Recent evidence shows that a combination of studying and testing can enhance a memory more than strictly studying over that same amount of time, as measured by a test afterward. This is a phenomenon known as the testing effect. Most testing effect studies have focused on testing to improve rote memorization. The present study investigated whether the testing effect aids the application — or transfer — of learning to new situations. In this study, 64 participants learned to solve analogical word problems that required the application of mathematical probability principles. In the first phase of the experiment, half of the participants studied some word problems and their solutions repeatedly while the other half of the participants both studied and solved those word problems. A day later, all participants were tested on new probability word problems. These new problems were designed to assess whether participants were able to apply the probability principles that they learned to new problems. Results suggested that preliminary testing did not improve participants’ ability to solve new problems on the final test, and that all participants were most accurate on new problems that were most similar to old problems.

People Cloe Shasha Researcher Jason Arndt Sponsor, Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience Program Director

Related Links Barnett, S. M. & Ceci, S. J. (2002). When and where do we apply what we learn? A taxonomy for far transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 612-637. Blume, B. D., Ford, J. K., Baldwin, T. T., & Huang, J. L. (2009). Transfer of training: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Management, 36, 1065-1106. Butler, A. C. (2010). Repeated testing produces superior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(5), 1118-1133. Johnson, C. I. & Mayer, R. E. (2009). A testing effect with multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 621-629. Ross, B. H. (1987). This is like that: The use of earlier problems and the separation of similarity effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13(4), 629-639.

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Baseball is certainly Japan’s most popular sport, in part because players there are said to embody bushido, an ancient set of values said to have described samurai gentlemen of old. However, bushido is far from timeless and unchanging. Instead, it is a dynamic term that has changed, especially in the 20th Century, as Japanese society has struggled to maintain its unique identity despite the homogenizing pressures of globalization. I argue that baseball players bring about this change by setting examples for the rest of society, and that as the behavior of players has evolved, the popular perception of bushido and the way Japanese citizens idealize their own history has evolved right with them.

People Adam Lee Researcher Neil Waters Sponsor & Kawashima Professor of Japanese Studies

Related Links The Samurai Way of Baseball and the National Character Debate Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame Shoriki: Miracle Man of Japan. A Biography. Japan: A Documentary History

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This project examines the continued success of The Jerry Springer Show. Does the show promote the inclusion of the “other” in the American social order or is it a profit-seeking mechanism that proves only to further uphold a hierarchal American social structure in which some are excluded? By viewing scholarly articles on the talk show format, footage from The Jerry Springer Show, and other critical works in American Studies, I set out to prove that The Jerry Springer Show uses coded mechanisms to create the illusion of a democratic forum which promotes oppositional culture and challenges social norms. This, in turn creates a “participatory illusion” that veils the underlying profit-based motivations of the show. The goal is engaged viewers that question the motives of a seemingly un-refined format, “cheap amusements.” What is the show telling us about American society, and how is its shaping of perspective relevant to how we function as a society?

People Carl Culicchia Researcher Michael Newbury Sponsor & Professor of American Studies and English and American Literatures

Related Links The Jerry Springer Show The Jerry Springer Show as an Emotional Public Sphere. ‘It’s  a Circus’ Is Jerry Springer’s No-Holds-Barred Talk Show Harmles Populist Escapism, The End of Civilization As We Know It or Both? Jerry Springer an Appalling Diversion. Undergraduate Research Office

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One of the most fundamental aspects of cognitive function is the ability to filter and extract, through focused attention, useful information from the vast array of incoming stimuli at any given moment. Impairments in selective attention performance are associated with disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. To further investigate the role of orexins in selective attention, male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on a selective attention task paradigm designed to measure their ability to focus on external stimuli and perform appropriate response actions. Based on the available literature we expect orexin to cause a dose-dependent impairment on performance of the selective attention task.

People Evans Love Researcher Mark Stefani Assistant Professor of Psychology

An overhead view of the operant chamber setup. On one wall (to the rear of the subjects as pictured) was a food dispenser and food trough. On the opposing wall were three identical cue holes with embedded white lights. The food trough and the cue holes contained an infrared beam that shone across the opening to detect nose pokes by the subjects.

Related Links Undergraduate Research Psychology Research Labs

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Nonprofit organizations depend on charitable donations to provide cash revenue. Charities frequently employ auctions and raffles to grow revenue and transform “in kind” donations into cash. Despite this, neither the theory nor the practice of efficient fundraising – and, in particular, charity auctions – has received sufficient attention from economists. In the previous stage of our research, we studied the revenue potential of fifteen different charity auction mechanisms in the experimental lab. While some mechanisms had already received attention from theorists and empiricists, we also explored the potential of new formats, such as the “bucket” and “hybrid” auctions. We are now testing the most lucrative mechanisms from the lab in the field at national non-profit conventions to identify the fundraising mechanisms that generate the most revenue for charitable organizations.

People Max Benjamin Michael DeLucia Maria Perille Researchers Jeff Carpenter Associate Professor of Economics Jessica Holmes Associate Professor of Economics Peter Matthews James B. Jermain Professor of Political Economy

Average Revenue (in $) of Auction Mechanisms (click to view full chart)

Related Links Giving USA Annual Report on Philanthropy 2009 CECP Giving in Number, 2009 Edition

Downloads Charity Auctions – A Field Experimental Investigation Charity Auctions in the Experimental Lab Endogenous Participation in Charity Auctions Jumping, Squatting, Sniping, Soaring and Stumbling at the Silents: Does it matter for charities?

According to Howard Zehr (2002), “Restorative justice is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations, in order to heal and put things as right as possible.” We propose various methods of incorporating restorative practices into the Middlebury College judicial system.

People Ben Manger ’11, Philosophy Dana Callahan ’13, Biology Matthew George ’12.5, Biology Clayton Paschke ’13, Sociology Researchers Jon Kidde Sponsor, Sociology & Anthropology

Related Links Judicial Boards at Middlebury Diversity at Middlebury

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For his thesis research, Tyler Prince (’11) is continuing our research with prolactin to examine the effects of prolonged exposure to prolactin upon adult neurogenesis. This summer, he conducted histological staining for newly proliferated cells in the hippocampus (See pictures).

The hippocampus is an area of the brain that plays a critical role in the processing of spatial and temporal memories and is involved in working memory more generally. Therefore, the growth of new nerve cells is of particular interest in this brain region, and our research has implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and chronic depression.

People Tyler Prince Researcher Mark Spritzer Assistant Professor of Biology

Related Links Biology Labs Biology Research

Downloads Full Project Description [DOC] Spritzer et al Figure 2 Evidence that an acute low dose of the hormone prolactin caused an increase in cell proliferation within the hippocampus region of the brain

Oaths play an important role in our modern society from swearing-in procedures to Middlebury’s own Honor Code. A thousand years ago, oaths had a much larger role in early medieval society. Oaths were used to create artificial bonds between people. These bonds were the glue that kept the often violent early medieval society from falling apart. My study focuses on the social history of the oaths in northwestern Viking Age Europe through a close examination of Norse Sagas and French and English epics.

People Christopher Rogers Researcher Louisa Burnham Associate Professor of History & Advisor

Related Links University of Pittsburgh’s Folklore and Mythology Texts

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The use of perspective taking, loosely defined as checking in with another person’s point of view, inhibits aggressive responding. The present study investigates two specific perspective-taking methods: Imagine-Other, which involves imagining how another person feels by trying to understand the situation from his/her point of view, and Imagine-Self, which involves coming to know the other’s perspective by imagining oneself in the other person’s situation.

People Aviva Bannerman Researcher Suzanne Gurland Assistant Professor of Psychology & Advisor

Related Links Undergraduate Research Office Senior Work Fund

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