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Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2013

Educational Psychology

Theses/Dissertations

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Psychology of

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Education

Second Language Gesture And Acculturation In Study Abroad Contexts, Christie Marie Gardner Dec 2013

Second Language Gesture And Acculturation In Study Abroad Contexts, Christie Marie Gardner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Motivationis an integral part of learning; Gestures are an important aspect of human communication, and culture plays a significant role in shaping all of these human elements. This study explores the relationship betweensocial, cultural-historical activityand second language(L2) gesture acquisitionas student motivations both drive, and emanate from, the L2 learning process. Six American students participating in a study-abroad program in Chile were evaluated at three different levels of L2 proficiency (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) for L2 gesture articulations and motivational developments. During the semester-long investigation, three audio-video recorded interviews were conducted to observe L2 gestural behaviors, and two e-mail logs were …


Additive Effects Of An External Focus And Enhanced Expectancy In Learning A Motor Skill, Luigi Antonio Pascua May 2013

Additive Effects Of An External Focus And Enhanced Expectancy In Learning A Motor Skill, Luigi Antonio Pascua

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

An external focus of attention in has been shown to produce better performance in practice and retention of a motor skill when compared to an internal focus or control conditions in which no attentional focus cues are given to the learner (for a review, see Wulf, 2012). Enhancing learner expectancy (e.g., via positive feedback) has also been shown to improve learning (e.g., Lewthwaite & Wulf, 2010). This study sought to investigate whether combining the positive effects of an external focus of attention with an enhanced learner expectancy (through positive social-comparative feedback) would enhance learning relative to either variable alone or …


Examining The Testing Effect Using The Dual-Process Signal Detection Model, Nicole Jessica Bies-Hernandez May 2013

Examining The Testing Effect Using The Dual-Process Signal Detection Model, Nicole Jessica Bies-Hernandez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Taking a test can lead to enhanced long-term retention compared to not practicing the information or simply restudying, a finding known as the testing effect (Roediger, Agarwal, Kang, & Marsh, 2010). The current study examined whether the dual-process signal detection (DPSD) model (Yonelinas, 1994) offers an approach for investigating the testing effect across two experiments. Experiment 1 investigated if the DPSD model could be used to examine the testing effect, and it also examined a factor (i.e., the number of practice sessions) that influences the magnitude of the testing effect. Experiment 2 investigated whether making the final test dependent on …