating explanations for oneself in an attempt to make sense of new information (i.e., self-explanation) is often a powerful learning technique. Despite its general effectiveness, in a growing number of studies, prompting for self-explanation improved some aspects of learning, but reduced learning of other aspects. Drawing on this recent research, as well as on research comparing self-explanation under different conditions, we propose four constraints on the effectiveness of self-explanation. First, self-explanation promotes attention to particular types of information, so it is better suited to promote particular learning outcomes in particular types of domains, such as transfer in domains guided by general principles or heuristics. Second, self-explaining a variety of types of information can improve learning, but explaining one's own solution methods or choices may reduce learning under certain conditions. Third, explanation prompts focus effort on particular aspects of the to-be-learned material, potentially drawing effort away from other important information. Explanation prompts must be carefully designed to align with target learning outcomes. Fourth, prompted self-explanation often promotes learning better than unguided studying, but alternative instructional techniques may be more effective under some conditions. Attention to these constraints should optimize the effectiveness of self-explanation as an instructional technique in future research and practice.

On understanding the very different science premises meaningful to CAM versus orthodox medicine: Part II--applications of Part I fundamentals to five different space-time examples.

PubMed

Tiller, William A

2010-04-01

In Part I of this pair of articles, the fundamental experimental observations and theoretical perspectives were provided for one to understand the key differences between our normal, uncoupled state of physical reality and the human consciousness-induced coupled state of physical reality. Here in Part II, the thermodynamics of complementary and alternative medicine, which deals with the partially coupled state of physical reality, is explored via the use of five different foci of relevance to today's science and medicine: (1) homeopathy; (2) the placebo effect; (3) long-range, room temperature, macroscopic size-scale, information entanglement; (4) an explanation for dark matter/energy plus human levitation possibility; and (5) electrodermal diagnostic devices. The purpose of this pair of articles is to clearly differentiate the use and limitations of uncoupled state physics in both nature and today's orthodox medicine from coupled state physics in tomorrow's complementary and alternative medicine.

Dissociating Conflict Adaptation from Feature Integration: A Multiple Regression Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Notebaert, Wim; Verguts, Tom

2007-01-01

Congruency effects are typically smaller after incongruent than after congruent trials. One explanation is in terms of higher levels of cognitive control after detection of conflict (conflict adaptation; e.g., M. M. Botvinick, T. S. Braver, D. M. Barch, C. S. Carter, & J. D. Cohen, 2001). An alternative explanation for these results is based on…

Preterite/Imperfect Half-Truths: Problems with Spanish Textbook Rules for Usage.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frantzen, Diana

1995-01-01

Preterite/Imperfect (PI) usage is one of the hardest grammatical features of Spanish to learn. Some of the blame lies with misleading textbook explanations. A discussion of problematic P/I textbook explanations shows why the presentation of a more reliable set of principles is a preferable alternative to questionable rules of thumb. (18…

Examining Alternative Explanations of the Covariation of ADHD and Anxiety Symptoms in Children: A Community Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baldwin, Jennifer S.; Dadds, Mark R.

2008-01-01

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is comorbid with a range of other disorders, including anxiety disorders. The aim was to examine different explanations for the covariation of these symptom domains in children according to the framework provided by (Lilienfeld, S. O. Comorbidity between and within childhood externalizing and…

Sexual Deviance among Male College Students: Prior Deviance as an Explanation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Arrick; Veneziano, Louis; Riggen, Katherine

2004-01-01

Much research on sexual deviance on university and college campuses is limited by its narrow focus on group affiliation and leads to much speculation and conjecture. This article suggests that an alternative explanation is more suitable for explaining such an important and complex problem on college campuses. It argues that prior deviance serves…

Impact of Self-Explanation and Analogical Comparison Support on Learning Processes, Motivation, Metacognition, and Transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richey, J. Elizabeth

Research examining analogical comparison and self-explanation has produced a robust set of findings about learning and transfer supported by each instructional technique. However, it is unclear how the types of knowledge generated through each technique differ, which has important implications for cognitive theory as well as instructional practice. I conducted a pair of experiments to directly compare the effects of instructional prompts supporting self-explanation, analogical comparison, and the study of instructional explanations across a number of fine-grained learning process, motivation, metacognition, and transfer measures. Experiment 1 explored these questions using sequence extrapolation problems, and results showed no differences between self-explanation and analogical comparison support conditions on any measure. Experiment 2 explored the same questions in a science domain. I evaluated condition effects on transfer outcomes; self-reported self-explanation, analogical comparison, and metacognitive processes; and achievement goals. I also examined relations between transfer and self-reported processes and goals. Receiving materials with analogical comparison support and reporting greater levels of analogical comparison were both associated with worse transfer performance, while reporting greater levels of self-explanation was associated with better performance. Learners' self-reports of self-explanation and analogical comparison were not related to condition assignment, suggesting that the questionnaires did not measure the same processes promoted by the intervention, or that individual differences in processing are robust even when learners are instructed to engage in self-explanation or analogical comparison.

Health inequality and non-monotonicity of the health related social welfare function.

PubMed

Dutta, Indranil

2007-03-01

In a recent paper in this journal Abasolo and Tsuchiya [Abasolo, I., Tsuchiya, A., 2004. Exploring social welfare functions and violation of monotonicity: an example from inequalities in health. Journal of Health Economics 23, 313-329] have strongly argued for the use of a non-monotonic health related social welfare function. This note discusses both the limitations of the measure proposed by Abasolo and Tsuchiya [Abasolo, I., Tsuchiya, A., 2004. Exploring social welfare functions and violation of monotonicity: an example from inequalities in health. Journal of Health Economics 23, 313-329] and the problems associated with their empirics. We are able to show how non-monotonicity may lead to paradoxical results and policies. Further we examine the empirics of Abasolo and Tsuchiya [Abasolo, I., Tsuchiya, A., 2004. Exploring social welfare functions and violation of monotonicity: an example from inequalities in health. Journal of Health Economics 23, 313-329] and provide an alternative explanation to the observed patterns in the data that do not violate monotonicity. Finally we briefly mention why the Atkinson-Sen framework may be more appropriate as a way forward.

How Persistent are Grammatical Gender Effects? The Case of German and Tamil.

PubMed

Sedlmeier, Peter; Tipandjan, Arun; Jänchen, Anastasia

2016-04-01

Does the language we speak shape the way we think? The present research concentrated on the impact of grammatical gender on cognition and examined the persistence of the grammatical gender effect by (a) concentrating on German, a three-gendered language, for which previous results have been inconsistent, (b) statistically controlling for common alternative explanations, (c) employing three tasks that differed in how closely they are associated with grammatical gender, and (d) using Tamil, a nongendered language, as a baseline for comparison. We found a substantial grammatical gender effect for two commonly used tasks, even when alternative explanations were statistically controlled for. However, there was basically no effect for a task that was only very loosely connected to grammatical gender (similarity rating of word pairs). In contrast to previous studies that found effects of the German and Spanish grammatical gender in English (a nongendered language), our study did not produce such effects for Tamil, again after controlling for alternative explanations, which can be taken as additional evidence for the existence of a purely linguistic grammatical gender effect. These results indicate that general grammatical gender effects exist but that the size of these effects may be limited and their range restricted.

Causal learning is collaborative: Examining explanation and exploration in social contexts.

PubMed

Legare, Cristine H; Sobel, David M; Callanan, Maureen

2017-10-01

Causal learning in childhood is a dynamic and collaborative process of explanation and exploration within complex physical and social environments. Understanding how children learn causal knowledge requires examining how they update beliefs about the world given novel information and studying the processes by which children learn in collaboration with caregivers, educators, and peers. The objective of this article is to review evidence for how children learn causal knowledge by explaining and exploring in collaboration with others. We review three examples of causal learning in social contexts, which elucidate how interaction with others influences causal learning. First, we consider children's explanation-seeking behaviors in the form of "why" questions. Second, we examine parents' elaboration of meaning about causal relations. Finally, we consider parents' interactive styles with children during free play, which constrains how children explore. We propose that the best way to understand children's causal learning in social context is to combine results from laboratory and natural interactive informal learning environments.

An Exploration of Indigenous Knowledge Related to Physics Concepts Held by Senior Citizens in Chókwé, Mozambique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muambalane Baquete, Aguiar; Grayson, Diane; Vasco Mutimucuio, Inocente

2016-01-01

Indigenous knowledge is at risk of being lost in many parts of the world. It is important to find ways to preserve it for both cultural and practical reasons, since it is often well-suited to addressing local needs using available resources. If indigenous knowledge can be incorporated into school science curricula, it can also provide familiar contexts within which to learn scientific concepts, as well as helping the younger generation to recognise its value. The purpose of this study was to identify indigenous knowledge that could be related to physics concepts, with a view to integrating it into school curricula. Twenty-nine senior citizens from Chókwé, a rural village in Mozambique, volunteered to participate in two sets of in-depth interviews. The first set of interviews was individual and unstructured in order to explore which aspects of indigenous knowledge might be related to physics concepts. The second set was semi-structured and conducted in small groups in order to probe participants' understanding and application of the identified physics concepts. The results showed that participants had indigenous knowledge that was useful to them in their daily lives and that were applications of thermal physics, static electricity and mechanics concepts. In some cases participants' explanations were aligned to physics explanations, in some cases they were similar to students' alternative conceptions identified in the literature, and in other cases they referred to supernatural phenomena.

Myths or theories? Alternative beliefs about HIV and AIDS in South African working class communities.

PubMed

Dickinson, David

2013-09-01

Despite three decades of public health promotion based on the scientific explanation of HIV/AIDS, alternative explanations of the disease continue to circulate. While these are seen as counter-productive to health education efforts, what is rarely analysed is their plurality and their tenacity. This article analyses the 'AIDS myths' collected by African HIV/AIDS workplace peer educators during an action research project. These beliefs about HIV/AIDS are organised, in this article, around core ideas that form the basis of 'folk' and 'lay theories' of HIV/AIDS. These constitute non-scientific explanations of HIV/AIDS, with folk theories drawing on bodies of knowledge that are independent of HIV/AIDS while lay theories are generated in response to the disease. A categorisation of alternative beliefs about HIV/AIDS is presented which comprises three folk theories - African traditional beliefs, Christian theology, and racial conspiracy - and three lay theories, all focused on avoiding HIV infection. Using this schema, the article describes how the plausibility of these alternative theories of HIV/AIDS lies not in their scientific validity, but in the robustness of the core idea at the heart of each folk or lay theory. Folk and lay theories of HIV/AIDS are also often highly palatable in that they provide hope and comfort in terms of prevention, cure, and the allocation of blame. This study argue that there is coherence and value to these alternative HIV/AIDS beliefs which should not be dismissed as ignorance, idle speculation or simple misunderstandings. A serious engagement with folk and lay theories of HIV/AIDS helps explain the continued circulation of alternative beliefs of HIV/AIDS and the slow uptake of behavioural change messages around the disease.

Symbolic Numerical Distance Effect Does Not Reflect the Difference between Numbers.

PubMed

Krajcsi, Attila; Kojouharova, Petia

2017-01-01

In a comparison task, the larger the distance between the two numbers to be compared, the better the performance-a phenomenon termed as the numerical distance effect. According to the dominant explanation, the distance effect is rooted in a noisy representation, and performance is proportional to the size of the overlap between the noisy representations of the two values. According to alternative explanations, the distance effect may be rooted in the association between the numbers and the small-large categories, and performance is better when the numbers show relatively high differences in their strength of association with the small-large properties. In everyday number use, the value of the numbers and the association between the numbers and the small-large categories strongly correlate; thus, the two explanations have the same predictions for the distance effect. To dissociate the two potential sources of the distance effect, in the present study, participants learned new artificial number digits only for the values between 1 and 3, and between 7 and 9, thus, leaving out the numbers between 4 and 6. It was found that the omitted number range (the distance between 3 and 7) was considered in the distance effect as 1, and not as 4, suggesting that the distance effect does not follow the values of the numbers predicted by the dominant explanation, but it follows the small-large property association predicted by the alternative explanations.

Reflections on the Study of Infant Perception and Cognition: What Does Morgan's Canon Really Tell Us To Do?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yonas, Albert

2001-01-01

Comments on Needham's research of infant perception by focusing on the types of evidence needed to make inferences concerning infant cognition. Considers the history of scientific explanations of animal cognition as nearer to infant cognition, and the high level of creativity required in proposing and testing alternative explanations of infant…

Variation of bar-press duration: where do new responses come from?

PubMed

Roberts, Seth; Gharib, Afshin

2006-06-01

Instrumental learning involves both variation and selection: variation of what the animal does, and selection by reward from among the variation. Four experiments with rats suggested a rule about how variation is controlled by recent events. Experiment 1 used the peak procedure. Measurements of bar-press durations showed a sharp increase in mean duration after the time that food was sometimes given. The increase was triggered by the omission of expected food. Our first explanation of the increase was that it was a frustration effect. Experiment 2 tested this explanation with a procedure in which the first response of a trial usually produced food, ending the trial. In Experiment 2, unlike Experiment 1, omission of expected food did not produce a large increase in bar-press duration, which cast doubt on the frustration explanation. Experiments 3 and 4 tested an alternative explanation: a decrease in expectation of reward increases variation. Both used two signals associated with different probabilities of reward. Bar presses were more variable in duration during the signal with the lower probability of reward, supporting this alternative. These experiments show how variation can be studied with ordinary equipment and responses.

Alternative explanations of the cosmic microwave background: A historical and an epistemological perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ćirković, Milan M.; Perović, Slobodan

2018-05-01

We historically trace various non-conventional explanations for the origin of the cosmic microwave background and discuss their merit, while analyzing the dynamics of their rejection, as well as the relevant physical and methodological reasons for it. It turns out that there have been many such unorthodox interpretations; not only those developed in the context of theories rejecting the relativistic ("Big Bang") paradigm entirely (e.g., by Alfvén, Hoyle and Narlikar) but also those coming from the camp of original thinkers firmly entrenched in the relativistic milieu (e.g., by Rees, Ellis, Rowan-Robinson, Layzer and Hively). In fact, the orthodox interpretation has only incrementally won out against the alternatives over the course of the three decades of its multi-stage development. While on the whole, none of the alternatives to the hot Big Bang scenario is persuasive today, we discuss the epistemic ramifications of establishing orthodoxy and eliminating alternatives in science, an issue recently discussed by philosophers and historians of science for other areas of physics. Finally, we single out some plausible and possibly fruitful ideas offered by the alternatives.

The Effect of Polarized Light on the Growth of a Transparent Cell

PubMed Central

Jaffe, L. F.

1960-01-01

It is shown that light lost by reflection before entering a clear and homogeneous sphere or infinite cylinder is precisely compensated by light retained within these bodies by internal reflection; compensation means that the total rate of light absorption by infinitely dilute photoreceptors as integrated through the whole of these bodies or even through any concentric or coaxial shell making them up is independent of surface reflection. In the Phycomyces sporangiophore this theorem precludes a reflection explanation of R, the polarization dependence of the light growth response. An alternative explanation based upon anisotropic absorption by the receptors is explored and found tenable. Formulae are derived for R in any transparent cylindrical cell as a function of the constants of anisotropic absorption by the photoreceptors taken as a group (CH' and CL'), of the radial position of the receptors, and of the refractive indices of the cell (n) and of the medium (N). It is inferred that the photoreceptors in the Phycomyces sporangiophore are most absorbent for light vibrating in the direction of a hoop around a barrel. Orientation of the receptors by linkage to the cell wall is then shown to be a plausible explanation of the inferred anisotropy. On the basis of anisotropic reception, it is predicted that R should be constant for any N > n, and it is shown how CH', C,L' and the radial position of the receptors may all be obtained from a careful determination of R as a function of N. PMID:14406508

Anticipated motivation for genetic testing among smokers, nonsmokers, and former smokers: an exploratory qualitative study of decision making.

PubMed

Giordimaina, Alicia M; Sheldon, Jane P; Petty, Elizabeth M

2014-01-01

This qualitative study explores the public's interest in genetic testing related to cigarette smoking, comparing the public's motivations with researchers' intentions for this technology. Adult nonsmokers (n=463), former smokers (n=163), and current smokers (n=129) completed an online survey. Within a hypothetical scenario, respondents decided whether they desired genetic testing related to smoking and explained their decision making. A non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the interest in genetic testing by smoking history group. Inductive content analysis was used to investigate respondents' explanations for their testing decisions. Most nonsmokers (64%) and former smokers (58%) did not want genetic testing. While most current daily smokers were interested in testing (56%), most current occasional smokers were not (52%). Respondents' decision-making explanations were categorized into 3 major themes: Causality, Relevancy and Utility (e.g. personal benefits or harms). The use of causality, relevancy and utility explanations varied by smoking history. Notable perceived benefits of testing included recreation and altruism. Notable perceived harms included fear of fatalistic thoughts and concern about genetic discrimination. Interest in genetic testing was highest among current daily smokers, despite potential utility in other groups. Although respondents' motivations for testing paralleled researchers' intentions of tailoring smoking cessation therapies and increasing motivation to quit or abstain, respondents also raised alternative motivations and fears that healthcare providers would need to address. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The octave illusion revisited again.

PubMed

Deutsch, Diana

2004-04-01

The octave illusion (D. Deutsch, 1974) occurs when 2 tones separated by an octave are alternated repeatedly, such that when the right ear receives the high tone, the left ear receives the low tone, and vice versa. Most subjects in the original study reported hearing a single tone that alternated from ear to ear, whose pitch also alternated from octave to octave, and D. Deutsch (1975a) proposed an explanation in terms of separate what and where auditory pathways. C. D. Chambers, J. B. Mattingley, and S. A. Moss (2002) argued that the perceived pitch difference generally corresponds more to a semitone and proposed an alternative explanation in terms of diplacusis. This article argues that Chambers et al. used problematic procedures and reports a new experiment on the octave illusion. The findings confirm that an octave difference is generally perceived, and they agree with the model of Deutsch (1975a) but are at variance with the diplacusis hypothesis. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

Exploring the Effects of Integrating Self-Explanation into a Multi-User Game on the Acquisition of Scientific Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Chung-Yuan; Tsai, Chin-Chung; Wang, Hung-Yuan

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of embedding collaboration into a game with a self-explanation design for supporting the acquisition of light and shadow concepts. The participants were 184 fourth graders who were randomly assigned to three conditions: a solitary mode of the game with self-explanation, a collaborative mode with…

Sixth Graders' Co-Construction of Explanations of a Disturbance in an Ecosystem: Exploring Relationships between Grouping, Reflective Scaffolding, and Evidence-Based Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kyza, Eleni A.; Constantinou, Costas P.; Spanoudis, George

2011-01-01

We report on a study investigating the relationship between cognitive ability grouping, reflective inquiry scaffolding, and students' collaborative explanations of an ecosystem disturbance which took place when a number of flamingo birds died in a salt lake because of nearby intensive human activities. Twenty-six pairs of students from two intact…

Professional physical scientists display tenacious teleological tendencies: purpose-based reasoning as a cognitive default.

PubMed

Kelemen, Deborah; Rottman, Joshua; Seston, Rebecca

2013-11-01

Teleological explanations account for objects and events by reference to a functional consequence or purpose. Although they are popular in religion, they are unpopular in science: Physical scientists in particular explicitly reject them when explaining natural phenomena. However, prior research provides reasons to suspect that this explanatory form may represent a default explanatory preference. As a strong test of this hypothesis, we explored whether physical scientists endorse teleological explanations of natural phenomena when their information-processing resources are limited. In Study 1, physical scientists from top-ranked American universities judged explanations as true or false, either at speed or without time restriction. Like undergraduates and age-matched community participants, scientists demonstrated increased acceptance of unwarranted teleological explanations under speed despite maintaining high accuracy on control items. Scientists' overall endorsement of inaccurate teleological explanation was lower than comparison groups, however. In Study 2, we explored this further and found that the teleological tendencies of professional scientists did not differ from those of humanities scholars. Thus, although extended education appears to produce an overall reduction in inaccurate teleological explanation, specialization as a scientist does not, in itself, additionally ameliorate scientifically inaccurate purpose-based theories about the natural world. A religion-consistent default cognitive bias toward teleological explanation tenaciously persists and may have subtle but profound consequences for scientific progress. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Influencing preferences for different types of causal explanation of complex events.

PubMed

Klein, Gary; Rasmussen, Louise; Lin, Mei-Hua; Hoffman, Robert R; Case, Jason

2014-12-01

We examined preferences for different forms of causal explanations for indeterminate situations. Background: Klein and Hoffman distinguished several forms of causal explanations for indeterminate, complex situations: single-cause explanations, lists of causes, and explanations that interrelate several causes. What governs our preferences for single-cause (simple) versus multiple- cause (complex) explanations? In three experiments, we examined the effect of target audience, explanatory context, participant nationality, and explanation type. All participants were college students. Participants were given two scenarios, one regarding the U.S. economic collapse in 2007 to 2008 and the other about the sudden success of the U.S. military in Iraq in 2007. The participants were asked to assess various types of causal explanations for each of the scenarios, with reference to one or more purposes or audience for the explanations. Participants preferred simple explanations for presentation to less sophisticated audiences. Malaysian students of Chinese ethnicity preferred complex explanations more than did American students. The form of presentation made a difference: Participants preferred complex to simple explanations when given a chance to compare the two, but the preference for simple explanations increased when there was no chance for compari- son, and the difference between Americans and Malaysians disappeared. Preferences for explanation forms can vary with the context and with the audience, and they depend on the nature of the alternatives that are provided. Guidance for decision-aiding technology and training systems that provide explanations need to involve consideration of the form and depth of the accounts provided as well as the intended audience.

The Response Shift Bias in Self-Report Tests: A Function of an Expectation of Change or a Shift in Internal Scaling?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riedel, Sharon; And Others

Self-report, pre/post testing is a frequently employed measure of therapeutic change. To investigate whether expectation of change might be an alternative explanation to the scale shift explanation of response shift bias in a self-report measure, a two-session assertiveness training intervention for college women was evaluated under manipulated…

Recent opportunities for an increasing role for physical explanations in biology.

PubMed

Morange, Michel

2011-06-01

Relations between physics and biology have been always difficult. One reason is that physical approaches to the phenomena of life have frequently been conceived by their authors as alternatives to biological explanations. My argument is that molecular descriptions and explanations have been pushed so far that they have reached their limits: these limits constitute a favourable niche in which physical explanations can develop. I will focus on the field of molecular and cell biology and give many examples of these recent physical studies made possible by the precision of molecular observations. The nature of these niches is probably diverse. I consider that it is too early to have a global view of the interactions between biological and physical explanations, and to organize them into different categories. Such interactions are not new within the life sciences: the history of biology reveals a complex, permanently moving landscape of interactions between biological and physical explanations. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

'It can do no harm': Body maintenance and modification in alternative medicine acknowledged as a non risk health regimen.

PubMed

Pedersen, Inge Kryger

2013-08-01

This article proposes the notion of a non-risk health regimen as a mode of recognising more dynamic aspects of risk-awareness in health care, in this case alternative medicine in Denmark. Danish users of alternative medicine are in an ambivalent position. They are responsible citizens who care about their own health. On the other hand, they are doing this by paying out of their own pockets for attending non-authorised treatments with very limited scientific evidence for their effects. This article draws on 138 qualitative in-depth interviews conducted in 2006-07 with 46 Danish users of different forms of session-based alternative medicine. A recurring theme throughout users' accounts is found to be that the treatments 'at least can do no harm'. Many of the users regard pharmaceuticals or surgery as an artificial impediment and a threat to overall health, whereas the energy-stimulating processes initiated by the alternative practitioner are not considered risky. The no harm discourse constitutes a sophisticated lay-explanation that brings together a wide range of explanations within which three themes are identified: responsibility; optimization; desperation. By informing these findings with the concept of reflexive body techniques, it is shown that use of alternative medicine is a process of working on the self and body in a spectrum between transition (i.e., pain relief or self-development) and continuity (i.e. well-being or prevention of illness) and not only a quest for cure. In this process 'non-risk' emerges as a lay explanation in the efforts of users to construct coherent self-narratives as agents in a risk-aware environment. The development of the notion of a non-risk health regimen invites and facilitates further studies on various lay motives within health care in general and contributes to explaining the popularity of alternative medicine in particular. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contingency Management and Deliberative Decision-Making Processes.

PubMed

Regier, Paul S; Redish, A David

2015-01-01

Contingency management is an effective treatment for drug addiction. The current explanation for its success is rooted in alternative reinforcement theory. We suggest that alternative reinforcement theory is inadequate to explain the success of contingency management and produce a model based on demand curves that show how little the monetary rewards offered in this treatment would affect drug use. Instead, we offer an explanation of its success based on the concept that it accesses deliberative decision-making processes. We suggest that contingency management is effective because it offers a concrete and immediate alternative to using drugs, which engages deliberative processes, improves the ability of those deliberative processes to attend to non-drug options, and offsets more automatic action-selection systems. This theory makes explicit predictions that can be tested, suggests which users will be most helped by contingency management, and suggests improvements in its implementation.

Contingency Management and Deliberative Decision-Making Processes

PubMed Central

Regier, Paul S.; Redish, A. David

2015-01-01

Contingency management is an effective treatment for drug addiction. The current explanation for its success is rooted in alternative reinforcement theory. We suggest that alternative reinforcement theory is inadequate to explain the success of contingency management and produce a model based on demand curves that show how little the monetary rewards offered in this treatment would affect drug use. Instead, we offer an explanation of its success based on the concept that it accesses deliberative decision-making processes. We suggest that contingency management is effective because it offers a concrete and immediate alternative to using drugs, which engages deliberative processes, improves the ability of those deliberative processes to attend to non-drug options, and offsets more automatic action-selection systems. This theory makes explicit predictions that can be tested, suggests which users will be most helped by contingency management, and suggests improvements in its implementation. PMID:26082725

Fixing the model for transcription: the DNA moves, not the polymerase.

PubMed

Papantonis, Argyris; Cook, Peter R

2011-01-01

The traditional model for transcription sees active polymerases tracking along their templates. An alternative (controversial) model has active enzymes immobilized in "factories." Recent evidence supports the idea that the DNA moves, not the polymerase, and points to alternative explanations of how regulatory motifs like enhancers and silencers work.

Alternate Theory Formation by Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanson, R. Keith

Video tapes of student teachers micro-teaching in a high school biology class were analyzed. Attention was focussed on students' interpretations of data and the teacher's responses to these interpretations. Examples are given of student explanations which teachers find unsatisfactory but which are valid alternatives based on the data available to…

Optimizing multiple-choice tests as tools for learning.

PubMed

Little, Jeri L; Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon

2015-01-01

Answering multiple-choice questions with competitive alternatives can enhance performance on a later test, not only on questions about the information previously tested, but also on questions about related information not previously tested-in particular, on questions about information pertaining to the previously incorrect alternatives. In the present research, we assessed a possible explanation for this pattern: When multiple-choice questions contain competitive incorrect alternatives, test-takers are led to retrieve previously studied information pertaining to all of the alternatives in order to discriminate among them and select an answer, with such processing strengthening later access to information associated with both the correct and incorrect alternatives. Supporting this hypothesis, we found enhanced performance on a later cued-recall test for previously nontested questions when their answers had previously appeared as competitive incorrect alternatives in the initial multiple-choice test, but not when they had previously appeared as noncompetitive alternatives. Importantly, however, competitive alternatives were not more likely than noncompetitive alternatives to be intruded as incorrect responses, indicating that a general increased accessibility for previously presented incorrect alternatives could not be the explanation for these results. The present findings, replicated across two experiments (one in which corrective feedback was provided during the initial multiple-choice testing, and one in which it was not), thus strongly suggest that competitive multiple-choice questions can trigger beneficial retrieval processes for both tested and related information, and the results have implications for the effective use of multiple-choice tests as tools for learning.

Using the Free-Response Scoring Tool To Automatically Score the Formulating-Hypotheses Item. GRE Board Professional Report No. 90-02bP.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Randy M.; Bennett, Randy Elliot

This study explores the potential for using a computer-based scoring procedure for the formulating-hypotheses (F-H) item. This item type presents a situation and asks the examinee to generate explanations for it. Each explanation is judged right or wrong, and the number of creditable explanations is summed to produce an item score. Scores were…

Exploring the Development of Fifth Graders' Practical Epistemologies and Explanation Skills in Inquiry-Based Learning Classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Hsin-Kai; Wu, Chia-Lien

2011-05-01

The purposes of this study are to explore fifth graders' epistemological views regarding their own experiences of constructing scientific knowledge through inquiry activities (i.e., practical epistemologies) and to investigate possible interactions between students' practical epistemologies and their inquiry skills to construct scientific explanations (i.e., explanation skills). Quantitative and qualitative data including interview transcripts, classroom video recordings, and pre- and post-tests of explanation skills were collected from 68 fifth graders in two science classes. Analyses of data show that after engaging in 5-week inquiry activities, students developed better inquiry skills to construct scientific explanations. More students realized the existence of experimental errors, viewed experimental data as evidence to support their claims, and had richer understanding about the nature of scientific questions. However, most students' epistemological beliefs were still naïve (the beginning level); they could not differentiate between experimental results and scientific knowledge and believed that the purpose of science is doing experiments or research. The results also show that students who held a more sophisticated epistemology (the intermediate level) tended to develop better inquiry skills than those with naïve beliefs. Analyses of classroom observations suggest possible explanations for how students reflected their epistemological views in their inquiry practices.

Who Resembles Whom? Mimetic and Coincidental Look-Alikes among Tropical Reef Fishes

PubMed Central

Robertson, D. Ross

2013-01-01

Studies of mimicry among tropical reef-fishes usually give little or no consideration to alternative explanations for behavioral associations between unrelated, look-alike species that benefit the supposed mimic. I propose and assess such an alternative explanation. With mimicry the mimic resembles its model, evolved to do so in response to selection by the mimicry target, and gains evolved benefits from that resemblance. In the alternative, the social-trap hypothesis, a coincidental resemblance of the model to the “mimic” inadvertently attracts the latter to it, and reinforcement of this social trapping by learned benefits leads to the “mimic” regularly associating with the model. I examine three well known cases of supposed aggressive mimicry among reef-fishes in relation to nine predictions from these hypotheses, and assess which hypothesis offers a better explanation for each. One case, involving precise and complex morphological and behavioral resemblance, is strongly consistent with mimicry, one is inconclusive, and one is more consistent with a social-trap based on coincidental, imprecise resemblance. Few cases of supposed interspecific mimicry among tropical reef fishes have been examined in depth, and many such associations may involve social traps arising from generalized, coincidental resemblance. Mimicry may be much less common among these fishes than is generally thought. PMID:23372795

Rational choice(s)? Rethinking decision-making on breast cancer risk and screening mammography.

PubMed

Vahabi, Mandana; Gastaldo, Denise

2003-12-01

Women who refrain from undergoing breast cancer screening are believed to be uninformed about risks and usually labeled as irrational. Our purpose in writing this paper is to challenge the traditional notion of rational behaviour, illustrating with qualitative data that people's rationality is influenced by their socio-cultural and political identities. We explore three major themes: (1) cultural explanations regarding intention to use screening mammography (2) (dis)trust in science and expert opinion, and (3) self-responsibility and self-surveillance in caring for one's body. Understanding that women rely on different risk discourses to make decisions about their health should aide researchers, health professionals, and the community in better understanding alternative ways of conceptualizing people's health-related behaviours when they do not coincide with health authorities recommendations.

Acoustic Salience and Input Frequency in L2 Lexical Tone Learning: Evidence from a Zapotec Revitalization Program in San Pablo Macuiltianguis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riestenberg, Katherine J.

2017-01-01

Second language (L2) learners of tone languages do not perceive and produce the different tones of the target language with equal ease. The most common explanation for these asymmetries is that acoustically salient tones are the easiest to learn. An alternative explanation is that tones are easiest to learn when they are highly frequent in the…

The Co-Occurrence of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Parents of Children with ASD or ASD with ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Steijn, Daphne J.; Richards, Jennifer S.; Oerlemans, Anoek M.; de Ruiter, Saskia W.; van Aken, Marcel A. G.; Franke, Barbara; Buitelaar, Jan. K.; Rommelse, Nanda N. J.

2012-01-01

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) share about 50-72% of their genetic factors, which is the most likely explanation for their frequent co-occurrence within the same patient or family. An additional or alternative explanation for the co-occurrence may be (cross-)assortative mating, e.g.,…

Are evolutionary hypotheses for motion sickness "just-so" stories?

PubMed

Oman, Charles M

2012-01-01

Vertebrates have evolved rapidly conditionable nausea and vomiting reflexes mediated by gut and brainstem receptors, clearly as a defense against neurotoxin ingestion. In 1977 Treisman proposed that sensory orientation linkages to emetic centers evolved for the same reason, and that motion sickness was an accidental byproduct. It was an "adaptationist" explanation for motion sickness, since it assumed that evolution has shaped all phenotypic traits for survival advantage. Treisman's "poison" theory is plausible, and frequently cited as the accepted scientific explanation for motion sickness. However, alternative explanations have been proposed. The creation of hypotheses is an essential part of science - provided they are testable. This paper reviews the evidence for the Poison theory and several other adaptationist explanations. These hypotheses are certainly not "just-so stories", but supporting evidence is equivocal, and contradictory evidence exists Parsimony suggests an alternative "pluralistic" view: The vertebrate reticular formation maintains oxygenated blood flow to the brain, discriminates unexpected sensory stimuli- including postural disturbances, and detects and expels ingested neurotoxins. The three systems share neuroarchitectural elements but normally function independently. Brainstem sensory conflict neurons normally discriminate brief postural disturbances, but can be abnormally stimulated during prolonged passive transport (e.g. by boat, beginning about 150-200 generations ago). Sensory conflict signals cross couple into the neurotoxin expulsion and avoidance system, producing an arguably maladaptive emetic phenotype.

Explanation and Prior Knowledge Interact to Guide Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Joseph J.; Lombrozo, Tania

2013-01-01

How do explaining and prior knowledge contribute to learning? Four experiments explored the relationship between explanation and prior knowledge in category learning. The experiments independently manipulated whether participants were prompted to explain the category membership of study observations and whether category labels were informative in…

Preschool Children's Explanations of Plant Growth and Rain Formation: A Comparative Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christidou, Vasilia; Hatzinikita, Vassilia

2006-09-01

This paper explores the different types and characteristics of preschool children's explanations of plant growth and rain formation. The children's explanations were categorized as naturalistic, non-naturalistic, or synthetic, i.e., explanations containing both naturalistic and non-naturalistic parts. In regards to plant growth the children tended to rely on synthetic or on naturalistic explanations, which involved direct and indirect agents (such as water, a person, fertilizers, roots) enabling the plant to grow. Non-naturalistic explanations of plant growth, or the non-naturalistic parts of synthetic explanations, were mainly animistic (anthropomorphic). In the case of rain formation the children most frequently used non-naturalistic explanations, which were mainly teleological or metaphysical. The naturalistic explanations recorded on rain formation, as well as the naturalistic parts of synthetic explanations tended to have a non-agentive character, i.e., children considered rainwater as preexisting in containers such as the clouds. Overall, the explanations recorded about plant growth tended to be more complex than the ones for rain formation. It is suggested that science activities designed for preschool children should take into account the types and characteristics of their explanations in order to select which phenomena are appropriate for this age group, and aim at fostering the children's ability at formulating naturalistic explanations.

Reexamining individual differences in women's rape avoidance behaviors.

PubMed

Snyder, Jeffrey K; Fessler, Daniel M T

2013-05-01

A growing number of investigators explore evolutionary psychological hypotheses concerning the avoidance of rape using self-report measures of behavior. Among the most recent and most ambitious, is the work of McKibbin et al. (2011). McKibbin et al. presented evidence supporting their predictions that such behaviors would vary according to the individual's physical attractiveness, relationship status, and proximity to kin. In addition, McKibbin et al. predicted, but failed to find evidence, that age would exercise a similar influence. We question McKibbin et al.'s position on both theoretical and empirical grounds, arguing that (1) two of their predictions do not rule out alternative explanations, and (2) their key supporting findings may well be artifacts of their measurement instrument, the Rape Avoidance Inventory (RAI). Employing new empirical evidence derived from a broader sample of U.S. women, we simultaneously tested McKibbin et al.'s predictions and compared the RAI to alternative dependent measures. We found that McKibbin et al.'s substantive predictions were not supported, and suggest that there may be limits to the utility of the RAI beyond one specific demographic category.

Extracting the Evaluations of Stereotypes: Bi-factor Model of the Stereotype Content Structure

PubMed Central

Sayans-Jiménez, Pablo; Cuadrado, Isabel; Rojas, Antonio J.; Barrada, Juan R.

2017-01-01

Stereotype dimensions—competence, morality and sociability—are fundamental to studying the perception of other groups. These dimensions have shown moderate/high positive correlations with each other that do not reflect the theoretical expectations. The explanation for this (e.g., halo effect) undervalues the utility of the shared variance identified. In contrast, in this work we propose that this common variance could represent the global evaluation of the perceived group. Bi-factor models are proposed to improve the internal structure and to take advantage of the information representing the shared variance among dimensions. Bi-factor models were compared with first order models and other alternative models in three large samples (300–309 participants). The relationships among the global and specific bi-factor dimensions with a global evaluation dimension (measured through a semantic differential) were estimated. The results support the use of bi-factor models rather than first order models (and other alternative models). Bi-factor models also show a greater utility to directly and more easily explore the stereotype content including its evaluative content. PMID:29085313

How Ghanaian, African-Surinamese and Dutch patients perceive and manage antihypertensive drug treatment: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Beune, Erik J A J; Haafkens, Joke A; Agyemang, Charles; Schuster, John S; Willems, Dick L

2008-04-01

To explore and compare how Ghanaian, African-Surinamese (Surinamese), and White-Dutch patients perceive and manage antihypertensive drug treatment in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Qualitative study was conducted using detailed interviews with a purposive sample of 46 hypertensive patients without comorbidity who were prescribed antihypertensives. Patients in all the ethnic groups actively decided how to manage their prescribed antihypertensive regimens. In all the groups, confidence in the doctor and beneficial effects of medication were reasons for taking prescribed antihypertensive dosage. Particularly, ethnic-minority patients reported lowering or leaving off the prescribed medication dosage. Explanations for altering prescribed dosage comprised disliking chemical medications, fear of side effects and preference for alternative treatment. Surinamese and Ghanaian men also worried about the negative effects of antihypertensives on their sexual performance. Some Ghanaians mentioned fear of addiction or lack of money as explanations for altering prescribed dosage. Surinamese and Ghanaians often discontinued medication when visiting their homeland. Some respondents from all ethnic groups preferred natural treatments although treatment type varied. Patients' explanations for their decisions regarding the use of antihypertensives are often influenced by sociocultural issues and in ethnic-minority groups also by migration-related issues. Self-alteration of prescribed medication among Surinamese and Ghanaians may contribute to the low blood pressure (BP) control rate and high rate of malignant hypertension reported among these populations in the Netherlands. This study provides new information, which can help clinicians to understand how patients of diverse ethnic populations think about managing antihypertensive drug treatment and to address ethnic disparities in medication adherence and BP control.

Promoting Scientific Thinking and Conceptual Change about Alternative Explanations of Climate Change and Other Controversial Socio-scientific Topics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lombardi, D.; Sinatra, G. M.

2013-12-01

Critical evaluation and plausibility reappraisal of scientific explanations have been underemphasized in many science classrooms (NRC, 2012). Deep science learning demands that students increase their ability to critically evaluate the quality of scientific knowledge, weigh alternative explanations, and explicitly reappraise their plausibility judgments. Therefore, this lack of instruction about critical evaluation and plausibility reappraisal has, in part, contributed to diminished understanding about complex and controversial topics, such as global climate change. The Model-Evidence Link (MEL) diagram (originally developed by researchers at Rutgers University under an NSF-supported project; Chinn & Buckland, 2012) is an instructional scaffold that promotes students to critically evaluate alternative explanations. We recently developed a climate change MEL and found that the students who used the MEL experienced a significant shift in their plausibility judgments toward the scientifically accepted model of human-induced climate change. Using the MEL for instruction also resulted in conceptual change about the causes of global warming that reflected greater understanding of fundamental scientific principles. Furthermore, students sustained this conceptual change six months after MEL instruction (Lombardi, Sinatra, & Nussbaum, 2013). This presentation will discuss recent educational research that supports use of the MEL to promote critical evaluation, plausibility reappraisal, and conceptual change, and also, how the MEL may be particularly effective for learning about global climate change and other socio-scientific topics. Such instruction to develop these fundamental thinking skills (e.g., critical evaluation and plausibility reappraisal) is demanded by both the Next Generation Science Standards (Achieve, 2013) and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics (CCSS Initiative-ELA, 2010; CCSS Initiative-Math, 2010), as well as a society that is equipped to deal with challenges in a way that is beneficial to our national and global community.

Evaluating Distal and Proximal Explanations for Withdrawal: A Rejoinder to Varnum and Kwon's "The Ecology of Withdrawal".

PubMed

Norasakkunkit, Vinai; Uchida, Yukiko; Takemura, Kosuke

2017-01-01

In their 2016 commentary on our theorizing about how youth withdrawal from economic and social participation in Japanese society (i.e., NEET and Hikikomori phenomena) stems from generational inequality of economic opportunities, Varnum and Kwon correctly point out that our explanation for withdrawal is yet untested. They then offered an alternative, evolutionary psychological explanation for withdrawal in which they claim that in resource-rich ecologies like Japan, the option to withdraw from participating in society is a possible life strategy, a strategy that would be much more costly in resource-poor ecologies. While we agree with this premise, we argue that this distal explanatory framework, at least in its current form, has limits in reconciling some of the more recent cross-cultural observations, as well as well-established sociological claims about the causes of withdrawal. Thus we argue that much work remains in refining and expanding the explanatory power of more distal explanations on the issue of withdrawal. Until then, the more proximal and culture-specific explanations are probably the useful and meaningful explanations for the withdrawal phenomenon.

Studies into the nature of cosmic acceleration: Dark energy or a modification to gravity on cosmological scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dossett, Jason Nicholas

Since its discovery more than a decade ago, the problem of cosmic acceleration has become one of the largest in cosmology and physics as a whole. An unknown dark energy component of the universe is often invoked to explain this observation. Mathematically, this works because inserting a cosmic fluid with a negative equation of state into Einstein's equations provides an accelerated expansion. There are, however, alternative explanations for the observed cosmic acceleration. Perhaps the most promising of the alternatives is that, on the very largest cosmological scales, general relativity needs to be extended or a new, modified gravity theory must be used. Indeed, many modified gravity models are not only able to replicate the observed accelerated expansion without dark energy, but are also more compatible with a unified theory of physics. Thus it is the goal of this dissertation to develop and study robust tests that will be able to distinguish between these alternative theories of gravity and the need for a dark energy component of the universe. We will study multiple approaches using the growth history of large-scale structure in the universe as a way to accomplish this task. These approaches include studying what is known as the growth index parameter, a parameter that describes the logarithmic growth rate of structure in the universe, which describes the rate of formation of clusters and superclusters of galaxies over the entire age of the universe. We will explore the effectiveness of this parameter to distinguish between general relativity and modifications to gravity physics given realistic expectations of results from future experiments. Next, we will explore the modified growth formalism wherein deviations from the growth expected in general relativity are parameterized via changes to the growth equations, i.e. the perturbed Einstein's equations. We will also explore the impact of spatial curvature on these tests. Finally, we will study how dark energy with some unusual properties will affect the conclusiveness of these tests.

Misconceived Causal Explanations for Emergent Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chi, Michelene T. H.; Roscoe, Rod D.; Slotta, James D.; Roy, Marguerite; Chase, Catherine C.

2012-01-01

Studies exploring how students learn and understand science processes such as "diffusion" and "natural selection" typically find that students provide misconceived explanations of how the patterns of such processes arise (such as why giraffes' necks get longer over generations, or how ink dropped into water appears to "flow"). Instead of…

Age at Immigration and Education: Further Explorations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Frank E.

1987-01-01

Presents evidence for a social structure explanation, instead of an age explanation, of variations in educational attainment among immigrants to Canada. Social status or class structure is the fundamental determinant of variation in the distribution of resources necessary to educational achievement for immigrants as well as for native-born…

Ambush frequency should increase over time during optimal predator search for prey

PubMed Central

Alpern, Steve; Fokkink, Robbert; Timmer, Marco; Casas, Jérôme

2011-01-01

We advance and apply the mathematical theory of search games to model the problem faced by a predator searching for prey. Two search modes are available: ambush and cruising search. Some species can adopt either mode, with their choice at a given time traditionally explained in terms of varying habitat and physiological conditions. We present an additional explanation of the observed predator alternation between these search modes, which is based on the dynamical nature of the search game they are playing: the possibility of ambush decreases the propensity of the prey to frequently change locations and thereby renders it more susceptible to the systematic cruising search portion of the strategy. This heuristic explanation is supported by showing that in a new idealized search game where the predator is allowed to ambush or search at any time, and the prey can change locations at intermittent times, optimal predator play requires an alternation (or mixture) over time of ambush and cruise search. Thus, our game is an extension of the well-studied ‘Princess and Monster’ search game. Search games are zero sum games, where the pay-off is the capture time and neither the Searcher nor the Hider knows the location of the other. We are able to determine the optimal mixture of the search modes when the predator uses a mixture which is constant over time, and also to determine how the mode mixture changes over time when dynamic strategies are allowed (the ambush probability increases over time). In particular, we establish the ‘square root law of search predation’: the optimal proportion of active search equals the square root of the fraction of the region that has not yet been explored. PMID:21571944

Ambush frequency should increase over time during optimal predator search for prey.

PubMed

Alpern, Steve; Fokkink, Robbert; Timmer, Marco; Casas, Jérôme

2011-11-07

We advance and apply the mathematical theory of search games to model the problem faced by a predator searching for prey. Two search modes are available: ambush and cruising search. Some species can adopt either mode, with their choice at a given time traditionally explained in terms of varying habitat and physiological conditions. We present an additional explanation of the observed predator alternation between these search modes, which is based on the dynamical nature of the search game they are playing: the possibility of ambush decreases the propensity of the prey to frequently change locations and thereby renders it more susceptible to the systematic cruising search portion of the strategy. This heuristic explanation is supported by showing that in a new idealized search game where the predator is allowed to ambush or search at any time, and the prey can change locations at intermittent times, optimal predator play requires an alternation (or mixture) over time of ambush and cruise search. Thus, our game is an extension of the well-studied 'Princess and Monster' search game. Search games are zero sum games, where the pay-off is the capture time and neither the Searcher nor the Hider knows the location of the other. We are able to determine the optimal mixture of the search modes when the predator uses a mixture which is constant over time, and also to determine how the mode mixture changes over time when dynamic strategies are allowed (the ambush probability increases over time). In particular, we establish the 'square root law of search predation': the optimal proportion of active search equals the square root of the fraction of the region that has not yet been explored.

Novice Explanations of Hurricane Formation Offer Insights into Scientific Literacy and the Development of Expert-Like Conceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arthurs, Leilani A.; Van Den Broeke, Matthew S.

2016-01-01

The ability to explain scientific phenomena is a key feature of scientific literacy, and engaging students' prior knowledge, especially their alternate conceptions, is an effective strategy for enhancing scientific literacy and developing expertise. The gap in knowledge about the alternate conceptions that novices have about many of Earth's…

Children's success at detecting circular explanations and their interest in future learning.

PubMed

Mills, Candice M; Danovitch, Judith H; Rowles, Sydney P; Campbell, Ian L

2017-10-01

These studies explore elementary-school-aged children's ability to evaluate circular explanations and whether they respond to receiving weak explanations by expressing interest in additional learning. In the first study, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds (n = 53) heard why questions about unfamiliar animals. For each question, they rated the quality of single explanations and later selected the best explanation between pairs of circular and noncircular explanations. When judging single explanations, 8- and 10-year-olds, and to some extent 6-year-olds, provided higher ratings for noncircular explanations compared to circular ones. When selecting between pairs of explanations, all age groups preferred noncircular explanations to circular ones, but older children did so more consistently than 6-year-olds. Children who recognized the weakness of the single circular explanations were more interested in receiving additional information about the question topics. In Study 2, all three age groups (n = 87) provided higher ratings for noncircular explanations compared to circular ones when listening to responses to how questions, but older children showed a greater distinction in their ratings than 6-year-olds. Moreover, the link between recognizing circular explanations as weak and interest in future learning could not be accounted for solely by individual differences in verbal intelligence. These findings illustrate the developmental trajectory of explanation evaluation and support that recognition of weak explanations is linked to interest in future learning across the elementary years. Implications for education are discussed.

Training for Research in Mental Health and HIV/AIDS Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations: Meeting the Needs of New Investigators

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

My experiences as a mentor of young investigators, along with conversations with a diverse pool of mentees, led me to question the ability of conventional research methods, problem formulation, and instruments to address the unique challenges of studying racial and ethnic minorities. Training of new investi-gators should prepare them to explore alternative research paradigms and atypical research strategies, such as community-based participatory research and Photovoice technique. Unconventional approaches to research may challenge common explanations for unmet needs, noncompliance with treatments, and poor service outcomes. Mentors may need to develop broader theoretical insights that will facilitate unconventional problem formulation. The teaching of scientific research and mentoring of young investigators who study minority populations should evolve along with the changing research environment. PMID:19246670

A Bayesian analysis of inflationary primordial spectrum models using Planck data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos da Costa, Simony; Benetti, Micol; Alcaniz, Jailson

2018-03-01

The current available Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data show an anomalously low value of the CMB temperature fluctuations at large angular scales (l < 40). This lack of power is not explained by the minimal ΛCDM model, and one of the possible mechanisms explored in the literature to address this problem is the presence of features in the primordial power spectrum (PPS) motivated by the early universe physics. In this paper, we analyse a set of cutoff inflationary PPS models using a Bayesian model comparison approach in light of the latest CMB data from the Planck Collaboration. Our results show that the standard power-law parameterisation is preferred over all models considered in the analysis, which motivates the search for alternative explanations for the observed lack of power in the CMB anisotropy spectrum.

The Role of Edited Collections in Composition Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Micciche, Laura

2001-01-01

Describes general characteristics of edited collections and then offers a brief history of the genre in composition studies based in part on the existing data in CompPile, an online and ongoing bibliography. Explores several explanations for the proliferation of edited collections in the field. Makes note of what these explanations can say about…

Applying Computerized-Scoring Models of Written Biological Explanations across Courses and Colleges: Prospects and Limitations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ha, Minsu; Nehm, Ross H.; Urban-Lurain, Mark; Merrill, John E.

2011-01-01

Our study explored the prospects and limitations of using machine-learning software to score introductory biology students' written explanations of evolutionary change. We investigated three research questions: 1) Do scoring models built using student responses at one university function effectively at another university? 2) How many human-scored…

Evolutionary Explanations for Antibiotic Resistance in Daily Press, Online Websites and Biology Textbooks in Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bohlin, Gustav; Höst, Gunnar E.

2015-01-01

The present study explores the extent and precision of evolutionary explanations for antibiotic resistance in communication directed toward the Swedish public. Bacterial resistance develops through evolutionary mechanisms and knowledge of these helps to explain causes underlying the growing prevalence of resistant strains, as well as important…

Exploring How Different Features of Animations of Sodium Chloride Dissolution Affect Students' Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Resa M.; Jones, Loretta L.

2007-01-01

Animations of molecular structure and dynamics are often used to help students understand the abstract ideas of chemistry. This qualitative study investigated how the features of two different styles of molecular-level animation affected students' explanations of how sodium chloride dissolves in water. In small group sessions 18 college-level…

Beyond Explanations: What Else Do Students Need to Understand Science?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamza, Karim M.; Wickman, Per-Olof

2009-01-01

Students' difficulties with learning science have generally been framed in terms of their generalized conceptual knowledge of a science topic as elicited through their explanations of natural phenomena. In this paper, we empirically explore what more goes into giving a scientific account of a natural phenomenon than giving such generalized…

Adults' Explanations and Children's Understanding of Contagious Illnesses, Non-Contagious Illnesses, and Injuries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toyama, Noriko

2016-01-01

The present study examined (1) whether children notice different causes for contagious illnesses, non-contagious illnesses, and injuries and (2) what information adults provide to children and to what extent this information is related to children's causal awareness. Studies 1 and 2 explored preschool teachers' and mothers' explanations of…

Learning Edge Momentum: A New Account of Outcomes in CS1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robins, Anthony

2010-01-01

Compared to other subjects, the typical introductory programming (CS1) course has higher than usual rates of both failing and high grades, creating a characteristic bimodal grade distribution. In this article, I explore two possible explanations. The conventional explanation has been that learners naturally fall into populations of programmers and…

Exploring perceptions of "wellness" in black ethnic minority individuals at risk of developing psychosis.

PubMed

Codjoe, Louisa; Byrne, Majella; Lister, Matthew; McGuire, Philip; Valmaggia, Lucia

2013-03-01

The NICE Schizophrenia guidelines (NICE, 2009, Update) recommend that services should address cultural differences in treatment, expectations and adherence, and clients' explanatory models of illness should be better understood. Service users from Black African and Black Caribbean communities are overrepresented in psychosis services in the UK, yet there is no literature on how wellness is understood by this group. This study explored perceptions of wellness in Black African and Black Caribbean individuals with an At Risk Mental State (ARMS) for psychosis. A Q set of potential meanings of wellness was identified from a literature search and interviews with people at risk of developing psychosis. From this, 50 potential definitions were identified; twenty Black African and Black Caribbean ARMS clients ranked these definitions. Following factor analysis of completed Q sorts, six factors emerged that offered insight into perceptions of wellness in this population. These factors included: sense of social purpose explanation, the surviving God's test explanation, the internalization of spirituality explanation, understanding and attribution of symptoms to witchcraft explanation, avoidance and adversity explanation, and seeking help to cope explanation. Although preliminary, differences between the factors suggests that there may be perceptions of wellness specific to these groups that are distinct from the medical view of wellness promoted within early detection services. These differences may potentially impact upon engagement, particularly factors that clients feel may facilitate or aide their recovery. It is suggested that these differences need to be considered as part of the assessment and formulation process.

Understanding Genetic Breast Cancer Risk: Processing Loci of the BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System

PubMed Central

Wolfe, Christopher R.; Reyna, Valerie F.; Widmer, Colin L.; Cedillos-Whynott, Elizabeth M.; Brust-Renck, Priscila G; Weil, Audrey M.; Hu, Xiangen

2016-01-01

The BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System helps women understand and make decisions about genetic testing for breast cancer risk. BRCA Gist is guided by Fuzzy-Trace Theory, (FTT) and built using AutoTutor Lite. It responds differently to participants depending on what they say. Seven tutorial dialogues requiring explanation and argumentation are guided by three FTT concepts: forming gist explanations in one’s own words, emphasizing decision-relevant information, and deliberating the consequences of decision alternatives. Participants were randomly assigned to BRCA Gist, a control, or impoverished BRCA Gist conditions removing gist explanation dialogues, argumentation dialogues, or FTT images. All BRCA Gist conditions performed significantly better than controls on knowledge, comprehension, and risk assessment. Significant differences in knowledge, comprehension, and fine-grained dialogue analyses demonstrate the efficacy of gist explanation dialogues. FTT images significantly increased knowledge. Providing more elements in arguments against testing correlated with increased knowledge and comprehension. PMID:28008216

Understanding Genetic Breast Cancer Risk: Processing Loci of the BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System.

PubMed

Wolfe, Christopher R; Reyna, Valerie F; Widmer, Colin L; Cedillos-Whynott, Elizabeth M; Brust-Renck, Priscila G; Weil, Audrey M; Hu, Xiangen

2016-07-01

The BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System helps women understand and make decisions about genetic testing for breast cancer risk. BRCA Gist is guided by Fuzzy-Trace Theory, (FTT) and built using AutoTutor Lite. It responds differently to participants depending on what they say. Seven tutorial dialogues requiring explanation and argumentation are guided by three FTT concepts: forming gist explanations in one's own words, emphasizing decision-relevant information, and deliberating the consequences of decision alternatives. Participants were randomly assigned to BRCA Gist , a control, or impoverished BRCA Gist conditions removing gist explanation dialogues, argumentation dialogues, or FTT images. All BRCA Gist conditions performed significantly better than controls on knowledge, comprehension, and risk assessment. Significant differences in knowledge, comprehension, and fine-grained dialogue analyses demonstrate the efficacy of gist explanation dialogues. FTT images significantly increased knowledge. Providing more elements in arguments against testing correlated with increased knowledge and comprehension.

Pyrite-uranium polycrystal

USGS Publications Warehouse

King, A.G.

1956-01-01

A texture was observed in a sample of ore in 'Which pyrite and uraninite occurred as thin alternate layers paralleling crystal faces of a pyrite nucleus. This texture could be formed either by replacement or by syntaxis. Although syntactic growth forming polyerystals of two chemically dissimilar minerals has not been previously described, this explanation fits the observed data better than the explanation offered by replacement. It is proposed, therefore, that this occurrence is an example of a polycrystal of uraninite and pyrite and that the mechanism of formation is syntaxis.

Explanation and inference: mechanistic and functional explanations guide property generalization.

PubMed

Lombrozo, Tania; Gwynne, Nicholas Z

2014-01-01

The ability to generalize from the known to the unknown is central to learning and inference. Two experiments explore the relationship between how a property is explained and how that property is generalized to novel species and artifacts. The experiments contrast the consequences of explaining a property mechanistically, by appeal to parts and processes, with the consequences of explaining the property functionally, by appeal to functions and goals. The findings suggest that properties that are explained functionally are more likely to be generalized on the basis of shared functions, with a weaker relationship between mechanistic explanations and generalization on the basis of shared parts and processes. The influence of explanation type on generalization holds even though all participants are provided with the same mechanistic and functional information, and whether an explanation type is freely generated (Experiment 1), experimentally provided (Experiment 2), or experimentally induced (Experiment 2). The experiments also demonstrate that explanations and generalizations of a particular type (mechanistic or functional) can be experimentally induced by providing sample explanations of that type, with a comparable effect when the sample explanations come from the same domain or from a different domains. These results suggest that explanations serve as a guide to generalization, and contribute to a growing body of work supporting the value of distinguishing mechanistic and functional explanations.

Power and Attraction to the Counternormative Aspects of Infidelity.

PubMed

Lammers, Joris; Maner, Jon

2016-01-01

Previous research shows that powerful people are more likely than those lacking power to engage in infidelity. One possible explanation holds (a) that power psychologically releases people from the inhibiting effects of social norms and thus increases their appetite for counternormative forms of sexuality. Two alternative explanations are (b) that power increases appetite for any form of sexuality, normative or counternormative, and (c) that power makes men (but not women) seem more attractive to others and thus increases their access to potential mating opportunities. The current research tested these explanations using correlational data from 610 Dutch men and women. Supporting the first explanation, power's relationship with infidelity was statistically mediated by increased attraction to the secrecy associated with infidelity. Inconsistent with the second explanation, power was linked with infidelity but not with casual sex among singles (a more normative form of sexuality). Inconsistent with the third explanation, the link between power and infidelity was observed just as strongly in women as in men. Findings suggest that power may be associated with infidelity because power draws people to the counternormative aspects of infidelity. Implications for theories of power, sexuality, and gender are discussed.

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Johnson Space Center Explores Alternative

Science.gov Websites

Fuel Vehicles Johnson Space Center Explores Alternative Fuel Vehicles to someone by E-mail Share Alternative Fuels Data Center: Johnson Space Center Explores Alternative Fuel Vehicles on Facebook Tweet about Alternative Fuels Data Center: Johnson Space Center Explores Alternative Fuel Vehicles on

Rationing in the emergency department: the good, the bad, and the unacceptable.

PubMed

Cross, E; Goodacre, S; O'Cathain, A; Arnold, J

2005-03-01

Waiting times in emergency departments (EDs) are an important government priority. Although substantial efforts are currently being made to reduce waiting times, little attention has been paid to the patients' view. We used qualitative methods to explore patients' perspectives on waiting times and other approaches to rationing and prioritisation. Face to face, in depth, qualitative interviews (n = 11) explored how patients valued waiting times for non-urgent ED care. The framework approach (identifying a thematic framework through repeated re-reading) was used to analyse transcripts. Interviewees found some forms of rationing and prioritisation acceptable. They expected rationing by delay, but required explanations or information on the reason for their wait. They valued prioritisation by triage (rationing by selection) and thought that this role could be expanded for the re-direction of non-urgent patients elsewhere (rationing by deflection). Interviewees were mainly unwilling or unable to engage in prioritisation of different types of patients, openly prioritising only those with obvious clinical need, and children. However, some interviewees were willing to ration implicitly, labelling some attenders as inappropriate, such as those causing a nuisance. Others felt it was unacceptable to blame "inappropriate" attenders, as their attendance may relate to lack of information or awareness of service use. Explicit rationing between services was not acceptable, although some believed there were more important priorities for NHS resources than ED waiting times. Interviewees disagreed with the hypothetical notion of paying to be seen more quickly in the ED (rationing by charging). Interviewees expected to wait and accepted the need for prioritisation, although they were reluctant to engage in judgements regarding prioritisation. They supported the re-direction of patients with certain non-urgent complaints. However, they perceived a need for more explanation and information about their wait, the system, and alternative services.

Exploring the Effect of Embedded Scaffolding within Curricular Tasks on Third-Grade Students' Model-Based Explanations about Hydrologic Cycling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zangori, Laura; Forbes, Cory T.; Schwarz, Christina V.

2015-01-01

Opportunities to generate model-based explanations are crucial for elementary students, yet are rarely foregrounded in elementary science learning environments despite evidence that early learners can reason from models when provided with scaffolding. We used a quasi-experimental research design to investigate the comparative impact of a scaffold…

Distress and Violent Victimization among Young Adolescents: Early Puberty and the Social Interactionist Explanation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schreck, Christopher J.; Burek, Melissa W.; Stewart, Eric A.; Miller, J. Mitchell

2007-01-01

This article explores the empirical validity of the Social Interactionist (SI) perspective as an explanation of violent victimization. An additional goal is to explain why early puberty among adolescents is connected to violent victimization. Using SI, we theorize that early puberty creates unusually high levels of distress for adolescents (more…

Exploring One Student's Explanations at Different Ages: The Case of Sharon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levenson, Esther

2013-01-01

This study describes the types of explanations one student, Sharon, gives and prefers at different ages. Sharon is interviewed in the second grade regarding multiplication of one-digit numbers, in the fifth grade regarding even and odd numbers, and in the sixth grade regarding equivalent fractions. In the tenth grade, she revisits each of these…

Are Males Always Better than Females in Mental Rotation? Exploring a Gender Belief Explanation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moe, Angelica

2009-01-01

Males outperform females in the Mental Rotation Test (MRT) for biological, strategic and cultural reasons. The present research tested a motivational explanation with the hypothesis that females could do better when induced to have positive beliefs and expectations. All-female and all-male samples were divided into six groups, each having listened…

Parent Explanation and Preschoolers' Exploratory Behavior and Learning in a Shadow Exhibition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Schijndel, Tessa J. P.; Raijmakers, Maartje E. J.

2016-01-01

The present study fills a gap in existing visitor research by focusing on the preschool age group. The study explores relationships between parent explanation, children's exploratory behavior, and their domain-specific learning in a shadow exhibition. In addition, the effect of a preceding theater show on child and parent behaviors is examined. In…

Examining the Effect of Self-Explanation on Cognitive Integration of Basic and Clinical Sciences in Novices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lisk, Kristina; Agur, Anne M. R.; Woods, Nicole N.

2017-01-01

Several studies have shown that cognitive integration of basic and clinical sciences supports diagnostic reasoning in novices; however, there has been limited exploration of the ways in which educators can translate this model of mental activity into sound instructional strategies. The use of "self-explanation" during learning has the…

The Role of Cognition in Children's Explanations and Preferences for Skin-Color.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Audrey; And Others

The purpose of this study was to measure social causality (skin-color attributions) of white children on a Skin-Color Probe, and to explore the developmental concomitants related to children's explanations of skin color. Seventy-two white children, including equal numbers of males and females, were divided into three age groupings (27-59 months,…

Changes in Students' Explanations for Gender Differences after Taking a Psychology of Women Class: More Constructionist and Less Essentialist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoder, Janice D.; Fischer, Ann R.; Kahn, Arnold S.; Groden, Jessica

2007-01-01

We explored how students' endorsements of essential (biological and personality) and constructed (socialization and contextual) explanations for gender differences changed from the start to the end of Psychology of Women (POW) classes along with their feminist attitudes. Results from surveys of 120 POW students from three universities indicated…

Feudalism and the French Revolution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaiser, Thomas E.

1979-01-01

Reviews and questions the traditional established interpretation that the French Revolution was about feudalism. Concludes that revisionist historians have cast doubt upon the orthodox theory but that they have not supplied an alternative explanation. (Author/DB)

Extemporaneous Speaking: Organization Which Inheres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benson, James A.

1978-01-01

An approach to organizing extemporaneous speeches based on questions inherent in the nature of explanation and speculation is described and recommended as an alternative to the superimposition on a topic of prescribed organizational patterns. (JF)

An opportunity cost model of subjective effort and task performance

PubMed Central

Kurzban, Robert; Duckworth, Angela; Kable, Joseph W.; Myers, Justus

2013-01-01

Why does performing certain tasks cause the aversive experience of mental effort and concomitant deterioration in task performance? One explanation posits a physical resource that is depleted over time. We propose an alternate explanation that centers on mental representations of the costs and benefits associated with task performance. Specifically, certain computational mechanisms, especially those associated with executive function, can be deployed for only a limited number of simultaneous tasks at any given moment. Consequently, the deployment of these computational mechanisms carries an opportunity cost – that is, the next-best use to which these systems might be put. We argue that the phenomenology of effort can be understood as the felt output of these cost/benefit computations. In turn, the subjective experience of effort motivates reduced deployment of these computational mechanisms in the service of the present task. These opportunity cost representations, then, together with other cost/benefit calculations, determine effort expended and, everything else equal, result in performance reductions. In making our case for this position, we review alternate explanations both for the phenomenology of effort associated with these tasks and for performance reductions over time. Likewise, we review the broad range of relevant empirical results from across subdisciplines, especially psychology and neuroscience. We hope that our proposal will help to build links among the diverse fields that have been addressing similar questions from different perspectives, and we emphasize ways in which alternate models might be empirically distinguished. PMID:24304775

Rational learning and information sampling: on the "naivety" assumption in sampling explanations of judgment biases.

PubMed

Le Mens, Gaël; Denrell, Jerker

2011-04-01

Recent research has argued that several well-known judgment biases may be due to biases in the available information sample rather than to biased information processing. Most of these sample-based explanations assume that decision makers are "naive": They are not aware of the biases in the available information sample and do not correct for them. Here, we show that this "naivety" assumption is not necessary. Systematically biased judgments can emerge even when decision makers process available information perfectly and are also aware of how the information sample has been generated. Specifically, we develop a rational analysis of Denrell's (2005) experience sampling model, and we prove that when information search is interested rather than disinterested, even rational information sampling and processing can give rise to systematic patterns of errors in judgments. Our results illustrate that a tendency to favor alternatives for which outcome information is more accessible can be consistent with rational behavior. The model offers a rational explanation for behaviors that had previously been attributed to cognitive and motivational biases, such as the in-group bias or the tendency to prefer popular alternatives. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Historical development of the distinction between bio- and abiogenesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheldon, Robert B.

2005-09-01

Early greek philosophers laid the philosophical foundations of the distinction between bio and abiogenesis, when they debated organic and non-organic explanations for natural phenomena. Plato and Aristotle gave organic, or purpose-driven explanations for physical phenomena, whereas the materialist school of Democritus and Epicurus gave non-organic, or materialist explanations. These competing schools have alternated in popularity through history, with the present era dominated by epicurean schools of thought. Present controversies concerning evidence for exobiology and biogenesis have many aspects which reflect this millennial debate. Therefore this paper traces a selected history of this debate with some modern, 20th century developments due to quantum mechanics. It finishes with an application of quantum information theory to several exobiology debates.

'Birthgasm': A Literary Review of Orgasm as an Alternative Mode of Pain Relief in Childbirth.

PubMed

Mayberry, Lorel; Daniel, Jacqueline

2016-12-01

Childbirth is a fundamental component of a woman's sexual cycle. The sexuality of childbirth is not well recognized in Western society despite research showing that some women experience orgasm(s) during labor and childbirth. Current thinking supports the view that labor and childbirth are perceived to be physically painful events, and more women are relying on medical interventions for pain relief in labor. This review explores the potential of orgasm as a mode of pain relief in childbirth and outlines the physiological explanations for its occurrence. Potential barriers to sexual expression during childbirth and labor, including the influence of deeply held cultural beliefs about sexuality, the importance of privacy and intimacy in facilitating orgasmic birth experiences, and the value of including prospective fathers in the birthing experience, are discussed. The role of midwives and their perceptions of the use of complementary and alternative therapies for pain relief in labor are examined. While there are indications of widespread use of complementary and alternative therapies such as hydrotherapy, herbal remedies, and breathing techniques for pain relief in childbirth, orgasm was not among those mentioned. Lack of recognition of the sexuality of childbirth, despite findings that orgasm can attenuate the effects of labor pain, suggests the need for greater awareness among expectant parents, educators, and health professionals of the potential of orgasm as a means of pain relief in childbirth. © The Author(s) 2015.

Elastin structure and its involvement in skin photoageing.

PubMed

Weihermann, A C; Lorencini, M; Brohem, C A; de Carvalho, C M

2017-06-01

Skin aging is a complex process that may be caused by factors that are intrinsic and extrinsic to the body. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation represents one of the main sources of skin damage over the years and characterizes a process known as photoaging. Among the changes that affect cutaneous tissue with age, the loss of elastic properties caused by changes in elastin production, increased degradation and/or processing produces a substantial impact on tissue esthetics and health. The occurrence of solar elastosis is one of the main markers of cutaneous photoaging and is characterized by disorganized and non-functional deposition of elastic fibers. The occurrence of UV radiation-induced alternative splicing of the elastin gene, which leads to inadequate synthesis of the proteins required for the correct assembly of elastic fibers, is a potential explanation for this phenomenon. Innovative studies have been fundamental for the elucidation of rarely explored photoaging mechanisms and have enabled the identification of effective therapeutic alternatives such as cosmetic products. This review addresses cutaneous photoaging and the changes that affect elastin in this process. © 2016 Society of Cosmetic Scientists and the Société Française de Cosmétologie.

Treatment Seeking and Self-Constructed Explanations of Pain and Pain Management Strategies Among Adolescents with Temporomandibular Disorder Pain.

PubMed

Nilsson, Ing-Marie; Willman, Ania

2016-01-01

To explore adolescents' explanations of their temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain, their pain management strategies for TMD pain, and their treatment-seeking behavior. One-on-one interviews were conducted with 21 adolescents aged 15 to 19 years who had TMD pain and followed a semistructured interview guide. Subjects were strategically selected from patients referred to an orofacial pain clinic. All participants had been examined and received a pain diagnosis based on the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD. The interviews focused on the adolescents' experiences of TMD pain, their strategies for handling pain, and how they seek care. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative manifest content analysis. Qualitative manifest content analysis revealed two categories: (1) self-constructed explanations, with three subcategories (situation-based explanatory model, physical/biologic model, and psychological explanatory model); and (2) pain management strategies, with four subcategories (social support, treatment, relaxation/rest, and psychological strategies). Adolescents used physical activities and psychological and pharmacologic treatment to manage pain. Reasons for seeking treatment were to be cured, to obtain an explanation for their pain, and because their symptoms bother others. Adolescents living with TMD pain develop self-constructed explanations and pain management strategies. With access to these descriptions, dentists can be better prepared to have a dialogue with their adolescent patients about their own explanations of pain, the nature of pain, and in which situations the pain appears. Dentists can also explore adolescent patients' pain management strategies and perhaps also suggest new treatment strategies at an earlier stage.

14 CFR 250.9 - Written explanation of denied boarding compensation and boarding priorities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

.... The carrier shall also furnish the statement to any person upon request at all airport ticket selling.... If the airline arranges alternate transportation for the passenger's convenience that departs before...

The effects of system-justifying motives on endorsement of essentialist explanations for gender differences.

PubMed

Brescoll, Victoria L; Uhlmann, Eric Luis; Newman, George E

2013-12-01

People have a fundamental motive to view their social system as just, fair, and good and will engage in a number of strategies to rationalize the status quo (Jost & Banaji, 1994). We propose that one way in which individuals may "justify the system" is through endorsement of essentialist explanations, which attribute group differences to deep, essential causes. We suggest that system-justifying motives lead to greater endorsement of essentialist explanations because those explanations portray group differences as immutable. Study 1 employed an established system threat manipulation. We found that activating system-justifying motives increases both male and female participants' endorsement of essentialist explanations for gender differences and that this effect is mediated by beliefs in immutability. In Study 2, we used a goal contagion manipulation and found that both male and female participants primed with a system-justifying goal are significantly more likely to agree with essentialist explanations for gender differences. Study 3 demonstrated that providing an opportunity to explicitly reject a system threat (an alternative means of satisfying the goal to defend the system) attenuates system threat effects on endorsement of essentialist explanations, further suggesting that this process is motivated. Finally, Studies 4a and 4b dissociated the type of cause (biological vs. social) from whether group differences are portrayed as mutable versus immutable and found that system threat increases endorsement of immutable explanations, independent of the type of cause. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Discovery Learning, Representation, and Explanation within a Computer-Based Simulation: Finding the Right Mix

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rieber, Lloyd P.; Tzeng, Shyh-Chii; Tribble, Kelly

2004-01-01

The purpose of this research was to explore how adult users interact and learn during an interactive computer-based simulation supplemented with brief multimedia explanations of the content. A total of 52 college students interacted with a computer-based simulation of Newton's laws of motion in which they had control over the motion of a simple…

"Hey! Today I Will Tell You about the Water Cycle!": Variations of Language and Organizational Features in Third-Grade Science Explanation Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avalos, Mary A.; Secada, Walter G.; Zisselsberger, Margarita Gómez; Gort, Mileidis

2017-01-01

This study investigated third graders' use and variation of linguistic resources when writing a science explanation. Using systemic functional linguistics as a framework, we purposefully selected and analyzed writing samples of students with high and low scores to explore how the students' use of language features (i.e., lexicogrammatical…

Social Relations and Cyberbullying: The Influence of Individual and Structural Attributes on Victimization and Perpetration via the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Festl, Ruth; Quandt, Thorsten

2013-01-01

Current research indicates that an alarming number of students are affected by cyberbullying. However, most of the empirical research has focused on psychological explanations of the phenomenon. In an explorative survey study based on the reconstruction of 2 complete school networks (N[subscript P] = 408), we expand the explanation strategies of…

Exploring the MACH Model’s Potential as a Metacognitive Tool to Help Undergraduate Students Monitor Their Explanations of Biological Mechanisms

PubMed Central

Trujillo, Caleb M.; Anderson, Trevor R.; Pelaez, Nancy J.

2016-01-01

When undergraduate biology students learn to explain biological mechanisms, they face many challenges and may overestimate their understanding of living systems. Previously, we developed the MACH model of four components used by expert biologists to explain mechanisms: Methods, Analogies, Context, and How. This study explores the implementation of the model in an undergraduate biology classroom as an educational tool to address some of the known challenges. To find out how well students’ written explanations represent components of the MACH model before and after they were taught about it and why students think the MACH model was useful, we conducted an exploratory multiple case study with four interview participants. We characterize how two students explained biological mechanisms before and after a teaching intervention that used the MACH components. Inductive analysis of written explanations and interviews showed that MACH acted as an effective metacognitive tool for all four students by helping them to monitor their understanding, communicate explanations, and identify explanatory gaps. Further research, though, is needed to more fully substantiate the general usefulness of MACH for promoting students’ metacognition about their understanding of biological mechanisms. PMID:27252295

Category transfer in sequential causal learning: the unbroken mechanism hypothesis.

PubMed

Hagmayer, York; Meder, Björn; von Sydow, Momme; Waldmann, Michael R

2011-07-01

The goal of the present set of studies is to explore the boundary conditions of category transfer in causal learning. Previous research has shown that people are capable of inducing categories based on causal learning input, and they often transfer these categories to new causal learning tasks. However, occasionally learners abandon the learned categories and induce new ones. Whereas previously it has been argued that transfer is only observed with essentialist categories in which the hidden properties are causally relevant for the target effect in the transfer relation, we here propose an alternative explanation, the unbroken mechanism hypothesis. This hypothesis claims that categories are transferred from a previously learned causal relation to a new causal relation when learners assume a causal mechanism linking the two relations that is continuous and unbroken. The findings of two causal learning experiments support the unbroken mechanism hypothesis. Copyright © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Gender equality and women's absolute status: a test of the feminist models of rape.

PubMed

Martin, Kimberly; Vieraitis, Lynne M; Britto, Sarah

2006-04-01

Feminist theory predicts both a positive and negative relationship between gender equality and rape rates. Although liberal and radical feminist theory predicts that gender equality should ameliorate rape victimization, radical feminist theorists have argued that gender equality may increase rape in the form of male backlash. Alternatively, Marxist criminologists focus on women's absolute socioeconomic status rather than gender equality as a predictor of rape rates, whereas socialist feminists combine both radical and Marxist perspectives. This study uses factor analysis to overcome multicollinearity limitations of past studies while exploring the relationship between women's absolute and relative socioeconomic status on rape rates in major U.S. cities using 2000 census data. The findings indicate support for both the Marxist and radical feminist explanations of rape but no support for the ameliorative hypothesis. These findings support a more inclusive socialist feminist theory that takes both Marxist and radical feminist hypotheses into account.

Kinetics of sub-spinodal dewetting of thin films of thickness dependent viscosity.

PubMed

Kotni, Tirumala Rao; Khanna, Rajesh; Sarkar, Jayati

2017-05-04

An alternative explanation of the time varying and very low growth exponents in dewetting of polymer films like polystyrene films is presented based on non-linear simulations. The kinetics of these films is explored within the framework of experimentally observed thickness dependent viscosity. These films exhibit sub-spinodal dewetting via formation of satellite holes in between primary dewetted holes under favorable conditions of excess intermolecular forces and film thicknesses. We find that conditions responsible for sub-spinodal dewetting concurrently lead to remarkable changes in the kinetics of dewetting of even primary holes. For example, the radius of the hole grows in time with a power-law growth exponent sequence of [Formula: see text], in contrast to the usual  ∼4/5. This is due to the cumulative effect of reduced rim mobility due to thickness dependent viscosity and hindrance created by satellite holes.

Demand for male contraception.

PubMed

Dorman, Emily; Bishai, David

2012-10-01

The biological basis for male contraception was established decades ago, but despite promising breakthroughs and the financial burden men increasingly bear due to better enforcement of child support policies, no viable alternative to the condom has been brought to market. Men who wish to control their fertility must rely on female compliance with contraceptives, barrier methods, vasectomy or abstinence. Over the last 10 years, the pharmaceutical industry has abandoned most of its investment in the field, leaving only nonprofit organisations and public entities pursuing male contraception. Leading explanations are uncertain forecasts of market demand pitted against the need for critical investments to demonstrate the safety of existing candidate products. This paper explores the developments and challenges in male contraception research. We produce preliminary estimates of potential market size for a safe and effective male contraceptive based on available data to estimate the potential market for a novel male method.

Beyond Stimulus Cues and Reinforcement Signals: A New Approach to Animal Metacognition

PubMed Central

Couchman, Justin J.; Coutinho, Mariana V. C.; Beran, Michael J.; Smith, J. David

2010-01-01

Some metacognition paradigms for nonhuman animals encourage the alternative explanation that animals avoid difficult trials based only on reinforcement history and stimulus aversion. To explore this possibility, we placed humans and monkeys in successive uncertainty-monitoring tasks that were qualitatively different, eliminating many associative cues that might support transfer across tasks. In addition, task transfer occurred under conditions of deferred and rearranged feedback—both species completed blocks of trials followed by summary feedback. This ensured that animals received no trial-by-trial reinforcement. Despite distancing performance from associative cues, humans and monkeys still made adaptive uncertainty responses by declining the most difficult trials. These findings suggest that monkeys’ uncertainty responses could represent a higher-level, decisional process of cognitive monitoring, though that process need not involve full self-awareness or consciousness. The dissociation of performance from reinforcement has theoretical implications concerning the status of reinforcement as the critical binding force in animal learning. PMID:20836592

Biomorphic Systems and Biomorphic Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thakoor, Sarita

2000-01-01

A viewgraph presentation (with an explanation for each slide) gives an overview of biomorphic systems and missions. Biomorphic explorers are classified, and the challenge to obtain a biomorphic robot is described. Characteristics of biomorphic explorers are described, and biomorphic missions are discussed.

Learning from instructional explanations: effects of prompts based on the active-constructive-interactive framework.

PubMed

Roelle, Julian; Müller, Claudia; Roelle, Detlev; Berthold, Kirsten

2015-01-01

Although instructional explanations are commonly provided when learners are introduced to new content, they often fail because they are not integrated into effective learning activities. The recently introduced active-constructive-interactive framework posits an effectiveness hierarchy in which interactive learning activities are at the top; these are then followed by constructive and active learning activities, respectively. Against this background, we combined instructional explanations with different types of prompts that were designed to elicit these learning activities and tested the central predictions of the active-constructive-interactive framework. In Experiment 1, N = 83 students were randomly assigned to one of four combinations of instructional explanations and prompts. To test the active < constructive learning hypothesis, the learners received either (1) complete explanations and engaging prompts designed to elicit active activities or (2) explanations that were reduced by inferences and inference prompts designed to engage learners in constructing the withheld information. Furthermore, in order to explore how interactive learning activities can be elicited, we gave the learners who had difficulties in constructing the prompted inferences adapted remedial explanations with either (3) unspecific engaging prompts or (4) revision prompts. In support of the active < constructive learning hypothesis, we found that the learners who received reduced explanations and inference prompts outperformed the learners who received complete explanations and engaging prompts. Moreover, revision prompts were more effective in eliciting interactive learning activities than engaging prompts. In Experiment 2, N = 40 students were randomly assigned to either (1) a reduced explanations and inference prompts or (2) a reduced explanations and inference prompts plus adapted remedial explanations and revision prompts condition. In support of the constructive < interactive learning hypothesis, the learners who received adapted remedial explanations and revision prompts as add-ons to reduced explanations and inference prompts acquired more conceptual knowledge.

Learning from Instructional Explanations: Effects of Prompts Based on the Active-Constructive-Interactive Framework

PubMed Central

Roelle, Julian; Müller, Claudia; Roelle, Detlev; Berthold, Kirsten

2015-01-01

Although instructional explanations are commonly provided when learners are introduced to new content, they often fail because they are not integrated into effective learning activities. The recently introduced active-constructive-interactive framework posits an effectiveness hierarchy in which interactive learning activities are at the top; these are then followed by constructive and active learning activities, respectively. Against this background, we combined instructional explanations with different types of prompts that were designed to elicit these learning activities and tested the central predictions of the active-constructive-interactive framework. In Experiment 1, N = 83 students were randomly assigned to one of four combinations of instructional explanations and prompts. To test the active < constructive learning hypothesis, the learners received either (1) complete explanations and engaging prompts designed to elicit active activities or (2) explanations that were reduced by inferences and inference prompts designed to engage learners in constructing the withheld information. Furthermore, in order to explore how interactive learning activities can be elicited, we gave the learners who had difficulties in constructing the prompted inferences adapted remedial explanations with either (3) unspecific engaging prompts or (4) revision prompts. In support of the active < constructive learning hypothesis, we found that the learners who received reduced explanations and inference prompts outperformed the learners who received complete explanations and engaging prompts. Moreover, revision prompts were more effective in eliciting interactive learning activities than engaging prompts. In Experiment 2, N = 40 students were randomly assigned to either (1) a reduced explanations and inference prompts or (2) a reduced explanations and inference prompts plus adapted remedial explanations and revision prompts condition. In support of the constructive < interactive learning hypothesis, the learners who received adapted remedial explanations and revision prompts as add-ons to reduced explanations and inference prompts acquired more conceptual knowledge. PMID:25853629

Exploring Career Paths. A Guide for Students and Their Families.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Missouri Univ., Columbia. Instructional Materials Lab.

This five-section guide is designed to help students and their parents explore career paths. The first part of the guide is an introduction to the concept of career paths and an explanation of the steps students follow in exploring career paths. The second section, which makes up most of the booklet, covers five steps for exploring career paths:…

Biological Evolution and the History of the Earth Are Foundations of Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2008-01-01

AGU affirms the central importance of including scientific theories of Earth history and biological evolution in science education. Within the scientific community, the theory of biological evolution is not controversial, nor have ``alternative explanations'' been found. This is why no competing theories are required by the U.S. National Science Education Standards. Explanations of natural phenomena that appeal to the supernatural or are based on religious doctrine-and therefore cannot be tested through scientific inquiry-are not scientific, and have no place in the science classroom.

Let the Dogs Out: Using Bobble Head Toys to Explore Force and Motion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Andrea S.

2003-01-01

Introduces an activity in which students learn principles of force and motion, systems, and simple machines by exploring the best position of the dogs on the dashboard. Includes a sample lesson plan written in the five instructional models: (1) engagement; (2) exploration; (3) explanation; (4) elaboration; and (5) evaluation. (KHR)

Can monaural temporal masking explain the ongoing precedence effect?

PubMed

Freyman, Richard L; Morse-Fortier, Charlotte; Griffin, Amanda M; Zurek, Patrick M

2018-02-01

The precedence effect for transient sounds has been proposed to be based primarily on monaural processes, manifested by asymmetric temporal masking. This study explored the potential for monaural explanations with longer ("ongoing") sounds exhibiting the precedence effect. Transient stimuli were single lead-lag noise burst pairs; ongoing stimuli were trains of 63 burst pairs. Unlike with transients, monaural masking data for ongoing sounds showed no advantage for the lead, and are inconsistent with asymmetric audibility as an explanation for ongoing precedence. This result, along with supplementary measurements of interaural time discrimination, suggests different explanations for transient and ongoing precedence.

Understanding Resource Allocation in High Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartman, William T.

Despite commonly held views concerning educators' rational decision-making behavior, there are competing interpretations of school personnels' objective, actions, and decision-making processes. Alternative explanations emphasize bureaucratic routine, administrative convenience, educator self-interest, and political motivations, rather than…

Systematic Desensitization as Training in Self-Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldfried, Marvin R.

1971-01-01

A description of a mediational model to explain the effectiveness of desensitization and a discussion of the available corroborative research findings for this alternative explanation are given. Also, specific procedural modifications for systematic desensitization are suggested. (Author)

Parent socialization effects in different cultures: significance of directive parenting.

PubMed

Sorkhabi, Nadia

2012-06-01

In this article, the controversy of divergent findings in research on parental socialization effects in different cultures is addressed. Three explanations intended to address divergent findings of socialization effects in different cultures, as advanced by researchers who emphasize cultural differences, are discussed. These include cultural differences in socialization values and goals of parents, parental emotional and cognitive characteristics associated with parenting styles, and adolescents' interpretations or evaluations of their parents' parenting styles. The empirical evidence for and against each of these arguments is examined and an alternative paradigm for understanding and empirical study of developmental outcomes associated with parenting styles in different cultures is suggested. Baumrind's directive parenting style is presented as an alternative to the authoritarian parenting style in understanding the positive developmental effects associated with "strict" parenting in cultures said to have a collectivist orientation. Directions for research on the three explanations are mentioned.

Alternative reproductive tactics and the propensity of hybridization.

PubMed

Tynkkynen, K; Raatikainen, K J; Häkkilä, M; Haukilehto, E; Kotiaho, J S

2009-12-01

One explanation for hybridization between species is the fitness benefits it occasionally confers to the hybridizing individuals. This explanation is possible in species that have evolved alternative male reproductive tactics: individuals with inferior tactics might be more prone to hybridization provided it increases their reproductive success and fitness. Here we experimentally tested whether the propensity of hybridization in the wild depends on male reproductive tactic in Calopteryx splendens damselflies. Counter to our expectation, it was males adopting the superior reproductive tactic (territoriality) that had greatest propensity to hybridize than males adopting the inferior tactics (sneakers and floaters). Moreover, among the territorial males, the most ornamented males had greatest propensity to hybridize whereas the pattern was reversed in the sneaker males. Our results suggest that there is fluctuating selection on male mate discrimination against heterospecific females depending on both ornament size and the male's reproductive tactic.

Hobbes on natural philosophy as "True Physics" and mixed mathematics.

PubMed

Adams, Marcus P

2016-04-01

In this paper, I offer an alternative account of the relationship of Hobbesian geometry to natural philosophy by arguing that mixed mathematics provided Hobbes with a model for thinking about it. In mixed mathematics, one may borrow causal principles from one science and use them in another science without there being a deductive relationship between those two sciences. Natural philosophy for Hobbes is mixed because an explanation may combine observations from experience (the 'that') with causal principles from geometry (the 'why'). My argument shows that Hobbesian natural philosophy relies upon suppositions that bodies plausibly behave according to these borrowed causal principles from geometry, acknowledging that bodies in the world may not actually behave this way. First, I consider Hobbes's relation to Aristotelian mixed mathematics and to Isaac Barrow's broadening of mixed mathematics in Mathematical Lectures (1683). I show that for Hobbes maker's knowledge from geometry provides the 'why' in mixed-mathematical explanations. Next, I examine two explanations from De corpore Part IV: (1) the explanation of sense in De corpore 25.1-2; and (2) the explanation of the swelling of parts of the body when they become warm in De corpore 27.3. In both explanations, I show Hobbes borrowing and citing geometrical principles and mixing these principles with appeals to experience. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Building v/s Exploring Models: Comparing Learning of Evolutionary Processes through Agent-based Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagh, Aditi

Two strands of work motivate the three studies in this dissertation. Evolutionary change can be viewed as a computational complex system in which a small set of rules operating at the individual level result in different population level outcomes under different conditions. Extensive research has documented students' difficulties with learning about evolutionary change (Rosengren et al., 2012), particularly in terms of levels slippage (Wilensky & Resnick, 1999). Second, though building and using computational models is becoming increasingly common in K-12 science education, we know little about how these two modalities compare. This dissertation adopts agent-based modeling as a representational system to compare these modalities in the conceptual context of micro-evolutionary processes. Drawing on interviews, Study 1 examines middle-school students' productive ways of reasoning about micro-evolutionary processes to find that the specific framing of traits plays a key role in whether slippage explanations are cued. Study 2, which was conducted in 2 schools with about 150 students, forms the crux of the dissertation. It compares learning processes and outcomes when students build their own models or explore a pre-built model. Analysis of Camtasia videos of student pairs reveals that builders' and explorers' ways of accessing rules, and sense-making of observed trends are of a different character. Builders notice rules through available blocks-based primitives, often bypassing their enactment while explorers attend to rules primarily through the enactment. Moreover, builders' sense-making of observed trends is more rule-driven while explorers' is more enactment-driven. Pre and posttests reveal that builders manifest a greater facility with accessing rules, providing explanations manifesting targeted assembly. Explorers use rules to construct explanations manifesting non-targeted assembly. Interviews reveal varying degrees of shifts away from slippage in both modalities, with students who built models not incorporating slippage explanations in responses. Study 3 compares these modalities with a control using traditional activities. Pre and posttests reveal that the two modalities manifested greater facility with accessing and assembling rules than the control. The dissertation offers implications for the design of learning environments for evolutionary change, design of the two modalities based on their strengths and weaknesses, and teacher training for the same.

Predation of Karluk River sockeye salmon by coho salmon and char

USGS Publications Warehouse

McIntyre, J.D.; Reisenbichler, R.R.; Emlen, J.M.; Wilmot, R.L.; Finn, J.E.

1988-01-01

The number of sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, in Alaska's Karluk River (Fig. 1) declined from millions to thousands during the early part of the present century. Rounsefell (1958) discussed alternative explanations for the decline including a general loss offertility ofthe system as the number of salmon carcasses declined, competition, overfishing, subtle changes in climate, and predation; he concluded that the combined effect of predation and fishing was the most probable explanation. Later, Van Cleave and Bevan (1973) suggested that the weir constructed in the river each year to facilitate counting the fish as they entered the system was the most probable cause ofthe decline. Itprevented free movement of both adults and juveniles in the river. All of these hypotheses remain as potential explanations for the decline

Considerations of Elder Sibling Closeness in Predicting Younger Sibling Substance Use: Social Learning versus Social Bonding Explanations

PubMed Central

Samek, Diana R.; Rueter, Martha A.

2011-01-01

Adolescent siblings are often similar in a variety of adjustment outcomes, yet little is known about the processes that explain sibling influences during adolescence. Two alternative explanations were tested, attachment (based in social bonding theory) and anaclitic identification (based in social learning theory). Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 613 adolescent sibling pairs (206 non-adopted, 407 adopted; elder sibling Mage = 16.1, younger sibling Mage = 13.8) across three sibling contexts (gender composition, age difference, and genetic similarity). Attachment explanations were supported such that the greater the perceived sibling emotional and behavioral closeness, the lower the likelihood of substance use; however, there were considerable moderating effects of sibling gender composition. Anaclitic identification explanations were not supported; closeness and elder sibling substance use did not interact to predict younger sibling substance use. Overall, this research adds to a body of work demonstrating important sibling influences on adolescent substance use. PMID:21988080

Academic Performance Differences among Ethnic Groups: Do the Daily Use and Management of Time Offer Explanations?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meeuwisse, Marieke; Born, Marise Ph.; Severiens, Sabine E.

2013-01-01

This explorative study describes time use and time management behaviour of ethnic minority and ethnic majority students as possible explanations for the poorer study results of ethnic minority students compared to those of majority students. We used a diary approach in a small sample to examine students' daily time use in both a lecture week…

The association between caffeine and cognitive decline: examining alternative causal hypotheses.

PubMed

Ritchie, K; Ancelin, M L; Amieva, H; Rouaud, O; Carrière, I

2014-04-01

Numerous studies suggest that higher coffee consumption may reduce the rate of aging-related cognitive decline in women. It is thus potentially a cheap and widely available candidate for prevention programs provided its mechanism may be adequately understood. The assumed effect is that of reduced amyloid deposition, however, alternative pathways notably by reducing depression and diabetes type 2 risk have not been considered. A population study of 1,193 elderly persons examining depressive symptomatology, caffeine consumption, fasting glucose levels, type 2 diabetes onset, serum amyloid, and factors known to affect cognitive performance was used to explore alternative causal models. Higher caffeine consumption was found to be associated with decreased risk of incident diabetes in men (HR = 0.64; 95% CI 0.42-0.97) and increased risk in women (HR = 1.51; 95% CI 1.08-2.11). No association was found with incident depression. While in the total sample lower ratio Aβ42/Aβ40 levels (OR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.05-1.77, p = 0.02) were found in high caffeine consumers, this failed to reach significance when the analyses were stratified by gender. We found no evidence that reduced risk of cognitive decline in women with high caffeine consumption is moderated or confounded by diabetes or depression. The evidence of an association with plasma beta amyloid could not be clearly demonstrated. Insufficient proof of causal mechanisms currently precludes the recommendation of coffee consumption as a public health measure. Further research should focus on the high estrogen content of coffee as a plausible alternative explanation.

Why the Difference Between Explanation and Argument Matters to Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brigandt, Ingo

2016-05-01

Contributing to the recent debate on whether or not explanations ought to be differentiated from arguments, this article argues that the distinction matters to science education. I articulate the distinction in terms of explanations and arguments having to meet different standards of adequacy. Standards of explanatory adequacy are important because they correspond to what counts as a good explanation in a science classroom, whereas a focus on evidence-based argumentation can obscure such standards of what makes an explanation explanatory. I provide further reasons for the relevance of not conflating explanations with arguments (and having standards of explanatory adequacy in view). First, what guides the adoption of the particular standards of explanatory adequacy that are relevant in a scientific case is the explanatory aim pursued in this context. Apart from explanatory aims being an important aspect of the nature of science, including explanatory aims in classroom instruction also promotes students seeing explanations as more than facts, and engages them in developing explanations as responses to interesting explanatory problems. Second, it is of relevance to science curricula that science aims at intervening in natural processes, not only for technological applications, but also as part of experimental discovery. Not any argument enables intervention in nature, as successful intervention specifically presupposes causal explanations. Students can fruitfully explore in the classroom how an explanatory account suggests different options for intervention.

Exploring How Different Features of Animations of Sodium Chloride Dissolution Affect Students' Explanations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, Resa M.; Jones, Loretta L.

2007-10-01

Animations of molecular structure and dynamics are often used to help students understand the abstract ideas of chemistry. This qualitative study investigated how the features of two different styles of molecular-level animation affected students' explanations of how sodium chloride dissolves in water. In small group sessions 18 college-level general chemistry students dissolved table salt in water, after which they individually viewed two animations of salt dissolution. Before and after viewing each animation the participants provided pictorial, written, and oral explanations of the process at the macroscopic and molecular levels. The students then discussed the animations as a group. An analysis of the data showed that students incorporated some of the microscopic structural and functional features from the animations into their explanations. However, oral explanations revealed that in many cases, participants who drew or wrote correct explanations did not comprehend their meanings. Students' drawings may have reflected only what they had seen, rather than a cohesive understanding. Students' explanations given after viewing the animations improved, but some prior misconceptions were retained and in some cases, new misconceptions appeared. Students reported that they found the animations useful in learning; however, they sometimes missed essential features when they watched the animation alone.

Is the bias for function-based explanations culturally universal? Children from China endorse teleological explanations of natural phenomena

PubMed Central

Schachner, Adena; Zhu, Liqi; Li, Jing; Kelemen, Deborah

2017-01-01

Young children in Western cultures tend to endorse teleological (function-based) explanations broadly across many domains, even when scientifically unwarranted. For instance, in contrast to Western adults, they explicitly endorse the idea that mountains were created for climbing, just like hats were created for warmth. Is this bias a product of culture, or a product of universal aspects of human cognition? In two studies, we explored whether adults and children in Mainland China, a highly secular, non-Western culture, show a bias for teleological explanations. When explaining both object properties (Exp. 1) and origins (Exp. 2), we found evidence that they do. While Chinese adults restricted teleological explanations to scientifically warranted cases, Chinese children endorsed them more broadly, extending them across different kinds of natural phenomena. This bias decreased with rising grade level across first, second and fourth grade. Overall, these data provide evidence that children’s bias for teleological explanations is not solely a product of Western Abrahamic cultures. Instead, it extends to other cultures including the East Asian secular culture of modern-day China. This suggests that the bias for function-based explanations may be driven by universal aspects of human cognition. PMID:28110152

Exploring the pathways leading from disadvantage to end-stage renal disease for indigenous Australians.

PubMed

Cass, Alan; Cunningham, Joan; Snelling, Paul; Wang, Zhiqiang; Hoy, Wendy

2004-02-01

Indigenous Australians are disadvantaged, relative to other Australians, over a range of socio-economic and health measures. The age- and sex-adjusted incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD)--the irreversible preterminal phase of chronic renal failure--is almost nine times higher amongst Indigenous than it is amongst non-indigenous Australians. A striking gradient exists from urban to remote regions, where the standardised ESRD incidence is from 20 to more than 30 times the national incidence. We discuss the profound impact of renal disease on Indigenous Australians and their communities. We explore the linkages between disadvantage, often accompanied by geographic isolation, and both the initiation of renal disease, and its progression to ESRD. Purported explanations for the excess burden of renal disease in indigenous populations can be categorised as: primary renal disease explanations;genetic explanations;early development explanations; and socio-economic explanations. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these explanations and suggest a new hypothesis which integrates the existing evidence. We use this hypothesis to illuminate the pathways between disadvantage and the human biological processes which culminate in ESRD, and to propose prevention strategies across the life-course of Indigenous Australians to reduce their ESRD risk. Our hypothesis is likely to be relevant to an understanding of patterns of renal disease in other high-risk populations, particularly indigenous people in the developed world and people in developing countries. Furthermore, analogous pathways might be relevant to other chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If we are able to confirm the various pathways from disadvantage to human biology, we will be better placed to advocate evidence-based interventions, both within and beyond the scope of the health-care system, to address the excess burden of renal and other chronic diseases among affected populations.

Understanding students' explanations of biological phenomena: Conceptual frameworks or p-prims?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Southerland, Sherry A.; Abrams, Eleanor; Cummins, Catherine L.; Anzelmo, Julie

2001-07-01

This study explores two differing perspectives of the nature of students' biological knowledge structures, conceptual frameworks, and p-prims. Students from four grade levels and from three regions of the United States were asked to explain a variety of biological phenomena. Students' responses to the interview probes were analyzed to describe 1) patterns in the nature of students' explanations across grade levels and interview probes, and 2) the consistency of students' explanations across individual interview probes and across the range of probes. The results were interpreted from both perspectives of knowledge structures. While definitive assertions supporting either perspective could not be made, each hypothesis was explored. Although the more prevalent description of student conceptions within a broader conceptual framework could not be discounted, the p-prim of need as a rationale for change was also found to offer a useful description of knowledge frameworks for this content area. The difficulties endemic to the use of biology for the study of basic knowledge structures are also discussed.

Acute stress cardiomyopathy and deaths associated with electronic weapons.

PubMed

Cevik, Cihan; Otahbachi, Mohammad; Miller, Elizabeth; Bagdure, Satish; Nugent, Kenneth M

2009-03-06

Deaths associated with the use of electronic weapons almost always occur in young men involved in either civil disturbances or criminal activity. These situations are associated with high levels of circulating catecholamines and frequently associated with drug intoxication. The mechanism for these deaths is unclear. Clinical studies indicate that these high voltage electrical pulses do not cause cardiac arrhythmia. Acute stress cardiomyopathy provides an alternative explanation for deaths associated with electronic weapons and may provide a better explanation for the usual time course associated with taser deaths. Patients with acute stress cardiomyopathy usually have had an emotional or physical stress, have high circulating levels of catecholamines, present with an acute coronary syndrome but have normal coronary vessels without significant thrombus formation. They have unusual left ventricular dysfunction with so-called apical ballooning. This presentation has been attributed to the direct effects of catecholamines on myocardial cell function. Alternative explanations include vasospasm in the coronary microcirculation and/or acute thrombosis followed by rapid thrombolysis. Similar events could occur during the high stress situations associated with the use of electronic weapons. These events also likely explain restraint-related deaths which occur in independent of any use of electronic weapons. Forensic pathologists have the opportunity to provide important details about the pathogenesis of these deaths through histological studies and careful evaluation of coronary vessels.

Does influenza A affect body condition of wild mallard ducks, or vice versa?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flint, Paul L.; Franson, J. Christian

2009-01-01

Low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses are well documented to circulate within wild waterfowl populations (Olsen et. al. 2006). It has been assumed that these infections are benign with no subsequent effects on life-history parameters. The study by Latorre-Margalef et al. (2009; hereafter L.-M. et al.) represents an important step, as they attempt to test this assumption in wild birds. L.-M. et al. captured migrating mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) at a staging area and tested them for the presence of avian influenza A virus (IAV). They related IAV infection status to body mass and duration of time spent on the staging area. Overall, the study is well designed with impressive sample sizes and the analyses are carefully conducted and presented. However, in discussing these results, the authors assume causation based upon correlation and, although they acknowledge the possibility of immunosuppression during migration due to reduced energy stores, they do not discuss it as a possible explanation for their findings. Below, we consider several of the major findings by L.-M. et al., providing alternative explanations for the results. Because the L.-M. et al. study design is correlational, it is not possible to use their data to distinguish between their interpretations and our alternative explanations.

Is the desire for amputation related to disturbed emotion processing? A multiple case study analysis in BIID.

PubMed

Bottini, Gabriella; Brugger, Peter; Sedda, Anna

2015-01-01

Body integrity identity disorder (BIID) is characterized by the overwhelming desire to amputate one or more healthy limbs or to be paraplegic. Recently, a neurological explanation of this condition has been proposed, in part on the basis of findings that the insular cortex might present structural anomalies in these individuals. While these studies focused on body representation, much less is known about emotional processing. Importantly, emotional impairments have been found in psychiatric disorders, and a psychiatric etiology is still a valid alternative to purely neurological accounts of BIID. In this study, we explored, by means of a computerized experiment, facial emotion recognition and emotional responses to disgusting images in seven individuals with BIID, taking into account their clinical features and investigating in detail disgust processing, strongly linked to insular functioning. We demonstrate that BIID is not characterized by a general emotional impairment; rather, there is a selectively reduced disgust response to violations of the body envelope. Taken together, our results support the need to explore this condition under an interdisciplinary perspective, taking into account also emotional connotations and the social modulation of body representation.

Classifying clinical decision making: a unifying approach.

PubMed

Buckingham, C D; Adams, A

2000-10-01

This is the first of two linked papers exploring decision making in nursing which integrate research evidence from different clinical and academic disciplines. Currently there are many decision-making theories, each with their own distinctive concepts and terminology, and there is a tendency for separate disciplines to view their own decision-making processes as unique. Identifying good nursing decisions and where improvements can be made is therefore problematic, and this can undermine clinical and organizational effectiveness, as well as nurses' professional status. Within the unifying framework of psychological classification, the overall aim of the two papers is to clarify and compare terms, concepts and processes identified in a diversity of decision-making theories, and to demonstrate their underlying similarities. It is argued that the range of explanations used across disciplines can usefully be re-conceptualized as classification behaviour. This paper explores problems arising from multiple theories of decision making being applied to separate clinical disciplines. Attention is given to detrimental effects on nursing practice within the context of multidisciplinary health-care organizations and the changing role of nurses. The different theories are outlined and difficulties in applying them to nursing decisions highlighted. An alternative approach based on a general model of classification is then presented in detail to introduce its terminology and the unifying framework for interpreting all types of decisions. The classification model is used to provide the context for relating alternative philosophical approaches and to define decision-making activities common to all clinical domains. This may benefit nurses by improving multidisciplinary collaboration and weakening clinical elitism.

Implicit Messages:A Review of "Bias in Mental Testing."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scarr, Sandra

1981-01-01

Reviews Arthur Jensen's "Bias in Mental Testing" in terms of its implications for racial genetic inferiority, and offers alternate explanations for racial differences in testing based on data from studies on Black socialization and cultural differences in child rearing. (CM)

Valuing the delivery of dental care: Heterogeneity in patients' preferences and willingness-to-pay for dental care attributes.

PubMed

Sever, Ivan; Verbič, Miroslav; Sever, Eva Klaric

2018-02-01

To examine the amount of heterogeneity in patients' preferences for dental care, what factors affect their preferences, and how much they would be willing to pay for improvement in specific dental care attributes. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to elicit patients' preferences. Three alternative dental care services that differed in the type of care provider, treatment explanation, dental staff behavior, waiting time and treatment cost were described to patients. Patients (n=265) were asked to choose their preferred alternative. The study was conducted at a public dental clinic of the School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb. Mixed logit and latent class models were used for analysis. On average, the patients would be willing to pay €45 for getting a detailed explanation of treatment over no explanation. This was the most valued attribute of dental care, followed by dental staff behavior with marginal willingness-to-pay (WTP) of €28. Dental care provided by the faculty members and private dental care were valued similarly, while student-provided care was valued €23 less. Patients also disliked longer waiting time in the office, but this was the least important attribute. Four classes of patients with distinct preferences for dental care were identified. Older and/or more educated patients tended to give relatively less importance to treatment explanation. Higher education was also associated with a higher propensity to substitute faculty dental care with the private care providers. Large heterogeneity in patients' preferences was detected. Understanding their preferences may improve the delivery of dental care. Dental care providers should pay particular attention to providing a detailed treatment explanation to their patients. Dental care for older and/or more educated patients should be more attentive to interpersonal characteristics. Faculty dental care provided by faculty members could be price competitive to private care, and student-provided care more affordable. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the Evolutionary Accident Hypothesis: Are Extant Protein Folds the Fittest or the Luckiest?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shannon, G.; Wei, C.; Pohorille, A.

2017-01-01

Considering the range of functions proteins perform, it is surprising they fold into a relatively small set of structures or "folds" that facilitate such function. One explanation is that only a minority were fit enough to emerge from Darwinian selection during the early evolution of life. Alternatively, perhaps only a fraction of all possible folds were trialed. Understanding proto-catalyst selection will aid understanding of the origins and early evolution of life. To investigate which explanation is correct, we study a protein evolved in vitro to bind ATP by Jack Szostak (Fig. 1). This protein adopts a fold which is absent from nature. We are testing whether this fold would have possessed the capability to evolve that would have been essential to survive natural selection on early Earth. Folds that couldn't improve their fitness and evolve to perform new functions would have been replaced by rivals that could. To determine whether the fold is evolvable, we are attempting to change the function of the protein by rationally redesigning to bind GTP. Two design strategies in the region of the nucleobase have been implemented to provide hydrogen bonding partners for the ligand i) an insertion ii) a MET to ASN mutation. Redesigns are being studied computationally at Ames Research Center including free energy of binding calculations. Binding affinities of promising redesigns are to be validated by experimental collaborators at ForteBio using Super Streptavidin Biosensors. If the fold is found to be non-evolvable, this may suggest that many structures were trialed, but the majority were pruned on the basis of their evolvability. Alternatively, if the fold is demonstrated to be evolvable, it would be difficult to explain its absence from nature without considering the possibility that the fold simply wasn't sampled on early Earth. This would not only further our understanding of the origins of life on Earth but also suggest a common phe-nomenon of proto-catalyst evolution.

Challenges Facing Evidence-Based Prevention: Incorporating an Abductive Theory of Method.

PubMed

Mason, W Alex; Cogua-Lopez, Jasney; Fleming, Charles B; Scheier, Lawrence M

2018-06-01

Current systems used to determine whether prevention programs are "evidence-based" rely on the logic of deductive reasoning. This reliance has fostered implementation of strategies with explicitly stated evaluation criteria used to gauge program validity and suitability for dissemination. Frequently, investigators resort to the randomized controlled trial (RCT) combined with null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) as a means to rule out competing hypotheses and determine whether an intervention works. The RCT design has achieved success across numerous disciplines but is not without limitations. We outline several issues that question allegiance to the RCT, NHST, and the hypothetico-deductive method of scientific inquiry. We also discuss three challenges to the status of program evaluation including reproducibility, generalizability, and credibility of findings. As an alternative, we posit that extending current program evaluation criteria with principles drawn from an abductive theory of method (ATOM) can strengthen our ability to address these challenges and advance studies of drug prevention. Abductive reasoning involves working from observed phenomena to the generation of alternative explanations for the phenomena and comparing the alternatives to select the best possible explanation. We conclude that an ATOM can help increase the influence and impact of evidence-based prevention for population benefit.

Methodology in subliminal psychodynamic activation: the next step in the debate.

PubMed

Birgegård, A; Sohlberg, S

2001-04-01

Subliminal psychdynamic activation methodology has recently been the subject of an exchange of views between Birgegård and Sohlberg (1999) and Fudin (2000). The agreements and some remaining points of contention are summarized here. The main difference of opinion appears to concern unconscious verbal encoding in relation to subjective experience in subliminal stimulation and whether subliminal psychodynamic activation results are unreliable until a full explanation of how verbal encoding works is at hand. We conclude that clarifying perspectives is important and that those suggesting alternative explanations of results on subliminal psychodynamic activation must now empirically investigate their claims.

Neoliberalism revised? A critical account of World Bank conceptions of good governance and market friendly intervention.

PubMed

Kiely, R

1998-01-01

This article examines recent World Bank reports on the role of the state in the development process, with particular reference to the rise of the East Asian newly industrializing countries and the crisis of "governance" in sub-Saharan Africa. The concepts of market friendly intervention and good governance are critically discussed, and are found to be inadequate as explanations for East Asian "success" and African "failure." The author presents an alternative explanation for the rise of the newly industrializing countries, which draws out some of the implications for the developing world.

Investigating the origins of political views: biases in explanation predict conservative attitudes in children and adults.

PubMed

Hussak, Larisa J; Cimpian, Andrei

2018-05-01

We tested the hypothesis that political attitudes are influenced by an information-processing factor - namely, a bias in the content of everyday explanations. Because many societal phenomena are enormously complex, people's understanding of them often relies on heuristic shortcuts. For instance, when generating explanations for such phenomena (e.g., why does this group have low status?), people often rely on facts that they can retrieve easily from memory - facts that are skewed toward inherent or intrinsic features (e.g., this group is unintelligent). We hypothesized that this bias in the content of heuristic explanations leads to a tendency to (1) view socioeconomic stratification as acceptable and (2) prefer current societal arrangements to alternative ones, two hallmarks of conservative ideology. Moreover, since the inherence bias in explanation is present across development, we expected it to shape children's proto-political judgments as well. Three studies with adults and 4- to 8-year-old children (N = 784) provided support for these predictions: Not only did individual differences in reliance on inherent explanations uniquely predict endorsement of conservative views (particularly the stratification-supporting component; Study 1), but manipulations of this explanatory bias also had downstream consequences for political attitudes in both children and adults (Studies 2 and 3). This work contributes to our understanding of the origins of political attitudes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Thermal power systems small power systems applications project. Decision analysis for evaluating and ranking small solar thermal power system technologies. Volume 1: A brief introduction to multiattribute decision analysis. [explanation of multiattribute decision analysis methods used in evaluating alternatives for small powered systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feinberg, A.; Miles, R. F., Jr.

1978-01-01

The principal concepts of the Keeney and Raiffa approach to multiattribute decision analysis are described. Topics discussed include the concepts of decision alternatives, outcomes, objectives, attributes and their states, attribute utility functions, and the necessary independence properties for the attribute states to be aggregated into a numerical representation of the preferences of the decision maker for the outcomes and decision alternatives.

Question, Explanation, Follow-Up: A Mechanism for Learning from Others?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurkul, Katelyn E.; Corriveau, Kathleen H.

2018-01-01

This study explored differences in caregiver-child interactions following children's information-seeking questions. Naturalistic speech from thirty-seven 4-year-olds and their caregivers was used to explore children's information-seeking questions, the caregiver's response, and children's subsequent follow-up. Half of the families were…

The Short- and Long-Run Marginal Cost Curves: An Alternative Explanation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Laura A.; Boyd, David W.

1994-01-01

Discusses issues related to short-run marginal cost and long-run marginal cost in economic theory. Asserts that few economics textbooks deal with important aspects of this concept. Includes four figures illustrating the approach suggested by the authors. (CFR)

Students' Evaluations about Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lombardi, Doug; Brandt, Carol B.; Bickel, Elliot S.; Burg, Colin

2016-01-01

Scientists regularly evaluate alternative explanations of phenomena and solutions to problems. Students should similarly engage in critical evaluation when learning about scientific and engineering topics. However, students do not often demonstrate sophisticated evaluation skills in the classroom. The purpose of the present study was to…

American Mass Media and the Myth of Libertarianism: Toward an "Elite Power Group" Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akhavan-Majid, Roya; Wolf, Gary

1991-01-01

Presents evidence of the demise of Libertarianism in the U.S. mass media system and proposes an "elite power group" model as an alternative explanation of the working of the mass media in the United States. (MG)

SIMULATION MODEL FOR WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLANNING. VOLUME 2. MODEL USER MANUAL

EPA Science Inventory

This report provides a user manual for the hydrologic, nonpoint source pollution simulation of the generalized planning model for evaluating forest and farming management alternatives. The manual contains an explanation of application of specific code and indicates changes that s...

Transfer in Pieces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Joseph F.

2006-01-01

The theoretical perspective outlined here offers an alternative to explanations of knowledge transfer that posit its source in the construction and application of abstract, context-independent knowledge structures. A case study analysis of an undergraduate student's attempt to solve a series of problems related to an elementary statistical…

Explanations, explanations, explanations: how do patients with limited English construct narrative accounts in multi-lingual, multi-ethnic settings, and how can GPs interpret them?

PubMed

Moss, Becky; Roberts, Celia

2005-08-01

The gap is widening between understanding the subtle ways patients and GPs manage their talk, and superficial discussion of the 'language barrier' among linguistic minority patients. All patients have to explain themselves, not just those for whom English is their first or main language. Patients' explanations reflect how they want the doctor to perceive them as a patient and as a person: they reveal patients' identities. Yet interpretations are not easy when patients' style of talking English is influenced by their first language and cultural background. To explore in detail how patients with limited English and GPs jointly overcome misunderstandings in explanations. Using discourse analysis and conversation analysis, we examine how GPs and their patients with limited English negotiate explanations and collaborate to manage, repair or prevent understanding problems. 31% of patients said English was not their first language. Misunderstandings arise owing to a range of linguistic and cultural factors, including stress and intonation patterns, vocabulary, the way a patient sequences their narrative, and patient and GP pursuing different agendas. When talk itself is the problem, patients' explanations can lead to misunderstandings, which GPs have to repair if they cannot prevent. Careful interpretation by skillful GPs can reveal patients' knowledge, experience and perspective.

Effects of the Dads for Life intervention on interparental conflict and coparenting in the two years after divorce.

PubMed

Cookston, Jeffrey T; Braver, Sanford L; Griffin, William A; De Lusé, Stephanie R; Miles, Jonathan C

2007-03-01

The ability of parents to forge harmonious coparenting relationships following divorce is an important predictor of their children's long-term well-being. However, there is no convincing evidence that this relationship can be modified through intervention. A preventive intervention that we developed, Dads for Life (DFL), which targeted noncustodial parents as participants, has previously been shown in a randomized field trial to favorably impact child well-being. We explore here whether it also has an impact on mothers' and fathers' perceptions of coparenting and interparental conflict in the 2 years following divorce. Results of the latent growth curve models we evaluated showed that both mothers and fathers reported less conflict when the father participated in DFL as compared with controls. For the fathers, perceptions of coparenting did not change over time in either the DFL or control conditions. Alternatively, mothers' perceptions of support declined over time in the control group, whereas those whose ex-husbands participated in the DFL program reported significant positive growth change toward healthier coparenting. The positive findings for mothers' reports are particularly compelling because mothers were not the participants, and thus common alternative explanations are ruled out. The DFL intervention, then, offers courts a promising program to improve families' functioning after divorce.

Investigating Island Evolution: A Galapagos-Based Lesson Using the 5E Instructional Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeFina, Anthony V.

2002-01-01

Introduces an inquiry-based lesson plan on evolution and the Galapagos Islands. Uses the 5E instructional model which includes phases of engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. Includes information on species for exploration and elaboration purposes, and a general rubric for student evaluation. (YDS)

Risk Communication, Metacommunication, and Rhetorical Stases in the Aspen-EPA Superfund Controversy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stratman, James F.; And Others

1995-01-01

Explores the relationship between current theoretical definitions of risk communication, the unique national role that EPA plays in defining health and environmental risks, and possible explanations for EPA's inability to persuade Aspen, Colorado, to accept a cleanup plan. Explores ownership messages conveyed through metacommunication conflict…

Exploring Adolescent Motivations for Pursuing Maths-Related Careers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watt, Helen M. G.

2005-01-01

Adolescents from grade 9 in Sydney Australia (N = 60) were interviewed regarding why they would or would not consider pursuing maths-related careers. Open-ended interview data explored the comprehensiveness of explanations within the Expectancy-Value framework. The Expectancy-Value model is the major motivational framework for explaining students'…

Partnering with Families through Photo Collages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacigalupa, Chiara

2016-01-01

This article describes the implementation and benefits of a photo-based family communication method called Daily Explorations. Daily Explorations are one- to two-page photo collages that are annotated with meaningful explanations of children's play and e-mailed to parents every day. The process, described in more detail in this article, is a…

Exploring the Wild World of Wiggly Worms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dominguez, Lynn; McDonald, James; Kalajian, Katie; Stafford, Kristine

2013-01-01

Young children are naturally curious and constantly exploring the world around them. Combining this curiosity with the outdoors and nature for science skill development has many advantages for young learners. As children develop an enhanced understanding of the natural world, they are also developing explanations of how things work. Allowing…

Exploring the Development of Fifth Graders' Practical Epistemologies and Explanation Skills in Inquiry-Based Learning Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Hsin-Kai; Wu, Chia-Lien

2011-01-01

The purposes of this study are to explore fifth graders' epistemological views regarding their own experiences of constructing scientific knowledge through inquiry activities (i.e., practical epistemologies) and to investigate possible interactions between students' practical epistemologies and their inquiry skills to construct scientific…

ArtArctic Science: a polarTREC effort to educate about Antarctica through art

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Botella, J.; Racette, B.

2013-12-01

Formal scientific education is as important as ever for raising awarness about Antarctic issues, but some people resistance to learning about scienctific issues demands novel approaches for reaching people who are not in the classroom. ArtArctic Science is an interactive exhibit of photography and paintings presented at the Overture Center for the Arts, in Madison, WI by Monona Grove High School students and a science teacher that attempts to educate the general audience about Antarctic science. The exhibit explores art as a form of perceiving and understanding the world around us, and as a way of igniting the spark of curiosity that can lead to scientific inquiries. Antarctica has inspired explorers and scientists for over 100 years, and we add our work to efforts that share scientific results with common people. Antarctica offers stunning views of amazing geometric ice structures complemented and contrasted by the organisms that inhabit it that fascinate most everyone. We probe these scenes through photography and paintings knowing that there is more in each image than what the eye can 'see'. We invite the viewer to discover these secrets by engaging the observer in a mimicking of the scientific method (observation, questioning, finding an explanation, revising the explanation). Each art piece has a question and a scientific explanation hidden under a wooden lid. The observer is invited to explore the scene, involve itself with the scientific query, come up with an answer, and compare his or her idea with the hidden explanation. The exhibit is inspired by an Antarctic PolarTREC expedition in which our science teacher participated as a member of a scientific research team. In this presentation we share the knowledge acquired through this experience in hopes that it will help others attempting a similar Project.

An Establishment-Level Test of the Statistical Discrimination Hypothesis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald; Skaggs, Sheryl

1999-01-01

Analysis of a sample of 306 workers shows that neither the gender nor racial composition of the workplace is associated with productivity. An alternative explanation for lower wages of women and minorities is social closure--the monopolizing of desirable positions by advantaged workers. (SK)

Readability and Content Assessment of Informed Consent Forms for Phase II-IV Clinical Trials in China

PubMed Central

Wen, Gaiyan; Liu, Xinchun; Huang, Lihua; Shu, Jingxian; Xu, Nana; Chen, Ruifang; Huang, Zhijun; Yang, Guoping; Wang, Xiaomin; Xiang, Yuxia; Lu, Yao; Yuan, Hong

2016-01-01

Purpose To explore the readability and content integrity of informed consent forms (ICFs) used in China and to compare the quality of Chinese local ICFs with that of international ICFs. Methods The length, readability and content of 155 consent documents from phase II-IV drug clinical trials from the Third Xiangya Hospital Ethics Committee from November 2009 to January 2015 were evaluated. Reading difficulty was tested using a readability formula adapted for the Chinese language. An ICF checklist containing 27 required elements was successfully constructed to evaluate content integrity. The description of alternatives to participation was assessed. The quality of ICFs from different sponsorships were also compared. Results Among the 155 evaluable trials, the ICFs had a median length of 5286 words, corresponding to 7 pages. The median readability score was 4.31 (4.02–4.41), with 63.9% at the 2nd level and 36.1% at the 3rd level. Five of the 27 elements were frequently neglected. The average score for the description of alternatives to participation was 1.06, and 27.7% of the ICFs did not mention any alternatives. Compared with Chinese local ICFs, international ICFs were longer, more readable and contained more of the required elements (P < 0.05). Conclusion The ICFs used in China were difficult to read for most participants. These forms had poor description of alternatives to participation, and failed to provide a high degree of information disclosure, including an explanation of informed consent, follow-up processing of the data/sample, inclusion/exclusion criteria, double blinding, and unpredictable risks. International ICFs had better readability and content integrity than Chinese local ICFs. More efforts should thus be made to improve the quality of consent documents in China. PMID:27701471

Readability and Content Assessment of Informed Consent Forms for Phase II-IV Clinical Trials in China.

PubMed

Wen, Gaiyan; Liu, Xinchun; Huang, Lihua; Shu, Jingxian; Xu, Nana; Chen, Ruifang; Huang, Zhijun; Yang, Guoping; Wang, Xiaomin; Xiang, Yuxia; Lu, Yao; Yuan, Hong

2016-01-01

To explore the readability and content integrity of informed consent forms (ICFs) used in China and to compare the quality of Chinese local ICFs with that of international ICFs. The length, readability and content of 155 consent documents from phase II-IV drug clinical trials from the Third Xiangya Hospital Ethics Committee from November 2009 to January 2015 were evaluated. Reading difficulty was tested using a readability formula adapted for the Chinese language. An ICF checklist containing 27 required elements was successfully constructed to evaluate content integrity. The description of alternatives to participation was assessed. The quality of ICFs from different sponsorships were also compared. Among the 155 evaluable trials, the ICFs had a median length of 5286 words, corresponding to 7 pages. The median readability score was 4.31 (4.02-4.41), with 63.9% at the 2nd level and 36.1% at the 3rd level. Five of the 27 elements were frequently neglected. The average score for the description of alternatives to participation was 1.06, and 27.7% of the ICFs did not mention any alternatives. Compared with Chinese local ICFs, international ICFs were longer, more readable and contained more of the required elements (P < 0.05). The ICFs used in China were difficult to read for most participants. These forms had poor description of alternatives to participation, and failed to provide a high degree of information disclosure, including an explanation of informed consent, follow-up processing of the data/sample, inclusion/exclusion criteria, double blinding, and unpredictable risks. International ICFs had better readability and content integrity than Chinese local ICFs. More efforts should thus be made to improve the quality of consent documents in China.

Exploring the common molecular basis for the universal DNA mutation bias: Revival of Loewdin mutation model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fu, Liang-Yu; Center for Bioinformatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070; Wang, Guang-Zhong

2011-06-10

Highlights: {yields} There exists a universal G:C {yields} A:T mutation bias in three domains of life. {yields} This universal mutation bias has not been sufficiently explained. {yields} A DNA mutation model proposed by Loewdin 40 years ago offers a common explanation. -- Abstract: Recently, numerous genome analyses revealed the existence of a universal G:C {yields} A:T mutation bias in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals. To explore the molecular basis for this mutation bias, we examined the three well-known DNA mutation models, i.e., oxidative damage model, UV-radiation damage model and CpG hypermutation model. It was revealed that these models cannot providemore » a sufficient explanation to the universal mutation bias. Therefore, we resorted to a DNA mutation model proposed by Loewdin 40 years ago, which was based on inter-base double proton transfers (DPT). Since DPT is a fundamental and spontaneous chemical process and occurs much more frequently within GC pairs than AT pairs, Loewdin model offers a common explanation for the observed universal mutation bias and thus has broad biological implications.« less

How is the Ideal Gas Law Explanatory?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woody, Andrea I.

2013-07-01

Using the ideal gas law as a comparative example, this essay reviews contemporary research in philosophy of science concerning scientific explanation. It outlines the inferential, causal, unification, and erotetic conceptions of explanation and discusses an alternative project, the functional perspective. In each case, the aim is to highlight insights from these investigations that are salient for pedagogical concerns. Perhaps most importantly, this essay argues that science teachers should be mindful of the normative and prescriptive components of explanatory discourse both in the classroom and in science more generally. Giving attention to this dimension of explanation not only will do justice to the nature of explanatory activity in science but also will support the development of robust reasoning skills in science students while helping them understand an important respect in which science is more than a straightforward collection of empirical facts, and consequently, science education involves more than simply learning them.

Your Understanding Is My Understanding: Evidence for a Community of Knowledge.

PubMed

Sloman, Steven A; Rabb, Nathaniel

2016-11-01

In four experiments, we tested the community-of-knowledge hypothesis, that people fail to distinguish their own knowledge from other people's knowledge. In all the experiments, despite the absence of any actual explanatory information, people rated their own understanding of novel natural phenomena as higher when they were told that scientists understood the phenomena than when they were told that scientists did not yet understand them. In Experiment 2, we found that this occurs only when people have ostensible access to the scientists' explanations; the effect does not occur when the explanations exist but are held in secret. In Experiment 3, we further ruled out two classes of alternative explanations (one appealing to task demands and the other proposing that judgments were mediated by inferences about a phenomenon's understandability). In Experiment 4, we ruled out the possibility that the effect could be attributed to a pragmatic inference. © The Author(s) 2016.

Alternative interpretation for the active zones of Cuba

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez, Mario Octavio Cotilla

2014-11-01

An alternative explanation to the seismoactivity of Cuban faults is presented. The model is a consequence of the interaction between Caribbean and North American plates. It is made with 12 geodynamic cells form by a set of 13 active faults and their 14 areas of intersection. These cells are recognized morpho-structural blocks. The area between Eastern Matanzas and Western Cauto-Nipe is excluded because of the low level of seismic information. Cuba has two types of seismogenetic structures: faults and intersection of faults.

Invited review: sex ratio and rheumatic disease.

PubMed

Lockshin, M D

2001-11-01

Human illnesses affect men and women differently. In some cases (diseases of sex organs, diseases resulting from X or Y chromosome mutations), reasons for sex discrepancy are obvious, but in other cases no reason is apparent. Explanations for sex discrepancy of illness occur at different biological levels: molecular (e.g., imprinting, X-inactivation), cellular (sex-specific receptor activity), organ (endocrine influences), whole organism (size, age), and environmental-behavioral, including intrauterine influences. Autoimmunity represents a prototypical class of illness that has high female-to-male (F/M) ratios. Although the F/M ratios in autoimmune diseases are usually attributed to the influence of estrogenic hormones, evidence demonstrates that the attributed ratios are imprecise and that definitions and classifications of autoimmune diseases vary, rendering at least part of the counting imprecise. In addition, many studies on sex discrepancy of human disease fail to distinguish between disease incidence and disease severity. In April 2001, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences published Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health: Does Sex Matter? (Wizemann T and Pardue M-L, editors). This minireview summarizes the section of that report that concerns autoimmune and infectious disease. Some thyroid, rheumatic, and hepatic autoimmune diseases have high F/M ratios, whereas others have low. Those that have high ratios occur primarily in young adulthood. Gonadal hormones, if they play a role, likely do so through a threshold or permissive mechanism. Examples of sex differences that could be caused by environmental exposure, X inactivation, imprinting, X or Y chromosome genetic modulators, and intrauterine influences are presented as alternate, theoretical, and largely unexplored explanations for sex differences of incidence. The epidemiology of autoimmune diseases (young, female) suggests that an explanation for sex discrepancy of these illnesses lies in differential exposure, vulnerable periods, or thresholds. Biologists have an opportunity to inform medical scientists about sex differences that explain different attack rates in specific diseases, and physicians offer biologists experiments of nature to test theories of sex.

Folk-Psychological Interpretation of Human vs. Humanoid Robot Behavior: Exploring the Intentional Stance toward Robots.

PubMed

Thellman, Sam; Silvervarg, Annika; Ziemke, Tom

2017-01-01

People rely on shared folk-psychological theories when judging behavior. These theories guide people's social interactions and therefore need to be taken into consideration in the design of robots and other autonomous systems expected to interact socially with people. It is, however, not yet clear to what degree the mechanisms that underlie people's judgments of robot behavior overlap or differ from the case of human or animal behavior. To explore this issue, participants ( N = 90) were exposed to images and verbal descriptions of eight different behaviors exhibited either by a person or a humanoid robot. Participants were asked to rate the intentionality, controllability and desirability of the behaviors, and to judge the plausibility of seven different types of explanations derived from a recently proposed psychological model of lay causal explanation of human behavior. Results indicate: substantially similar judgments of human and robot behavior, both in terms of (1a) ascriptions of intentionality/controllability/desirability and in terms of (1b) plausibility judgments of behavior explanations; (2a) high level of agreement in judgments of robot behavior - (2b) slightly lower but still largely similar to agreement over human behaviors; (3) systematic differences in judgments concerning the plausibility of goals and dispositions as explanations of human vs. humanoid behavior. Taken together, these results suggest that people's intentional stance toward the robot was in this case very similar to their stance toward the human.

Children's and adults' understanding of death: Cognitive, parental, and experiential influences.

PubMed

Panagiotaki, Georgia; Hopkins, Michelle; Nobes, Gavin; Ward, Emma; Griffiths, Debra

2018-02-01

This study explored the development of understanding of death in a sample of 4- to 11-year-old British children and adults (N=136). It also investigated four sets of possible influences on this development: parents' religion and spiritual beliefs, cognitive ability, socioeconomic status, and experience of illness and death. Participants were interviewed using the "death concept" interview that explores understanding of the subcomponents of inevitability, universality, irreversibility, cessation, and causality of death. Children understood key aspects of death from as early as 4 or 5years, and with age their explanations of inevitability, universality, and causality became increasingly biological. Understanding of irreversibility and the cessation of mental and physical processes also emerged during early childhood, but by 10years many children's explanations reflected not an improved biological understanding but rather the coexistence of apparently contradictory biological and supernatural ideas-religious, spiritual, or metaphysical. Evidence for these coexistent beliefs was more prevalent in older children than in younger children and was associated with their parents' religious and spiritual beliefs. Socioeconomic status was partly related to children's biological ideas, whereas cognitive ability and experience of illness and death played less important roles. There was no evidence for coexistent thinking among adults, only a clear distinction between biological explanations about death and supernatural explanations about the afterlife. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human altruism, evolution and moral philosophy

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

This paper has two central aims. The first is to explore philosophical complications that arise when we move from (i) explaining the evolutionary origins of genetically influenced traits associated with human cooperation and altruism, to (ii) explaining present manifestations of human thought, feeling and behaviour involving cooperation and altruism. While the former need only appeal to causal factors accessible to scientific inquiry, the latter must engage also with a distinctive form of explanation, i.e. reason-giving explanation, which in turn raises important philosophical questions, the answers to which will affect the nature of the ultimate explanations of our moral beliefs and related actions. On one possibility I will explore, this explanatory project cannot avoid engaging with first-order ethical theory. The second aim is to apply lessons from these explanatory complications to the critique of ‘evolutionary debunking arguments’, which seek to debunk morality, or at least objective construals of it (i.e. moral realism), by appeal to allegedly scientific debunking explanations of our moral beliefs that would defeat our justification for them. The explanatory complications brought out in the first half raise difficulties for such debunking arguments. If we avoid begging central philosophical questions then such debunking arguments pose little threat of saddling us with moral scepticism or subjectivism, though they do pose an important challenge for those developing a moral realist view. PMID:28878990

Linguistic Alternants and Code Selection in Baba Malay.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pakir, Anne

1989-01-01

Provides a brief account and explanation of the phenomenon of language use among the Baba community, which uses Hokkien, Malay, and English in the process of code selection and code mixing/switching. Data are drawn from recordings of conversation of the Babas and Nyonyas. (Author/OD)

77 FR 50071 - Petition for Approval of Alternate Odometer Disclosure Requirements

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-20

... be better informed and provide a mechanism for tracing odometer tampering and prosecuting violators... background, according to information posted on the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Web site... explanation for this omission, which could make tracing and prosecuting fraud more difficult.\\38\\ \\38...

On Normal and Autistic Pronouns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fay, Warren H.

1971-01-01

An alternative to the ego-based explanations for the autistic child's characteristic patterns of pronominal reversals and avoidances is an approach based on studies of echolalia which considers grammatical aspects of acquisition, reversal, and nonreversal. Focus is consequently shifted from primacy of expressive I to comprehension of you/me…

Canceling out Both the Real and the Spectral Lines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toraldo, A.; Gandola, M.; Loffredo, S.; Rancati, A.; Zanardi, G.; Bottini, G.

2005-01-01

Neglect patients typically show motor perseveration while canceling targets on the ipsilesional side. This behavior can be influenced by the presence vs. absence of targets on the (neglected) contralesional side (Bottini & Toraldo, 2003). As alternative explanations, the authors proposed (i) directional hypokinesia-the patient cannot perform…

The jumping ring and Lenz's law—an analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bostock-Smith, J. M.

2008-05-01

Lenz's law is sometimes invoked to explain the behaviour of the jumping, or levitating, ring. This is shown to be incomplete, and an alternative explanation using Faraday's laws and circuit analysis is offered. This leads to the choice of optimum material and dimensions for the ring.

Seizure Disorders: An Alternative Explanation for Students' Inattention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agnew, Christina M.; Nystul, Michael S.; Conner, Mary Catherine

1998-01-01

Provides an overview of seizure disorders. They are more common than previously thought, and most have their onset in adolescence. Types of seizure disorders common in children, their symptoms, and treatment are described. A case example illustrates behavior in school and a paradoxical medication effect. (EMK)

Preliminary Evolutionary Explanations: A Basic Framework for Conceptual Change and Explanatory Coherence in Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kampourakis, Kostas; Zogza, Vasso

2009-10-01

This study aimed to explore secondary students’ explanations of evolutionary processes, and to determine how consistent these were, after a specific evolution instruction. In a previous study it was found that before instruction students provided different explanations for similar processes to tasks with different content. Hence, it seemed that the structure and the content of the task may have had an effect on students’ explanations. The tasks given to students demanded evolutionary explanations, in particular explanations for the origin of homologies and adaptations. Based on the conclusions from the previous study, we developed a teaching sequence in order to overcome students’ preconceptions, as well as to achieve conceptual change and explanatory coherence. Students were taught about fundamental biological concepts and the several levels of biological organization, as well as about the mechanisms of heredity and of the origin of genetic variation. Then, all these concepts were used to teach about evolution, by relating micro-concepts (e.g. genotypes) to macro-concepts (e.g. phenotypes). Moreover, during instruction students were brought to a conceptual conflict situation, where their intuitive explanations were challenged as emphasis was put on two concepts entirely opposed to their preconceptions: chance and unpredictability. From the explanations that students provided in the post-test it is concluded that conceptual change and explanatory coherence in evolution can be achieved to a certain degree by lower secondary school students through the suggested teaching sequence and the explanatory framework, which may form a basis for teaching further about evolution.

Addiction, Drinking Behavior, and Driving Under the Influence

PubMed Central

Sloan, Frank A.; Chepke, Lindsey M.; Davis, Dontrell V.

2012-01-01

Using a survey of drinkers (N=1,634), we evaluated alternative explanations of heavy and binge drinking, driving under the influence (DUI), DUI arrests, speeding citations, and chargeable accidents. Explanations included socializing, short-term decision-making, unrealistic optimism, risk preferring behavior, and addiction. Most consistent relationships were between substance use and alcohol addiction and dependent variables for (1) binge drinking and (2) DUI episodes. Respondent characteristics (age, marital and employment status, race) had important roles for DUI arrests. Drinker-drivers and those arrested for DUI are partially overlapping groups with implications for treatment and policies detecting and incapacitating persons from drinking and driving. PMID:24304171

Addiction, drinking behavior, and driving under the influence.

PubMed

Sloan, Frank A; Eldred, Lindsey M; Davis, Dontrell V

2014-05-01

Using a survey of drinkers (N = 1,634), we evaluated alternative explanations of heavy and binge drinking, driving under the influence (DUI), DUI arrests, speeding citations, and chargeable accidents. Explanations included socializing, short-term decision-making, unrealistic optimism, risk preferring behavior, and addiction. Most consistent relationships were between substance use and alcohol addiction and dependent variables for (1) binge drinking and (2) DUI episodes. Respondent characteristics (age, marital and employment status, race, etc.) had important roles for DUI arrests. Drinker-drivers and those arrested for DUI are partially overlapping groups with implications for treatment and policies detecting and incapacitating persons from drinking and driving.

Planetary lightning - Earth, Jupiter, and Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, M. A.; Krider, E. P.; Hunten, D. M.

1983-05-01

The principal characteristics of lightning on earth are reviewed, and the evidence for lightning on Venus and Jupiter is examined. The mechanisms believed to be important to the electrification of terrestrial clouds are reviewed, with attention given to the applicability of some of these mechanisms to the atmospheres of Venus and Jupiter. The consequences of the existence of lightning on Venus and Jupiter for their atmospheres and for theories of cloud electrification on earth are also considered. Since spacecraft observations do not conclusively show that lightning does occur on Venus, it is suggested that alternative explanations for the experimental results be explored. Since Jupiter has no true surface, the Jovian lightning flashes are cloud dischargaes. Observations suggest that Jovian lightning emits, on average, 10 to the 10 J of optical energy per flash, whereas on earth lightning radiates only about 10 to the 6th J per flash. Estimates of the average planetary lightning rate on Jupiter range from 0.003 per sq km per yr to 40 per sq km per yr.

Is the superior verbal memory span of Mandarin speakers due to faster rehearsal?

PubMed

Mattys, Sven L; Baddeley, Alan; Trenkic, Danijela

2018-04-01

It is well established that digit span in native Chinese speakers is atypically high. This is commonly attributed to a capacity for more rapid subvocal rehearsal for that group. We explored this hypothesis by testing a group of English-speaking native Mandarin speakers on digit span and word span in both Mandarin and English, together with a measure of speed of articulation for each. When compared to the performance of native English speakers, the Mandarin group proved to be superior on both digit and word spans while predictably having lower spans in English. This suggests that the Mandarin advantage is not limited to digits. Speed of rehearsal correlated with span performance across materials. However, this correlation was more pronounced for English speakers than for any of the Chinese measures. Further analysis suggested that speed of rehearsal did not provide an adequate account of differences between Mandarin and English spans or for the advantage of digits over words. Possible alternative explanations are discussed.

Role of nuclear stars in the light flashes observed on Skylab 4.

PubMed

McNulty, P J; Filz, R C; Rothwell, P L

1977-01-01

The astronauts on Skylab 4 observed bursts of intense visual light-flash activity when their spacecraft passed through the portion of the earth's inner trapped radiation belt known as the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). Two experimental sessions were carried out on board Skylab 4 under the auspices of Pinsky et al. who compare the flash rates with the measured flux of Z > or = 1 particles that would pass through the astronaut's eyes. They concluded that the flash rates, which became as great as 20/min, were anomalously high. We explored a number of alternative explanations for the anomalous flash rates that would be consistent with the accepted SAA flux values and the laboratory data on particle induced visual sensations and found that when one includes the effect of nuclear interactions in and near the retina which result in star formation (the emission of slow protons, neutrons and alpha particles form the nucleus in an evaporation-like process) the apparent anomaly is removed.

Numerical approaches to model perturbation fire in turing pattern formations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campagna, R.; Brancaccio, M.; Cuomo, S.; Mazzoleni, S.; Russo, L.; Siettos, K.; Giannino, F.

2017-11-01

Turing patterns were observed in chemical, physical and biological systems described by coupled reaction-diffusion equations. Several models have been formulated proposing the water as the causal mechanism of vegetation pattern formation, but this isn't an exhaustive hypothesis in some natural environments. An alternative explanation has been related to the plant-soil negative feedback. In Marasco et al. [1] the authors explored the hypothesis that both mechanisms contribute in the formation of regular and irregular vegetation patterns. The mathematical model consists in three partial differential equations (PDEs) that take into account for a dynamic balance between biomass, water and toxic compounds. A numerical approach is mandatory also to investigate on the predictions of this kind of models. In this paper we start from the mathematical model described in [1], set the model parameters such that the biomass reaches a stable spatial pattern (spots) and present preliminary studies about the occurrence of perturbing events, such as wildfire, that can affect the regularity of the biomass configuration.

Exploring Effects of Background Context Familiarity and Signaling on Comprehension, Recall, and Cognitive Load

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Minjung; Bruning, Roger

2016-01-01

This study was designed to explore the effects of different geographical background contexts and signalling for information about global warming on comprehension, recall and cognitive load. Two different geographical contexts, US and Korean, were employed to frame explanations of global warming phenomena to US students. Two signalling conditions…

Looking for a Struggle: Exploring the Emotions of a Middle School Reader

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Triplett, Cheri Foster

2004-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to explore a middle school student's emotions in the tutoring context in order to better understand the "struggles"faced by a struggling reader. Through cognitive explanations of emotions, the researcher identified aspects of tutoring that influenced Mitchell's feelings of enjoyment, pride, and success. These…

Using Transformative Learning as a Framework to Explore Women and Running

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayduk, Dina

2011-01-01

This qualitative narrative inquiry explored women's self-perceptions changed through regular participation in running. Transformative learning theory was considered as a possible explanation for the learning and changes adult women experienced. In-depth interviews of 11 adult women who have been running between 1 to 4 years were conducted. Based…

Post-Formalist Explanation of Academic Achievement: Exploring the Contribution of John Ogbu and Joe Kincheloe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinha, Chetan

2016-01-01

The present paper attempts to interrogate the existing approach to understand academic achievement in the mainstream educational psychology. The paper explores the persistent question of "why academic achievement gap" in the modern society from the cultural ecological and postformalist framework of John Ogbu and Joe Kincheloe…

Choice and explanation in medical management: a multiattribute model of artificial intelligence approaches.

PubMed

Rennels, G D; Shortliffe, E H; Miller, P L

1987-01-01

This paper explores a model of choice and explanation in medical management and makes clear its advantages and limitations. The model is based on multiattribute decision making (MADM) and consists of four distinct strategies for choice and explanation, plus combinations of these four. Each strategy is a restricted form of the general MADM approach, and each makes restrictive assumptions about the nature of the domain. The advantage of tailoring a restricted form of a general technique to a particular domain is that such efforts may better capture the character of the domain and allow choice and explanation to be more naturally modelled. The uses of the strategies for both choice and explanation are illustrated with analyses of several existing medical management artificial intelligence (AI) systems, and also with examples from the management of primary breast cancer. Using the model it is possible to identify common underlying features of these AI systems, since each employs portions of this model in different ways. Thus the model enables better understanding and characterization of the seemingly ad hoc decision making of previous systems.

Suckers for Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haugen, Heidi Helene

2001-01-01

Introduces an inquiry-based program on leeches that features five components: (1) engagement; (2) exploration; (3) explanation; (4) evaluation; and (5) extension/elaboration. Investigates the anatomy and environmental conditions of leeches. (YDS)

Auditory Processing Efficiency and Temporal Resolution in Children and Adults.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Penelope R.; Hartley, Douglas E.H.; Glasberg, Brian R.; Moore, Brian C.J.; Moore, David R.

2004-01-01

Children have higher auditory backward masking (BM) thresholds than adults. One explanation for this is poor temporal resolution, resulting in difficulty separating brief or rapidly presented sounds. This implies that the auditory temporal window is broader in children than in adults. Alternatively, elevated BM thresholds in children may indicate…

Is Attention Impaired in ADHD?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilding, John

2005-01-01

Explanations of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in terms of a weakness in Executive Function (EF) or related concepts, such as inhibition, are briefly reviewed. Some alternative views are considered, in particular a proposal by Manly and others that ADHD is a weakness primarily of sustained attention (plus control of attention),…

ADHD, Science and the Common Man

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colley, Bill

2010-01-01

In this paper, a response is made to the assertion that discourses surrounding attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are dominated by those who choose to frame such difficulties within a biomedical paradigm, and that valid alternative explanations are often marginalised as a result. It is suggested, however, that if such a discontinuity…

Parallel overinterpretation of behavior of apes and corvids.

PubMed

Hampton, Robert

2018-06-20

The report by Kabadayi and Osvath (Science, 357(6347), 202-204, 2017) does not demonstrate planning in ravens. The behavior of corvids and apes is fascinating and will be best appreciated through well-designed experiments that explicitly test alternative explanations and that are interpreted without unjustified anthropomorphic embellishment.

The Influence of Temporal Resolution Power and Working Memory Capacity on Psychometric Intelligence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troche, Stefan J.; Rammsayer, Thomas H.

2009-01-01

According to the temporal resolution power (TRP) hypothesis, higher TRP as reflected by better performance on psychophysical timing tasks accounts for faster speed of information processing and increased efficiency of information processing leading to better performance on tests of psychometric intelligence. An alternative explanation of…

Developing an Alternative Perspective on Coherence Seeking in Science Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sikorski, Tiffany-Rose J.

2012-01-01

Education research continues to struggle with how to characterize students' engagement in the doing of science. Too often, educators and researchers reduce doing science to learning particular facts and explanations, or participating in narrowly-defined, de-contextualized ways of reasoning and arguing. In this dissertation, I review prominent…

Nonparticipation in Adult Education: From Self-Perceptions to Alternative Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porras-Hernandez, Laura Helena; Salinas-Amescua, Bertha

2012-01-01

In this article, the authors propose that dispositional factors do not sufficiently explain nonparticipation in adult education programs. Many nations report low participation rates, but empirical studies have usually been conducted with enrolled adults. This study, however, included 279 poorly educated mestizas and Native women in two regions of…

Muscle Responses to Stimulation of the Tadpole Tail

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Funkhouser, Anne

1976-01-01

Describes use of tail muscles and spinal cord in the tadpole as an alternative source for muscle-and-nerve experiments. Includes explanation of simple dissection and preparation of tadpole; instructions for experiments such as threshold, strength of stimulus, frequency of stimulus, single twitch, tetanus, fatigue, effects of temperature on…

A "View from Nowhen" on Time Perception Experiments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riemer, Martin; Trojan, Jorg; Kleinbohl, Dieter; Holzl, Rupert

2012-01-01

Systematic errors in time reproduction tasks have been interpreted as a misperception of time and therefore seem to contradict basic assumptions of pacemaker-accumulator models. Here we propose an alternative explanation of this phenomenon based on methodological constraints regarding the direction of time, which cannot be manipulated in…

Teaching Economics: A Cooperative Learning Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caropreso, Edward J.; Haggerty, Mark

2000-01-01

Describes an alternative approach to introductory economics based on a cooperative learning model, "Learning Together." Discussion of issues in economics education and cooperative learning in higher education leads to explanation of how to adapt the Learning Together Model to lesson planning in economics. A flow chart illustrates the process for a…

Testing Alternative Explanations for the Associations between Parenting and Adolescent Suicidal Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boeninger, Daria K.; Masyn, Katherine E.; Conger, Rand D.

2013-01-01

Although studies have established associations between parenting characteristics and adolescent suicidality, the strength of the evidence for these links remains unclear, largely because of methodological limitations, including lack of accounting for possible child effects on parenting. This study addresses these issues by using autoregressive…

Structured Exchanges and Childhood Learning: Hyperaggressive Children. Program Activity 12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamblin, Robert L.; Buckholdt, David

Recognizing that punishment for aggression often is noneffective or inadvertently reinforces the aggressive act, the authors discuss an alternative approach and provide an explanation of the exchange theory of aggression. Three classroom experiments, operated with children chosen as the most severe behavior problems in a local school system, are…

The Association of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder with Socioeconomic Disadvantage: Alternative Explanations and Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Ginny; Ford, Tamsin; Rosenberg, Rachel; Kelly, Susan

2014-01-01

Background: Studies throughout Northern Europe, the United States and Australia have found an association between childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and family socioeconomic disadvantage. We report further evidence for the association and review potential causal pathways that might explain the link. Methods: Secondary…

Spending Money Wisely.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wentworth, Donald R.; And Others

1982-01-01

The theme article of this issue, "Spending Money Wisely," by Donald R. Wentworth, begins with an explanation of basic strategies which aid wise spending. The article goes on to provide an introduction to economic reasoning related to consumer purchases and focusing on the role of incentives, scarcity, and alternatives. Four teaching units follow…

Modelling public support for wildland fire policy

Treesearch

J.D. Absher; J.J. Vaske

2007-01-01

Theoretically grounded explanations of wildland fire policy can be improved by empirically documenting the causal influences of support for (or opposition to) management alternatives. This chapter proposes a model based on the specificity principle (i.e. correspondence between measured variables to empirically examine four common wildland fire policies in relation to...

Bipolarity in planarians is not induced by space travel.

PubMed

Sluys, Ronald; Stocchino, Giacinta A

2017-08-01

Available evidence strongly suggests that alternative, Earth-bound explanations should be sought first for the occurrence of a single bipolar planarian flatworm returning from space travel. Double-headed worms have been amply documented as arising under experimental conditions as well as spontaneously in stock cultures of planarians.

The Impact of Disablers on Predictive Inference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cummins, Denise Dellarosa

2014-01-01

People consider alternative causes when deciding whether a cause is responsible for an effect (diagnostic inference) but appear to neglect them when deciding whether an effect will occur (predictive inference). Five experiments were conducted to test a 2-part explanation of this phenomenon: namely, (a) that people interpret standard predictive…

Referential Communication in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dahlgren, Svenolof; Sandberg, Annika Dahlgren

2008-01-01

Referential communication was studied in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) including children with autism and Asperger syndrome. The aim was to study alternative explanations for the children's communicative problems in such situations. Factors studied were theory of mind, IQ, verbal ability and memory. The main results demonstrated…

Fragmentation of Thin Wires under High Voltage Pulses and Bipolar Fusion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Papageorgiou, C. D.; Raptis, T. E.

2010-01-21

In this article we present an alternative explanation of the phenomenon of wire fragmentation under high transient currents based on classical electromagnetism. We also explain how this phenomenon can be utilized as a primitive example of low energy-high power disruptive phenomena that can affect even nuclear matter.

Truth and Consequences: Believing as Adaptive Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawyer, Llewlee L.

A theoretical cornerstone of cognitive therapy is the idea that the relationship between experience and cognition, the interpretation of experience, is recursive. Human beings can respond to a given experience with more than one description and/or explanation of the experience and these alternative interpretations can have different experiential…

The devil is in the tails: the role of globular cluster mass evolution on stream properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balbinot, Eduardo; Gieles, Mark

2018-02-01

We present a study of the effects of collisional dynamics on the formation and detectability of cold tidal streams. A semi-analytical model for the evolution of the stellar mass function was implemented and coupled to a fast stellar stream simulation code, as well as the synthetic cluster evolution code EMACSS for the mass evolution as a function of a globular cluster orbit. We find that the increase in the average mass of the escaping stars for clusters close to dissolution has a major effect on the observable stream surface density. As an example, we show that Palomar 5 would have undetectable streams (in an SDSS-like survey) if it was currently three times more massive, despite the fact that a more massive cluster loses stars at a higher rate. This bias due to the preferential escape of low-mass stars is an alternative explanation for the absence of tails near massive clusters, than a dark matter halo associated with the cluster. We explore the orbits of a large sample of Milky Way globular clusters and derive their initial masses and remaining mass fraction. Using properties of known tidal tails, we explore regions of parameter space that favour the detectability of a stream. A list of high-probability candidates is discussed.

Struggling for legitimacy: nursing students' stories of organisational aggression, resilience and resistance.

PubMed

Jackson, Debra; Hutchinson, Marie; Everett, Bronwyn; Mannix, Judy; Peters, Kath; Weaver, Roslyn; Salamonson, Yenna

2011-06-01

There is a considerable body of literature scrutinising and theorising negative and hostile behaviour such as violence and interpersonal conflict in the nursing workplace. However, relatively little empirical work has examined the experiences of undergraduate nursing students in the context of negative workplace cultures, and even fewer studies have explored how students develop and enact strategies to counter hostile behaviours in the clinical workplace. Based on qualitative analysis of open-ended survey questions, this study explored undergraduate students' experiences of negative behaviours in the clinical environment to identify strategies used to manage and resist such behaviours. While dominant individuals in the clinical environment sought to enforce and uphold their version of legitimacy--one where students were relegated to complete subordination--the tenacity and resourcefulness of students was evident in their attempts to counter this oppression with acts of resistance. Our findings provide new and valuable insights into organisational aggression and acts of resistance in the nursing workplace. The resistance offered by these students draws attention to the struggles for legitimacy within institutions. In drawing attention to organisational aggression as a mechanism by which students are 'othered' through pejorative behaviour, homogenisation, and de-authentication, and the dynamics of resistance offered by these student nurses, we provide an alternative explanation of nursing socialisation. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Grandmothers as gems of genetic wisdom: exploring South African traditional beliefs about the causes of childhood genetic disorders.

PubMed

Penn, Claire; Watermeyer, Jennifer; MacDonald, Carol; Moabelo, Colleen

2010-02-01

With its diverse cultural and linguistic profile, South Africa provides a unique context to explore contextual influences on the process of genetic counseling. Prior research suggests intergenerational differences regarding models of causation which influence treatment-seeking paths. This pilot study therefore aimed to explore South African traditional beliefs regarding common childhood genetic disorders. Three focus groups were conducted with fifteen grandmothers from different cultural backgrounds in an urban community. Questions pertained to the role of the grandmother, traditional beliefs regarding causes of genetic disorders, explanations of heredity, and prevention and management of genetic disorders. Results indicate a variety of cultural explanations for causes of childhood genetic disorders. These causes can be classified into categories related to lifestyle, behavior, social issues, culture, religion, genetic, and familial causes. Prevention and treatment issues are also highlighted. These findings have implications for genetic counseling practice, which needs to include a greater focus on cultural issues.

Learning to Explain Astronomy Across Moving Frames of Reference: Exploring the role of classroom and planetarium-based instructional contexts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plummer, Julia Diane; Kocareli, Alicia; Slagle, Cynthia

2014-05-01

Learning astronomy involves significant spatial reasoning, such as learning to describe Earth-based phenomena and understanding space-based explanations for those phenomena as well as using the relevant size and scale information to interpret these frames of reference. This study examines daily celestial motion (DCM) as one case of how children learn to move between frames of reference in astronomy wherein one explains Earth-based descriptions of the Sun's, Moon's, and stars' apparent motion using the Earth's daily rotation. We analysed interviews with 8-9-year-old students (N = 99) who participated in one of four instructional conditions emphasizing: the space-based perspective; the Earth-based perspective in the planetarium; constructing explanations for the Earth-based observations; and a combination of the planetarium plus constructing explanations in the classroom. We used an embodied cognition framework to analyse outcomes while also considering challenges learners face due to the high cognitive demands of spatial reasoning. Results support the hypothesis that instruction should engage students in learning both the Earth-based observations and space-based explanations, as focusing on a single frame of reference resulted in less sophisticated explanations; however, few students were able to construct a fully scientific explanation after instruction.

Building chemistry one atom at a time: An investigation of the effects of two curricula in students' understanding of covalent bonding and atomic size

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bull, Barbara Jeanne

Chemists have to rely on models to aid in the explanation of phenomena they experience. Instruction of atomic theory has been used as the introduction and primary model for many concepts in chemistry. Therefore, it is important for students to have a robust understanding of the different atomic models, their relationships and their limitations. Previous research has shown that students have alternative conceptions concerning their interpretation of atomic models, but there is less exploration into how students apply their understanding of atomic structure to other chemical concepts. Therefore, this research concentrated on the development of three Model Eliciting Activities to investigate the most fundamental topic of the atom and how students applied their atomic model to covalent bonding and atomic size. Along with the investigation into students' use of their atomic models, a comparison was included between a traditional chemistry curriculum using an Atoms First approach and Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything (CLUE), a NSF-funded general chemistry curriculum. Treatment and Control groups were employed to determine the effectiveness of the curricula in conveying the relationship between atoms, covalent bonds and atomic size. The CLUE students developed a Cloud representation on the Atomic Model Eliciting Activity and maintained this depiction through the Covalent Bonding Model Eliciting Activity. The traditional students more often illustrated the atom using a Bohr representation and continued to apply the same model to their portrayal of covalent bonding. During the analysis of the Atomic Size Model Eliciting Activity, students had difficulty fully supporting their explanation of the atomic size trend. Utilizing the beSocratic platform, an activity was designed to aid students' construction of explanations using Toulmin's Argumentation Pattern. In order to study the effectiveness of the activity, the students were asked questions relating to a four-week long investigation into the identity of an inorganic salt during their laboratory class. Students who completed the activity exhibited an improvement in their explanation of the identity of their salt's cation. After completing the activity, another question was posed about the identity of their anion. Both groups saw a decrease in the percentage of students who included reasoning in their answer; however, the activity group maintained a significantly higher percentage of responses with a reasoning than the control group.

Exploring the Supply Side: Factors Related to Charter School Openings in NYC

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saultz, Andrew; Fitzpatrick, Dan; Jacobsen, Rebecca

2015-01-01

School choice policies have led to a proliferation of new schools opening. While economic theory suggests that new charters would open in high demand locations, limited work examines whether this is, indeed, occurring. Framing our study in geography, we explore both space factors and place factors as contrasting explanations for where new charters…

Exploring Differences in Youth and Parent Reports of Antisociality among Adolescent Sexual and Nonsexual Offenders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skilling, Tracey A.; Doiron, James M.; Seto, Michael C.

2011-01-01

This study examined the extent of, and explored several possible explanations for, the discrepancies found between adolescent and parent reports of conduct problems in adolescent sexual and nonsexual offenders. We found that adolescent sexual offenders scored lower on measures of conduct problems than did nonsexual offenders, whether on the basis…

Exploring the MACH Model's Potential as a Metacognitive Tool to Help Undergraduate Students Monitor Their Explanations of Biological Mechanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trujillo, Caleb M.; Anderson, Trevor R.; Pelaez, Nancy J.

2016-01-01

When undergraduate biology students learn to explain biological mechanisms, they face many challenges and may overestimate their understanding of living systems. Previously, we developed the MACH model of four components used by expert biologists to explain mechanisms: Methods, Analogies, Context, and How. This study explores the implementation of…

The education of attention as explanation of variability of practice effects: learning the final approach phase in a flight simulator.

PubMed

Huet, Michaël; Jacobs, David M; Camachon, Cyril; Missenard, Olivier; Gray, Rob; Montagne, Gilles

2011-12-01

The present study reports two experiments in which a total of 20 participants without prior flight experience practiced the final approach phase in a fixed-base simulator. All participants received self-controlled concurrent feedback during 180 practice trials. Experiment 1 shows that participants learn more quickly under variable practice conditions than under constant practice conditions. This finding is attributed to the education of attention to the more useful informational variables: Variability of practice reduces the usefulness of initially used informational variables, which leads to a quicker change in variable use, and hence to a larger improvement in performance. In the practice phase of Experiment 2 variability was selectively applied to some experimental factors but not to others. Participants tended to converge toward the variables that were useful in the specific conditions that they encountered during practice. This indicates that an explanation for variability of practice effects in terms of the education of attention is a useful alternative to traditional explanations based on the notion of the generalized motor program and to explanations based on the notions of noise and local minima.

The Evaluative Advantage of Novel Alternatives: An Information-Sampling Account.

PubMed

Le Mens, Gaël; Kareev, Yaakov; Avrahami, Judith

2016-02-01

New products, services, and ideas are often evaluated more favorably than similar but older ones. Although several explanations of this phenomenon have been proposed, we identify an overlooked asymmetry in information about new and old items that emerges when people seek positive experiences and learn about the qualities of (noisy) alternatives by experiencing them. The reason for the asymmetry is that people avoid rechoosing alternatives that previously led to poor outcomes; hence, additional feedback on their qualities is precluded. Negative quality estimates, even when caused by noise, thus tend to persist. This negative bias takes time to develop, and affects old alternatives more strongly than similar but newer alternatives. We analyze a simple learning model and demonstrate the process by which people would tend to evaluate a new alternative more positively than an older alternative with the same payoff distribution. The results from two experimental studies (Ns = 769 and 805) support the predictions of our model. © The Author(s) 2015.

Folk-Psychological Interpretation of Human vs. Humanoid Robot Behavior: Exploring the Intentional Stance toward Robots

PubMed Central

Thellman, Sam; Silvervarg, Annika; Ziemke, Tom

2017-01-01

People rely on shared folk-psychological theories when judging behavior. These theories guide people’s social interactions and therefore need to be taken into consideration in the design of robots and other autonomous systems expected to interact socially with people. It is, however, not yet clear to what degree the mechanisms that underlie people’s judgments of robot behavior overlap or differ from the case of human or animal behavior. To explore this issue, participants (N = 90) were exposed to images and verbal descriptions of eight different behaviors exhibited either by a person or a humanoid robot. Participants were asked to rate the intentionality, controllability and desirability of the behaviors, and to judge the plausibility of seven different types of explanations derived from a recently proposed psychological model of lay causal explanation of human behavior. Results indicate: substantially similar judgments of human and robot behavior, both in terms of (1a) ascriptions of intentionality/controllability/desirability and in terms of (1b) plausibility judgments of behavior explanations; (2a) high level of agreement in judgments of robot behavior – (2b) slightly lower but still largely similar to agreement over human behaviors; (3) systematic differences in judgments concerning the plausibility of goals and dispositions as explanations of human vs. humanoid behavior. Taken together, these results suggest that people’s intentional stance toward the robot was in this case very similar to their stance toward the human. PMID:29184519

Pubertal Stress and Nutrition and their Association with Sexual Orientation and Height in the Add Health Data

PubMed Central

Bogaert, Anthony F.

2018-01-01

A number of studies have indicated that gay men tend to be shorter, on average, than heterosexual men. Less evidence exists that lesbian women are taller, on average, than heterosexual women. The most popular explanation of the association between sexual orientation and height involves prenatal factors, such that, for example, gay men may have been exposed to lower than typical androgens during fetal development, which impacts their height and sexual orientation as adults. An alternative explanation involves stress, given that stress has been associated with sexual minority identification and with lower height. Another alternative explanation involves nutrition, although its relationship is less clear with sexual minority identification. Using the Add Health data, which is a large, nationally representative and longitudinal sample of American adolescents (n = 14,786), we tested a mediation model, such that sexual orientation → pubertal stress/nutrition → height. Within men, we found that gay men (n = 126) were shorter, on average, than heterosexual men (n = 6412). None of the 24 pubertal stress-related and 15 pubertal nutrition-related variables assessed in the Add Health data mediated the relationship between sexual orientation and height in men. Within women, lesbians (n = 75) did not differ significantly in stature compared to heterosexual women (n = 6267). Thus, prenatal mechanisms (e.g., hormones, maternal immune response) are likely better candidates for explaining the height difference between gay men and heterosexual men. PMID:27511207

Pubertal Stress and Nutrition and their Association with Sexual Orientation and Height in the Add Health Data.

PubMed

Skorska, Malvina N; Bogaert, Anthony F

2017-01-01

A number of studies have indicated that gay men tend to be shorter, on average, than heterosexual men. Less evidence exists that lesbian women are taller, on average, than heterosexual women. The most popular explanation of the association between sexual orientation and height involves prenatal factors, such that, for example, gay men may have been exposed to lower than typical androgens during fetal development, which impacts their height and sexual orientation as adults. An alternative explanation involves stress, given that stress has been associated with sexual minority identification and with lower height. Another alternative explanation involves nutrition, although its relationship is less clear with sexual minority identification. Using the Add Health data, which is a large, nationally representative and longitudinal sample of American adolescents (n = 14,786), we tested a mediation model, such that sexual orientation → pubertal stress/nutrition → height. Within men, we found that gay men (n = 126) were shorter, on average, than heterosexual men (n = 6412). None of the 24 pubertal stress-related and 15 pubertal nutrition-related variables assessed in the Add Health data mediated the relationship between sexual orientation and height in men. Within women, lesbians (n = 75) did not differ significantly in stature compared to heterosexual women (n = 6267). Thus, prenatal mechanisms (e.g., hormones, maternal immune response) are likely better candidates for explaining the height difference between gay men and heterosexual men.

Limitations of Western Medicine and Models of Integration Between Medical Systems.

PubMed

Attena, Francesco

2016-05-01

This article analyzes two major limitations of Western medicine: maturity and incompleteness. From this viewpoint, Western medicine is considered an incomplete system for the explanation of living matter. Therefore, through appropriate integration with other medical systems, in particular nonconventional approaches, its knowledge base and interpretations may be widened. This article presents possible models of integration of Western medicine with homeopathy, the latter being viewed as representative of all complementary and alternative medicine. To compare the two, a medical system was classified into three levels through which it is possible to distinguish between different medical systems: epistemological (first level), theoretical (second level), and operational (third level). These levels are based on the characterization of any medical system according to, respectively, a reference paradigm, a theory on the functioning of living matter, and clinical practice. The three levels are consistent and closely consequential in the sense that from epistemology derives theory, and from theory derives clinical practice. Within operational integration, four models were identified: contemporary, alternative, sequential, and opportunistic. Theoretical integration involves an explanation of living systems covering simultaneously the molecular and physical mechanisms of functioning living matter. Epistemological integration provides a more thorough and comprehensive explanation of the epistemic concepts of indeterminism, holism, and vitalism to complement the reductionist approach of Western medicine; concepts much discussed by Western medicine while lacking the epistemologic basis for their emplacement. Epistemologic integration could be reached with or without a true paradigm shift and, in the latter, through a model of fusion or subsumption.

Can evolutionary principles explain patterns of family violence?

PubMed

Archer, John

2013-03-01

The article's aim is to evaluate the application of the evolutionary principles of kin selection, reproductive value, and resource holding power to the understanding of family violence. The principles are described in relation to specific predictions and the mechanisms underlying these. Predictions are evaluated for physical violence perpetrated by (a) parents to unrelated children, (b) parents to genetic offspring, and (c) offspring to parents and between (d) siblings and (e) sexual partners. Precise figures for risks have been calculated where possible. The major conclusions are that most of the evidence is consistent with evolutionary predictions derived from kin selection and reproductive value: There were (a) higher rates of violence to stepchildren, (b) a decline in violence with the age of offspring, and (c) an increase in violence with parental age, while (d) violence between siblings was generally at a low level and concerned resource disputes. The issue of distinguishing evolutionary from alternative explanations is addressed throughout and is problematic for predictions derived from reproductive value. The main evolutionary explanation for male partner violence, mate guarding as a result of paternity uncertainty, cannot explain Western studies where sex differences in control and violence between partners were absent, although other aspects of male partner violence are consistent with it, and it may explain sex differences in traditional cultures. Recurrent problems in evaluating the evidence were to control for possible confounds and thus to distinguish evolutionary from alternative explanations. Suggestions are outlined to address this and other issues arising from the review. © 2013 American Psychological Association

Motivational changes in response to blocked goals and foreshortened time: testing alternatives to socioemotional selectivity theory.

PubMed

Fung, Helene H; Carstensen, Laura L

2004-03-01

Socioemotional selectivity theory contends that when people perceive time as limited, they prioritize emotionally meaningful goals. Although empirical support for the theory has been found in several studies, 2 alternative explanations for the pattern of findings remain: (a) emotional goals are pursued by default because nonemotional goals are blocked, and (b) emotional goals are pursued in search of emotional support rather than emotional meaning. This study tested these alternatives by examining social goals in response to blocked goals and foreshortened time. Findings reveal distinct motivational patterns, as reflected in social preferences and self-reported social goals, in response to the 2 types of constraints.

X-ray astronomy in the Uhuru epoch and beyond /Newton Lacy Pierce Prize Lecture/

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kellogg, E. M.

1975-01-01

A review of results from the Uhuru satellite is presented. An intensive treatment of two subjects is given, rather than a broad review. First, Cyg X-1, a stellar X-ray source and a candidate for a black hole, is discussed; second, the X-ray source in the Perseus cluster of galaxies, which may be a cloud of hot intergalactic gas, is treated. In both cases, the train of logic used in establishing the nature of these objects is presented and evaluated. For both, while alternative explanations cannot be completely eliminated, they become more difficult to sustain when examined in detail, suggesting that the candidate explanations are more likely correct.

Life on Mars: Evidence from Martian Meteorites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McKay, David S.; Thomas-Keptra, Katie L.; Clemett, Simon J.; Gibson, Everett K., Jr.; Spencer, Lauren; Wentworth, Susan J.

2009-01-01

New data on martian meteorite 84001 as well as new experimental studies show that thermal or shock decomposition of carbonate, the leading alternative non-biologic explanation for the unusual nanophase magnetite found in this meteorite, cannot explain the chemistry of the actual martian magnetites. This leaves the biogenic explanation as the only remaining viable hypothesis for the origin of these unique magnetites. Additional data from two other martian meteorites show a suite of biomorphs which are nearly identical between meteorites recovered from two widely different terrestrial environments (Egyptian Nile bottomlands and Antarctic ice sheets). This similarity argues against terrestrial processes as the cause of these biomorphs and supports an origin on Mars for these features.

Alternation blindness in the representation of binary sequences.

PubMed

Yu, Ru Qi; Osherson, Daniel; Zhao, Jiaying

2018-03-01

Binary information is prevalent in the environment and contains 2 distinct outcomes. Binary sequences consist of a mixture of alternation and repetition. Understanding how people perceive such sequences would contribute to a general theory of information processing. In this study, we examined how people process alternation and repetition in binary sequences. Across 4 paradigms involving estimation, working memory, change detection, and visual search, we found that the number of alternations is underestimated compared with repetitions (Experiment 1). Moreover, recall for binary sequences deteriorates as the sequence alternates more (Experiment 2). Changes in bits are also harder to detect as the sequence alternates more (Experiment 3). Finally, visual targets superimposed on bits of a binary sequence take longer to process as alternation increases (Experiment 4). Overall, our results indicate that compared with repetition, alternation in a binary sequence is less salient in the sense of requiring more attention for successful encoding. The current study thus reveals the cognitive constraints in the representation of alternation and provides a new explanation for the overalternation bias in randomness perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Neoliberalization of Higher Education in England: An Alternative is Possible*

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maisuria, Alpesh; Cole, Mike

2017-01-01

In this article, we provide a critical explanation and critique of neoliberalism. We attempt an innovative focus ranging from the wider contemporary political and ideological shifts, to the way in which neoliberal policy specifically influences higher education and the consequences thereof. We follow a narrative logic in three parts where we first…

Debunking the Myth of the Nintendo Generation: How Doctoral Students Introduce New Electronic Communication Practices into University Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Covi, Lisa M.

2000-01-01

Provides empirical evidence of how doctoral students and their faculty advisors use electronic communication technologies. Examines work patterns of doctoral students and data on recent introduction of new electronic communication practices, offering an alternative explanation to the Nintendo Generation Myth that claims electronic communication…

Thyroid uptake of (/sup 99m/Tc) pertechnetate during in vivo RBC labeling: incidental diagnosis of hypothyroidism

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holmes, K.A.; Ponto, J.A.

1981-09-01

Increased thyroid activity was incidentally observed during an in vivo labeled Tc-99m blood pool scan and subsequent evaluation resulted in a diagnosis of hypothyroidism. Alternate explanations of abnormal thyroid uptake on in vivo labeled blood pool scans were considered and are discussed briefly.

Rethinking the Cultural Context of Schooling Decisions in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods: From Deviant Subculture to Cultural Heterogeneity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harding, David J.

2011-01-01

The literature on neighborhood effects on schooling theorizes that neighborhood cultural context is an important mechanism generating such effects. However, explanations that rely on subcultural theories, such as oppositional culture, have met with considerable criticism on empirical grounds, and no alternative account of the cultural context of…

Developmental Dissociations of Preparation over Time: Deconstructing the Variable Foreperiod Phenomena

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vallesi, Antonino; Shallice, Tim

2007-01-01

In a variable foreperiod (FP) paradigm, reaction times (RTs) decrease as a function of FP on trial n (FP effect) but increase with FP on trial n = 1 (sequential effects). These phenomena have traditionally been ascribed to different strategic preparation processes. According to an alternative explanation, common conditioning laws underlie both…

Do Residential Conditions Explain the Relationship between Living Arrangements and Adolescent Behavior?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crowder, Kyle; Teachman, Jay

2004-01-01

Persistent effects of childhood living arrangements and family change on adolescent outcomes have often been attributed to differences in socialization and intrafamily processes. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to assess an alternative explanation: that neighborhood context and residential mobility represent a central set of…

14 CFR 250.9 - Written explanation of denied boarding compensation and boarding priorities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... of air carrier), you are probably entitled to monetary compensation. This notice explains the airline... of (name of air carrier): (In this space the carrier inserts its boarding priority rules or a summary... compensation is based shall include any surcharge and air transportation tax. “Alternate transportation” is air...

Students' Explanations in Complex Learning of Disciplinary Programming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vieira, Camilo

2016-01-01

Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) has been denominated as the third pillar of science and as a set of important skills to solve the problems of a global society. Along with the theoretical and the experimental approaches, computation offers a third alternative to solve complex problems that require processing large amounts of data, or…

The Use of Video Technology in Science Teaching: A Vehicle for Alternative Assessment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawrence, Michael

1994-01-01

A secondary physics teacher used video assessments in science as an economical assessment form that required students to use the scientific method, explanation, feedback, critical thinking, and metacognition. When using video assessment in optics, he found his scoring was not biased and that students improved their performance following video…

17 CFR Appendix A to Part 37 - Guidance on Compliance With Registration Criteria

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... facility should include the system's trade-matching algorithm and order entry procedures. A submission involving a trade-matching algorithm that is based on order priority factors other than on a best price/earliest time basis should include a brief explanation of the alternative algorithm. (b) A board of trade's...

17 CFR Appendix A to Part 37 - Guidance on Compliance With Registration Criteria

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... facility should include the system's trade-matching algorithm and order entry procedures. A submission involving a trade-matching algorithm that is based on order priority factors other than on a best price/earliest time basis should include a brief explanation of the alternative algorithm. (b) A board of trade's...

Do Challenging Behaviors Affect Staff Psychological Well-Being? Issues of Causality and Mechanism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hastings, Richard P.

2002-01-01

A research review found reasonable evidence for an association between challenging behavior and staff stress, and some evidence for temporal precedence. However, few researchers had analyzed data enabling elimination of alternative explanations. It is proposed that staff negative emotional reactions mediate impact of challenging behaviors on staff…

USA Stratified Monopoly: A Simulation Game about Social Class Stratification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Edith M.

2008-01-01

Effectively teaching college students about social class stratification is a difficult challenge. Explanations for this difficulty tend to focus on the students who often react with resistance, paralysis, or rage. Sociologists have been using games and simulations as alternative methods for several decades to teach about these sensitive subjects.…

Development and Female Crime: A Cross-National Test of Alternative Explanations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steffensmeier, Darrell; And Others

1989-01-01

Interpol data from 69 countries indicate that the relationship between female percentage of arrests and national development status is mediated by opportunity for "female" consumer crimes and formalization of social control (which makes female crime more visible), but not by gender equality or female economic marginality. Contains 49 references.…

Differential Experience and Degree of Selection: A Comment on "Schooling and Sex Roles: The Case of GCE 'O' Level Mathematics."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Barry

1982-01-01

Presents an alternative hypothetical explanation of the results obtained in Sharma and Meighan's research. The study did not control for intelligence, social class, and other relevant variables which might explain the difference between the sexes in mathematical attainment in secondary schools. (AM)

A Unified Theory of Development: A Dialectic Integration of Nature and Nurture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sameroff, Arnold

2010-01-01

The understanding of nature and nurture within developmental science has evolved with alternating ascendance of one or the other as primary explanations for individual differences in life course trajectories of success or failure. A dialectical perspective emphasizing the interconnectedness of individual and context is suggested to interpret the…

The Longitudinal Effect of Traumatic Stress and Attachment Difficulties on Academic Achievement for Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolfgang, Jeff Drayton

2013-01-01

National educational achievement statistics show that academic underachievement is a significant problem for all students in the United States and for culturally diverse students in particular. The relationship of attachment and its interaction with traumatic stress has been proposed as an alternative explanation for the persistent…

Less Pain, More Gain: Rapid Skill Development Using "Old Way New Way"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baxter, Paul; Lyndon, Harry; Dole, Shelley; Battistutta, Diana

2004-01-01

This study addresses an issue of global concern in skills training, namely, the rapid and permanent eradication of persistent habit errors, and bad or unsafe working practices. This article offers an alternative human factors explanation for the profound difficulties and low transfer of training experienced during error pattern retraining, and the…

More Outstanding Nonsense: A Critique of Ofsted Criteria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards, Colin

2015-01-01

The Office for Standards in Education's most recently published criteria for "outstanding" teaching are scrutinised and found wanting. They are seen as unrealistic for teachers to meet and equally unrealistic as criteria for use by inspectors. An explanation is offered as to why they are framed as they are and an alternative, more…

The Dynamics of Access to Groups in Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Simon; Lelievre, Anna

2012-01-01

The finding that participants leave a pause between groups when attempting serial recall of temporally grouped lists has been taken to indicate access to a hierarchical representation of the list in working memory. An alternative explanation is that the dynamics of serial recall solely reflect output (rather than memorial) processes, with the…

Against Raising Hope of Raising the Dead: Contra Moody and Kubler-Ross.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vicchio, Stephen J.; And Others

1979-01-01

Kubler-Ross and Moody have made assertions about survival after death. They argued that the subjects were not dead, but in the process of dying. An alternative explanation to this "glimpse of the afterlife" approach is offered. Other theological objections are raised to the Moody/Kubler-Ross approach. (Author)

State of the Universe. If Not with a Big Bang, Then What?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Ivars

1991-01-01

The Big Bang Theory and alternatives to the Big Bang Theory as an explanation for the origin of the universe are discussed. The importance of the discovery of redshift, the percentage of hydrogen found in old stars, and the existence of a uniform sea of radiation are explained. (KR)

The Focusing of Responsibility: An Alternative Hypothesis in Help-Demanding Situations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Misavage, Robert; Richardson, James T.

The "diffusion of responsibility" hypothesis as an explanation of helping behavior (or lack of same) is qualified by suggesting that the hypothesis applies only in non-interacting situations. It is hypothesized that interacting groups who are aware of a help-demanding situation actually focus the responsibility and, therefore, take action as a…

The Jumping Ring and Lenz's Law--An Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bostock-Smith, J. M.

2008-01-01

Lenz's law is sometimes invoked to explain the behaviour of the jumping, or levitating, ring. This is shown to be incomplete, and an alternative explanation using Faraday's laws and circuit analysis is offered. This leads to the choice of optimum material and dimensions for the ring. (Contains 1 table and 4 figures.)

Consolidation of Long-Term Memory: Evidence and Alternatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meeter, Martijn; Murre, Jaap M. J.

2004-01-01

Memory loss in retrograde amnesia has long been held to be larger for recent periods than for remote periods, a pattern usually referred to as the Ribot gradient. One explanation for this gradient is consolidation of long-term memories. Several computational models of such a process have shown how consolidation can explain characteristics of…

Mindfulness increases prosocial responses toward ostracized strangers through empathic concern.

PubMed

Berry, Daniel R; Cairo, Athena H; Goodman, Robert J; Quaglia, Jordan T; Green, Jeffrey D; Brown, Kirk Warren

2018-01-01

Four studies tested the proposition that mindfulness and its training fostered prosociality toward ostracized strangers. In discovery Study 1, dispositional mindfulness predicted greater empathic concern for, and more helping behavior toward, an ostracized stranger. Using an experimental design, Study 2 revealed that very briefly instructed mindfulness, relative to active control instructions, also promoted prosocial responsiveness to an ostracized stranger. Study 3 ruled out alternative explanations for this effect of mindfulness, showing that it did not promote empathic anger or perpetrator punishment, nor that the control training reduced prosocial responsiveness toward an ostracized stranger rather than mindfulness increasing it. Study 4 further ruled out the alternative explanation of relaxation in the experimental effects of mindfulness. In all studies, empathic concern mediated the relation between mindfulness and one or both of the helping behavior outcomes. Meta-analyses of the four studies revealed stable, medium sized effects of mindfulness instruction on prosocial emotions and prosocial behavior. Together these findings inform about circumstances in which mindfulness may increase prosocial responsiveness, and deepen our understanding of the motivational bases of prosociality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Being vs. Appearing Socially Uninterested: Challenging Assumptions about Social Motivation in Autism.

PubMed

Jaswal, Vikram K; Akhtar, Nameera

2018-06-19

Progress in psychological science can be limited by a number of factors, not least of which are the starting assumptions of scientists themselves. We believe that some influential accounts of autism rest on a questionable assumption that many of its behavioral characteristics indicate a lack of social interest-an assumption that is flatly contradicted by the testimony of many autistic people themselves. In this paper, we challenge this assumption by describing alternative explanations for four such behaviors: (a) low levels of eye contact, (b) infrequent pointing, (c) motor stereotypies, and (d) echolalia. The assumption that autistic people's unusual behaviors indicate diminished social motivation has had profound and often negative effects on the ways they are studied and treated. We argue that understanding and supporting autistic individuals will require interrogating this assumption, taking autistic testimony seriously, considering alternative explanations for unusual behaviors, and investigating unconventional-even idiosyncratic-ways that autistic individuals may express their social interest. These steps are crucial, we believe, for creating a more accurate, humane, and useful science of autism.

Lymph node size as a simple prognostic factor in node negative colon cancer and an alternative thesis to stage migration.

PubMed

Märkl, Bruno; Schaller, Tina; Kokot, Yuriy; Endhardt, Katharina; Kretsinger, Hallie; Hirschbühl, Klaus; Aumann, Georg; Schenkirsch, Gerhard

2016-10-01

Stage migration is an accepted explanation for the association between lymph node (LN) yield and outcome in colon cancer. To investigate whether the alternative thesis of immune response is more likely, we performed a retrospective study. We enrolled 239 cases of node negative cancers, which were categorized according to the number of LNs with diameters larger than 5 mm (LN5) into the groups LN5-very low (0 to 1 LN5), LN5-low (2 to 5 LN5), and LN5-high (≥6 LN5). Significant differences were found in pT3/4 cancers with median survival times of 40, 57, and 71 months (P = .022) in the LN5-very low, LN5-low, and LN5-high groups, respectively. Multivariable analysis revealed that LN5 number and infiltration type were independent prognostic factors. LN size is prognostic in node negative colon cancer. The correct explanation for outcome differences associated with LN harvest is probably the activation status of LNs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An intelligent computer tutor to guide self-explanation while learning from examples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conati, Cristina

1999-11-01

Many studies in cognitive science show that self-explanation---the process of clarifying and making more complete to oneself the solution of an example---improves learning, and that guiding self-explanation extends these benefits. This thesis presents an intelligent computer tutor that aims to improve learning from examples by supporting self-explanation. The tutor, known as the SE (self-explanation) Coach, is innovative in two ways. First, it represents the first attempt to develop a computer tutor that supports example studying instead of problem solving. Second, it explicitly guides a domain-general, meta-cognitive skill: self-explanation. The SE-Coach is part of the Andes tutoring system for college physics and is meant to be used in conjunction with the problem solving tasks that Andes supports. In order to maximize the system capability to trigger the same beneficial cognitive processes, every element of the SE-Coach embeds existing hypotheses about the features that make self-explanation effective for learning. Designing the SE-Coach involved finding solutions for three main challenges: (1) To design an interface that effectively monitors and supports self-explanation. (2) To devise a student model that allows the assessment of example understanding from reading and self-examination actions. (3) To effectively elicit further self-explanation that improves student's example understanding. In this work we present our solutions to these challenges: (1) An interface including principled, interactive tools to explore examples and build self-explanations under the SECoach's supervision. (2) A probabilistic student model based on a Bayesian network, which integrates a model of correct self-explanation and information on the student's knowledge and studying actions to generate a probabilistic assessment of the student's example understanding. (3) Tutorial interventions that rely on the student model to detect deficits in the student's example understanding and elicit self-explanations that overcome them. In this thesis we also present the results of a formal study with 56 college students to evaluate the effectiveness of the SE-Coach. We discuss some hypotheses to explain the obtained results, based on the analysis of the data collected during the experiment.

Toward better Li-ion batteries: hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy investigation of binder materials for Si-based anodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Benjamin; Heskett, David; Nguyen, Cao Cuong; Woicik, Joseph; Lucht, Brett

From portable electronics to space exploration, the desire for more capable rechargeable batteries is driving a search for high capacity anodes. There is much interest in incorporating silicon as a partial or full replacement for the current graphite material in the most popular batteries because it could potentially hold much more charge. There is a significant challenge, however, in that storing so much more lithium in either electrode as the battery is charged and discharged as this causes an accompanying increase in the physical size fluctuation of the electrodes. Specifically, in the anode where this investigation focuses, the active material may experience a 300% volume change between the charged and discharged state. This makes a long lifetime difficult to achieve because the passivation layer protecting the electrolyte material from decomposition is compromised upon each cycle. One approach to accommodating the large volumetric fluctuation without sacrificing lifetime is to find a better material to include in the anode substrate to act as a binder. Ideally, such a material would permit the anode to fluctuate without breaking. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) is not successful for silicon-based anodes and we present Hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies of batteries incorporating three alternatives. The alternative binders outperform the PVdF and we present possible explanations. DOE EPSCoR and RI College Faculty Research Fund.

A set of alternative explanations to account for the deformation field at Montserrat, West Indies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collinson, Amy; Neuberg, Jurgen; Pascal, Karen

2015-04-01

For almost 20 years, Soufrière Hills Volcano, Monsterrat, has been in a state of volcanic unrest. Intermittent periods of dome building have been punctuated by explosive eruptions and dome collapse events, endangering the lives of the inhabitants of the island. To date, there have been numerous phases to the activity, with the current activity designated Pause 5. There has not been any active magma extrusion since February 2010, and the last significant explosive (ash-venting) event occurred in March 2012. However, the volcano continues to emit an average of 374t/d SO2 and shows signs of deformation. Current observations indicate a line lengthening between several pairs of GPS stations across the island, suggesting an overall inflation of Montserrat. Through the use of three-dimensional numerical modelling using a finite element method, we explore the potential sources of this deformation, ranging from an inflating magma chamber or dyke - suggesting ongoing volcanic activity, to the existence of an active left-lateral strike-slip fault - which may indicate cessation of volcanic activity. We show the effect of different dyke sources (shapes, characters and depths) on the surface displacement. Furthermore, through the inclusion of topographic data, we investigate how the topography may affect the displacement pattern at the surface. Alternatively, we determine how much fault slip would be required in order to derive the deformation observed.

Importance of race-ethnicity: An exploration of Asian, Black, Latino, and Multiracial adolescent identity

PubMed Central

Charmaraman, Linda; Grossman, Jennifer M.

2010-01-01

This mixed-method study used a grounded theory approach to explore the meanings underlying the importance adolescents attach to their racial-ethnic identities. The sample consisted of 923 9th–12th grade students from Black, Latino, Asian, and Multiracial backgrounds. Thematic findings identified a broad range of explanations for adolescents’ racial-ethnic centrality, ranging from pride and cultural connection to ambivalence and colorblind attitudes. While racial-ethnic groups differed in reported levels of racial-ethnic centrality, few group differences were identified in participants’ thematic explanations, with the exception of racial-ethnic and gender differences for Positive Regard and Disengagement. These findings highlight the diversity of meanings adolescents attribute to their racial-ethnic centrality as well as the many commonalities among adolescents across gender and racial-ethnic groups. PMID:20438152

Letter-Sound Knowledge: Exploring Gender Differences in Children When They Start School Regarding Knowledge of Large Letters, Small Letters, Sound Large Letters, and Sound Small Letters

PubMed Central

Sigmundsson, Hermundur; Eriksen, Adrian D.; Ofteland, Greta Storm; Haga, Monika

2017-01-01

This study explored whether there is a gender difference in letter-sound knowledge when children start at school. 485 children aged 5–6 years completed assessment of letter-sound knowledge, i.e., large letters; sound of large letters; small letters; sound of small letters. The findings indicate a significant difference between girls and boys in all four factors tested in this study in favor of the girls. There are still no clear explanations to the basis of a presumed gender difference in letter-sound knowledge. That the findings have origin in neuro-biological factors cannot be excluded, however, the fact that girls probably have been exposed to more language experience/stimulation compared to boys, lends support to explanations derived from environmental aspects. PMID:28951726

Exploring the sequential lineup advantage using WITNESS.

PubMed

Goodsell, Charles A; Gronlund, Scott D; Carlson, Curt A

2010-12-01

Advocates claim that the sequential lineup is an improvement over simultaneous lineup procedures, but no formal (quantitatively specified) explanation exists for why it is better. The computational model WITNESS (Clark, Appl Cogn Psychol 17:629-654, 2003) was used to develop theoretical explanations for the sequential lineup advantage. In its current form, WITNESS produced a sequential advantage only by pairing conservative sequential choosing with liberal simultaneous choosing. However, this combination failed to approximate four extant experiments that exhibited large sequential advantages. Two of these experiments became the focus of our efforts because the data were uncontaminated by likely suspect position effects. Decision-based and memory-based modifications to WITNESS approximated the data and produced a sequential advantage. The next step is to evaluate the proposed explanations and modify public policy recommendations accordingly.

Representativeness of regional and global mass-balance measurement networks (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cogley, J. G.; Moholdt, G.; Gardner, A. S.

2013-12-01

We showed in a recent publication that regional estimates of glacier mass budgets, obtained by interpolation from in-situ measurements, were markedly more negative than corresponding estimates by satellite gravimetry (GRACE) and satellite altimetry (ICESat) during 2003-2009. Examining the ICESat data in more detail, we found that in-situ records tend to be located in areas where glaciers are thinning more rapidly than as observed in their regional surroundings. Because neither GRACE nor ICESat can provide information for times before 2002-2003, and may not operate without interruption in the future, we explore possible explanations of and remedies for the identified bias in the in-situ network. Sparse spatial sampling, coupled with previously undetected spatial variability of mass balance at scales between the 10-km in-situ scale and the 350-km gravimetric scale, appears to be the leading explanation. Satisfactory remedies are not obvious. Selecting glaciers for in-situ measurement that are more representative will yield only incremental improvements. There appears to be no alternative to mass-balance modelling as a versatile tool for estimation of regional mass balance. However the meteorological data for forcing the surface components of glacier models have coarser resolution than is desirable and are themselves uncertain, especially in the remote regions where much of the glacier ice is found. Measurements of frontal (dynamic) mass changes are still difficult, and modelling of these changes remains underdeveloped in spite of recent advances. Thus research on a broad scale is called for in order to meet the challenge of producing more accurate hindcasts and projections of glacier mass budgets with fine spatial and temporal resolution.

WHY ARE THE MAGNETIC FIELD DIRECTIONS MEASURED BY VOYAGER 1 ON BOTH SIDES OF THE HELIOPAUSE SO SIMILAR?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grygorczuk, J.; Czechowski, A.; Grzedzielski, S., E-mail: jolagry@cbk.waw.pl

The solar wind carves a cavity in the interstellar plasma bounded by a surface, called the heliopause (HP), that separates the plasma and magnetic field of solar origin from those of interstellar origin. It is now generally accepted that in 2012 August Voyager 1 (V1) crossed that boundary. Unexpectedly, the magnetic fields on both sides of the HP, although theoretically independent of each other, were found to be similar in direction. This delayed the identification of the boundary as the HP and led to many alternative explanations. Here, we show that the Voyager 1 observations can be readily explained and,more » after the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) discovery of the ribbon, could even have been predicted. Our explanation relies on the fact that the Voyager 1 and undisturbed interstellar field directions (which we assume to be given by the IBEX ribbon center (RC)) share the same heliolatitude (∼34.°5) and are not far separated in longitude (difference ∼27°). Our result confirms that Voyager 1 has indeed crossed the HP and offers the first independent confirmation that the IBEX RC is in fact the direction of the undisturbed interstellar magnetic field. For Voyager 2, we predict that the difference between the inner and outer magnetic field directions at the HP will be significantly larger than that observed by Voyager 1 (∼30° instead of ∼20°), and that the outer field direction will be close to the RC.« less

Imaginative ethics--bringing ethical praxis into sharper relief.

PubMed

Hansson, Mats G

2002-01-01

The empirical basis for this article is three years of experience with ethical rounds at Uppsala University Hospital. Three standard approaches of ethical reasoning are examined as potential explanations of what actually occurs during the ethical rounds. For reasons given, these are not found to be satisfying explanations. An approach called "imaginative ethics", is suggested as a more satisfactory account of this kind of ethical reasoning. The participants in the ethical rounds seem to draw on a kind of moral competence based on personal life experience and professional competence and experience. By listening to other perspectives and other experiences related to one particular patient story, the participants imagine alternative horizons of moral experience and explore a multitude of values related to clinical practice that might be at stake. In his systematic treatment of aesthetics in the Critique of Judgement, Kant made use of an operation of thought that, if applied to ethics, will enable us to be more sensitive to the particulars of each moral situation. Based on this reading of Kant, an account of imaginative ethics is developed in order to bring the ethical praxis of doctors and nurses into sharper relief. The Hebraic and the Hellenic traditions of imagination are used in order to illuminate some of the experiences of ethical rounds. In conclusion, it is argued that imaginative ethics and principle-based ethics should be seen as complementary in order to endow a moral discourse with ethical authority. Kantian ethics will do the job if it is remembered that Kant suggested only a modest, negative role of principle-based deliberation.

HCMM: Soil moisture in relation to geologic structure and lithology, northern California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rich, E. I. (Principal Investigator)

1980-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Detailed examination of Nite-IR images of intermontane basins in arid and/or semiarid areas of California discloses a ring or halo of relatively lighter greytone around the edges of each basin. Intermontane basins in the Northern Coast Range, however, do not show this thermal haloing. The topographic elevation of the haloes in arid basins shows seasonal variation, but it is present on nearly all images. A similar halo encircles many of the volcanoes on the Modoc Plateau and Southern Cascade Range. Although the halo around the arid intermontane basins can possibly be explained in relation to the location of alluvial fans (and perhaps water content of the rocks), a similar explanation cannot be made for the haloes around volcanoes or for the lack of haloes around basins in the Coast Range. Atmospheric thermal layering may be an alternative explanation; however, this explanation is also riddled with inconsistencies.

Opportunities for Inquiry Science in Montessori Classrooms: Learning from a Culture of Interest, Communication, and Explanation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rinke, Carol R.; Gimbel, Steven J.; Haskell, Sophie

2013-08-01

Although classroom inquiry is the primary pedagogy of science education, it has often been difficult to implement within conventional classroom cultures. This study turned to the alternatively structured Montessori learning environment to better understand the ways in which it fosters the essential elements of classroom inquiry, as defined by prominent policy documents. Specifically, we examined the opportunities present in Montessori classrooms for students to develop an interest in the natural world, generate explanations in science, and communicate about science. Using ethnographic research methods in four Montessori classrooms at the primary and elementary levels, this research captured a range of scientific learning opportunities. The study found that the Montessori learning environment provided opportunities for students to develop enduring interests in scientific topics and communicate about science in various ways. The data also indicated that explanation was largely teacher-driven in the Montessori classroom culture. This study offers lessons for both conventional and Montessori classrooms and suggests further research that bridges educational contexts.

Neuroscience and the soul: competing explanations for the human experience.

PubMed

Preston, Jesse Lee; Ritter, Ryan S; Hepler, Justin

2013-04-01

The development of fMRI techniques has generated a boom of neuroscience research across the psychological sciences, and revealed neural correlates for many psychological phenomena seen as central to the human experience (e.g., morality, agency). Meanwhile, the rise of neuroscience has reignited old debates over mind-body dualism and the soul. While some scientists use neuroscience to bolster a material account of consciousness, others point to unexplained neural phenomena to defend dualism and a spiritual perspective on the mind. In two experiments we examine how exposure to neuroscience research impacts belief in the soul. We find that belief in soul decreases when neuroscience provides strong mechanistic explanations for mind. But when explanatory gaps in neuroscience research are emphasized, belief in soul is enhanced, suggesting that physical and metaphysical explanations may be used reflexively as alternative theories for mind. Implications for the future of belief in soul and neuroscience research are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Multi-Case Study of Professional Ethics in Alternative Education: Exploring Perspectives of Alternative School Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duke, Richard T. RT, IV

2017-01-01

This qualitative case study explored perspectives of alternative school leaders regarding professional ethics and standards. The study researched two components of alternative school leadership: effective alternative school characteristics based on professional standards and making decisions around the best interests of students. This study…

The "Mevalonate hypothesis": a cholesterol-independent alternative for the etiology of atherosclerosis.

PubMed

Keizer, Hiskias G

2012-11-05

The "cholesterol hypothesis" is the leading theory to explain the cause of atherosclerosis. The "cholesterol hypothesis" assumes that plasma (LDL) cholesterol is an important causal factor for atherosclerosis.However, data of at least seven placebo controlled randomized prospective trials with various cholesterol lowering drugs show that plasma cholesterol lowering does not necessarily lead to protection against cardiovascular disease. Therefore an alternative hypothesis for the etiology of cardiovascular disease is formulated. This alternative hypothesis, the "mevalonate hypothesis", assumes that after stimulation of the mevalonate pathway in endothelial cells by inflammatory factors, these cells start producing cholesterol and free radicals. In this hypothesis, only the latter play a role in the etiology of atherosclerosis by contributing to the formation of oxidized cholesterol which is a widely accepted causal factor for atherosclerosis.Regardless of how the mevalonate pathway is activated (by withdrawal of statin drugs, by inflammatory factors or indirectly by reduced intracellular cholesterol levels) in all these cases free radical production is observed as well as cardiovascular disease. Since in the "mevalonate hypothesis" cholesterol is produced at the same time as the free radicals causing atherosclerosis, this hypothesis provides an explanation for the correlation which exists between cardiovascular disease and plasma cholesterol levels. From an evolutionary perspective, concomitant cholesterol production and free radical production in response to inflammatory factors makes sense if one realizes that both activities potentially protect cells and organisms from infection by gram-negative bacteria.In conclusion, data have been collected which suggest that activation of the mevalonate pathway in endothelial cells is likely to be a causal factor for atherosclerosis. This "mevalonate hypothesis" provides a better explanation for results obtained from recent clinical studies with cholesterol lowering drugs than the "cholesterol hypothesis". Furthermore, this hypothesis explains how cholesterol can be correlated with cardiovascular disease without being a causal factor for it. Finally it provides a logical explanation for the etiology of this disease.

Evaluating the inverse reasoning account of object discovery.

PubMed

Carroll, Christopher D; Kemp, Charles

2015-06-01

People routinely make inferences about unobserved objects. A hotel guest with welts on his arms, for example, will often worry about bed bugs. The discovery of unobserved objects almost always involves a backward inference from some observed effects (e.g., welts) to unobserved causes (e.g., bed bugs). The inverse reasoning account, which is typically formalized as Bayesian inference, posits that the strength of a backward inference is closely connected to the strength of the corresponding forward inference from the unobserved causes to the observed effects. We evaluated the inverse reasoning account of object discovery in three experiments where participants were asked to discover the unobserved "attractors" and "repellers" that controlled a "particle" moving within an arena. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that participants often failed to provide the best explanations for various particle motions, even when the best explanations were simple and when participants enthusiastically endorsed these explanations when presented with them. This failure demonstrates that object discovery is critically dependent on the processes that support hypothesis generation-processes that the inverse reasoning account does not explain. Experiment 3 demonstrated that people sometimes generate explanations that are invalid even according to their own forward inferences, suggesting that the psychological processes that support forward and backward inference are less intertwined than the inverse reasoning account suggests. The experimental findings support an alternative account of object discovery in which people rely on heuristics to generate possible explanations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Brief Report: Eye Movements during Visual Search Tasks Indicate Enhanced Stimulus Discriminability in Subjects with PDD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kemner, Chantal; van Ewijk, Lizet; van Engeland, Herman; Hooge, Ignace

2008-01-01

Subjects with PDD excel on certain visuo-spatial tasks, amongst which visual search tasks, and this has been attributed to enhanced perceptual discrimination. However, an alternative explanation is that subjects with PDD show a different, more effective search strategy. The present study aimed to test both hypotheses, by measuring eye movements…

Opportunities for Inquiry Science in Montessori Classrooms: Learning from a Culture of Interest, Communication, and Explanation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rinke, Carol R.; Gimbel, Steven J.; Haskell, Sophie

2013-01-01

Although classroom inquiry is the primary pedagogy of science education, it has often been difficult to implement within conventional classroom cultures. This study turned to the alternatively structured Montessori learning environment to better understand the ways in which it fosters the essential elements of classroom inquiry, as defined by…

29 CFR 2520.104-49 - Alternative method of compliance for certain simplified employee pensions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

..., including a clear explanation of: (i) What a SEP is and how it operates, (ii) The statutory provisions... that participant's IRA(s). (6) In the case of a SEP that provides for integration with Social Security... formula, (ii) A description of the effect that integration with Social Security would have on employer...

29 CFR 2520.104-49 - Alternative method of compliance for certain simplified employee pensions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

..., including a clear explanation of: (i) What a SEP is and how it operates, (ii) The statutory provisions... that participant's IRA(s). (6) In the case of a SEP that provides for integration with Social Security... formula, (ii) A description of the effect that integration with Social Security would have on employer...

29 CFR 2520.104-49 - Alternative method of compliance for certain simplified employee pensions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

..., including a clear explanation of: (i) What a SEP is and how it operates, (ii) The statutory provisions... that participant's IRA(s). (6) In the case of a SEP that provides for integration with Social Security... formula, (ii) A description of the effect that integration with Social Security would have on employer...

Cognitive and Psychosocial Characteristics of Gifted Students with Written Language Disability: A Reply to Lovett's Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Assouline, Susan G.; Nicpon, Megan Foley; Whiteman, Claire S.

2011-01-01

Our article describing the characteristics of gifted students with a specific learning disability (SLD) in written language was criticized for emphasizing an ability achievement discrepancy as an indication of a written language disability and for not ruling out alternative explanations for the observed difficulties. The three primary alternative…

Dual Coding Theory, Word Abstractness, and Emotion: A Critical Review of Kousta et al. (2011)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paivio, Allan

2013-01-01

Kousta, Vigliocco, Del Campo, Vinson, and Andrews (2011) questioned the adequacy of dual coding theory and the context availability model as explanations of representational and processing differences between concrete and abstract words. They proposed an alternative approach that focuses on the role of emotional content in the processing of…

Towards to an Explanation for Conceptual Change: A Mechanistic Alternative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rusanen, Anna-Mari

2014-01-01

Conceptual change is one of the most studied fields in science education and psychology of learning. However, there are still some foundational issues in conceptual change research on which no clear consensus has emerged. Firstly, there is no agreement on what changes in belief and concept systems constitute conceptual change and what changes do…

Energy and Matter: Differences in Discourse in Physical and Biological Sciences Can Be Confusing for Introductory Biology Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, Laurel M.; Momsen, Jennifer; Maskiewicz, April; D'Avanzo, Charlene

2012-01-01

Biology majors often take introductory biology, chemistry, and physics courses during their first two years of college. The various and sometimes conflicting discourse about and explanations of matter and energy in these courses may contribute to confusion and alternative conceptions (those that differ from scientific consensus) in biology…

Myths, Misconceptions, and Misunderstandings: A Different Spin on Coriolis--Applying Frame of Reference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiSpezio, Michael A.

2011-01-01

This article addresses misconceptions surrounding the Coriolis force and describes how it should be presented as a function within inertial and noninertial frames of reference. Not only does this demonstrate the nature of science as it strives to best interpret the natural world (and presents alternative explanations), but it offers a rich…

Examining the effect of self-explanation on cognitive integration of basic and clinical sciences in novices.

PubMed

Lisk, Kristina; Agur, Anne M R; Woods, Nicole N

2017-12-01

Several studies have shown that cognitive integration of basic and clinical sciences supports diagnostic reasoning in novices; however, there has been limited exploration of the ways in which educators can translate this model of mental activity into sound instructional strategies. The use of self-explanation during learning has the potential to promote and support the development of integrated knowledge by encouraging novices to elaborate on the causal relationship between clinical features and basic science mechanisms. To explore the effect of this strategy, we compared diagnostic efficacy of teaching students (n = 71) the clinical features of four musculoskeletal pathologies using either (1) integrated causal basic science descriptions (BaSci group); (2) integrated causal basic science descriptions combined with self-explanation prompts (SE group); (3) basic science mechanisms segregated from the clinical features (SG group). All participants completed a diagnostic accuracy test immediately after learning and 1-week later. The results showed that the BaSci group performed significantly better compared to the SE (p = 0.019) and SG groups (p = 0.004); however, no difference was observed between the SE and SG groups (p = 0.91). We hypothesize that the structure of the self-explanation task may not have supported the development of a holistic conceptual understanding of each disease. These findings suggest that integration strategies need to be carefully structured and applied in ways that support the holistic story created by integrated basic science instruction in order to foster conceptual coherence and to capitalize on the benefits of cognition integration.

A robotic exploration mission to Mars and Phobos

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kerr, Justin H.; Defosse, Erin; Ho, Quang; Barriga, Ernisto; Davis, Grant; Mccourt, Steve; Smith, Matt

1993-01-01

This report discusses the design of a robotic exploration to Mars and Phobos. It begins with the mission's background and objectives, followed by a detailed explanation of various elements of Project Aeneas, including science, spacecraft, probes, and orbital trajectories. In addition, a description of Argos Space Endeavours, management procedures, and overall project costs are presented. Finally, a list of recommendations for future design activity is included.

Life on ice, Antarctica and Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, D. T.; Mckay, C. P.; Wharton, Robert A., Jr.; Sagan, C.; Squyres, S. W.; Simmons, G. M.

1991-01-01

The study of the origin of life and the prospects for human exploration of Mars are two themes developed in a new 57-minute film, Life on Ice, Antarctica, and Mars, produced by the InnerSpace Foundation and WHRO Television for broadcast by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). A brief explanation of the film and how it relates to the future human exploration of space is presented.

Differences conception prospective students teacher about limit of function based gender

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Usman, Juniati, Dwi; Siswono, Tatag Yuli Eko

2017-08-01

Gender is one of the interesting topics and has continuity to be explored in mathematics education research. The purpose of this study to explore difference on conceptions of students teaching program by gender. It specialized on conception of understanding, representating, and mental images about limit function. This research conducting qualitative explorative method approach. The subject consisted of one man and one woman from the group of highly skilled student and has gone through semester V. Based on data that had been analyzed proved that male student has an understanding about limit function shared by explaining this material using illustrations, while female student explained it through verbal explanation. Due to representating aspect, it revealed that both of male and female students have similarity such as using verbal explanation, graphs, symbols, and tables to representating about limit function. Analyzing Mental image aspect, researcher got that male student using word "to converge" to explained about limit function, while female student using word "to approach". So, there are differences conceptions about limit function between male and female student.

Habitat assortment of sexes and water balance in a dioecious grass.

PubMed

Fox, J F; Harrison, A Tyrone

1981-05-01

For a dioecious plant species in which males are associated with more xeric habitats and females with more mesic ones, (a) the xeric-mesic habitat difference was confirmed by measuring plant water potential, (b) and males and females had similar water balances and seemed to have no different adaptations to drought. There are slight differences in water potential between the sexes of dioecious plant species, but water balance can be more favorable in either the male or the female. On this account, we reject the "disruptive selection" hypothesis of Freeman et al. (1975) as an explanation for habitat assortment of sexes in dioecious plants. Alternative explanations, based upon parental determination of offspring sex ratios, or environmentally determined sex change, seem more likely.

Lateralization of infant holding by mothers: A longitudinal evaluation of variations over the first 12 weeks.

PubMed

Todd, Brenda K; Banerjee, Robin

2016-01-01

The maternal preference to hold infants on the left rather than right side of the body was examined longitudinally, with attention to 4 explanations: maternal monitoring of infant state, maternal handedness, infant proximity to the mother's heartbeat, and preferred infant head position. The side and site of holding were measured over the first 12 weeks of the lives of 24 infants. Information about group and individual consistency in holding side allowed novel evaluation of the theories. A strong bias to hold on the left dropped below significance when the infants were aged 12 weeks and was limited to specific holding positions. Findings were generally consistent with the monitoring hypothesis, and little support was found for the 3 alternative explanations.

The Binary Representation of Rational Numbers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmalz, Rosemary

1987-01-01

Presented are the mathematical explanation of the algorithm for representing rational numbers in base two, paper-and-pencil methods for producing the representation, some patterns in these representations, and pseudocode for computer programs to explore these patterns. (MNS)

Raphanus sativus, Germination, and Inquiry: A Learning Cycle Approach for Novice Experimenters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rillero, Peter

1999-01-01

Describes open-ended experiments with seeds from the common garden radish (Raphanus sativus). The phases of the 5-E learning cycle--Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Extension, and Evaluation--guide this activity series. (Author/MM)

The impact of post-event information on study-related memories: an exploration of the roles of judgemental anchoring, specific expectations about change, and motivational influences.

PubMed

Sedlmeier, Peter; Jaeger, Sonia

2007-01-01

We explored how well common theories about the impact of post-event information on memories explain recollections that occur naturally in university students' study routines. Instead of starting from a familiar research paradigm, such as those used in hindsight-bias research, the present study used a situation common to university students, and examined how well three candidate explanations--judgemental anchoring, implicit theories of change, and motivational influences--could explain the results we obtained in a long-term memory study that included three sessions, six months apart. We found that about two thirds of the memories of study-related issues were indeed biased, and that the impact of post-event information being used as an anchor is the most plausible explanation for the results. There were also some indications that memory biases might have been due, at least in part, to motivational factors.

The choice of alternatives to acute hospitalization: a descriptive study from Hallingdal, Norway

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Hallingdal is a rural region in southern Norway. General practitioners (GPs) refer acutely somatically ill patients to any of three levels of care: municipal nursing homes, the regional community hospital or the local general hospital. The objective of this paper is to describe the patterns of referrals to the three different somatic emergency service levels in Hallingdal and to elucidate possible explanations for the differences in referrals. Methods Quantitative methods were used to analyse local patient statistics and qualitative methods including focus group interviews were used to explore differences in referral rates between GPs. The acute somatic admissions from the six municipalities of Hallingdal were analysed for the two-year period 2010–11 (n = 1777). A focus group interview was held with the chief municipal medical officers of the six municipalities. The main outcome measure was the numbers of admissions to the three different levels of acute care in 2010–11. Reflections of the focus group members about the differences in admission patterns were also analysed. Results Acute admissions at a level lower than the local general hospital ranged from 9% to 29% between the municipalities. Foremost among the local factors affecting the individual doctor’s admission practice were the geographical distance to the different places of care and the GP’s working experience in the local community. Conclusion The experience from Hallingdal demonstrates that GPs use available alternatives to hospitalization but to varying degrees. This can be explained by socio-demographic factors and factors related to the medical reasons for admission. However, there are also important local factors related to the individual GP and the structural preparedness for alternatives in the community. PMID:23800090

Using phylogenomics to understand the link between biogeographic origins and regional diversification in ratsnakes.

PubMed

Chen, Xin; Lemmon, Alan R; Lemmon, Emily Moriarty; Pyron, R Alexander; Burbrink, Frank T

2017-06-01

Globally distributed groups may show regionally distinct rates of diversification, where speciation is elevated given timing and sources of ecological opportunity. However, for most organisms, nearly complete sampling at genomic-data scales to reduce topological error in all regions is unattainable, thus hampering conclusions related to biogeographic origins and rates of diversification. We explore processes leading to the diversity of global ratsnakes and test several important hypotheses related to areas of origin and enhanced diversification upon colonizing new continents. We estimate species trees inferred from phylogenomic scale data (304 loci) while exploring several strategies that consider topological error from each individual gene tree. With a dated species tree, we examine taxonomy and test previous hypotheses that suggest the ratsnakes originated in the Old World (OW) and dispersed to New World (NW). Furthermore, we determine if dispersal to the NW represented a source of ecological opportunity, which should show elevated rates of species diversification. We show that ratsnakes originated in the OW during the mid-Oligocene and subsequently dispersed to the NW by the mid-Miocene; diversification was also elevated in a subclade of NW taxa. Finally, the optimal biogeographic region-dependent speciation model shows that the uptick in ratsnake diversification was associated with colonization of the NW. We consider several alternative explanations that account for regionally distinct diversification rates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bringing Javanesse Traditional Dance into Basic Physics Class: Exemplifying Projectile Motion through Video Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handayani, Langlang; Prasetya Aji, Mahardika; Susilo; Marwoto, Putut

2016-08-01

An alternative approach of an arts-based instruction for Basic Physics class has been developed through the implementation of video analysis of a Javanesse traditional dance: Bambangan Cakil. A particular movement of the dance -weapon throwing- was analyzed by employing the LoggerPro software package to exemplify projectile motion. The results of analysis indicated that the movement of the thrown weapon in Bambangan Cakil dance provides some helping explanations of several physics concepts of projectile motion: object's path, velocity, and acceleration, in a form of picture, graph and also table. Such kind of weapon path and velocity can be shown via a picture or graph, while such concepts of decreasing velocity in y direction (weapon moving downward and upward) due to acceleration g can be represented through the use of a table. It was concluded that in a Javanesse traditional dance there are many physics concepts which can be explored. The study recommends to bring the traditional dance into a science class which will enable students to get more understanding of both physics concepts and Indonesia cultural heritage.

Impact origin of sediments at the Opportunity landing site on Mars.

PubMed

Knauth, L Paul; Burt, Donald M; Wohletz, Kenneth H

2005-12-22

Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity discovered sediments with layered structures thought to be unique to aqueous deposition and with minerals attributed to evaporation of an acidic salty sea. Remarkable iron-rich spherules were ascribed to later groundwater alteration, and the inferred abundance of water reinforced optimism that Mars was once habitable. The layered structures, however, are not unique to water deposition, and the scenario encounters difficulties in accounting for highly soluble salts admixed with less soluble salts, the lack of clay minerals from acid-rock reactions, high sphericity and near-uniform sizes of the spherules and the absence of a basin boundary. Here we present a simple alternative explanation involving deposition from a ground-hugging turbulent flow of rock fragments, salts, sulphides, brines and ice produced by meteorite impact. Subsequent weathering by intergranular water films can account for all of the features observed without invoking shallow seas, lakes or near-surface aquifers. Layered sequences observed elsewhere on heavily cratered Mars and attributed to wind, water or volcanism may well have formed similarly. If so, the search for past life on Mars should be reassessed accordingly.

Interspike interval correlation in a stochastic exponential integrate-and-fire model with subthreshold and spike-triggered adaptation.

PubMed

Shiau, LieJune; Schwalger, Tilo; Lindner, Benjamin

2015-06-01

We study the spike statistics of an adaptive exponential integrate-and-fire neuron stimulated by white Gaussian current noise. We derive analytical approximations for the coefficient of variation and the serial correlation coefficient of the interspike interval assuming that the neuron operates in the mean-driven tonic firing regime and that the stochastic input is weak. Our result for the serial correlation coefficient has the form of a geometric sequence and is confirmed by the comparison to numerical simulations. The theory predicts various patterns of interval correlations (positive or negative at lag one, monotonically decreasing or oscillating) depending on the strength of the spike-triggered and subthreshold components of the adaptation current. In particular, for pure subthreshold adaptation we find strong positive ISI correlations that are usually ascribed to positive correlations in the input current. Our results i) provide an alternative explanation for interspike-interval correlations observed in vivo, ii) may be useful in fitting point neuron models to experimental data, and iii) may be instrumental in exploring the role of adaptation currents for signal detection and signal transmission in single neurons.

Polygyny without wealth: popularity in gift games predicts polygyny in BaYaka Pygmies.

PubMed

Chaudhary, Nikhil; Salali, Gul Deniz; Thompson, James; Dyble, Mark; Page, Abigail; Smith, Daniel; Mace, Ruth; Migliano, Andrea Bamberg

2015-05-01

The occurrence of polygynous marriage in hunter-gatherer societies, which do not accumulate wealth, remains largely unexplored since resource availability is dependent on male hunting capacity and limited by the lack of storage. Hunter-gatherer societies offer the greatest insight in to human evolution since they represent the majority of our species' evolutionary history. In order to elucidate the evolution of hunter-gatherer polygyny, we study marriage patterns of BaYaka Pygmies. We investigate (i) rates of polygyny among BaYaka hunter-gatherers; (ii) whether polygyny confers a fitness benefit to BaYaka men; (iii) in the absence of wealth inequalities, what are the alternative explanations for polygyny among the BaYaka. To understand the latter, we explore differences in phenotypic quality (height and strength), and social capital (popularity in gift games). We find polygynous men have increased reproductive fitness; and that social capital and popularity but not phenotypic quality might have been important mechanisms by which some male hunter-gatherers sustained polygynous marriages before the onset of agriculture and wealth accumulation.

Comments on 'Anisotropic magnetic susceptibility in the continental lower crust and its implication for the shape of magnetic anomalies' by G. Florio et al.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rochette, P.

1994-12-01

In their letter Lorio et al. (1993) recently explored the likelihood that the deflection with respect to present day magnetic North of dipolar lower crustal magnetic anomalies are caused by an induced magnetization deflected by strong anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) rather than the usual explanation of an ancient natural remanent magnetization of a rotated body. Such an alternative would solve the theoretical problems raised by the stability of Natural Remanent Magnetization (NRM) at high temperature in the usually coarse grained magnetite bearing source rocks necessary to create large magnetic anomalies (Shive, 1989). They present a case study of two deep anomalies in southern Italy where the deflection is 30 to 40 deg. From a model of an anisotropic cubic source and an AMS dataset from representative deep crustal rocks from various part of the world, they conclude that no significant deflection of anomaly axis can be due to the average anisotropy ratio P(prime) = 1.5 observed in the dataset.

The role of accent imitation in sensorimotor integration during processing of intelligible speech

PubMed Central

Adank, Patti; Rueschemeyer, Shirley-Ann; Bekkering, Harold

2013-01-01

Recent theories on how listeners maintain perceptual invariance despite variation in the speech signal allocate a prominent role to imitation mechanisms. Notably, these simulation accounts propose that motor mechanisms support perception of ambiguous or noisy signals. Indeed, imitation of ambiguous signals, e.g., accented speech, has been found to aid effective speech comprehension. Here, we explored the possibility that imitation in speech benefits perception by increasing activation in speech perception and production areas. Participants rated the intelligibility of sentences spoken in an unfamiliar accent of Dutch in a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging experiment. Next, participants in one group repeated the sentences in their own accent, while a second group vocally imitated the accent. Finally, both groups rated the intelligibility of accented sentences in a post-test. The neuroimaging results showed an interaction between type of training and pre- and post-test sessions in left Inferior Frontal Gyrus, Supplementary Motor Area, and left Superior Temporal Sulcus. Although alternative explanations such as task engagement and fatigue need to be considered as well, the results suggest that imitation may aid effective speech comprehension by supporting sensorimotor integration. PMID:24109447

Computer-Aided Discovery Tools for Volcano Deformation Studies with InSAR and GPS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pankratius, V.; Pilewskie, J.; Rude, C. M.; Li, J. D.; Gowanlock, M.; Bechor, N.; Herring, T.; Wauthier, C.

2016-12-01

We present a Computer-Aided Discovery approach that facilitates the cloud-scalable fusion of different data sources, such as GPS time series and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), for the purpose of identifying the expansion centers and deformation styles of volcanoes. The tools currently developed at MIT allow the definition of alternatives for data processing pipelines that use various analysis algorithms. The Computer-Aided Discovery system automatically generates algorithmic and parameter variants to help researchers explore multidimensional data processing search spaces efficiently. We present first application examples of this technique using GPS data on volcanoes on the Aleutian Islands and work in progress on combined GPS and InSAR data in Hawaii. In the model search context, we also illustrate work in progress combining time series Principal Component Analysis with InSAR augmentation to constrain the space of possible model explanations on current empirical data sets and achieve a better identification of deformation patterns. This work is supported by NASA AIST-NNX15AG84G and NSF ACI-1442997 (PI: V. Pankratius).

Economic models of the family and the relationship between economic status and health.

PubMed

Tipper, Adam

2010-05-01

Empirical evidence strongly suggests that there is a positive relationship between economic status and health, and that married persons are healthier than their single counterparts. There are, however, a number of economic explanations for why economic status is related to health in the family context that are often overlooked in empirical studies. This paper provides a comparative introduction to three main economic approaches to the family in order to understand further why married persons are often observed to be healthier than single persons. The models discussed are the unitary model, the collective labour supply model, and the institutional economics approach. In discussing the different approaches to health formation in a family context, issues pertaining to gender, intra-household inequality, and resource transfers are also explored to highlight the advantages of considering various economic perspectives. Each of these models, it is suggested, provides an alternative view of the mechanisms for relating economic status to health, and may thus affect the interpretation of empirical results. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetic Counselors in Startup Companies: Redefining the Genetic Counselor Role.

PubMed

Rabideau, Marina M; Wong, Kenny; Gordon, Erynn S; Ryan, Lauren

2016-08-01

Genetic counselors (GCs) have recently begun moving into non-clinic based roles in increasing numbers. A relatively new role for GCs is working for startup companies. Startups are newly established companies in the phase of developing and researching new scalable businesses. This article explores the experiences of four GCs working at different startup companies and aims to provide resources for GCs interested in learning more about these types of roles. The article describes startup culture, including a relatively flat organizational structure, quick product iterations, and flexibility, among other unique cultural characteristics. Financial considerations are described, including how to understand and evaluate a company's financial status, along with a brief explanation of alternate forms of compensation including stock options and equity. Specifically, the article details the uncertainties and rewards of working in a fast-paced startup environment that affords opportunities to try new roles and use the genetic counseling skill set in new ways. This article aims to aid GCs in determining whether a startup environment would be a good fit, learning how to evaluate a specific startup, and understanding how to market themselves for positions at startups.

Older persons' definitions and explanations of elder abuse in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Mysyuk, Yuliya; Westendorp, Rudi G J; Lindenberg, Jolanda

2016-01-01

In this article we explore older persons' definitions of and explanations for elder abuse in the Netherlands by means of interviews with older persons. A qualitative study was conducted based on semistructured interviews with 35 older persons who had no experience with abuse. Our findings show that older persons participating in our study define elder abuse foremost as physical violence that is performed intentionally. The study participants explain elder abuse as a result of the dependency and vulnerability of older persons, of changing norms and values, and of changes in the position of older persons in society, which result in disrespect toward older persons and a lack of social control and responsibility. The older persons' explanations for the occurrence of abuse mainly focus on societal changes; older persons seem to regard elder abuse primarily as a societal problem. This understanding of, and explanation for, elder abuse may influence their detection and reporting behavior, as they may tend to acknowledge only severe cases of intentional physical violence that leave clear and therefore physically detectable evidence.

Population genetic structure of traditional populations in the Peruvian Central Andes and implications for South American population history.

PubMed

Cabana, Graciela S; Lewis, Cecil M; Tito, Raúl Y; Covey, R Alan; Cáceres, Angela M; Cruz, Augusto F De La; Durand, Diana; Housman, Genevieve; Hulsey, Brannon I; Iannacone, Gian Carlo; López, Paul W; Martínez, Rolando; Medina, Ángel; Dávila, Olimpio Ortega; Pinto, Karla Paloma Osorio; Santillán, Susan I Polo; Domínguez, Percy Rojas; Rubel, Meagan; Smith, Heather F; Smith, Silvia E; Massa, Verónica Rubín de Celis; Lizárraga, Beatriz; Stone, Anne C

2014-01-01

Molecular-based characterizations of Andean peoples are traditionally conducted in the service of elucidating continent-level evolutionary processes in South America. Consequently, genetic variation among "western" Andean populations is often represented in relation to variation among "eastern" Amazon and Orinoco River Basin populations. This west-east contrast in patterns of population genetic variation is typically attributed to large-scale phenomena, such as dual founder colonization events or differing long-term microevolutionary histories. However, alternative explanations that consider the nature and causes of population genetic diversity within the Andean region remain underexplored. Here we examine population genetic diversity in the Peruvian Central Andes using data from the mtDNA first hypervariable region and Y-chromosome short tandem repeats among 17 newly sampled populations and 15 published samples. Using this geographically comprehensive data set, we first reassessed the currently accepted pattern of western versus eastern population genetic structure, which our results ultimately reject: mtDNA population diversities were lower, rather than higher, within Andean versus eastern populations, and only highland Y-chromosomes exhibited significantly higher within-population diversities compared with eastern groups. Multiple populations, including several highland samples, exhibited low genetic diversities for both genetic systems. Second, we explored whether the implementation of Inca state and Spanish colonial policies starting at about ad 1400 could have substantially restructured population genetic variation and consequently constitute a primary explanation for the extant pattern of population diversity in the Peruvian Central Andes. Our results suggest that Peruvian Central Andean population structure cannot be parsimoniously explained as the sole outcome of combined Inca and Spanish policies on the region's population demography: highland populations differed from coastal and lowland populations in mtDNA genetic structure only; highland groups also showed strong evidence of female-biased gene flow and/or effective sizes relative to other Peruvian ecozones. Taken together, these findings indicate that population genetic structure in the Peruvian Central Andes is considerably more complex than previously reported and that characterizations of and explanations for genetic variation may be best pursued within more localized regions and defined time periods.

Can Natural Language Processing Improve the Efficiency of Vaccine Adverse Event Report Review?

PubMed

Baer, B; Nguyen, M; Woo, E J; Winiecki, S; Scott, J; Martin, D; Botsis, T; Ball, R

2016-01-01

Individual case review of spontaneous adverse event (AE) reports remains a cornerstone of medical product safety surveillance for industry and regulators. Previously we developed the Vaccine Adverse Event Text Miner (VaeTM) to offer automated information extraction and potentially accelerate the evaluation of large volumes of unstructured data and facilitate signal detection. To assess how the information extraction performed by VaeTM impacts the accuracy of a medical expert's review of the vaccine adverse event report. The "outcome of interest" (diagnosis, cause of death, second level diagnosis), "onset time," and "alternative explanations" (drug, medical and family history) for the adverse event were extracted from 1000 reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) using the VaeTM system. We compared the human interpretation, by medical experts, of the VaeTM extracted data with their interpretation of the traditional full text reports for these three variables. Two experienced clinicians alternately reviewed text miner output and full text. A third clinician scored the match rate using a predefined algorithm; the proportion of matches and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Review time per report was analyzed. Proportion of matches between the interpretation of the VaeTM extracted data, compared to the interpretation of the full text: 93% for outcome of interest (95% CI: 91-94%) and 78% for alternative explanation (95% CI: 75-81%). Extracted data on the time to onset was used in 14% of cases and was a match in 54% (95% CI: 46-63%) of those cases. When supported by structured time data from reports, the match for time to onset was 79% (95% CI: 76-81%). The extracted text averaged 136 (74%) fewer words, resulting in a mean reduction in review time of 50 (58%) seconds per report. Despite a 74% reduction in words, the clinical conclusion from VaeTM extracted data agreed with the full text in 93% and 78% of reports for the outcome of interest and alternative explanation, respectively. The limited amount of extracted time interval data indicates the need for further development of this feature. VaeTM may improve review efficiency, but further study is needed to determine if this level of agreement is sufficient for routine use.

Promoting de-escalation of commitment: a regulatory-focus perspective on sunk costs.

PubMed

Molden, Daniel C; Hui, Chin Ming

2011-01-01

People frequently escalate their commitment to failing endeavors. Explanations for such behavior typically involve loss aversion, failure to recognize other alternatives, and concerns with justifying prior actions; all of these factors produce recommitment to previous decisions with the goal of erasing losses and vindicating these decisions. Solutions to escalation of commitment have therefore focused on external oversight and divided responsibility during decision making to attenuate loss aversion, blindness to alternatives, and justification biases. However, these solutions require substantial resources and have additional adverse effects. The present studies tested an alternative method for de-escalating commitment: activating broad motivations for growth and advancement (promotion). This approach should reduce concerns with loss and increase perceptions of alternatives, thereby attenuating justification motives. In two studies featuring hypothetical financial decisions, activating promotion motivations reduced recommitment to poorly performing investments as compared with both not activating any additional motivations and activating motivations for safety and security (prevention).

Exploring the Relationship of College Freshmen Honors Students' Effort and Ability Attribution, Interest, and Implicit Theory of Intelligence with Perceived Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegle, Del; Da Via Rubenstein, Lisa; Pollard, Elizabeth; Romey, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

Although there are several explanations for why one succeeds or fails, effort and ability are the major causes that students report. The purpose of the present study was to measure the perceptions of 149 college freshmen enrolled in a university honors program about their skills in 15 talent areas. In addition, this study explored the relationship…

Social Representations Used by the Parents of Mexican Adolescent Drug Users under Treatment to Explain Their Children's Drug Use: Gender Differences in Parental Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nuno-Gutierrez, Bertha Lidia; Alvarez-Nemegyei, Jose; Rodriguez-Cerda, Oscar

2008-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the social representations used by the parents of adolescent drug users to explain the onset of drug use. Differences in explanations between the parents of male and female adolescents were also explored. Sixty parents who accompanied their children to four rehabilitation centers in 2004 completed two…

Development links psychological causes to evolutionary explanations.

PubMed

Fedyk, Mark; Kushnir, Tamar

2014-04-01

Our conscious abilities are learned in environments that have evolved to support them. This insight provides an alternative way of framing Huang & Bargh's (H&B's) provocative hypothesis. To understand the conflict between unconscious goals and consciousness, we can study the emergence of conscious thought and control in childhood. These developmental processes are also central to the best available current evolutionary theories.

Computer Aided Program Synthesis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-01

Representations 18 .2 Refinements and Reductions 18.:2.3 Dependenc ies 20 3.3 The Programming Knowledge Base 21 3.4 Linguistic Knowledge 22 3.5...strategy selection knowledge, i.e. knowledge representing a context sensitive discrimination among alternate methods; and knowledge of logical...program, each supplying his expertise. The client describes his task to the consultant and supplies answers and explanations to the consultant’s

Strategies in Reading Comprehension: Individual Differences in Learning from Pictures and Words (A Footnote). Technical Report No. 300.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Joel R.; Guttmann, Joseph

In a recent experiment it was discovered that although many children learn uniformly well (or poorly) from pictures and words, others learn appreciably better from pictures. The present study rules out an alternative explanation of those data--which had been produced on a single learning task containing both pictures and words--by obtaining…

How Different Variants of Orbit Diagrams Influence Student Explanations of the Seasons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Victor R.

2010-01-01

The cause of the seasons is often associated with a very particular alternative conception: That the earth's orbit around the sun is highly elongated, and the differences in distance result in variations in temperature. It has been suggested that the standard diagrams used to depict the earth's orbit may be in some way responsible for the initial…

Appraising the roles of nutrient availability, global change, and functional traits during the angiosperm rise to dominance.

PubMed

Mueller, Kevin E; Diefendorf, Aaron F; Freeman, Katherine H; Eissenstat, David M

2010-05-01

To explain the rise of angiosperms during the Cretaceous, Berendse & Scheffer (Ecol. Lett., 12, 2009, 865) invoke feedbacks between leaf litter, soil nutrients, and growth, overlooking other factors affecting resource acquisition by Cretaceous plants. We evaluate their hypothesis, highlight alternative explanations, and emphasize use of a broader framework for understanding the angiosperm radiation.

Students' Conceptions about Climate Change: Using Critical Evaluation to Influence Plausibility Reappraisals and Knowledge Reconstruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lombardi, Douglas Adler

2012-01-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) reported a greater than 90% chance that human activities are responsible for global temperature increases over the last 50 years, as well as other climatic changes. The scientific report also states that alternative explanations (e.g., increasing energy received from the Sun) are less plausible…

Six Things to Never Say or Hear during an IEP Meeting: Educators as Advocates for Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheatham, Gregory A.; Hart, Juliet E.; Malian, Ida; McDonald, Joan

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to support school professionals in their work with parents as they meet IDEA (2004) requirements during IEP meetings. The authors share tools to help recognize when IDEA principles are violated and provide alternative responses that school professionals and parents can offer. Definitions and brief explanations of the…

The Economics and Politics of Structure: The Multidivisional Form and the Large U.S. Corporation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Donald; And Others

1987-01-01

Develops and tests alternative political and ecological life-cycle explanations of the multidivisional form (MDF) now typical of large corporations. Unlike the functional or unitary form, MDF organizes tasks into units based on products or geographical markets. Banking firms are less diverse and less likely to use MDF. Includes 5 tables, 72…

Credentials in Context: The Meaning and Use of Associate Degrees in the Employment of IT Technicians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Noy, Michelle

2011-01-01

Educational credentials are clearly linked to economic success, but the reasons for this link are not clear. Common theoretical approaches provide explanations but lack direct employer perspectives on credentials' meaning and the context in which employers make sense of credentials. In this study, I used an alternative perspective based in Meyer's…

Recognition-induced forgetting is not due to category-based set size.

PubMed

Maxcey, Ashleigh M

2016-01-01

What are the consequences of accessing a visual long-term memory representation? Previous work has shown that accessing a long-term memory representation via retrieval improves memory for the targeted item and hurts memory for related items, a phenomenon called retrieval-induced forgetting. Recently we found a similar forgetting phenomenon with recognition of visual objects. Recognition-induced forgetting occurs when practice recognizing an object during a two-alternative forced-choice task, from a group of objects learned at the same time, leads to worse memory for objects from that group that were not practiced. An alternative explanation of this effect is that category-based set size is inducing forgetting, not recognition practice as claimed by some researchers. This alternative explanation is possible because during recognition practice subjects make old-new judgments in a two-alternative forced-choice task, and are thus exposed to more objects from practiced categories, potentially inducing forgetting due to set-size. Herein I pitted the category-based set size hypothesis against the recognition-induced forgetting hypothesis. To this end, I parametrically manipulated the amount of practice objects received in the recognition-induced forgetting paradigm. If forgetting is due to category-based set size, then the magnitude of forgetting of related objects will increase as the number of practice trials increases. If forgetting is recognition induced, the set size of exemplars from any given category should not be predictive of memory for practiced objects. Consistent with this latter hypothesis, additional practice systematically improved memory for practiced objects, but did not systematically affect forgetting of related objects. These results firmly establish that recognition practice induces forgetting of related memories. Future directions and important real-world applications of using recognition to access our visual memories of previously encountered objects are discussed.

Performance Benefits with Scene-Linked HUD Symbology: An Attentional Phenomenon?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levy, Jonathan L.; Foyle, David C.; McCann, Robert S.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

Previous research has shown that in a simulated flight task, navigating a path defined by ground markers while maintaining a target altitude is more accurate when an altitude indicator appears in a virtual "scenelinked" format (projected symbology moving as if it were part of the out-the-window environment) compared to the fixed-location, superimposed format found on present-day HUDs (Foyle, McCann & Shelden, 1995). One explanation of the scene-linked performance advantage is that attention can be divided between scene-linked symbology and the outside world more efficiently than between standard (fixed-position) HUD symbology and the outside world. The present study tested two alternative explanations by manipulating the location of the scene-linked HUD symbology relative to the ground path markers. Scene-linked symbology yielded better ground path-following performance than standard fixed-location superimposed symbology regardless of whether the scene-linked symbology appeared directly along the ground path or at various distances off the path. The results support the explanation that the performance benefits found with scene-linked symbology are attentional.

The Significance of Macrocephaly or Enlarging Head Circumference in Infants With the Triad

PubMed Central

Miller, David; Barnes, Patrick; Miller, Marvin

2015-01-01

Abstract Infants with the triad (neurologic dysfunction, subdural hematoma [SDH], and retinal hemorrhage) are often diagnosed as victims of shaken baby syndrome. Medical conditions/predisposing factors to developing the triad are often dismissed: short falls, birth-related SDH that enlarges, macrocephaly, sinus/cortical vein thrombosis, and others. Six infants with the triad are described in which child abuse was diagnosed, but parents denied wrongdoing. All 6 had either macrocephaly or enlarging head circumference, which suggested medical explanations. Three infants incurred short falls, 1 had a difficult delivery in which there was likely a rebleed of a birth-related SDH, 1 had a spontaneous SDH associated with increased extra-axial fluid spaces, and 1 had a sinus thrombosis. Following legal proceedings, all 6 infants were returned to their parents, and there has been no child maltreatment in follow-up, suggesting child abuse never happened. The results indicate that alternative medical explanations for causing the triad should be considered and that macrocephaly or an enlarging head circumference raises the possibility of a medical explanation. PMID:25893912

Successful child psychotherapy of attention deficit/hyperactive disorder: an agitated depression explanation.

PubMed

Seitler, Burton Norman

2008-09-01

Science tries to explain phenomena in ways that are demonstrable and replicable to develop logical, coherent, parsimonious, and predictive theoretical systems. Yet hyperactive children are given stimulants to "calm" them down, despite the fact that science would predict stimulants would increase hyperactivity. Bradley (1937, 1950) observed that half of the behavior-problem children to whom he administered a stimulant for one week became subdued. He called this finding paradoxical, speculating that inhibitory centers of the central nervous system were stimulated. While Bradley's assertion of a paradoxical reverse effect in children may be an empirical observation, it is not an explanation. The Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is inferred to exist from hyperactive behavior, which in turn, is inferred to be neurological in origin, a circular argument. An inevitable consequence of the belief in the hypothetical neurological etiology of ADHD is that children are typically given stimulants. Using the case of a seven-year old child, described as experiencing ADHD, who was treated successfully without medication as an illustration, the author provides an alternative, more parsimonious explanation of the etiology, suggesting that ADHD is related to agitated depression.

The One-Child Policy, Elder Care, and LGB Chinese: A Social Policy Explanation for Family Pressure.

PubMed

Hildebrandt, Timothy

2018-01-03

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people in China consistently report family pressure as the greatest challenge they face in their daily lives. This problem has been explained primarily by highlighting sociocultural factors. While such explanations are important to understanding family pressure, they do not easily lead to actionable policy interventions to relieve it. This article suggests a new way of looking at family pressure by positing a social policy explanation. In particular, it reveals how both the one-child policy and elder care reforms have strong heteronormative biases that negatively and disproportionately affect LGB people, and it explores social policy interventions that may help address them. Beyond the China case, the article seeks to open up new avenues for research into how sexuality could be better accounted for in analyses of social policies and considered in broader discussions on defamilization and welfare state reform.

Supernatural beliefs, natural kinds, and conceptual structure.

PubMed

Walker, S J

1992-11-01

This article presents cross-cultural evidence in support of the notion that adults' natural kind concepts are theory based but may be informed by knowledge/belief systems other than the biological. Three groups of subjects from western Nigeria--rural, urban, and elite--participated in the study. Subjects heard stories describing alterations of appearance; that is, one natural kind was made to resemble another in both ritual and nonritual contexts. Subjects then were required to judge the identity of the altered item and to give an explanation for the category judgment. It was predicted that subjects would make more nonpreservation-of-identity category judgments supported by supernatural explanations in the ritual contexts and that subjects' use of supernatural explanations would reflect the extent of their engagement with the supernatural. The first prediction was borne out; the second prediction was only partially supported. Discussion of the results emphasizes the importance of exploring the role of sociocultural factors in conceptual structure.

Interpreting Black-Box Classifiers Using Instance-Level Visual Explanations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tamagnini, Paolo; Krause, Josua W.; Dasgupta, Aritra

2017-05-14

To realize the full potential of machine learning in diverse real- world domains, it is necessary for model predictions to be readily interpretable and actionable for the human in the loop. Analysts, who are the users but not the developers of machine learning models, often do not trust a model because of the lack of transparency in associating predictions with the underlying data space. To address this problem, we propose Rivelo, a visual analytic interface that enables analysts to understand the causes behind predictions of binary classifiers by interactively exploring a set of instance-level explanations. These explanations are model-agnostic, treatingmore » a model as a black box, and they help analysts in interactively probing the high-dimensional binary data space for detecting features relevant to predictions. We demonstrate the utility of the interface with a case study analyzing a random forest model on the sentiment of Yelp reviews about doctors.« less

The Auditory Skills Necessary for Echolocation: A New Explanation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson-Smith, C.; Wiener, W. R.

1996-01-01

This study employed an audiometric test battery with nine blindfolded undergraduate students to explore success factors in echolocation. Echolocation performance correlated significantly with several specific auditory measures. No relationship was found between high-frequency sensitivity and echolocation performance. (Author/PB)

Who Can Know Mathematics?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walshaw, Margaret

2014-01-01

This paper explores contemporary thinking about learning mathematics, and within that, social justice within mathematics education. The discussion first looks at mechanisms offered by conventional explanations on the emancipatory project and then moves towards more recent insights developed within mathematics education. Synergies are drawn between…

Prevention of Learned Helplessness in Humans.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klee, Steven; Meyer, Robert G.

1979-01-01

Explored prevention of learned helplessness through the use of thermal biofeedback training and varied explanations of performance. It was found that only in the biofeedback group receiving accurate feedback was there any prevention of the subsequent development of learned helplessness behavior. (Author)

Does body mass play a role in the regulation of food intake?

PubMed

Speakman, John R; Stubbs, R James; Mercer, Julian G

2002-11-01

It is widely believed that body fatness (and hence total body mass) is regulated by a lipostatic feedback system. This system is suggested to involve at least one peripheral signalling compound, which signals to the brain the current size of body fat stores. In the brain the level of the signal is compared with a desirable target level, and food intake and energy expenditure are then regulated to effect changes in the size of body fat stores. There is considerable support for this theory at several different levels of investigation. Patterns of body-mass change in subjects forced into energy imbalance seem to demonstrate homeostasis, and long-term changes in body mass are minor compared with the potential changes that might result from energy imbalance. Molecular studies of signalling compounds have suggested a putative lipostatic signal (leptin) and a complex network of downstream processing events in the brain, polymorphisms of which lead to disruption of body-mass regulation. This network of neuropeptides provides a rich seam of potential pharmaceutical targets for the control of obesity. Despite this consistent explanation for the observed phenomena at several different levels of enquiry, there are alternative explanations. In the present paper we explore the possibility that the existence of lipostatic regulation of body fatness is an illusion generated by the links between body mass and energy expenditure and responses to energy imbalance that are independent of body mass. Using computer-based models of temporal patterns in energy balance we show that common patterns of change in body mass following perturbation can be adequately explained by this 'non-lipostatic' model. This model has some important implications for the interpretations that we place on the molecular events in the brain, and ultimately in the search for pharmaceutical agents for alleviation of obesity.

Timing and proximate causes of mortality in wild bird populations: testing Ashmole’s hypothesis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barton, Daniel C.; Martin, Thomas E.

2012-01-01

Fecundity in birds is widely recognized to increase with latitude across diverse phylogenetic groups and regions, yet the causes of this variation remain enigmatic. Ashmole’s hypothesis is one of the most broadly accepted explanations for this pattern. This hypothesis suggests that increasing seasonality leads to increasing overwinter mortality due to resource scarcity during the lean season (e.g., winter) in higher latitude climates. This mortality is then thought to yield increased per-capita resources for breeding that allow larger clutch sizes at high latitudes. Support for this hypothesis has been based on indirect tests, whereas the underlying mechanisms and assumptions remain poorly explored. We used a meta-analysis of over 150 published studies to test two underlying and critical assumptions of Ashmole’s hypothesis: first, that ad ult mortality is greatest during the season of greatest resource scarcity, and second, t hat most mortality is caused by starvation. We found that the lean season (winter) was generally not the season of greatest mortality. Instead, spring or summer was most frequently the season of greatest mortality. Moreover, monthly survival rates were not explained by monthly productivity, again opposing predictions from Ashmole’s hypothesis. Finally, predation, rather than starvation, was the most frequent proximate cause o f mortality. Our results do not support the mechanistic predictions of Ashmole‘s hypothesis, and suggest alternative explanations of latitudinal variation in clutch size should remain under consideration. Our meta-analysis also highlights a paucity of data available on the timing and causes of mortality in many bird populations, particularly tropical bird populations, despite the clear theoretical and empirical importance of such data.

Solar Wind Strahl Broadening by Self-Generated Plasma Waves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pavan, J.; Vinas, A. F.; Yoon, P. H.; Ziebell, L. F.; Gaelzer, R.

2013-01-01

This Letter reports on the results of numerical simulations which may provide a possible explanation for the strahl broadening during quiet solar conditions. The relevant processes involved in the broadening are due to kinetic quasi-linear wave-particle interaction. Making use of static analytical electron distribution in an inhomogeneous field, it is found that self-generated electrostatic waves at the plasma frequency, i.e., Langmuir waves, are capable of scattering the strahl component, resulting in energy and pitch-angle diffusion that broadens its velocity distribution significantly. The present theoretical results provide an alternative or complementary explanation to the usual whistler diffusion scenario, suggesting that self-induced electrostatic waves at the plasma frequency might play a key role in broadening the solar wind strahl during quiet solar conditions.

The early emergence and puzzling decline of relational reasoning: Effects of knowledge and search on inferring abstract concepts.

PubMed

Walker, Caren M; Bridgers, Sophie; Gopnik, Alison

2016-11-01

We explore the developmental trajectory and underlying mechanisms of abstract relational reasoning. We describe a surprising developmental pattern: Younger learners are better than older ones at inferring abstract causal relations. Walker and Gopnik (2014) demonstrated that toddlers are able to infer that an effect was caused by a relation between two objects (whether they are the same or different), rather than by individual kinds of objects. While these findings are consistent with evidence that infants recognize same-different relations, they contrast with a large literature suggesting that older children tend to have difficulty inferring these relations. Why might this be? In Experiment 1a, we demonstrate that while younger children (18-30-month-olds) have no difficulty learning these relational concepts, older children (36-48-month-olds) fail to draw this abstract inference. Experiment 1b replicates the finding with 18-30-month-olds using a more demanding intervention task. Experiment 2 tests whether this difference in performance might be because older children have developed the general hypothesis that individual kinds of objects are causal - the high initial probability of this alternative hypothesis might override the data that favors the relational hypothesis. Providing additional information falsifying the alternative hypothesis improves older children's performance. Finally, Experiment 3 demonstrates that prompting for explanations during learning also improves performance, even without any additional information. These findings are discussed in light of recent computational and algorithmic theories of learning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transcriptome instability as a molecular pan-cancer characteristic of carcinomas.

PubMed

Sveen, Anita; Johannessen, Bjarne; Teixeira, Manuel R; Lothe, Ragnhild A; Skotheim, Rolf I

2014-08-10

We have previously proposed transcriptome instability as a genome-wide, pre-mRNA splicing-related characteristic of colorectal cancer. Here, we explore the hypothesis of transcriptome instability being a general characteristic of cancer. Exon-level microarray expression data from ten cancer datasets were analyzed, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer, neuroblastoma, and prostate cancer (555 samples), as well as paired normal tissue samples from the colon, lung, prostate, and stomach (93 samples). Based on alternative splicing scores across the genomes, we calculated sample-wise relative amounts of aberrant exon skipping and inclusion. Strong and non-random (P < 0.001) correlations between these estimates and the expression levels of splicing factor genes (n = 280) were found in most cancer types analyzed (breast-, cervical-, colorectal-, lung- and prostate cancer). This suggests a biological explanation for the splicing variation. Surprisingly, these associations prevailed in pan-cancer analyses. This is in contrast to the tissue and cancer specific patterns observed in comparisons across healthy tissue samples from the colon, lung, prostate, and stomach, and between paired cancer-normal samples from the same four tissue types. Based on exon-level expression profiling and computational analyses of alternative splicing, we propose transcriptome instability as a molecular pan-cancer characteristic. The affected cancers show strong and non-random associations between low expression levels of splicing factor genes, and high amounts of aberrant exon skipping and inclusion, and vice versa, on a genome-wide scale.

A Study Of Undergraduate Students' Alternative Conceptions Of Earth's Interior Using Drawing Tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McAllister, Meredith L.

2014-12-01

Learning fundamental geoscience topics such as plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes requires students to develop a deep understanding of the conceptual models geologists use when describing the structure and dynamics of Earth's interior. Despite the importance of these mental models underlying much of the undergraduate geoscience curriculum, surprisingly little research related to this complex idea exists in the discipline-based science education research literature. To better understand non-science-majoring undergraduates' conceptual models of Earth's interior, student-generated drawings and interviews were used to probe student understanding of the Earth. Ninety-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with non-science-major college students at the beginning of an entry-level geology course at a large Midwestern university. Students were asked to draw a picture of Earth's interior and provide think-aloud explanations of their drawings. The results reveal that students hold a wide range of alternative conceptions about Earth, with only a small fraction having scientifically accurate ideas. Students' understandings ranged from conceptualizing Earth's interior as consisting of horizontal layers of rock and dirt, to more sophisticated views with Earth's interior being composed of concentric layers with unique physical and chemical characteristics. Processes occurring within Earth, such as "convection," were rarely mentioned or explained. These results provide a first-steps basis from which to further explore college students' thinking and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on earth science teaching and geoscience education research.

Alternative approaches to providing passenger transportation in low density cities : the case of Council Bluffs, Iowa

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-09-01

This study explores transportation alternatives for Council Bluffs. The intention is to explore alternatives that may potentially prove viable for other small cities faced with scattered development patterns and limited population density. The study ...

Students' self-explanations while solving unfamiliar cases: the role of biomedical knowledge.

PubMed

Chamberland, Martine; Mamede, Sílvia; St-Onge, Christina; Rivard, Marc-Antoine; Setrakian, Jean; Lévesque, Annie; Lanthier, Luc; Schmidt, Henk G; Rikers, Remy M J P

2013-11-01

General guidelines for teaching clinical reasoning have received much attention, despite a paucity of instructional approaches with demonstrated effectiveness. As suggested in a recent experimental study, self-explanation while solving clinical cases may be an effective strategy to foster reasoning in clinical clerks dealing with less familiar cases. However, the mechanisms that mediate this benefit have not been specifically investigated. The aim of this study was to explore the types of knowledge used by students when solving familiar and less familiar clinical cases with self-explanation. In a previous study, 36 third-year medical students diagnosed familiar and less familiar clinical cases either by engaging in self-explanation or not. Based on an analysis of previously collected data, the present study compared the content of self-explanation protocols generated by seven randomly selected students while solving four familiar and four less familiar cases. In total, 56 verbal protocols (28 familiar and 28 less familiar) were segmented and coded using the following categories: paraphrases, biomedical inferences, clinical inferences, monitoring statements and errors. Students provided more self-explanation segments from less familiar cases (M = 275.29) than from familiar cases (M = 248.71, p = 0.046). They provided significantly more paraphrases (p = 0.001) and made more errors (p = 0.008). A significant interaction was found between familiarity and the type of inferences (biomedical versus clinical, p = 0.016). When self-explaining less familiar cases, students provided significantly more biomedical inferences than familiar cases. Lack of familiarity with a case seems to stimulate medical students to engage in more extensive thinking during self-explanation. Less familiar cases seem to activate students' biomedical knowledge, which in turn helps them to create new links between biomedical and clinical knowledge, and eventually construct a more coherent mental representation of diseases. This may clarify the previously found positive effect that self-explanation has on the diagnosis of unfamiliar cases. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Alternative model of thrust-fault propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisenstadt, Gloria; de Paor, Declan G.

1987-07-01

A widely accepted explanation for the geometry of thrust faults is that initial failures occur on deeply buried planes of weak rock and that thrust faults propagate toward the surface along a staircase trajectory. We propose an alternative model that applies Gretener's beam-failure mechanism to a multilayered sequence. Invoking compatibility conditions, which demand that a thrust propagate both upsection and downsection, we suggest that ramps form first, at shallow levels, and are subsequently connected by flat faults. This hypothesis also explains the formation of many minor structures associated with thrusts, such as backthrusts, wedge structures, pop-ups, and duplexes, and provides a unified conceptual framework in which to evaluate field observations.

An Evolutionary Comparison of the Handicap Principle and Hybrid Equilibrium Theories of Signaling.

PubMed

Kane, Patrick; Zollman, Kevin J S

2015-01-01

The handicap principle has come under significant challenge both from empirical studies and from theoretical work. As a result, a number of alternative explanations for honest signaling have been proposed. This paper compares the evolutionary plausibility of one such alternative, the "hybrid equilibrium," to the handicap principle. We utilize computer simulations to compare these two theories as they are instantiated in Maynard Smith's Sir Philip Sidney game. We conclude that, when both types of communication are possible, evolution is unlikely to lead to handicap signaling and is far more likely to result in the partially honest signaling predicted by hybrid equilibrium theory.

Exploring Conceptual Frameworks of Models of Atomic Structures and Periodic Variations, Chemical Bonding, and Molecular Shape and Polarity: A Comparison of Undergraduate General Chemistry Students with High and Low Levels of Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Chia-Yu; Barrow, Lloyd H.

2013-01-01

The purpose of the study was to explore students' conceptual frameworks of models of atomic structure and periodic variations, chemical bonding, and molecular shape and polarity, and how these conceptual frameworks influence their quality of explanations and ability to shift among chemical representations. This study employed a purposeful sampling…

Educational responses to unethical healthcare practice.

PubMed

Grob, Catherine; Leng, Jane; Gallagher, Ann

The aim of this article is to explore explanations for unethical healthcare practice and identify educational responses. The meaning of unethical practice is outlined and causes of it are suggested, primarily relating to individual perpetrators and organisational culture or climate. Empirical and theoretical literature is reviewed and research findings are discussed. Individual resilience and the ethical climate of healthcare organisations are considered as responses to unethical practice. Role modelling is explored, acknowledging the role of effective leadership.

Teaching Significant Figures Using a Learning Cycle.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guymon, E. Park; And Others

1986-01-01

Describes an instructional strategy based on the learning cycle for teaching the use of significant figures. Provides explanations of teaching activities for each phase of the learning cycle (exploration, invention, application). Compares this approach to teaching significant figures with the traditional textbook approach. (TW)

The Inner Voices of Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Despert, J. Louise

Children's emotional development from infancy through adolescence, is described through brief anedcotes and through photographs. Psychological explanations of child behavior are discussed. Children's reactions to parents, siblings, and peers, and to experiences such as pain, discovering one's body, eating, exploring, and visiting the doctor are…

The EDP-5E

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lottero-Perdue, Pamela; Bolotin, Sonja; Benyameen, Ruth; Brock, Erin; Metzger, Ellen

2015-01-01

Many preservice and practicing elementary teachers are familiar with the 5E learning cycle. This cycle provides a relatively simple, alliteratively memorable framework for teaching science in which lessons (or even entire units of instruction) consist of five distinct phases: Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration/Extension (hereafter,…

Running Away from or Running Away To?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Csapo, Marg

1987-01-01

Runaway children and youth in Canada is the focus of an analysis and review of the literature which explores the following dimensions of the problem: history, prevalence, legislation, socio-psychological explanations, reasons for leaving home, runaway profile, and types of community services needed. (JW)

A Perceptual Repetition Blindness Effect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hochhaus, Larry; Johnston, James C.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Before concluding Repetition Blindness is a perceptual phenomenon, alternative explanations based on memory retrieval problems and report bias must be rejected. Memory problems were minimized by requiring a judgment about only a single briefly displayed field. Bias and sensitivity effects were empirically measured with an ROC-curve analysis method based on confidence ratings. Results from five experiments support the hypothesis that Repetition Blindness can be a perceptual phenomenon.

Systemic Operational Design: An Alternative to Estimate Planning

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-04

relationships found in the COE. Framing and campaign design, with emphasis on systems theory , have therefore made their way to the forefront of doctrinal...short explanation of the systems theory behind SOD, examines how the SOD process happens, and compares SOD with the time proven “Commander’s Estimate... Theory , Campaign planning, Contemporary Operating Environment, Commander’s Estimate Process, Operational design 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF

Motivation and Learning--The Role of Interest in Construction of Representation of Text and Long-Term Retention: Inter- and Intraindividual Analyses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naceur, Abdelmajid; Schiefele, Ulrich

2005-01-01

The present work examined the influence of topic interest on the strength of different components of text representation and long-term retention according to the model of text processing by van Dijk and Kintsch (1983). A Series of relevant personality characteristics were assessed to control for alternative explanations of interest effect, A total…

Chimpanzee Food Preferences, Associative Learning, and the Origins of Cooking

PubMed Central

Beran, Michael J.; Hopper, Lydia M.; de Waal, Frans B.M.; Sayers, Ken; Brosnan, Sarah F.

2015-01-01

A recent report suggested that chimpanzees demonstrate the cognitive capacities necessary to understand cooking (Warneken & Rosati, 2015). We offer alternate explanations and mechanisms that could account for the behavioral responses of those chimpanzees without invoking the understanding of cooking as a process. We discuss broader issues surrounding the use of chimpanzees in modeling hominid behavior and understanding aspects of human evolution. PMID:26659967

Failed PCR of Ganoderma type specimens affects nomenclature.

PubMed

Paterson, R R M; Lima, N

2015-06-01

The nomenclature of Ganoderma used as a Chinese medicine is debated. A group of researchers could not amplify the DNA of type specimens and concluded the DNA was degraded irreparably. New topotypes were used as the type specimens which was premature. The use of internal amplification controls is recommended to determine if other factors were involved as alternative explanations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Motivated explanation

PubMed Central

Patterson, Richard; Operskalski, Joachim T.; Barbey, Aron K.

2015-01-01

Although motivation is a well-established field of study in its own right, and has been fruitfully studied in connection with attribution theory and belief formation under the heading of “motivated thinking,” its powerful and pervasive influence on specifically explanatory processes is less well explored. Where one has a strong motivation to understand some event correctly, one is thereby motivated to adhere as best one can to normative or “epistemic” criteria for correct or accurate explanation, even if one does not consciously formulate or apply such criteria. By contrast, many of our motivations to explain introduce bias into the processes involved in generating, evaluating, or giving explanations. Non-epistemic explanatory motivations, or following Kunda's usage, “directional” motivations, include self-justification, resolution of cognitive dissonance, deliberate deception, teaching, and many more. Some of these motivations lead to the relaxation or violation of epistemic norms; others enhance epistemic motivation, so that one engages in more careful and thorough generational and evaluative processes. We propose that “real life” explanatory processes are often constrained by multiple goals, epistemic and directional, where these goals may mutually reinforce one another or may conflict, and where our explanations emerge as a matter of weighing and satisfying those goals. We review emerging evidence from psychology and neuroscience to support this framework and to elucidate the central role of motivation in human thought and explanation. PMID:26528166

Obesity literacy and culture among African American women in Florida.

PubMed

López, Ivette A; Boston, Patricia Q; Dutton, Matthew; Jones, Chauneva Glenn; Mitchell, M Miaisha; Vilme, Helene

2014-07-01

To explore causal explanations of obesity among African-American women of diverse weight across the life spectrum. In-depth interviews were conducted with adult African-American women of healthy weight (N = 10), overweight (N = 10), and obese weight (N = 20) to evaluate the relationship between causal explanations of obesity and weight. Generally overlooked dimensions of health definitions were discovered. Differences in weight definitions were detected between women of different weights. Terminology, symptoms, and solutions to obesity were detected between the women of different weights and public health recommendations. Identified causal discrepancies will help bridge the disconnection between public health recommendations and African-American women's perceptions with tailored interventions.

Recurrent pregnancy loss: evaluation and treatment.

PubMed

Shahine, Lora; Lathi, Ruth

2015-03-01

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a multifactorial condition. Approximately half of patients with RPL will have no explanation for their miscarriages. De novo chromosome abnormalities are common in sporadic and recurrent pregnancy loss. Testing for embryonic abnormalities can provide an explanation for the miscarriage in many cases and prognostic information. Regardless of the cause of RPL, patients should be reassured that the prognosis for live birth with an evidence-based approach is excellent for most patients. The authors review current evidence for the evaluation and treatment of RPL and explore the proposed use of newer technology for patients with RPL. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Alternate Approaches to Exploration: The Single Crew Module Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chambliss, Joe

2011-01-01

The Cx Program envisioned exploration of the moon and mars using an extrapolation of the Apollo approach. If new technology development initiatives are successful, they will provide capabilities that can enable alternate approaches. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the Cx approaches for lunar and Mars missions and some of the alternatives that were considered. Then an alternative approach referred to as a Single Crew Module approach is described. The SCM concept employs new technologies in a way that could reduce exploration cost and possibly schedule. Options to the approaches will be presented and discussed.

Bipolar disorder: idioms of susceptibility and disease and the role of 'genes' in illness explanations.

PubMed

Baart, Ingrid; Widdershoven, Guy

2013-11-01

This qualitative study explores (1) how members of the Dutch Association for People with Bipolar Disorder explain the affliction of bipolar disorder; (2) the relationship between genetic, environmental and personal factors in these explanations and (3) the relationship between illness explanations, self-management and identity. A total of 40 participants took part in seven different focus group discussions. The results demonstrate that there are two different explanatory idioms, each one centred around an opposing concept, that is, susceptibility and disease. Individuals who construct explanations around the concept of 'disease' attach more importance to 'genes and chemicals' than to environmental components in the onset of the disorder, whereas individuals adhering to the central concept of 'susceptibility' tend to do this much less. Compared with individuals using the 'susceptibility' idiom, those who use a 'disease' idiom tend to observe fewer possibilities for self-management and are less inclined to construct normalcy through a quest for personal growth. Stories of suffering seem more integral to the 'disease' idiom than to the 'susceptibility' idiom. The 'disease' idiom seems less integrated in a contemporary surveillance psychiatric discourse than the 'susceptibility' idiom; however, both vocabularies can offer normative constraints.

The role of perspective taking in how children connect reference frames when explaining astronomical phenomena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plummer, Julia D.; Bower, Corinne A.; Liben, Lynn S.

2016-02-01

This study investigates the role of perspective-taking skills in how children explain spatially complex astronomical phenomena. Explaining many astronomical phenomena, especially those studied in elementary and middle school, requires shifting between an Earth-based description of the phenomena and a space-based reference frame. We studied 7- to 9-year-old children (N = 15) to (a) develop a method for capturing how children make connections between reference frames and to (b) explore connections between perspective-taking skill and the nature of children's explanations. Children's explanations for the apparent motion of the Sun and stars and for seasonal changes in constellations were coded for accuracy of explanation, connection between frames of reference, and use of gesture. Children with higher spatial perspective-taking skills made more explicit connections between reference frames and used certain gesture-types more frequently, although this pattern was evident for only some phenomena. Findings suggest that children - particularly those with lower perspective-taking skills - may need additional support in learning to explicitly connect reference frames in astronomy. Understanding spatial thinking among children who successfully made explicit connections between reference frames in their explanations could be a starting point for future instruction in this domain.

Diversifying the Community College CEO Pipeline

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perrakis, Athena; Campbell, D. Michael; Antonaros, Mary

2009-01-01

The authors examine the current community college presidential pipeline and offer possible explanations for poor CEO representation from diverse populations. They explore a relationship between CEO satisfaction and diversity by testing whether CEO satisfaction is correlated to campus and administrative diversity. While data from the study…

Time-Frequency Analysis of Beach Bacteria Variations and its Implication for Recreational Water Quality Modeling

EPA Science Inventory

This paper explores the potential of time-frequency wavelet analysis in resolving beach bacteria concentration and possible explanatory variables across multiple time scales with temporal information still preserved. The wavelet scalograms of E. coli concentrations and the explan...

Success and Motivation among College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schweinle, Amy; Helming, Luralyn M.

2011-01-01

The present research explores college students' explanations of their success and failure in challenging activities and how it relates to students' efficacy, value, and engagement. The results suggest most students hold one primary reason for success during the challenging activity, including grade/extrinsic, mastery/intrinsic,…

New Inquiries into the Socioeconomic Status of Pilipino Americans in California.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cabezas, Amado; And Others

1987-01-01

Presents empirical evidence for economic inequity for Pilipino Americans, focusing on income and occupation. Explores explanations from two competing theories, one emphasizing individual effort alone (the human capital model), the other focusing more on the social structure (labor market segmentation). (LHW)

Reflection with a Twist: The Helical Mirror

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeWeerd, Alan J.; Hill, S. Eric

2006-01-01

Over the last few years, the helical mirror or "spinner" has become a popular decoration for gardens and elsewhere. Even casual observation reveals intriguing optical properties, so the spinner is a good teaching tool. To facilitate student exploration, we suggest some questions and provide brief explanations.

A Piagetian Learning Cycle for Introductory Chemical Kinetics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Batt, Russell H.

1980-01-01

Described is a Piagetian learning cycle based on Monte Carlo modeling of several simple reaction mechanisms. Included are descriptions of learning cycle phases (exploration, invention, and discovery) and four BASIC-PLUS computer programs to be used in the explanation of chemical reacting systems. (Author/DS)

The Value of Debts and Credits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akyuz, Didem

2012-01-01

Research has shown that students should be given the opportunity to explore mathematical concepts by building on their knowledge and focusing on mathematical reasoning. When students represent ideas, make conjectures, collaborate with others, and give explanations and arguments, they are using mathematical reasoning (NCTM 2000). Certain teaching…

Students' Perceptions of Roundhouse Diagramming: A Middle-School Viewpoint.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Robin E.; Wandersee, James H.

2002-01-01

Explores the effects in a multiple case study of Roundhouse diagram construction and use on meaningful learning of science concepts in a 6th grade classroom. Concludes that the students typically gained a greater understanding of science explanations by constructing the diagrams. (Author/MM)

Exploring cultural beliefs about "that sickness": grandmothers' explanations of HIV in an urban South African context.

PubMed

Penn, Claire; Watermeyer, Jennifer

2014-01-01

The role of culture in community beliefs about HIV is important to understand, given poor adherence to treatment and the failure of prevention programs in some contexts. An exploration of such models may yield important insight into barriers to care, treatment-seeking paths, and intergenerational differences in cultural beliefs and practices. Our study aimed to understand South African grandmothers' traditional beliefs about HIV. Three focus groups were conducted with 15 grandmothers from different cultural backgrounds in an urban community. Results indicated a variety of cultural explanations for causes, treatments, and prevention strategies. The lack of coherence and fluidity in opinions in this group suggests ways in which grandmothers may have a bridging role in the clinic that may help to validate and alleviate uncertainty, harmonize the voices of medicine and the lifeworld, and provide greater insight into people's ideas about health and treatment seeking, also known as the healthworld. Copyright © 2014 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the evolution of reproductive restraint in malaria

PubMed Central

Mideo, Nicole; Day, Troy

2008-01-01

Malaria is one of the leading causes of death among infectious diseases in the world, claiming over one million lives every year. By these standards, this highly complex parasite is extremely successful at generating new infections. Somewhat surprisingly, however, many malaria species seem to invest relatively little in gametocytes, converting only a small percentage of circulating asexual parasite forms into this transmissible form. In this article, we use mathematical models to explore three of the hypotheses that have been proposed to explain this apparent ‘reproductive restraint’ and develop a novel, fourth hypothesis. We find that only one of the previous three hypotheses we explore can explain such low gametocyte conversion rates, and this hypothesis involves a very specific form of density-dependent transmission-blocking immunity. Our fourth hypothesis also provides a potential explanation and is based on the occurrence of multiple infections and the resultant within-host competition between malaria strains that this entails. Further experimental work is needed to determine which of these two hypotheses provides the most likely explanation. PMID:18303001

Anomalous dispersion due to hydrocarbons: The secret of reservoir geophysics?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, R.L.

2009-01-01

When P- and S-waves travel through porous sandstone saturated with hydrocarbons, a bit of magic happens to make the velocities of these waves more frequency-dependent (dispersive) than when the formation is saturated with brine. This article explores the utility of the anomalous dispersion in finding more oil and gas, as well as giving a possible explanation about the effect of hydrocarbons upon the capillary forces in the formation. ?? 2009 Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

The modified alternative (G'/G)-expansion method to nonlinear evolution equation: application to the (1+1)-dimensional Drinfel'd-Sokolov-Wilson equation.

PubMed

Akbar, M Ali; Mohd Ali, Norhashidah Hj; Mohyud-Din, Syed Tauseef

2013-01-01

Over the years, (G'/G)-expansion method is employed to generate traveling wave solutions to various wave equations in mathematical physics. In the present paper, the alternative (G'/G)-expansion method has been further modified by introducing the generalized Riccati equation to construct new exact solutions. In order to illustrate the novelty and advantages of this approach, the (1+1)-dimensional Drinfel'd-Sokolov-Wilson (DSW) equation is considered and abundant new exact traveling wave solutions are obtained in a uniform way. These solutions may be imperative and significant for the explanation of some practical physical phenomena. It is shown that the modified alternative (G'/G)-expansion method an efficient and advance mathematical tool for solving nonlinear partial differential equations in mathematical physics.

Evaluation of Generation Alternation Models in Evolutionary Robotics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oiso, Masashi; Matsumura, Yoshiyuki; Yasuda, Toshiyuki; Ohkura, Kazuhiro

For efficient implementation of Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) to a desktop grid computing environment, we propose a new generation alternation model called Grid-Oriented-Deletion (GOD) based on comparison with the conventional techniques. In previous research, generation alternation models are generally evaluated by using test functions. However, their exploration performance on the real problems such as Evolutionary Robotics (ER) has not been made very clear yet. Therefore we investigate the relationship between the exploration performance of EA on an ER problem and its generation alternation model. We applied four generation alternation models to the Evolutionary Multi-Robotics (EMR), which is the package-pushing problem to investigate their exploration performance. The results show that GOD is more effective than the other conventional models.

42 CFR 456.371 - Exploration of alternative services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Exploration of alternative services. 456.371 Section 456.371 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... Facilities Medical, Psychological, and Social Evaluations and Admission Review § 456.371 Exploration of...

Anchoring Revisited: The Role of the Comparative Question

PubMed Central

Grau, Ina; Bohner, Gerd

2014-01-01

When people estimate a numeric value after judging whether it is larger or smaller than a high or low anchor value (comparative question), estimates are biased in the direction of the anchor. One explanation for this anchoring effect is that people selectively access knowledge consistent with the anchor value as part of a positive test strategy. Two studies (total N = 184) supported the alternative explanation that people access knowledge consistent with their own answer to the comparative question. Specifically, anchoring effects emerged when the answer to the comparative question was unexpected (lower than the low anchor or higher than the high anchor). For expected answers (lower than the high anchor or higher than the low anchor), however, anchoring effects were attenuated or reversed. The anchor value itself was almost never reported as an absolute estimate. PMID:24454953

Differentiation without distancing. explaining bi-polarization of opinions without negative influence.

PubMed

Mäs, Michael; Flache, Andreas

2013-01-01

Explanations of opinion bi-polarization hinge on the assumption of negative influence, individuals' striving to amplify differences to disliked others. However, empirical evidence for negative influence is inconclusive, which motivated us to search for an alternative explanation. Here, we demonstrate that bi-polarization can be explained without negative influence, drawing on theories that emphasize the communication of arguments as central mechanism of influence. Due to homophily, actors interact mainly with others whose arguments will intensify existing tendencies for or against the issue at stake. We develop an agent-based model of this theory and compare its implications to those of existing social-influence models, deriving testable hypotheses about the conditions of bi-polarization. Hypotheses were tested with a group-discussion experiment (N = 96). Results demonstrate that argument exchange can entail bi-polarization even when there is no negative influence.

Mechanism of 'GSI oscillations' in electron capture by highly charged hydrogen-like atomic ions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krainov, V. P., E-mail: vpkrainov@mail.ru

2012-07-15

We suggest a qualitative explanation of oscillations in electron capture decays of hydrogen-like {sup 140}Pr and {sup 142}Pm ions observed recently in an ion experimental storage ring (ESR) of Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung (GSI) mbH, Darmstadt, Germany. This explanation is based on the electron multiphoton Rabi oscillations between two Zeeman states of the hyperfine ground level with the total angular momentum F = 1/2. The Zeeman splitting is produced by a constant magnetic field in the ESR. Transitions between these states are produced by the second, sufficiently strong alternating magnetic field that approximates realistic fields in the GSI ESR. The Zeemanmore » splitting amounts to only about 10{sup -5} eV. This allows explaining the observed quantum beats with the period 7 s.« less

E. coli and colorectal cancer: a complex relationship that deserves a critical mindset.

PubMed

Wassenaar, Trudy M

2018-06-17

To the multiple factors that may eventually result in colorectal cancer (CRC), strains of E. coli have now been added, in particular strains producing colibactin from their polyketide synthesis (pks) locus. The evidence and mechanistic explanations for this unfortunate effect of what is in most cases a harmless commensal are discussed in the first part of this review. In the second part, observations are presented and discussed that do not fit with the hypothesis that colibactin-producing E. coli produce CRC. The last part of this review is reserved for an alternative explanation of the function of this enigmatic colibactin, a toxin that has not yet been isolated. It is hypothesized that E. coli preferentially colonizes cancerous lesions as an effect rather than a cause and that colibactin production provides a selective advantage to compete with other bacteria.

Biology, ideology, and epistemology: how do we know political attitudes are inherited and why should we care?

PubMed

Smith, Kevin; Alford, John R; Hatemi, Peter K; Eaves, Lindon J; Funk, Carolyn; Hibbing, John R

2012-01-01

Evidence that political attitudes and behavior are in part biologically and even genetically instantiated is much discussed in political science of late. Yet the classic twin design, a primary source of evidence on this matter, has been criticized for being biased toward finding genetic influence. In this article, we employ a new data source to test empirically the alternative, exclusively environmental, explanations for ideological similarities between twins. We find little support for these explanations and argue that even if we treat them as wholly correct, they provide reasons for political science to pay more rather than less attention to the biological basis of attitudes and behaviors. Our analysis suggests that the mainstream socialization paradigm for explaining attitudes and behaviors is not necessarily incorrect but is substantively incomplete.

The hippocampus and exploration: dynamically evolving behavior and neural representations

PubMed Central

Johnson, Adam; Varberg, Zachary; Benhardus, James; Maahs, Anthony; Schrater, Paul

2012-01-01

We develop a normative statistical approach to exploratory behavior called information foraging. Information foraging highlights the specific processes that contribute to active, rather than passive, exploration and learning. We hypothesize that the hippocampus plays a critical role in active exploration through directed information foraging by supporting a set of processes that allow an individual to determine where to sample. By examining these processes, we show how information directed information foraging provides a formal theoretical explanation for the common hippocampal substrates of constructive memory, vicarious trial and error behavior, schema-based facilitation of memory performance, and memory consolidation. PMID:22848196

Exploring Conceptual Change in Genetics Using a Multidimensional Interpretive Framework.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venville, Grady J.; Treagust, David F.

1998-01-01

Changes in grade 10 students' (n=79) conceptions of genes during genetics instruction was studied from multiple perspectives. Ontologically, most students moved from passive to active models of genes. Affectively, students were interested in genetics but unmotivated by microscopic mechanistic explanations; however, teaching approaches were…

Comparing Common Origins: Using Biotechnology To Teach Evolution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, John; Glasson, George

2001-01-01

Presents an innovative, inquiry-oriented lesson plan for using biotechnology to teach evolution. Using acrylamide gel electrophoresis, students learn how to isolate and compare different proteins from the muscle tissue of readily available seafood specimens to determine phylogenetic relationships. Uses a 5E (engagement, exploration, explanation,…

EXPLORING NEW QUESTIONS OF MULTIPLE AIR POLLUTANTS, SOURCES AND HEALTH IN DENVER

EPA Science Inventory

The results of this proposed research will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the burden of disease due to ambient air pollution by expanding the scope of the health impacts and by investigating potential explanations for differences in observed associations in diff...

Addressing the Puzzle of Race

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coleman, Samuel

2011-01-01

Although racial discrimination poses a devastating instrument of oppression, social work texts lack a clear and consistent definition of "race". The solution lies in according race the status of an "actor version" concept, while exploring the origins and variations of race ideas using "scientific observer version" explanations. This distinction…

What Is the Difference between a Calorie and a Carbohydrate?--Exploring Nutrition Education Opportunities in Alternative School Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norquest, Michele; Phelps, Josh; Hermann, Janice; Kennedy, Tay

2015-01-01

Extension-based nutrition educators have indicated current curricula do not engage alternative school students' interests. The study reported here explored nutrition education opportunities at alternative schools in Oklahoma. Data collection involved focus groups gathering student perspectives regarding preferred teaching and learning styles, and…

Exploring Dimensions of Social Inclusion among Alternative Learning Centres in the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Dawn X.; Barnes, Rachelle Redmond

2016-01-01

Increasing disparities in out-of-school suspension and dropout rates have led a number of school districts to develop alternative models of education to include alternative learning centres (ALCs). Using an exploratory mixed methods design, this study explores dimensions of social inclusion among ALCs, located in the southeastern region of the…

Accounting for Irish Catholic ill health in Scotland: a qualitative exploration of some links between 'religion', class and health.

PubMed

Walls, Patricia; Williams, Rory

2004-07-01

This paper considers the ways in which accounts from Glasgow Catholics diverge from those of Protestants and explores the reasons why people leave jobs, including health grounds. Accounts reveal experiences distinctive to Catholics, of health-threatening stress, obstacles to career progression within (mainly) private-sector organisations, and interactional difficulties which create particular problems for (mainly) middle class men. This narrows the employment options for upwardly mobile Catholics, who may then resort to self-employment or other similarly stressful options. The paper considers whether the competence of Catholics or Catholic cultural factors are implicated in thwarting social mobility among Catholics or, alternatively, whether institutional sectarianism is involved. We conclude that, of these options, theories of institutional sectarianism provide the hypothesis which currently best fits these data. In Glasgow, people of indigenous Irish descent are recognisable from their names and Catholic background and are identified as Catholic by others. Overt historical exclusion of Catholics from middle class employment options now seems to take unrecognised forms in routine assumptions and practices which restrict Catholic employment opportunities. It is argued that younger Catholics use education to overcome the obstacles to mobility faced by older people and circumvent exclusions by recourse to middle class public-sector employment. This paper aims to link historical, structural and sectarian patterns of employment experience to accounts of health and work, and in so doing to contribute to an explanation for the relatively poor health of Catholic Glaswegians with Irish roots.

Contrastive Analysis of English and Japanese Demonstratives from the Perspective of L1 and L2 Acquisition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niimura, Tomomi; Hayashi, Brenda

1996-01-01

Presents a contrastive analysis of English and Japanese demonstratives based on the first- (L1) and second-language (L2) data of an earlier study. First, the traditional explanations and their alternative models for English and Japanese are presented, then, all models are tested with the L1 and L2 data, which leads to a discussion of the different…

An Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Career Orientation of Federal Civilian Engineers

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-07-01

In these respects, the Center is much like any privately operated industrial activity. As part of an organizational effectiveness study of the Naval...counter to expectations based upon the theory that a better educated person would have greater opportunities for alternative employment in the private ... sector . A possible explanation for this phenomena might be that the education was obtained through a government funded program which required

The Family Affluence Scale as a Measure of National Wealth: Validation of an Adolescent Self-Report Measure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyce, William; Torsheim, Torbjorn; Currie, Candace; Zambon, Alessio

2006-01-01

One explanation for a lack of consistency in SES-health associations in youth is that parent-based income and occupation measures are inadequate. The Family Affluence Scale (FAS), a four-item measure of family wealth, has been developed in the WHO Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study as an alternative measure. The aim of this paper is to…

Brownian motion and gambling: from ratchets to paradoxical games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parrondo, J. M. R.; Dinís, Luis

2004-02-01

Two losing gambling games, when alternated in a periodic or random fashion, can produce a winning game. This paradox has been inspired by certain physical systems capable of rectifying fluctuations: the so-called Brownian ratchets. In this paper we review this paradox, from Brownian ratchets to the most recent studies on collective games, providing some intuitive explanations of the unexpected phenomena that we will find along the way.

On the possibilty of clathrate hydrates on the Moon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duxbury, N.; Nealson, K.; Romanovsky, V.

2000-01-01

One of the most important inferences of the Lunar Prospector mission data was the existence of subsurface water ice in the permanently shadowed craters near both lunar poles [Feldman et al., 1998]. We propose and substantiate an alternative explanation that hydrogen can exist in the shallow lunar subsurface in the form of clathrate hydrates: CH4 . 6H(2)o and/or CO2 . 6H(2)o.

Entrainment and motor emulation approaches to joint action: Alternatives or complementary approaches?

PubMed

Colling, Lincoln J; Williamson, Kellie

2014-01-01

Joint actions, such as music and dance, rely crucially on the ability of two, or more, agents to align their actions with great temporal precision. Within the literature that seeks to explain how this action alignment is possible, two broad approaches have appeared. The first, what we term the entrainment approach, has sought to explain these alignment phenomena in terms of the behavioral dynamics of the system of two agents. The second, what we term the emulator approach, has sought to explain these alignment phenomena in terms of mechanisms, such as forward and inverse models, that are implemented in the brain. They have often been pitched as alternative explanations of the same phenomena; however, we argue that this view is mistaken, because, as we show, these two approaches are engaged in distinct, and not mutually exclusive, explanatory tasks. While the entrainment approach seeks to uncover the general laws that govern behavior the emulator approach seeks to uncover mechanisms. We argue that is possible to do both and that the entrainment approach must pay greater attention to the mechanisms that support the behavioral dynamics of interest. In short, the entrainment approach must be transformed into a neuroentrainment approach by adopting a mechanistic view of explanation and by seeking mechanisms that are implemented in the brain.

Gene × environment interaction studies have not properly controlled for potential confounders: the problem and the (simple) solution.

PubMed

Keller, Matthew C

2014-01-01

Candidate gene × environment (G × E) interaction research tests the hypothesis that the effects of some environmental variable (e.g., childhood maltreatment) on some outcome measure (e.g., depression) depend on a particular genetic polymorphism. Because this research is inherently nonexperimental, investigators have been rightly concerned that detected interactions could be driven by confounders (e.g., ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status) rather than by the specified genetic or environmental variables per se. In an attempt to eliminate such alternative explanations for detected G × E interactions, investigators routinely enter the potential confounders as covariates in general linear models. However, this practice does not control for the effects these variables might have on the G × E interaction. Rather, to properly control for confounders, researchers need to enter the covariate × environment and the covariate × gene interaction terms in the same model that tests the G × E term. In this manuscript, I demonstrate this point analytically and show that the practice of improperly controlling for covariates is the norm in the G × E interaction literature to date. Thus, many alternative explanations for G × E findings that investigators had thought were eliminated have not been. © 2013 Society of Biological Psychiatry Published by Society of Biological Psychiatry All rights reserved.

[Factors determining the selection of treatment options of complementary and alternative medicine].

PubMed

Zörgő, Szilvia; Purebl, György; Zana, Ágnes

2016-04-10

Complementary and alternative medicine have undoubtedly been gaining ground on the healthcare market, thus the vital question arises why patients choose these treatments, oftentimes at the cost of discontinuing the Western medical therapy. The aim of the authors was to investigate and scrutinize factors leading to the utilization of various alternative medical services. The basis of this qualitative research was medical anthropological fieldwork conducted at a clinic of Traditional Chinese Medicine including participant observation (355 hours), unstructured interviews with patients (n = 93) and in-depth interviews (n = 14). Patients of alternative medical systems often do not receive a diagnosis, explanation or cure for their illness from Western medicine, or they do not agree with what they are offered. In other instances, patients choose alternative medicine because it exhibits a philosophical congruence with their already existing explanatory model, that is, previous concepts of world, man or illness. A particular therapy is always part of a cultural system and it is embedded in a specific psycho-social context, hence choice of therapy must be interpreted in accordance with this perspective.

Argumentation Key to Communicating Climate Change to the Public

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bleicher, R. E.; Lambert, J. L.

2012-12-01

Argumentation plays an important role in how we communicate climate change science to the public and is a key component integrated throughout the Next Generation Science Standards. A scientific argument can be described as a disagreement between explanations with data being used to justify each position. Argumentation is social process where two or more individuals construct and critique arguments (Kuhn & Udell, 2003; Nussbaum, 1997). Sampson, Grooms, and Walker's (2011) developed a framework for understanding the components of a scientific argument. The three components start with a claim (a conjecture, conclusion, explanation, or an answer to a research question). This claim must fit the evidence (observations that show trends over time, relationships between variables or difference between groups). The evidence must be justified with reasoning (explains how the evidence supports the explanation and whey it should count as support). In a scientific argument, or debate, the controversy focuses on how data were collected, what data can or should be included, and what inferences can be made based on a set of evidence. Toulmin's model (1969) also includes rebutting or presenting an alternative explanation supported by counter evidence and reasoning of why the alternative is not the appropriate explanation for the question of the problem. The process of scientific argumentation should involve the construction and critique of scientific arguments, one that involves the consideration of alternative hypotheses (Lawson, 2003). Scientific literacy depends as much on the ability to refute and recognize poor scientific arguments as much as it does on the ability to present an effective argument based on good scientific data (Osborne, 2010). Argument is, therefore, a core feature of science. When students learn to construct a sound scientific argument, they demonstrate critical thinking and a mastery of the science being taught. To present a convincing argument in support of climate change, students must have a sound foundation in the science underlying it. One place to lay this foundation is in the high school science classroom. For students to gain a good conceptual understanding of climate change science, teachers need a sound understanding of climate change and effective resources to teach it to students. Teacher professional development opportunities are required to provide this background as well as establish collaborative curriculum planning opportunities on the school site (Shulman, 2007). Various strategies for and challenges of implementing argumentation with preservice and practicing teachers will be discussed in this session, as well as ways that argumentation skills can help the broader public evaluate claims of climate skeptics. In the field of argumentation theory, Goodwin (2010) has designed a strategy for developing the ability to make effective scientific arguments. The goal is to establish trust even when there is strong disagreement. At the core, a student fully acknowledges the uncertainty involved in the complex science underlying climate change. This has the effect of establishing some degree of trust. In other words, teachers or students trying to explain climate change to others might be perceived as more trustworthy if they openly declare that there are degrees of uncertainty in different aspects of climate change science (American Meteorological Society, 2011).

Reflecting on explanatory ability: A mechanism for detecting gaps in causal knowledge.

PubMed

Johnson, Dan R; Murphy, Meredith P; Messer, Riley M

2016-05-01

People frequently overestimate their understanding-with a particularly large blind-spot for gaps in their causal knowledge. We introduce a metacognitive approach to reducing overestimation, termed reflecting on explanatory ability (REA), which is briefly thinking about how well one could explain something in a mechanistic, step-by-step, causally connected manner. Nine experiments demonstrated that engaging in REA just before estimating one's understanding substantially reduced overestimation. Moreover, REA reduced overestimation with nearly the same potency as generating full explanations, but did so 20 times faster (although only for high complexity objects). REA substantially reduced overestimation by inducing participants to quickly evaluate an object's inherent causal complexity (Experiments 4-7). REA reduced overestimation by also fostering step-by-step, causally connected processing (Experiments 2 and 3). Alternative explanations for REA's effects were ruled out including a general conservatism account (Experiments 4 and 5) and a covert explanation account (Experiment 8). REA's overestimation-reduction effect generalized beyond objects (Experiments 1-8) to sociopolitical policies (Experiment 9). REA efficiently detects gaps in our causal knowledge with implications for improving self-directed learning, enhancing self-insight into vocational and academic abilities, and even reducing extremist attitudes. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Locomotion of neutrally buoyant fish with flexible caudal fin.

PubMed

Iosilevskii, Gil

2016-06-21

Historically, burst-and-coast locomotion strategies have been given two very different explanations. The first one was based on the assumption that the drag of an actively swimming fish is greater than the drag of the same fish in motionless glide. Fish reduce the cost of locomotion by swimming actively during a part of the swimming interval, and gliding through the remaining part. The second one was based on the assumption that muscles perform efficiently only if their contraction rate exceeds a certain threshold. Fish reduce the cost of locomotion by using an efficient contraction rate during a part of the swimming interval, and gliding through the remaining part. In this paper, we suggest yet a third explanation. It is based on the assumption that propulsion efficiency of a swimmer can increase with thrust. Fish reduce the cost of locomotion by alternating high thrust, and hence more efficient, bursts with passive glides. The paper presents a formal analysis of the respective burst-and-coast strategy, shows that the locomotion efficiency can be practically as high as the propulsion efficiency during burst, and shows that the other two explanations can be considered particular cases of the present one. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Concept Inventory Development Reveals Common Student Misconceptions about Microbiology †

PubMed Central

Briggs, Amy G.; Hughes, Lee E.; Brennan, Robert E.; Buchner, John; Horak, Rachel E. A.; Amburn, D. Sue Katz; McDonald, Ann H.; Primm, Todd P.; Smith, Ann C.; Stevens, Ann M.; Yung, Sunny B.; Paustian, Timothy D.

2017-01-01

Misconceptions, or alternative conceptions, are incorrect understandings that students have incorporated into their prior knowledge. The goal of this study was the identification of misconceptions in microbiology held by undergraduate students upon entry into an introductory, general microbiology course. This work was the first step in developing a microbiology concept inventory based on the American Society for Microbiology’s Recommended Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology. Responses to true/false (T/F) questions accompanied by written explanations by undergraduate students at a diverse set of institutions were used to reveal misconceptions for fundamental microbiology concepts. These data were analyzed to identify the most difficult core concepts, misalignment between explanations and answer choices, and the most common misconceptions for each core concept. From across the core concepts, nineteen misconception themes found in at least 5% of the coded answers for a given question were identified. The top five misconceptions, with coded responses ranging from 19% to 43% of the explanations, are described, along with suggested classroom interventions. Identification of student misconceptions in microbiology provides a foundation upon which to understand students’ prior knowledge and to design appropriate tools for improving instruction in microbiology. PMID:29854046

Isidore of Seville: Cosmology and Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovacs, A.

2008-10-01

The cosmology of Isidore of Seville was for decades underestimated as poor science. In reality, the schoolmaster of the middle ages presented in his writings a coherent cosmology, of which atomism was a part. Although based on authorities, ideas were carefully evaluated and presented, often with alternatives. In his approach to cosmology one can perceive the beginnings of scientific systematization within the available framework. Compared to later writers (for example Rabanus Maurus), Isidore exhibits healthy scientific spirit and resorts to theological data only when other information is not available or the alternative explanation would involve superstition. Recent interest in the anthropic principle also justifies interest in older cosmologies, particularly that of Isidore of Seville.

An Evolutionary Comparison of the Handicap Principle and Hybrid Equilibrium Theories of Signaling

PubMed Central

Kane, Patrick; Zollman, Kevin J. S.

2015-01-01

The handicap principle has come under significant challenge both from empirical studies and from theoretical work. As a result, a number of alternative explanations for honest signaling have been proposed. This paper compares the evolutionary plausibility of one such alternative, the “hybrid equilibrium,” to the handicap principle. We utilize computer simulations to compare these two theories as they are instantiated in Maynard Smith’s Sir Philip Sidney game. We conclude that, when both types of communication are possible, evolution is unlikely to lead to handicap signaling and is far more likely to result in the partially honest signaling predicted by hybrid equilibrium theory. PMID:26348617

Critiques of the seismic hypothesis and the vegetation stabilization hypothesis for the formation of Mima mounds along the western coast of the U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabet, Emmanuel J.; Burnham, Jennifer L. Horwath; Perron, J. Taylor

2016-09-01

A recent paper published in Geomorphology by Gabet et al. (2014) presents the results of a numerical model supporting the hypothesis that burrowing mammals build Mima mounds - small, densely packed hillocks found primarily in the western United States. The model is based on field observations and produces realistic-looking mounds with spatial distributions similar to real moundfields. Alternative explanations have been proposed for these Mima mounds, including formation by seismic shaking and vegetation-controlled erosion and deposition. In this short communication, we present observations from moundfields in the coastal states of the western U.S. that are incompatible with these alternative theories.

The pairing center plays a key role in homolog paring: an explanation for adjacent-2 segregation in interchange heterozygotes.

PubMed

Luo, Peigao

2009-05-01

Having reflected on the discrepancy between various views of chromosome behavior during meiosis, we propose an alternative description of Mendel's first law of segregation by referring to the segregation of pairing centers instead of centromeres. We also propose an alternative description of Mendel's second law of independent assortment, which refers to the free combination of different pairing centers. This interpretation is based on the modified concept that true 'homologous chromosomes' should carry the pairing center rather than centromere: the length of homology or the importance of the homologous segment on the chromosome is the crucial factor in homologous chromosome pairing and synapsis.

Consolidation of long-term memory: evidence and alternatives.

PubMed

Meeter, Martijn; Murre, Jaap M J

2004-11-01

Memory loss in retrograde amnesia has long been held to be larger for recent periods than for remote periods, a pattern usually referred to as the Ribot gradient. One explanation for this gradient is consolidation of long-term memories. Several computational models of such a process have shown how consolidation can explain characteristics of amnesia, but they have not elucidated how consolidation must be envisaged. Here findings are reviewed that shed light on how consolidation may be implemented in the brain. Moreover, consolidation is contrasted with alternative theories of the Ribot gradient. Consolidation theory, multiple trace theory, and semantization can all handle some findings well but not others. Conclusive evidence for or against consolidation thus remains to be found.

Exploring the origins of asthma: Lessons from twin studies

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

This thesis explores the contribution of twin studies, particularly those studies originating from the Danish Twin Registry, to the understanding of the aetiology of asthma. First, it is explored how twin studies have established the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the variation in the susceptibility to asthma, and to the variation in several aspects of the clinical expression of the disease such as its age at onset, its symptomatology, its intermediate phenotypes, and its relationship with other atopic diseases. Next, it is explored how twin studies have corroborated theories explaining asthma's recent increase in prevalence, and last, how these fit with the explanations of the epidemiological trends in other common chronic diseases of modernity. PMID:26557247

Manufacturing Accomplices: ICT Use in Securing the Safety State at Airports

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Østerlie, Thomas; Asak, Ole Martin; Pettersen, Ole Georg; Tronhus, Håvard

Based on a study of ICT use at an airport security checkpoint, this paper explores a possible explanation to the paradox that travelers find existing airport security measures inadequate while at the same time believing air travel to be sufficiently secure. We pursue this explanation by showing that, for the security checkpoint to function properly in relation to the overall function of the airport, travelers have to be enrolled in a particular program of action. They are then locked into this program through sanctions. Travelers are forced into participating in a system many of them find ethically and morally objectionable. Yet, active participation makes it difficult for them to object to the moral and ethical issues of their actions without damning themselves. Our explanation of the security paradox is, therefore, that while travelers remain critical of airport security, they avoid damning themselves by criticizing the system in terms of its own logic. They have been made accomplices.

The effect of manual therapy and neuroplasticity education on chronic low back pain: a randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Louw, Adriaan; Farrell, Kevin; Landers, Merrill; Barclay, Martin; Goodman, Elise; Gillund, Jordan; McCaffrey, Sara; Timmerman, Laura

2017-12-01

To determine if a neuroplasticity educational explanation for a manual therapy technique will produce a different outcome compared to a traditional mechanical explanation. Sixty-two patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) were recruited for the study. Following consent, demographic data were obtained as well as pain ratings for low back pain (LBP) and leg pain (Numeric Pain Rating Scale), disability (Oswestry Disability Index), fear-avoidance (Fear-Avoidance-Beliefs Questionnaire), forward flexion (fingertips-to-floor), and straight leg raise (SLR) (inclinometer). Patients were then randomly allocated to receive one of two explanations (neuroplasticity or mechanical), a manual therapy technique to their lumbar spine, followed by post-intervention measurements of LBP, leg pain, forward flexion, and SLR. Sixty-two patients (female 35 [56.5%]), with a mean age of 60.1 years and mean duration of 9.26 years of CLBP participated in the study. There were no statistically significant interactions for LBP ( p  = .325), leg pain ( p  = .172), and trunk flexion ( p  = .818) between the groups, but SLR showed a significant difference in favor of the neuroplasticity explanation ( p  = .041). Additionally, the neuroplasticity group were 7.2 times (95% confidence interval = 1.8-28.6) more likely to improve beyond the MDC on the SLR than participants in the mechanical group. The results of this study show that a neuroplasticity explanation, compared to a traditional biomechanical explanation, resulted in a measureable difference in SLR in patients with CLBP when receiving manual therapy. Future studies need to explore if the increase in SLR correlated to changes in cortical maps of the low back.

Exploring Optimal Conditions of Instructional Guidance in an Algebra Tutor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Hee Seung; Anderson, John R.; Berman, Susan R.; Ferris-Glick, Jennifer; Joshi, Ambarish; Nixon, Tristan; Ritter, Steve

2013-01-01

In designing learning environments that support student learning, there are many instructional design decisions. These include when and how to provide examples, verbal explanations, feedback, and other scaffolding features. In this paper, the authors investigate instructional guidance as it relates to Cognitive Tutor, an intelligent tutoring…

Compensatory Education: An Analysis of National Versus State and Local Evaluations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stickney, Benjamin D.

Discrepancies between the pessimistic national evaluations and the more encouraging state and local evaluations of compensatory education programs are explored in this paper. A conventional explanation for the discrepancies, namely, that the averaging of test scores from a large national sample "cancels out" the results of successful…

Social and Experiential Influences on the Development of Inheritance Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Joanne M.; Smith, Lesley A.

2006-01-01

This study explored social and experiential differences in children's (aged 4 to 14 years) concepts of inheritance. The study utilized semi-structured interviews including four tasks that were designed to elicit judgements and explanations about different aspects of inheritance understanding. A variety of social and experiential factors were…

Teachers' Explanations of a Key Developmental Understanding of Multiplicative Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhee, Katherine L.

2012-01-01

This qualitative research study explores teachers' understandings of multiplicative reasoning as a key developmental understanding (KDU). A KDU entails knowingly applying the same mathematical concepts within different contexts. A KDU supports an individual to build a connected understanding of mathematics as opposed to only understanding…

Geometrical Constructions in Dynamic and Interactive Mathematics Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kondratieva, Margo

2013-01-01

This paper concerns teaching Euclidean geometry at the university level. It is based on the authors' personal experience. It describes a sequence of learning activities that combine geometrical constructions with explorations, observations, and explanations of facts related to the geometry of triangle. Within this approach, a discussion of the…

Language Learning Motivation, Global English and Study Modes: A Comparative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lanvers, Ursula

2017-01-01

Exploring the popular explanation that the global spread of English may demotivate students with English as their first language to learn other languages, this study investigates relations between student motivation and perception of Global English and tests for differences between traditional "campus" and distance university students…

Explaining Charter School Effectiveness. NBER Working Paper No. 17332

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Angrist, Joshua D.; Pathak, Parag A.; Walters, Christopher R.

2011-01-01

Estimates using admissions lotteries suggest that urban charter schools boost student achievement, while charter schools in other settings do not. We explore student-level and school-level explanations for these differences using a large sample of Massachusetts charter schools. Our results show that urban charter schools boost achievement well…

43 CFR 3482.3 - Mining operations maps.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... and up-to-date maps of the mine, drawn to scales acceptable to the authorized officer. Before a mine... boundary lines; surface buildings; dip of the coal bed(s); true north; map scale; map explanation; location...; geologic conditions as determined from outcrops, drill holes, exploration, or mining; any unusual geologic...

43 CFR 3482.3 - Mining operations maps.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... and up-to-date maps of the mine, drawn to scales acceptable to the authorized officer. Before a mine... boundary lines; surface buildings; dip of the coal bed(s); true north; map scale; map explanation; location...; geologic conditions as determined from outcrops, drill holes, exploration, or mining; any unusual geologic...

43 CFR 3482.3 - Mining operations maps.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... and up-to-date maps of the mine, drawn to scales acceptable to the authorized officer. Before a mine... boundary lines; surface buildings; dip of the coal bed(s); true north; map scale; map explanation; location...; geologic conditions as determined from outcrops, drill holes, exploration, or mining; any unusual geologic...

Are You Teaching Your Students about Stem Cells?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Concannon, James; Brown, Patrick L.; Brandt, Trisha

2009-01-01

This activity targets students' misconceptions about embryonic and adult stem cells while also addressing an important grades 9-12 science content standard. The authors designed the activity to provide students an opportunity to explore differences between embryonic and adult stem cells prior to formal explanation. The overarching goal of this…

The Future of Marriage and Family in Black America.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickson, Lynda

1993-01-01

Explores reasons for the apparent difficulty that African-American males and females have in establishing and maintaining stable relationships. Data from the National Survey of Black Americans and other sources indicate numerous explanations for the situation, including economic factors. Trends for the future of African-American relationships and…

Thought Experiments in Teaching Free-Fall Weightlessness: A Critical Review and an Exploration of Mercury's Behavior in "Falling Elevator"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balukovic, Jasmina; Slisko, Josip; Cruz, Adrián Corona

2017-01-01

Different "thought experiments" dominate teaching approaches to weightlessness, reducing students' opportunities for active physics learning, which should include observations, descriptions, explanations and predictions of real phenomena. Besides the controversy related to conceptual definitions of weight and weightlessness, we report…

Telling Tales at Work: An Evolutionary Explanation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Chulguen

2013-01-01

This article explores the adaptive functions of storytelling in the workplace from an evolutionary perspective. Based on the analysis of ethnographic studies on hunter-gatherer and modern work organizations, this article claims that storytelling, as an adapted cognitive device, was selectively retained by natural and sexual selection, because of…

Owls On Silent Wings. The Wonder Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Ann C.

This curriculum guide is all about owls and provides information on the folklore related to owls, present populations, explanations of physical characteristics, exploring owl pellets, burrowing owls, snowy owls, and great horned owls. Included are eight activities using owl cards, owl pellets, puzzles, and origami. This guide aims to increase…

Income Segregation between School Districts and Inequality in Students' Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owens, Ann

2018-01-01

Large achievement gaps exist between high- and low-income students and between black and white students. This article explores one explanation for such gaps: income segregation between school districts, which creates inequality in the economic and social resources available in advantaged and disadvantaged students' school contexts. Drawing on…