Accuracy and Idea Consideration: A Study of Small-Group Interaction in Biology

The study examines the relationship between scientific accuracy of contributions, peer idea consideration, one’s ability to direct the conversation, and learning outcomes of students engaged in small-group work in an introductory undergraduate biology lab course.

Metrical Displacement and Group Interaction in ‘Evidence’ by the Thelonious Monk Quartet

Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk is known for his rhythmically complex compositions and improvisations. His typical 32-bar AABA form pieces provide a framework of musical norms in terms of harmonic movement, and thus a point of reference for the harmonic rhythm to be displaced. ‘Evidence’ is exemplary of Monk’s displaced rhythms, which creates a sense of metrical shifts during the head arrangement. Composed c.1948 and a frequent piece of Monk’s performance repertoire into the 1970s, a transcription and analysis of the recording from Thelonious Monk Quartet Plus Two at the Blackhawk demonstrates a conflicting sense of metre between band members of the quartet. This chapter investigates how the musicians negotiated metrical discrepancies in the composed section and the saxophone solo in terms of group interaction. A mediation of time is demonstrated by a displaced metre in the drums and each musician’s performative response to the discrepancy by providing musical signals during the course of performance. Through analysis of this performance, the chapter examines the way in which the musicians arbitrated a decisive point of reference within a confounding performance of overturning the beat. This chapter contributes to understanding rhythm and metre through improvisatory processes, augmenting scholarship on jazz through its analysis of the temporal constituents of group interaction.

Effects of Cool-Down Exercise and Cold-Water Immersion Ther-apy on Basic Fitness and Sport-Specific Skills among Korean College Soccer Players

Background: We aimed to examine the effects of cool-down exercise and cold-water immersion therapy on agility, speed, power, balance, and sport-specific skill performance in college soccer players, and to provide baseline data for the development of effective recovery programs. Methods: In August 2020, 21 male college soccer players in Seoul, Korea, were randomly divided into the following groups: control group (CG, n=7), cool-down exercise group (CDG, n=7), and cool-down exercise plus cold-water immersion group (CDCWG, n=7). Agility, speed, power, balance, and sport-specific skill performance were assessed before and after the intervention. Results: No significant differences in Southeast Missouri (SEMO) Agility Test, 20-m sprint test, vertical jump test, or Y-balance test (right) were observed among the groups; however, there was a significant effect of time (P<0.05) and a significant time × group interaction (P<0.05). Significant effects of time (P<0.001), group (P=0.043), and a time × group interaction (P=0.009) were observed in the Y-balance test (left). There were no between-group differences in the 22-m dribble test, shooting test (left), or shooting test (right); however, there were significant effects of time (P<0.05) and significant time × group interactions (P<0.05). No significant effects of group or time × group interactions were observed for the kicking test (left or right); however, there were significant effects of time (P<0.001). Conclusion: Addition of cold-water immersion therapy to a recovery program including cool-down exercise can promote recovery of basic and sport-specific abilities among college soccer players.

The shift of media processes to internet communication and computer-assisted language learning as a high-risk factor of inter-group interaction in applied linguistic space

The issue of inter-group social conflicts development is one of the most acute problems of modern society. Within the framework of this article (on the example of inter-ethnic interaction) there is considered the question of modern communication technologies in the field of inter-group interaction. The study proves that with the intensive development of modern means of communication, there takes place a significant intensification of social risks associated with inter-group conflicts (intensity of aggravation factors and increase in the scale of inter-group confrontations). At the level of inter-ethnic interaction, all that is primarily due to the negative stereotypes of different ethnic groups, as well as to the replication of negative interaction experiences in different ethnic groups (with an emphasis on ethnicity).

Early perceptions of COVID-19 intensity and anti-Asian prejudice among White Americans

Anecdotal reports suggested an uptick in anti-Asian prejudice corresponding with the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Examining responses from White U.S. citizens ( N = 589) during the first months of the pandemic, this study tested: (a) whether actual intensity (official number of cases or deaths reported) or perceived intensity (participants’ estimates of the same) of the COVID-19 outbreak predicted indicators of racial outgroup prejudice, particularly those associated with cross-group interaction, (b) whether outgroup prejudice was oriented toward Asian people specifically, or toward racial outgroups more broadly (e.g., toward both Asian people and Black people), and (c) whether contact with racial outgroups moderated relations between COVID-19 intensity and racial prejudice. Results showed that perceived COVID-19 intensity was associated with prejudice indicators representing the desire for social distance from Asian people, as well as from Black people, yet it was unrelated to reports of negative affect toward either racial outgroup. These patterns support the idea that prejudice during periods of disease outbreak might functionally serve to reduce willingness for interaction with, and likelihood of infection from, racial outgroups. Contact moderated the relation between official reports of COVID-19 intensity and support for anti-China travel policies, such that greater contact with Asian people was associated with less support for exclusionary, anti-China travel policies when actual COVID-19 intensity was high. Overall, these results suggest that intensity of disease threat can exacerbate racial outgroup prejudice and reduce willingness for cross-group interaction, but that intergroup contact may sometimes provide a prejudice-attenuating effect.