Statistical Learning in a Natural Language by 8-Month-Old Infants

Numerous studies over the past decade support the claim that infants are equipped with powerful statistical language learning mechanisms. The primary evidence for statistical language learning in word segmentation comes from studies using artificial languages, continuous streams of synthesized syllables that are highly simplified relative to real speech. To what extent can these conclusions be scaled up to natural language learning? In the current experiments, English‐learning 8‐month‐old infants’ ability to track transitional probabilities in fluent infant‐directed Italian speech was tested (N = 72). The results suggest that infants are sensitive to transitional probability cues in unfamiliar natural language stimuli, and support the claim that statistical learning is sufficiently robust to support aspects of real‐world language acquisition.     

The effects of weighted skates on ice-skating kinematics,kinetics and muscular activity

Sport-specific resistance training, through limb loading, can be a complimentary training method to traditional resistance training by loading the working muscles during all phases of a specific movement. The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of skating with an additional load on the skate, using a skate weight prototype, on kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activation during the acceleration phase while skating on a synthetic ice surface. 10 male hockey skaters accelerated from rest (standing erect with knees slightly bent) under four non-randomized load conditions: baseline 1 (no weight), light (0.9 kg per skate), heavy (1.8 kg per skate), and baseline 2 (no weight). Skating with additional weight caused athletes to skate slower (p < 0.001; η² = 0.551), and led to few changes in kinematics: hip sagittal range of motion (ROM) decreased (2.2°; p = 0.032; η² = 0.274), hip transverse ROM decreased (3.4°; p < 0.001; η² = 0.494), ankle sagittal ROM decreased (2.3°; p = 0.022; η² = 0.295), and knee sagittal ROM increased (7.8°; p < 0.001, η² = 0.761). Overall, weighted skates decreased skating velocity, but athletes maintained similar muscle activation profiles (magnitude and trends) with minor changes to their skating kinematics.     

The Perils of Blowing the Whistle: Match-Fixing in Scotland and Australia, 1920s to 2015

Abstract

Two family stories shed some light on changes in the character and causes of corruption in football in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. My grandfather was a central figure in an alleged match-fixing episode in Association football in Scotland in the third decade of the twentieth century, while I was a peripheral figure in one in Australia in the last. I came across another one while researching the story of the Croatian soccer clubs in Victoria in the post-Second World War years. I also observed very closely an attempt to fix a series of matches by introducing a number of players into a team on behalf of overseas betting interests in the twenty-first century. Reflecting on these cases is a way of trying to understand how the forms and the drivers of match-fixing have changed in the twenty-first century. The three earlier episodes seem very old fashioned in the context of globalization, the commodification of sport, international gambling syndicates, and systematic corruption at the heart of the world game.     

Following their companions as a form of exploration for human infants

Infants' following of other persons, often considered a measure of attachment, qualified as a form of exploration. The results of the first experiment indicated that following can be a means of investigating novel leaders: 16 9--12-month-old infants were as likely to follow an unfamiliar woman as they were the parent and were reliably more likely to follow a moving toy. The second and third experiments assessed the extent to which the experience of following familiar persons promotes learning about the environment. Infants who followed their mothers to 1 place were more likely later to investigate a similar place than those who initially either locomoted independently (experiment 2) or were transported by their mothers (experiment 3). The findings suggested that infants' transactions with the environment need not be considered antithetical to their social behavior.     

Doing science at the elbows of experts: Issues related to the science apprenticeship camp

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to synthesize literature related to apprenticeship learning, the sociology of science, and K‐12 science education to develop a set of characteristics for designing/evaluating participatory science learning experiences. Following this discussion, we further clarify and illuminate the value of these characteristics for science educators by using them as evaluative criteria for characterizing the experiences of 24 middle school learners who embarked on a 2‐week long camp with “real” scientists engaged in “real” research. We also describe how middle school science teachers supported both reflection‐in‐practice and reflection‐on‐practice during the camp, and how an electronic notebook was also leveraged to support both types of reflection. Implications of these characteristics for science education more generally are discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 70–102, 2001     

Educational characteristics of students with high or low self-concept

In response to methodological concerns associated with previous research into the educational characteristics of students with high or low self-concept, the topic was re-examined using a significantly more representative sample and a contemporary self-concept measure. From an initial screening of 515 preadolescent, coeducational students in 18 schools, students significantly high or low in self-concept were compared using standardized tests in reading, spelling, and mathematics, and teacher interviews to determine students' academic and nonacademic characteristics. The teachers were not informed of the self-concept status of the students. Compared to students with low self-concept, students with high self-concept were rated by teachers as being more popular, cooperative, and persistent in class, showed greater leadership, were lower in anxiety, had more supportive families, and had higher teacher expectations for their future success. Teachers observed that students with low self-concept were quiet and withdrawn, while peers with high self-concept were talkative and more dominating with peers. Students with lower self-concepts were also lower than their peers in reading, spelling, and mathematical abilities. The findings support the notion that there is an interactive relationship between self-concept and achievement. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

‘He’s Running,Ref!’ An ethnographic study of walking football

This paper explores the experience of playing walking football (w/f) in the south of England. Ethnographic research was carried out at a local authority leisure centre and non-league football club. Data were accumulated through an ethnographic approach which consisted of participant observation, informal conversations with walking footballers and facilitators and documentary collection. The research period ran throughout 2015–2016 for a period of 18 months. The data, which were analyzed reflectively using insights from feminist scholarship, suggest that players experienced a number of benefits from participation. Whilst some previous studies have sought primarily to measure physiological benefits, this study is suggestive of less tangible health gains. In particular, players reported an increased appetite for life and positivity engendered by playing w/f, together with enhanced levels of social engagement. They reported feelings of social connectedness, enjoyment and inclusion as members of a supportive community. However, there is some evidence of conflict over the philosophy and purpose of w/f/, especially in relation to the spirit of the game and the competitive tournament environment. Further work around these areas is recommended.