Learners are exquisitely attuned to statistical information in their language input. We tested how prior experience impacts such sensitivity, particularly whether prior experience serves as a bootstrap by enabling acquisition of more complex structure. Experiments 1 and 2 tested whether giving adult learners experience with adjacent category-dependencies in an artificial language facilitates subsequent learning of a novel language containing more complex nonadjacent dependencies. Prior experience had a facilitating effect, both when it preceded exposure to the nonadjacent language by just a few minutes (Experiment 1), and also by 24 hours (Experiment 2). Prior experience with the vocabulary and prosodic characteristics of the language did not facilitate more complex learning. Experiments 3 and 4 tested whether infants also benefit from prior experience in learning nonadjacent dependencies between categories. While 12-month-olds learn adjacent dependencies between word categories (Gómez & Lakusta, 2004), they do not track nonadjacent word dependencies until 15 months (Gómez & Maye, 2005). We asked whether experience with adjacent word-category dependencies enables 12-month-olds to generalize these relations to nonadjacent occurrences. Infants were familiarized to an artificial language containing adjacent category dependencies, and were habituated to strings in which those dependencies were nonadjacent. Infants dishabituated to strings containing violations of the nonadjacent dependencies when the dependencies had been adjacent during previous familiarization (Experiment 3), and when they were novel (Experiment 4). Infants familiarized to a language lacking co-occurrence restrictions, but otherwise matched to the experimental language, failed to become sensitive to the nonadjacent category dependencies during habituation. These findings demonstrate that prior experience can bootstrap acquisition of more complex language structure.

Neste estudo foi avaliado o efeito da restrição de estabilidade imposta por uma tarefa voluntária sobre a adaptação de respostas posturais reativas a perturbações externas em jovens, idosos sadios e idosos com doença de Parkinson (DP). No Experimento 1 participantes com DP e idosos sadios foram perturbados por meio de translação posterior da superfície de apoio, enquanto executavam duas versões de uma tarefa voluntária: segurando uma bandeja com um cilindro apoiado em sua base (BR) ou em seu lado circular (AR). A avaliação foi feita por meio de blocos alternados de baixa e alta restrição. Os resultados indicaram que ambos os grupos mostram menor velocidade da bandeja no contexto de AR em comparação ao de BR. A latência de resposta postural foi maior no contexto de AR apenas para indivíduos sadios. Indivíduos sadios apresentaram diferentes padrões de coordenação ombro-quadril em função da restrição da tarefa, enquanto idosos com DP apresentaram um padrão relativamente invariável. Estes resultados sugerem que a doença de Parkinson prejudica a capacidade de adaptar as respostas posturais às exigências impostas por uma tarefa voluntária. O Experimento 2 teve como objetivo comparar as respostas posturais reativas entre jovens e idosos sadios. O mesmo paradigma do Experimento 1, com exceção do tipo de perturbação, foi utilizado no Experimento 2. Ambos os grupos diminuíram a velocidade da bandeja no contexto de AR em comparação ao contexto de BR. Os resultados mais expressivos mostraram que, enquanto os jovens adaptaram a latência muscular, magnitude muscular, nível de coativação muscular e coordenação interarticular de acordo com a sequência, os idosos foram mais sensíveis ao contexto atual de restrição da tarefa voluntária. Estes resultados sugerem que o envelhecimento leva à mudança de uma adaptação mais generalizada para uma mais específica das respostas posturais reativas / This study assessed the effect of stability constraints imposed by a voluntary task on the adaptation of postural responses to an external perturbation in healthy adults and in elderly individuals with Parkinsons disease (PD). In Experiment 1 subjects with PD and age-matched controls were perturbed through a backward translation of the support surface while standing and performing two versions of a voluntary task: holding a tray with a cylinder placed with the flat side down (LC) or with the rolling round side down (HC). Participants performed alternating blocks of low and high constraint trials. Parkinsons disease participants accomplished the voluntary task as well as controls, showing slower tray velocity in the high, as compared with the low, constraint context. Latency of postural responses was longer in the high constraint context only for control subjects. Control subjects presented different patterns of hip-shoulder coordination as a function of task constraint, whereas PD subjects had a relatively invariable pattern. These results suggest that Parkinsons disease impairs the capacity to adapt postural responses to constraints imposed by a voluntary task. Experiment 2 aimed at comparing postural reactive responses between healthy young and elderly individuals in response to unexpected load release. Results showed that while the young group adapted muscular latency, muscular magnitude, coactivation level and interjoint coordination according to task-constraint sequence, the elderly group was more sensitive to the current context of voluntary task constraint. These results suggest that aging lead to more specific postural reactive responses adaptation

Neste estudo foi avaliado o efeito da restrição de estabilidade imposta por uma tarefa voluntária sobre a adaptação de respostas posturais reativas a perturbações externas em jovens, idosos sadios e idosos com doença de Parkinson (DP). No Experimento 1 participantes com DP e idosos sadios foram perturbados por meio de translação posterior da superfície de apoio, enquanto executavam duas versões de uma tarefa voluntária: segurando uma bandeja com um cilindro apoiado em sua base (BR) ou em seu lado circular (AR). A avaliação foi feita por meio de blocos alternados de baixa e alta restrição. Os resultados indicaram que ambos os grupos mostram menor velocidade da bandeja no contexto de AR em comparação ao de BR. A latência de resposta postural foi maior no contexto de AR apenas para indivíduos sadios. Indivíduos sadios apresentaram diferentes padrões de coordenação ombro-quadril em função da restrição da tarefa, enquanto idosos com DP apresentaram um padrão relativamente invariável. Estes resultados sugerem que a doença de Parkinson prejudica a capacidade de adaptar as respostas posturais às exigências impostas por uma tarefa voluntária. O Experimento 2 teve como objetivo comparar as respostas posturais reativas entre jovens e idosos sadios. O mesmo paradigma do Experimento 1, com exceção do tipo de perturbação, foi utilizado no Experimento 2. Ambos os grupos diminuíram a velocidade da bandeja no contexto de AR em comparação ao contexto de BR. Os resultados mais expressivos mostraram que, enquanto os jovens adaptaram a latência muscular, magnitude muscular, nível de coativação muscular e coordenação interarticular de acordo com a sequência, os idosos foram mais sensíveis ao contexto atual de restrição da tarefa voluntária. Estes resultados sugerem que o envelhecimento leva à mudança de uma adaptação mais generalizada para uma mais específica das respostas posturais reativas / This study assessed the effect of stability constraints imposed by a voluntary task on the adaptation of postural responses to an external perturbation in healthy adults and in elderly individuals with Parkinsons disease (PD). In Experiment 1 subjects with PD and age-matched controls were perturbed through a backward translation of the support surface while standing and performing two versions of a voluntary task: holding a tray with a cylinder placed with the flat side down (LC) or with the rolling round side down (HC). Participants performed alternating blocks of low and high constraint trials. Parkinsons disease participants accomplished the voluntary task as well as controls, showing slower tray velocity in the high, as compared with the low, constraint context. Latency of postural responses was longer in the high constraint context only for control subjects. Control subjects presented different patterns of hip-shoulder coordination as a function of task constraint, whereas PD subjects had a relatively invariable pattern. These results suggest that Parkinsons disease impairs the capacity to adapt postural responses to constraints imposed by a voluntary task. Experiment 2 aimed at comparing postural reactive responses between healthy young and elderly individuals in response to unexpected load release. Results showed that while the young group adapted muscular latency, muscular magnitude, coactivation level and interjoint coordination according to task-constraint sequence, the elderly group was more sensitive to the current context of voluntary task constraint. These results suggest that aging lead to more specific postural reactive responses adaptation

This research examines the mediation effects of prior experience, access to finance, government regulation, and workforce skills on entrepreneurial gender and corporate innovation in China. The aim is to study the factors that influence innovation decisions of women entrepreneurs and to promote corporate innovation in women-owned enterprises in developing countries like China. The data of this research comes from China Enterprise Survey conducted by World Bank in 2012. The findings revealed that prior experience, government regulation, and workforce skills have significant individual mediation effect on the relationship between entrepreneurial gender and corporate innovation. Also, prior experience, access to finance, government regulation, and workforce skills together played a significant overall mediating effect on corporate innovation in women-owned enterprises. The results of this study will provide important insights to women owners of enterprises, policy makers, and researchers to further understand the influence of prior experience, access to finance, government regulations, and workforce skills on corporate innovation in China and other emerging countries.

The research study focuses on the Factors influencing Consumer Purchasing Behavior of Organic Skin Care Products in Sri Lanka. The researched has carried out a quantitative study using a structured questionnaire taking the sample size as the customers who are in the Western Province of Sri Lanka.Customer knowledge and value have an association on purchase intent, according to the study. As a result, it's clear that product knowledge, prior experience, environmental awareness, and health awareness all play a role in customers' decisions to buy organic skincare products in Sri Lanka. The study's findings aid top executives in setting strategic goals while concentrating on new product positioning areas that improve financial performance. As a result of this research, organic products can be tailored to meet the needs of customers, encouraging them to adopt a more organic lifestyle.

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This study identifies and assesses a more specific relationship between the online instructor presence and the online learner's experience than is currently offered in previous studies. Guided by three questions, the study asked: (a) What is the relationship between the online instructor communication style and the learning experience, as defined by the adult learner's cognitive achievement, ratings of the overall course experience, and perceptions of the instructor's performance; (b) What is the relationship between the strength (contact frequency with the learner) of that communication style (facilitating or non-facilitating) and the learning experience; and (c) What is the relationship between selected learner demographic variables (previous subject experience on the job and previous experience with the vendor's online learning environment) and the learning experience. The study included an examination of ex post facto data that depicted the interactions between 89 students and 9 instructors in 358 asynchronous, professional development class discussions. The examination revealed the presence and frequency of select instructor behaviors more acutely define the communication style and strength of the online instructor's relationship to the professional adult's online learning experience. The study's additional findings support earlier research that suggests prior learner experience relates positively to online learning outcomes. These findings contribute to the larger body of knowledge related to online instruction. / Ph. D.

Environmental education (EE) programming has been found to lead to positive behavioral and attitudinal outcomes in student participants. Among a variety of factors, the characteristics of EE program instructors have been found to play a role in driving these outcomes. This thesis investigates the specific motivators of EE instructors and the links between instructor autonomy, prior experience, and program outcomes. I used a multi-methods approach to investigate these themes and have organized the results between two chapters that are manuscripts intended as separate journal publications. Chapter 2 presents a qualitative study that identifies the salient motivators of EE instructors, as well as organizational practices that affect EE instructor feelings of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and the meaningfulness these instructors feel within their jobs. Chapter 3 presents a quantitative study analyzing the impact of autonomy and prior experience on program outcomes by linking instructor and student participant survey responses from a sample of 166 EE programs performed throughout 57 different organizations across the US. Results led to the following recommendations for EE organizations: (1) promote job enrichment elements for their instructional staff, including the implementing of participatory evaluation processes; (2) encourage instructors to take "ownership" of programming, such that they continue to practice and develop competence over time; (3) increase instructor autonomy as they gain further experience. / Master of Science / Environmental education (EE) programming has been found to lead to positive behavioral and attitudinal outcomes in student participants. Among a variety of factors, the characteristics of EE program instructors have been found to play a role in driving these outcomes. This thesis investigates the specific motivators of EE instructors and the links between instructor autonomy, prior experience, and program outcomes. I used a multi-methods approach, employing semi-structured interviews and surveys to investigate these themes, and have organized the results between two chapters that are manuscripts intended as separate journal publications. Chapter 2 presents a qualitative study that identifies the salient motivators of EE instructors, as well as organizational practices that affect EE instructor feelings of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and the meaningfulness these instructors feel within their jobs. Chapter 3 presents a quantitative study analyzing the impact of autonomy and prior experience on program outcomes by linking instructor and student participant survey responses from a sample of 166 EE programs performed throughout 57 different organizations across the US. Results led to the following recommendations for EE organizations: (1) promote job enrichment elements for their instructional staff, including the implementing of participatory evaluation processes; (2) encourage instructors to take “ownership” of programming, such that they continue to practice and develop competence over time; (3) increase instructor autonomy as they gain further experience. This research provides information to better EE organizational management in the aims of promoting motivated employees and ultimately effective program outcomes.