In interactive e-learning environments such as Intelligent Tutoring Systems, pedagogical decisions can be made at different levels of granularity. In this work, we focus on making decisions at "two levels": whole problems vs. single steps and explore three types of granularity: "problem-level only" ("Prob-Only"),…

Background: Research with children shows that theory of mind predicts reading comprehension both concurrently and longitudinally, while research with adults shows increased print-exposure relates to theory of mind understanding. However, until now whether reading and theory of mind have a mutually reinforcing relationship in which they promote one…

Class-wide academic performance can be increased by overlaying existing instructional and classroom management procedures with supplemental interdependent group-oriented bonus rewards. The bonus reward strategies may be particularly effective for under-motivated, low-performing students. When applying supplemental interdependent group-oriented…

Working collaboratively in groups can positively impact performance and student engagement. Intelligent social agents can provide a source of personalized support for students, and their benefits likely extend to collaborative settings, but it is difficult to determine how these agents should interact with students. Reinforcement learning (RL)…

Learning from video lectures is becoming a prevalent learning activity in formal and informal settings. However, relatively little research has been carried out on the interactions of learning strategies and social environment in learning from video lectures. The present study addresses this gap by examining whether learner-generated explanations…

This research examined the effects of overhearing an adult praise an unseen child for not needing to work hard on an academic task. Five-year-old Han Chinese children (total N = 270 across three studies; 135 boys, collected 2020-2021) who heard this low effort praise tended to devalue effort relative to a baseline condition in which the overheard…

In the study reported on here, we analysed parents' involvement in their children's primary education in 4 primary schools in rural Malawi, focusing on the home and the school. Through interviews and focus-group discussions, information was obtained from 19 parents, 24 teachers (6 from each school), and 4 head teachers. Bronfenbrenner's ecological…

The current study examined resurgence of problem behavior during thinning of multiple schedules of reinforcement following functional communication training replicating previous research (Briggs et al., 2018). Data were analyzed at each thinning step from subjects enrolled in an intensive day treatment program over a 5-year period. Results…

Previous work has shown that infants as young as 8 months of age can use certain features of the environment, such as the shape or color of visual stimuli, as cues to organize simple inputs into hierarchical rule structures, a robust form of reinforcement learning that supports generalization of prior learning to new contexts. However, especially…

Since Skinner's conceptualization of the mand, applied behavior analysis researchers have used the concept to develop stimulus control transfer procedures effective for addressing manding deficits. More recently, researchers have explored the clinical utility of reinforcing mand variability during mand training and functional communication…

Previous researchers found that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities tend to prefer edible over leisure stimuli, although leisure stimuli may still function as reinforcers. We replicated and extended previous research in a 2-part experiment with typically developing children. In Experiment 1, we evaluated 15 children's…

While a plethora of studies have been conducted on corrective feedback in L2 writing, praise as feedback has received less attention in L2 writing despite its well-acknowledged motivating functions in education and psychology (For economy of expression, the word "praise" will be used consistently throughout this paper to denote…

Person praise, as compared to process praise, can have detrimental consequences on performance and motivation. Children with low self-esteem are most vulnerable for these effects. However, parents administer more person praise and less process praise to these children than to children with high self-esteem. In this study, we examined whether…

Hazing prevention and education efforts continue to evolve in response to changing student behavior. The organic and anomic nature of hazing is deeply embedded in higher education, permeating across campus reinforced by cultural norms and institutional practices. While numerous approaches attempt to disrupt hazing, public health approaches,…

The promotion of social and emotional well-being and positive mental-health has become a key focus for governments across the world, with schools seen as prime locations to facilitate improvements in these areas for children. In response, schools have implemented a wide-ranging package of support designed to target well-being and mental health,…