Cognitive effects and correlates of reading fiction: Two preregistered multilevel meta-analyses.

Despite significantly increasing research efforts, the psychological effects of reading fiction remain under debate. We present two preregistered meta-analyses synthesizing cognitive effects and correlates of reading fiction. In Meta-Analysis 1 (371 effect sizes/70 experiments), reading fiction led to significant small-sized cognitive benefits, g = 0.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.06, 0.21]. This effect of fiction reading was moderated by the comparison group (effects were greater when reading fiction was compared with watching fiction or reading nothing than when reading fiction was compared with reading nonfiction) and the outcome variable (significant effects emerged for empathy and mentalizing only). In Meta-Analysis 2 (559 effect sizes/114 studies reporting correlations), lifetime exposure to print fiction was linked with significant small-sized cognitive benefits, r = .16, 95% CI [0.13, 0.19]. This effect was moderated by outcome variable (effects were greatest for verbal abilities, followed by general cognitive abilities and empathy/mentalizing/outgroup judgments), fictionality of the print material (greater effects were found for fiction than nonfiction), publication status (published work exhibited greater effects than unpublished work), type of assessment measure (larger effects emerged when neither the outcome nor print exposure were assessed via self-report, than when either the outcome or print exposure were assessed via self-report), participant group (community samples showed greater effects than student samples), study design (greater effects were found for correlational than for experimental designs), and percentage of female participants (via a negative relationship with cognitive benefits). Together, these meta-analyses provide robust evidence for a small-sized positive relationship between reading fiction and cognitive benefits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Inclusion of autistic students in schools: Knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitude of teachers in Germany.

LAY ABSTRACT: Nowadays, autistic students are often enrolled in mainstream schools. To successfully include autistic students in general education, teachers need to possess knowledge about autism, feel competent in teaching autistic students, and have a positive attitude toward their inclusion. However, in Germany, little is known about the knowledge, the self-efficacy, and the attitude concerning autism among teachers working at mainstream schools. Therefore, we conducted a study in which we used items to assess knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitude. A total of 887 general education teachers participated in the study. The results showed that the level of knowledge about autism was moderate among teachers. Similarly, teachers did not hold overwhelmingly high self-efficacy beliefs. However, their attitude toward inclusion of autistic students was rather positive. At the same time, teachers who had experience with teaching autistic students possessed more knowledge and higher self-efficacy than teachers who had no experience with teaching autistic students. In addition, female teachers were more knowledgeable about autism and felt more competent in teaching autistic students than male teachers. In contrast, knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitude were rather similar among teachers from different types of schools. The findings suggest that teachers in Germany should possess more knowledge about autism and feel more competent in teaching autistic students. Therefore, it is important to systematically include autism trainings in teacher education programs.

Category learning in autistic individuals: A meta-analysis.

Learning new categories is a fundamental human skill. In the present article, we report the first comprehensive meta-analysis of category learning in autism. Including studies comparing groups of autistic and nonautistic individuals, we investigated whether autistic individuals differ in category learning from nonautistic individuals. In addition, we examined moderator variables accounting for variability between studies. A multilevel meta-analysis of k = 50 studies examining n = 1,220 autistic and n = 1,445 nonautistic individuals based on 112 effect sizes in terms of the standardized mean difference revealed lower-level category learning skills for autistic compared with nonautistic individuals, g = -0.55, 95% CI = [-0.73, -0.38], p < .0001. According to moderator analyses, the significant amount of heterogeneity, Q(111) = 617.88, p < .0001, was explained by only one of the moderator variables under investigation-namely, study language. For the remaining variables-namely, age, year of publication, risk of bias, type of control group, IQ of autistic group, percentage of male autistic participants, type of category, type of task, and type of dependent measure-there were no significant effects. Although hat values and Cook's distance statistics confirmed the robustness of findings, results of Egger's test and a funnel plot suggested the presence of publication bias reflecting an overrepresentation of disadvantageous findings for autistic groups. Objectives for future work include identifying additional moderator variables, examining downstream effects of suboptimal category learning skills, and developing interventions.

Misconceptions in Physics Explainer Videos and the Illusion of Understanding: an Experimental Study.

Some of the online explainer videos for physics present misconceptions as scientifically correct explanations. Even so, some of these videos achieve good ratings on online platforms. A possible reason is that explainer videos with misconceptions foster an "illusion of understanding"-the mistaken belief that a topic has been understood. Misconceptions close to everyday experiences might appear more attractive than scientifically correct explanations. This experimental study (N = 149 physics learners with a low prior knowledge on average, sample of convenience) was conducted to explore this effect. Two explainer videos were developed to be comparable in terms of comprehensibility and duration. The explanatory approach was the only difference between the two videos. While the experimental group watched a video introducing the concept of force using misconceptions, the control group watched a scientifically correct video. Learners from the experimental group developed an equal belief of understanding, but more misconceptions and fewer scientifically correct conceptions than those from the control group. We argue that this illusion of understanding might become problematic (a) in physics instruction because students who have watched a misleading video might regard further teaching in school as irrelevant, and (b) learners might tend to rate videos including misconceptions better on an online platform like YouTube. Future studies should examine these two possible consequences.

[Teaching in times of corona: a look at the challenges from the perspective of research on learning and instruction]. / Unterricht in Zeiten von Corona: Ein Blick auf die Herausforderungen aus der Sicht von Unterrichts- und Instruktionsforschung.

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nationwide school closures caused exceptional circumstances that created new and unpredictable challenges for teachers. In this article, we synthesize research on learning and instruction to examine how teachers can teach effectively in a pandemic. First, we shed light on the disadvantages associated with exclusively taking a view on the surface structures of teaching in the discussion about good teaching under pandemic conditions. Second, on the basis of the deep structures of teaching, we present challenges caused by a pandemic for high-quality teaching in terms of cognitive activation, student support and classroom management. Third, we discuss more specifically how instructional activities can be intentionally designed by teachers with regard to stimulating motivation, presenting information, processing information, practicing, enhancing transfer, and providing feedback to facilitate learning in times of a pandemic. In this context, we also discuss the important role of parental support for learning. Fourth, we provide recommendations for good teaching under pandemic conditions and discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen as a chance for research to generate knowledge on new forms of individual learning that could enrich future teaching.

Happy but overconfident: positive affect leads to inaccurate metacomprehension.

When learning from text, it is important that learners not only comprehend the information provided but also accurately monitor and judge their comprehension, which is known as metacomprehension accuracy. To investigate the role of a learner's affective state for text comprehension and metacomprehension accuracy, we conducted an experiment with N = 103 university students in whom we induced positive, negative, or neutral affect. Positive affect resulted in poorer text comprehension than neutral affect. Positive affect also led to overconfident predictions, whereas negative and neutral affect were both associated with quite accurate predictions. Independent of affect, postdictions were rather underconfident. The results suggest that positive affect bears processing disadvantages for achieving deep comprehension and adequate prediction accuracy. Given that postdictions were more accurate, practice tests might represent an effective instructional method to help learners in a positive affective state to accurately judge their text comprehension.

Information about a layperson's knowledge supports experts in giving effective and efficient online advice to laypersons.

To give effective and efficient advice to laypersons, experts should adapt their explanations to the layperson's knowledge. However, experts often fail to consider the limited domain knowledge of laypersons. To support adaptation in asynchronous helpdesk communication, researchers provided computer experts with information about a layperson's knowledge. A dialogue experiment (N = 80 dyads of experts and laypersons) was conducted that varied the displayed information. Rather than sensitizing the experts to generally improve the intelligibility of their explanations, the individuating information about the layperson enabled them to make specific partner adjustments that increased the effectiveness and efficiency of the communication. The results are suggestive of ways in which the provision of instructional explanations could be enhanced in Internet-based communication.