Cognitive Influences On Preschoolers’ And Adults’ Eyewitness Memory In Response To Misleading Questions

The present study investigated cognitive influences on the malleability of memory for an eyewitness event, specifically focusing on age, executive function, and divided attention. Preschoolers (3- to 5-year-olds) and adults completed an executive function (EF) battery, witnessed an event either under divided attention (DA) or full attention (FA), following this, participants were asked a series of questions, the majority of which were misleading from the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children. This study supports previous findings that children are more suggestible than adults to misleading questions. However, there was no influence of EF on suggestibility in either children or adults. Lastly, level of attention was related to suggestibility in yield 1 scores, where those in the DA condition had higher suggestibility scores than those in the FA condition, supporting previous findings in adult literature and extending these findings to the preschool age

Weaving together climate science and chemistry education in an African context

Integrating meaningful contexts into chemistry education offers potential benefits for both students and instructors. Weaving together the teaching and learning of chemistry with the rich context of climate science provides opportunities for educators to increase student motivation, enhance classroom experiences and equip students to use fundamental understanding of science and problem-solving skills to begin to address some of our planet’s most important and complex challenges. Improved climate literacy is especially important to African students and teachers because of Africa’s vulnerability to climate change. This paper describes the development of a new set of interactive, web-based resources, Visualizing and Understanding the Science of Climate Change (www.explainingclimatechange.com), which explores various climate topics and illustrates ways in which connections between chemistry and climate change can be drawn out in chemistry courses at the secondary and post-secondary level. Dual goals are to improve chemistry conceptual understanding and to empower African students to understand and effectively respond to the climate challenges currently facing their continent. [AJCE, 3(2), June 2013

15. The Impact of Teacher Fidelity on the Effectiveness of WISE and Early Childhood Health Outcomes

Food-related behaviors and attitudes of Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) have the potential to create a significant impact on students’ health outcomes. The We Inspire Smart Eating (WISE) intervention program trains ECEs in promoting fruit and vegetable consumption, encouraging preschoolers to adopt healthy eating habits. This study explores the impact of ECE fidelity and WISE effectiveness on preschoolers’ health. We hypothesize better post-intervention health outcomes for preschoolers with ECEs whose fidelity scores improved after WISE training and program implementation. Fidelity was measured monthly across an academic year by data collectors (DCs) during mealtime and food experiences at two Louisiana pre-schools. During, DCs scored ECEs on a scale of 1 being “Not at all” to 4 being “Very much” in three main categories: hands on exposure, mascot use, and role modeling. The first and the last three observations were grouped separately, and the average of each group calculated to convey changes in ECE fidelity performance. A univariate analysis of variance was computed to determine group differences in post-intervention Resonance Raman Spectroscopy (RRS) of preschoolers while controlling for pre-intervention RRS based on fidelity performance (decreased, no change, increased) of their ECEs. Preliminary studies suggest that there was a significant difference among the groups such that ECEs with increased fidelity performance had statistically significantly higher RRS scores post-intervention compared to ECEs with decreased or no change fidelity performance F (2,272) = 5.19, p = .006. A higher RRS score indicates greater fruit and vegetable consumption, suggesting that improved ECE fidelity impacts preschooler health outcomes

Light and gravity signals synergize in modulating plant development

18 p.-3 fig.Tropisms are growth-mediated plant movements that help plants to respond to changes in environmental stimuli. The availability of water and light, as well as the presence of a constant gravity vector, are all environmental stimuli that plants sense and respond to via directed growth movements (tropisms). The plant response to gravity (gravitropism) and the response to unidirectional light (phototropism) have long been shown to be interconnected growth phenomena. Here, we discuss the similarities in these two processes, as well as the known molecular mechanisms behind the tropistic responses. We also highlight research done in a microgravity environment in order to decouple two tropisms through experiments carried out in the absence of a significant unilateral gravity vector. In addition, alteration of gravity, especially the microgravity environment, and light irradiation produce important effects on meristematic cells, the undifferentiated, highly proliferating, totipotent cells which sustain plant development. Microgravity produces the disruption of meristematic competence, i.e., the decoupling of cell proliferation and cell growth, affecting the regulation of the cell cycle and ribosome biogenesis. Light irradiation, especially red light, mediated by phytochromes, has an activating effect on these processes. Phytohormones, particularly auxin, also are key mediators in these alterations. Upcoming experiments on the International Space Station will clarify some of the mechanisms and molecular players of the plant responses to these environmental signals involved in tropisms and the cell cycle.Financial support was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through grants NNX10AM86G and NNX12AO65G to John Z. Kiss. Financial support to F. Javier Medina and Raul Herranz was provided by the Spanish “Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarrollo Tecnológico e Innovación” Grant Ref. No. AYA2012-33982, and by European Space Agency, Program “Access to Ground Based Facilities,” Grants Ref. Nos. 4200022650 and 4000105761.Peer reviewe

The minimum wage: no minor matter for teens

Wages ; Employment (Economic theory)