Psychological scientists have become increasingly concerned with issues related to methodology and replicability, and infancy researchers in particular face specific challenges related to replicability: For example, high-powered studies are difficult to conduct, testing conditions vary across labs, and different labs have access to different infant populations. Addressing these concerns, we report on a large-scale, multisite study aimed at (a) assessing the overall replicability of a single theoretically important phenomenon and (b) examining methodological, cultural, and developmental moderators. We focus on infants’ preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). Stimuli of mothers speaking to their infants and to an adult in North American English were created using seminaturalistic laboratory-based audio recordings. Infants’ relative preference for IDS and ADS was assessed across 67 laboratories in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia using the three common methods for measuring infants’ discrimination (head-turn preference, central fixation, and eye tracking). The overall meta-analytic effect size (Cohen’s d) was 0.35, 95% confidence interval = [0.29, 0.42], which was reliably above zero but smaller than the meta-analytic mean computed from previous literature (0.67). The IDS preference was significantly stronger in older children, in those children for whom the stimuli matched their native language and dialect, and in data from labs using the head-turn preference procedure. Together, these findings replicate the IDS preference but suggest that its magnitude is modulated by development, native-language experience, and testing procedure.

Understanding individual difference in psychological responses toward the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) crisis is essential to the adequate handling of the current pandemic. Based on a sample of 1,182 American adult residents (stratified for age and gender; data collection March 13 to 15, 2020), we found three distinct clusters of psychological responses (i.e., informed, panic, and ignorant). Clusters differed regarding their knowledge about the virus, SARS-CoV-2-related anxiety (i.e., worry and emotionality), and evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 crisis’s severity. Cluster membership was strongly associated with both SARS-CoV-2 risk-reducing, reasonable behavior and unreasonable behavior. Finally, clusters could be linked to systematic differences in broader personality dimensions (i.e., Dark Triad and Big Five). Our study provides and validates a set of clusters of individual psychological responses to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the resulting behavior. It functions as a pivotal starting point for longitudinal observations on the effectiveness of public health communications in this global challenge.

Need for Cognition describes relatively stable interindividual differences in cognitive motivation. Previous research has shown relations of Need for Cognition to Self-Control–a capacity that can be broadly defined as resistance to temptation–yet, the processes underlying this relation remain unclear. One explanation for the prediction of Self-Control by Need for Cognition can be an increased motivation to invest cognitive effort with higher levels of Need for Cognition. Another possible link could be that individual differences in the implementation of Self-Control intentions may play a moderating or mediating role for the predictive value of Need for Cognition. Such individual differences in the self-motivated initiation and maintenance of intentions are described by dispositional Action Orientation. Therefore, in the present study, Action Orientation was examined with regard to its possible role in explaining the relation of Need for Cognition to Self-Control. In a sample of 1209 young adults, Self-Control was assessed with two different self-report instruments and moderation and mediation models of the relationship between Need for Cognition, Action Orientation, and Self-Control were tested. While there was no evidence for a moderating role of Action Orientation in explaining the relation of Need for Cognition and Self-Control, Action Orientation was found to partly mediate this relation with a remaining direct effect of Need for Cognition on Self-Control. These results add to the conceptual understanding of Need for Cognition and demonstrate the relevance of trait variables to predict Self-Control.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

As technology advances, learning analytics is expanding to include students’ collaboration settings. Despite their increasing application in practice, some types of analytics might not fully capture the comprehensive educational contexts in which students’ collaboration takes place (e.g., when data is collected and processed without predefined models, which forces users to make conclusions without sufficient contextual information). Furthermore, existing definitions and perspectives on collaboration analytics are incongruent. In light of these circumstances, this opinion paper takes a collaborative classroom setting as context and explores relevant comprehensive models for collaboration analytics. Specifically, this paper is based on Pei-Ling Tan and Koh’s ecological lens (2017, Situating learning analytics pedagogically: Towards an ecological lens. Learning: Research and Practice, 3(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/23735082.2017.1305661), which illustrates the co-emergence of three interactions among students, teachers, and content interwoven with time. Moreover, this paper suggests several factors to consider in each interaction when executing collaboration analytics. Agendas and recommendations for future research are also presented.

Since Complex Problem Solving (CPS) skills represent a key competence for educational success, they are of great relevance for learning analytics. More specifically, CPS serves as a pertinent showcase for addressing a crucial existing gap contemporary education is facing, the gap between students' ability to acquire and subsequently apply knowledge in uncertain situations, which are increasingly important in the 21st century. While the CPS process incorporates both the acquisition and application of knowledge, many earlier studies have focused on identifying the factors relevant for success in knowledge acquisition. Given the dearth of existing research on factors influencing a successful transition between both CPS phases, we investigated the rates of successful and unsuccessful knowledge transition over the course of nine CPS items in a sample of N = 1,151 students in 9th grade. Results showed that many participants were unable to transition their knowledge from the acquisition to the application phase, which was presumably due to an inefficient mental model transfer. Furthermore, the likelihood of students being 'lost in transition' was higher in difficult items. Implications are discussed in light of learning analytics, and particularly with regard to the factors to be taken into account by future CPS training programs.