Williams College

About: Williams College is a education organization based out in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Politics. The organization has 2257 authors who have published 5015 publications receiving 213160 citations. The organization is also known as: Williams.

The costs and benefits of providing feedback during learning.

Abstract: It seems uncontroversial that providing feedback after a test, in the form of the correct answer, enhances learning. In real-world educational situations, however, the time available for learning is often constrained— and feedback takes time. We report an experiment in which total time for learning was fixed, thereby creating a trade-off between spending time receiving feedback and spending time on other learning activities. Our results suggest that providing feedback is not universally beneficial. Indeed, under some circumstances, taking time to provide feedback can have a negative net effect on learning. We also found that learners appear to have some insight about the costs of feedback; when they were allowed to control feedback, they often skipped unnecessary feedback in favor of additional retrieval attempts, and they benefited from doing so. These results underscore the importance of considering the costs and benefits of interventions designed to enhance learning.

26Al and10Be dating of late pleistocene and holocene fill terraces: a record of fluvial deposition and incision, Colorado front range

Abstract: Cosmogenic 26Al, 10Be, and 14C dating of fluvial fill terraces in steep canyons of the Colorado Front Range provides a temporal framework for analysing episodic aggradation and incision. Results from Boulder Canyon show that terrace heights above the modern channel (grade) can be divided into: (1) Bull Lake (≳100 ka; 20–15 m above grade); (2) Pinedale (32–10 ka; 15–4 m above grade); and (3) Holocene age ( 15 m above grade record Bull Lake deposition. Well-preserved terraces of Pinedale age suggest that the range of terrace height above grade reflects short-term fluctuations in the river profile during periods of rapidly changing stream load and power. Net river incision apparently occurred during transitions to interglacial periods. Soil development and stratigraphic position, along with limited cosmogenic and 14C dating, suggest that ∼130 ka terraces in Boulder Canyon correlate with the Louviers Alluvium, and that 32 to 10 ka fills in the canyon correlate with the Broadway Alluvium on the adjacent High Plains. Late Pleistocene incision rates (∼0·15 m ka−1) along Boulder Canyon exceed pre-late Pleistocene incision rates, and are higher than middle to late Pleistocene incision rates (∼0·04 m ka−1) on the High Plains. This study provides an example of how modern geochronologic techniques allow us to understand better rivers that drain glaciated catchments. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comparative studies on the Mauthner cell of teleost fish in relation to sensory input.

Abstract: Most physiological and behavioral studies of the Mauthner cells have used the goldfish and a few other fish from the superorder Ostariophysi, series Otophysi (=otophysans). We first provide some background and recent findings on the Mauthner cells of otophysan fish and then compare this information to that known about the Mauthner cells in certain non-otophysan fish. These comparisons are meant to provide the impetus for a comparative approach to understanding the role of the Mauthner cells in behavior.

Why Engage? China and the Logic of Communicative Engagement

Abstract: With the breakdown of American relations with China after 1989 and the rapid growth of Chinese power in the 1990s, the American policy of engagement attempted to encourage China to become a moderat...