Development of Category‐Based Induction and Semantic Knowledge

Category‐based induction is a hallmark of mature cognition; however, little is known about its origins. This study evaluated the hypothesis that category‐based induction is related to semantic development. Computational studies suggest that early on there is little differentiation among concepts, but learning and development lead to increased differentiation based on taxonomic relatedness. This study reports findings from a new task aimed to (a) examine this putative increase in semantic differentiation and (b) test whether individual differences in semantic differentiation are related to category‐based induction in 4‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 85). The results provide the first empirical evidence of an age‐related increase in differentiation of representations of animal concepts and suggest that category‐based induction is related to increased semantic differentiation.     

The disease burden of childhood adversities in adults: a population-based study

Objectives

There is much evidence showing that childhood adversities have considerable effects on the mental and physical health of adults. It could be assumed therefore, that the disease burden of childhood adversities is high. It has not yet been examined, however, whether this is true.

Method

We used data of a large representative sample (N = 7,076) of the general population in the Netherlands. We calculated the disability weight (DW) for each respondent. The DW is a weight factor that reflects the severity of a disease or condition on a scale from 0 (perfect health) to 1 (equivalent to death). We used an algorithm based on the SF-6D to estimate DW. Because the DW indicates the proportion of a healthy life year that is reduced by the specific health state of the individual, it also possible to calculate the total number of years lost due to disability (YLD) in the population. We calculated the years lived with disability (YLD) for 9 different childhood adversities (in the areas of parental psychopathology; abuse and neglect; major life events), as well as for major categories of mental disorders and general medical disorders.

Results

All 9 adversities resulted in a significantly increased DW, except death of a parent before the age of 16. Adversities in the category of abuse and neglect are associated with the highest DWs (0.057), followed by parental psychopathology (0.031) and life events during childhood (0.012). All adversities (46.4% of the population reports one or more adversity) are associated with 20.7 YLD/1,000, which is more than all mental disorders together (12.9 YLD/1,000). The category of abuse/neglect has the highest YLD/1,000 (15.8), which is also higher than all mental disorders together. Adjustment for the presence of mental and general medical disorders resulted in comparable outcomes.

Conclusions

Childhood adversities are more important from a public health point of view than all common mental disorders together, and should be a priority for public health interventions.     

LONG-TERM INHIBITION OF Na~ /H~ EXCHANGE ATTENUATES CARDIAC REMODELING AFTER MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN RATS

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＴｈｅＮａ /Ｈ ｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅｒ (ＮＨＥ)ｉｓａｐＨ ｒｅｇｕｌａｔｏｒｙｐｒｏｔｅｉｎｐｒｅｓｅｎｔｉｎｔｈｅｐｌａｓｍａｍｅｍ ｂｒａｎｃｅｏｆｃａｒｄｉｏｍｙｏｃｙｔｅｓａｎｄｏｔｈｅｒｃｅｌｌｔｙｐｅｓ.ＡｌｔｈｏｕｇｈｓｅｖｅｒａｌｉｓｏｆｏｒｍｓｏｆＮＨＥｈａｖｅｂｅｅｎｄｅ ｃｒｉｂｅｄ,ｔｈｅｐｒｅｄｏｍｉｎａｎｔｉｓｏｆｏｒｍｉｎｔｈｅｈｅａｒｔｉｓｔｈｅｕｂｉｑｕｉｔｏｕｓＮＨＥ 1 ,ｗｈｉｃｈｕｎｄｅｒｃｅｎｔａｉｎｐｈｙｓｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｃｏｎｄｉｔｉ…     

Methodik und Ergebnisse einer Experimentreihe über Entwurfsmuster

Zusammenfassung.   Software-Entwurfsmuster sind eine intuitiv einleuchtende Idee, die viele Befürworter hat. Als Forscher dürfen wir die behaupteten Wirkungen von Entwurfsmustern jedoch nicht einfach glauben, sondern müssen sie gründlich prüfen. Dieser Artikel beschreibt die wichtigsten Behauptungen und entwickelt daraus zugeh?rige Forschungsfragen. Wir diskutieren die Methodik für ein Forschungsprogramm, das die Fragen beantworten soll, und skizzieren praktische Beschr?nkungen, unter denen diese Forschung ablaufen mu?. Es folgt eine kurze Beschreibung von drei kontrollierten Experimenten und den Hauptfolgerungen aus ihren Ergebnissen. So sollte man zum Beispiel die Benutzung von Entwurfsmustern in einem Entwurf genau dokumentieren und Entwurfsmuster nicht einsetzen, ohne alternative Entwürfe zu prüfen. Abschlie?end diskutieren wir ein im Rahmen des Forschungsprogramms geplantes viertes Experiment. Der Beitrag dieses Artikels liegt vorrangig in einer Beschreibung und Diskussion wichtiger methodischer Aspekte kontrollierter Experimente in der Softwaretechnik. Eingegangen am 27. Oktober 1998 / Angenommen am 13. M?rz 1999     

Dynamic Transition Patterns in Acculturation Among Hispanic Adolescents

Acculturation consists of multiple domains (i.e., cultural practices, identifications, and values). However, less is known about how acculturation processes influence each other across multiple domains of acculturation. This study was designed to investigate transition patterns of acculturative processes within and across domains in a sample of 302 recent-immigrant Hispanic adolescents, M_age (SD) = 14.51 years (0.88) at baseline; male = 53%). Adolescents were assessed six times over a 3-year period. Latent profile analyses identified two profiles (high [or increasing] vs. low) for each domain at each timepoint. We found largely stable transition patterns in each domain over six timepoints. Importantly, sequential associations among profiles in acculturation domains were also detected. Implication for acculturation theory and research are discussed.     

‘An experiment is when you try it and see if it works’: a study of grade 7 students’ understanding of the construction of scientific knowledge

The research reported here focuses on grade 7 (12‐year‐old) students’ epistomological views prior to and after exposure to a teaching unit especially developed to introduce the constructivist view of science. A clinical interview was used to assess students’ understanding about the nature of scientific knowledge and inquiry. Students’ initial epistemological stance is that scientific knowledge is a passively acquired, faithful copy of the world, and that scientific inquiry is limited solely to observing rather than constructing explanations about nature. We found that it is possible to move students beyond this initial view.     

中国农村的家庭风俗和土地再分配

在今天的中国农村家庭中,每个年长的儿子结婚时,几乎总要把包括土地在内的家产分给他一份。最小的儿子往往留在父母家中,继承家中余下的个人财产。这是一种传统现象还是新的习俗?与这个问题相关的是农民对财产权的态度。在1949年以前,农民有着强烈的产权意识,断难割舍自己那块土地。然而,在今天的许多地方,农民却更愿意根据农户人口的增减,在村民中定期重新划分农田。中国农民为何喜欢重新分配土地呢?本文将探讨这两个问题之间的关系以及家庭遗产的继承与政府的土地分配政策带来的问题。