Developmental Change in Infant Categorization: The Perception of Correlations among Facial Features

Previous studies indicated that the ability to detect correlations among attributes emerges between 7 and 10 months of age. In the present study, the generality of this developmental transition was examined. Using an infant-control habituation procedure, 48 7- and 10-month-old infants were tested for the perception of correlations among basic facial features. The developmental effects were replicated. Only the 10-month-old infants demonstrated their sensitivity to the pattern of correlation by generalizing to a novel face that preserved the experienced pattern of correlation, while showing increased attention to a face in which the pattern of correlation was violated. 7-month-old infants generalized to both test stimuli containing familiar features, regardless of the status of the correlation. Implications for face perception and the processing of categorical information are discussed.     

Developmental Changes in Infant Spatial Categorization: When More Is Best and When Less Is Enough

Two experiments examined infants' ability to form a spatial category when habituated to few (only 2) or many (6) exemplars of a spatial relation. Sixty‐four infants of 10 months and 64 infants of 14 months were habituated to dynamic events in which a toy was placed in a consistent spatial relation (in or on) to a referent object. At 10 months, infants formed a spatial category (looking longer at an unfamiliar than familiarized spatial relation) only when habituated to 6 exemplars. At 14 months, infants formed the spatial category regardless of the number of habituation exemplars. The results highlight developmental changes in infant spatial categorization and show that increasing exemplar number facilitates this ability in infants of 10 months.     

Developmental Change in Infant Cortisol and Behavioral Response to Inoculation

Child Development, 1994, 65 , 1491–1502. Infant cortisol and behavioral responses to receiving 1 versus 2 inoculations on 1 pediatric office visit were observed at 2 and 6 months of age. Cortisol level (pre- plus postinoculation level) decreased with age, whereas cortisol response (post- minus preinoculation level) did not vary with age when the data were aggregated over infants showing a pre- to postinoculation cortisol increase and those showing a decrease. Nonetheless, for those infants who showed a cortisol increase, cortisol level and response decreased with age. Infants quieted faster at the older age. There was a moderate relation between quieting behavior and cortisol response, at least for infants who showed a pre- to postinoculation cortisol increase. These findings indicate a developmental trend for a decline over age in adrenocortical reactivity to inoculation for infants showing a cortisol release following the perturbation. Results were comparable whether infants received 1 or 2 inoculations.     

Developmental Change in Infants' Responses to Stress

Infant stress responses to a well-baby physical examination and inoculation were observed longitudinally at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. In general, there were cortisol increases over base to the procedures. Cortisol level and cortisol response decreased with age. These data indicate a developmental shift in adrenocortical functioning between 2 and 6 months of age. Further evidence for this shift was seen in the stability of individual responses between 4 and 6 months of age. Individual differences in both cortisol and behavioral responses showed the most stability between these 2 ages. Moreover, diurnal variation in baseline cortisol level was present only at 6 months of age. While a sizable minority of infants showed stress-related cortisol decreases to the procedures at a given age, there was no evidence for cross-age consistency in individual infants showing these cortisol decreases.     

Developmental Change in Notetaking during Scientific Inquiry

This paper addresses the development in children’s and adults’ awareness of the benefits of writing through the analysis of change in notetaking while engaged in scientific inquiry over 10 weeks. Participants were given a notebook that they could choose to use. Our results indicate consistent differences between the performance of adults versus children and also across time. First, there were clear differences in the number of participants who chose to take notes. Second, not only did adults write more notes than children, but also the adults’ mean number of notes slightly increased over time, whereas children’s notes actually decreased in frequency. Third, children and adults differed in the types of notes they took. These results are interpreted in terms of participants’ awareness of what needs to be noted in a scientific task and why it needs to be noted, and they suggest implications for educational practice. First, because learners often have inaccurate representations of the task demands and their own future state of knowledge, they do not perceive the utility of notetaking. Second, because of these misperceptions, learners do not refer back to their notes and thereby miss feedback that would spur the refinement of their metacognitive (particularly metastrategic) knowledge and strategy use. Educators need to design opportunities for students to engage in activities that increase metacognitive knowledge of their own cognitive abilities and the demands of the task.     

Developmental Differences in Infant Attention to the Spectral Properties of Infant-directed Speech

Across several independent studies, infants from a few days to 9 months of age have shown preferences for infant-directed (ID) over adult-directed (AD) speech. Moreover, 4-month-olds have been shown to prefer sine-wave analogs of the fundamental frequency of ID speech, suggesting that exaggerated pitch contours are prepotent stimuli for infants. The possibility of similar preferences by 1-month-olds was examined in a series of experiments, using a fixation-based preference procedure. Results from the first 2 experiments showed that 1-month-olds did not prefer the lower-frequency pitch characteristics of ID speech, even though 1-month-olds were able to discriminate low-pass filtered ID and AD speech. Since low-pass filtering may have distorted the fundamental frequency characteristics of ID speech, 1-month-olds were also tested with sine-wave analogs of the fundamental frequencies of the ID utterances. Infants in this third experiment also showed no preference for ID pitch contours. In the fourth experiment, 1-month-olds preferred a natural recording of ID speech over a version which preserved only its lower frequency prosodic features. From these results, it is argued that, although young infants are similar to older infants in their attraction to ID speech, their preferences depend on a wider range of acoustic features (e.g., spectral structure). It is suggested that exaggerated pitch contours which characterize ID speech may become salient communicative signals for infants through language-rich, interactive experiences with caretakers and increased perceptual acuity over the first months after birth.     

典型范畴观下的词汇演变方式

运用典型范畴观,从"词"与"范畴"联系的角度重新阐释传统词汇语义学的词汇演变方式:词义扩大、词义缩小、隐喻构词和词义转移,同时讨论了这种研究方法的局限性以及解决的策略.     

中国城镇化发展模式探究

城镇化是现代化进程中社会经济发展的必然趋势。《2012中国新型城市化报告》指出中国城市化率突破50%,城镇人口超过农村人口,城镇化进程进入快速发展时期。本文基于对城镇化的概念与内涵的分析基础之上,探了讨"二元体制"的背景下,两种城镇化力量对中国城镇化的作用表现以及中国城镇化的特殊发展模式。城镇化按推动力量的不同,可分为市场主导型和政府主导型两种类型。基本结论是走城乡协调发展的道路是我国城镇化发展的唯一出路。     

Time Course of Visual Attention in Infant Categorization of Cats Versus Dogs: Evidence for a Head Bias as Revealed Through Eye Tracking

Previous looking time studies have shown that infants use the heads of cat and dog images to form category representations for these animal classes. The present research used an eye-tracking procedure to determine the time course of attention to the head and whether it reflects a preexisting bias or online learning. Six- to 7-month-olds were familiarized with cats or dogs in upright or inverted orientations and then tested with a novel cat and novel dog in the same orientation. In the upright orientation, infants fixated head over body throughout familiarization; with inversion, no head preference was observed. These findings suggest that infant reliance on the head to categorize cats versus dogs results from a bias that pushes attention to the head.     

A Developmental Perspective on Peer Rejection: Mechanisms of Stability and Change

This study examines factors associated with the relative stability of peer rejection among elementary school-aged children. Forty-four initially rejected children (some of whom improved their social status while others remained rejected over a 2-year period) were recruited from a larger sociometric sample. Prospective analyses were conducted to determine whether peer nominated aggression and children's perceptions of their own status in fourth grade were predictive of status improvement by the end of fifth grade. In addition to prospective analyses, initially rejected children and their mothers were invited to participate in a retrospective interview about their social experiences over the past 2 school years. Results of prospective and retrospective analyses suggested that perceived social status, participation in extracurricular activities, locus of control, and parental monitoring were all positively related to status improvement among initially rejected children. Surprisingly, aggressive behavior also was positively related to status improvement among initially rejected boys.     

解读刘亮程散文中的关键词：“村庄”

＂村庄＂是刘亮程散文中反复书写的关键词＂,村庄＂在他的笔下是永远的生存和栖息家园,是他的生存基础,也是他的精神发源地,在作者的心中只存放着一个村庄——黄沙梁。在刘亮程的笔下,这个村庄完完整整,那些牲畜、人、草木、阳光雨水和脚印,连夕阳下弥漫的尘土都一粒不少。刘亮程对村庄的描写,更多地代表着他的生命与写作方式,是他内心深处不断构筑和丰富的一片灵魂领地。     

对完善施工合同示范文本中工程变更相关条款的建议

工程变更在工程项目实施过程是经常发生的,工程变更管理的实质是合同管理。文章从工程变更的定义、工程变更管理的任务、工程变更审批的权限、工程变更处理程序、工程变更图纸的提供、工程变更价款的调整与支付六个方面,对99版《建设工程施工合同》示范文本相关条款提出完善的建议。     

Separate But Equal: An Inquiry into the Impact of the Language Controversy on Education in Belgium

Ms. Swing, who has studied and taught in Belgium, is a research assistant at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania. This article was prepared specifically for Western European Education.     

当代中国社会哲学研究的三个阶段及其主题嬗变

当代中国社会哲学的研究可以分为三个阶段从80年代中期到90年代初期为初创阶段,主要是厘定学科内容及研究方法;90年代初期至中期为起步阶段,着重于发展哲学的研究;90年代中期以后可谓纵深阶段,对社会生活中的一系列重大问题进行了研讨,形成了比较系统的学科观念,诸如社会哲学的学科性质、学科定位、研究对象和研究方法等,确立了社会哲学研究的大方向.     

成人教育:向质量效益型转变

当前成人教育质量与办学效益存在问题，主要原因有缺乏素质教育理念的导引、师资不足、教学方法陈旧、效益不高、投入少等。消除这些不利因素应从端正办学指导思想、搞好教学改革、建立稳定的师资队伍和建立、健全成人教育质量评估体系等方面入手，来构建合理的成人教育质量效益保障体系。     

关于高中文理分科改革问题的建议

高中文理分科改革是一项巨大的工程,目前最好的解决办法是在保留原有文、理分科的基础上增加文理综合科,文科、理科和文理综合科3种模式并存,才是最科学、合理、可行的做法。     

The Fate of Early Experience Following Developmental Change: Longitudinal Approaches to Individual Adaptation in Childhood

2 strategies were used to investigate the continued impact of early experience and adaptation given subsequent experience and/or developmental change in a poverty sample (N = 190). Groups were defined whose adaptation was similar during the preschool years but consistently different earlier; then these 2 groups were compared in elementary school. In addition, a series of regression analyses was performed in which variance accounted for by near-in or contemporary predictors of adaptation in middle childhood was removed before adding earlier adaptation in subsequent steps. Children showing positive adaptation in the infant/toddler period showed greater rebound in the elementary school years, despite poor functioning in the preschool period. Regression analyses revealed some incremental power of early predictors with intermediate predictors removed. The results were interpreted as supporting Bowlby's thesis that adaptation is always a product of both developmental history and current circumstances. While this research cannot resolve such a complicated issue, it does point to the need for complex formulations to guide research on individual development.