2.6 Summary of Section 2 The results of the visual attention experiments we have considered can be interpreted as follows. Attention can be directed selectively towards different areas of the visual field, without the need to re-focus. The inability to report much detail from brief, masked visual displays appears to be linked to the need to assemble the various information components. The visual information is captured in parallel, but assemb
2.5 Masking and attention Before I summarise the material in this section, and we move on to consider attentional processes with clearly-seen displays, it would be appropriate to consider the relevance of the masking studies to the issue of attention. We began the whole subject by enquiring about the fate of material which was, in principle, available for processing, but happened not to be at the focus of attention. Somehow we have moved into a different enquiry, concerning the fate of material that a participant was
2.4 Rapid serial visual presentation It has been known for a long time that backward masking can act in one of two ways: integration and interruption (Turvey, 1973). When the SOA between target and mask is very short, integration occurs; that is, the two items are perceived as one, with the result that the target is difficult to report, just as when one word is written over another. Of more interest is masking by interruption, which is the type we have been considering in the previous section. It occurs at longer S
1.1 Introduction To cover some of the concept of attention (we have only a unit, and there are whole books on the subject) I shall follow an approximately historical sequence, showing how generations of psychologists have tackled the issues and gradually refined and developed their theories. You will discover that initially there seemed to them to be only one role for attention, but that gradually it has been implicated in an ever-widening range of mental processes. As we work through the subject, two basic i
Introduction For many of us the concept of attention may have rather negative connotations. At school we were told to pay attention, making us all too aware that it was not possible to listen to the teacher while at the same time being lost in more interesting thoughts. Neither does it seem possible to listen effectively to two different things at the same time. How many parents with young children would love to be able to do that! One could be excused for feeling that evolution has let us down by failing
References 2.7 Reflecting on explanations of ‘abnormal’ development: the case of dyslexia We can draw the following general conclusions about cognitive and biological explanations of abnormality from the material presented above. Both cognitive and biological accounts of dyslexia are offered as theories which explain the behavioural difficulties that are observed. While some theories may dominate accounts of a given condition (e.g. the phonological deficit hypothesis), and may result in influencing the nature of interventions, they are sti 2.3.4 Lateralisation It has long been suspected that unusual patterns of cerebral lateralisation (i.e. the ‘division of labour’ between left and right hemispheres of the brain) may have some connection with dyslexia. Early researchers noticed an apparent excess of left-handedness in children with specific reading difficulties (and their relatives). However, most dyslexic people are in fact right-handed, and most left-handed people are not dyslexic. Nonetheless, large-scale analyses of the research find 3.6 Different paradigms and different methods These different methods alert us to the fact that psychology is not just one enterprise, but a series of interlocking enterprises in which psychologists have different views about the best ways to try to understand or explain people and their behaviour and experience. These are arguments about epistemology; that is, what questions to ask, what sort of evidence to look for, what sort of criteria to use to evaluate explanations, and what sort of methods to use. All knowledge and al 2.3.2 Inner experiences A second kind of data is people's inner experiences, including their feelings, beliefs and motives. These cannot be directly seen from the outside; they remain private unless freely spoken about or expressed in some other way. Examples of these inner experiences include feelings, thoughts, images, representations, dreams, fantasies, beliefs and motivations or reasons. These are only accessible to others via verbal or written reports or as inferred from behaviours such as non-verbal communicat 8 Paired samples T-Tests This activity introduces the paired samples t-test. It is also known as the ‘within participants’ or ‘related’ t-test. It is used when your design is within p References Introduction School governors need to be involved in the monitoring and evaluation of secondary schools. But what areas should you be monitoring and how can you ensure that monitoring is effective. This unit will help you assess these matters and also look at the kind of evidence you should be sourcing, and how that evidence should be evaluated. 4 Working with other stakeholders When considering the accountability of the governing body, we need to think about the context of the school and the community it serves. The DfES states quite clearly that the school and its governing body are accountable to anyone who has a ‘legitimate interest’. You might like to spend some time considering who these people are. In terms of providing both high-quality education and, consequently, an educated workforce, pupils, parents and the wider community are the ‘customers†2.1 Introduction For governing bodies to work efficiently and effectively, some governors are needed to take on clear roles: the Chair; the Vice-chair; Chair for each governing body committee. All governors are entitled to an equal say and to serve on any of the governing body committees. However, some governors may wish to take an interest in a specific feature of the school. Such responsibilities might include; special educational needs; early years provision; health and safety; ICT; numeracy and lite 5.6.5 Software IBM, ‘Software accessibility’ guidelines and checklist, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center Trace Research and Development Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison,‘Application software design guidelines’
3.9 Activity task 5: without a mouse If you never use a mouse, you can skip this activity. If you have your usual document editor open, close it now. Put your mouse where you can't reach it easily and continue using only the keyboard. If you get stuck, use the mouse but keep count of the number of times you use it and what for. See if you can open the editor using the Windows keystrokes. If you don't know where to start, here are the keystrokes. (These insructions are for a PC with Windows software. If yo 3.5.3 PC input by partially sighted people Partially sighted people can learn to touch-type as sighted people do. However, this can be a difficult process if you cannot see the screen or the keyboard clearly. A simple, low-tech solution to make the keyboard more visible is the use of large print labels, which can be attached to the keys. Alternatively, a high contrast keyboard can be used; for example a black keyboard with black keys with yellow characters. In addition, speech output software can announce every key that is pressed so References 3.5 Issues of capability Very occasionally, issues about the capability of the headteacher may arise during discussions about performance against agreed objectives. If the appointed performance review governors suspect that the headteacher is not able to meet his/her objectives, they should first consider the circumstances of the school to satisfy themselves that these have not altered significantly to make the objective/s unachievable. If this is the case, they should make necessary allowances when monitoring
Activity 7
