Age of acquisition and the completeness of phonological representations

The age of acquisition effect(faster recognition and production of earlierlearnt than later learnt words) is a robustfinding in both picture naming and written wordrecognition and naming. One possibleexplanation of this effect is the PhonologicalCompleteness Hypothesis of Brown and Watson[(1987) Memory & Cognition 15: 208–216], which proposes that early acquired wordsare recognised and produced faster than lateacquired words because they have lessfragmented phonological representations. Thoughoften cited, this hypothesis has never beentested experimentally. The present study setout to test this hypothesis using aphonological segmentation task. If earlyacquired words are stored in a more completeform, then adult participants should be slowerto segment early words than late acquiredwords. In addition, if the AoA effect is aconsequence of the quality of an individual'sphonological representations then there shouldbe a clear relationship between phonologicalskill (as measured by the phonologicalsegmentation task) and the magnitude of the AoAeffect size. In order to assess therelationships between phonological skill andthe AoA effect in adults, participants werealso given a word and nonword naming task. Theword naming task manipulated AoA andspelling-sound consistency. The results of thesegmentation task failed to provide any supportfor Brown and Watson's (1987) phonologicalcompleteness hypothesis. Phonological skill wasfound to predict the size of the AoA effect inthe word naming task, but not the size of theAoA effect in the segmentation task.     

Attitudes toward family obligation among adolescents in contemporary urban and rural China

A sense of obligation to support, assist, and respect the family was examined among approximately 700 urban and rural 10th- (M = 16.6 years) and 12th- (M = 18.9 years) grade students in the People's Republic of China. Urban male adolescents reported a weaker sense of family obligation than did rural male adolescents and both urban and rural female adolescents. Only children did not differ from those with siblings in terms of their attitudes toward family support and respect. A sense of family obligation was generally associated with more positive family relationships and a higher level of academic motivation among Chinese adolescents. Discussion focuses on how the shift to a market economy may influence adolescents' identification with the family in contemporary China.     

Post‐Humanist Liberal Pragmatism? Environmental Education out of Modernity

The authors critique C. A. Bowers' argument that education for sustainability must be inspired by the practices of pre-modern cultures, and cannot be promoted through the postmodern pragmatism of Richard Rorty. Environmental education must rather be grounded in contemporary cultural practice. Although Rorty, like many other postmodernists, has shown little concern for the ecological crisis, his approach is potentially applicable to it. What is required is a broadening of focus: the ecological crisis is a crisis of post-Enlightenment humanism as well as of other aspects of modernity.     

The power of the instructor in the solo experience: An empirical study and some non-empirical questions

The purpose of this study was to investigate participants' perceptions of an organized solo within a wilderness experience program and the influence that the instructors have on their perception of the solo. More specifically, this research project focused on the role of the instructor in the solo as perceived by the participants while still on solo, at the end of their wilderness experience, and three and a half months following the program. Qualitative data indicated that the instructors do have an influence on the participants' perception of their solo experience through the (a) preparation for, (b) facilitation during and (c) discussion after the solo. Recommendations to enhance the use of the wilderness solo include: (a) understand student expectations prior to the solo, (b) provide a clear rationale for the solo and associated activities, (c) implement an optional instructor/student visit during solo, (d) provide a one-on-one discussion with students prior to a group debrief after the solo, and (e) carefully consider the impact of the solo on program events and group dynamics that follow.     

“As Long As You Are Willing To Wait”: Access and Equity in Universities for Students With Disabilities

The demand by people with disabilities to university education has been growing in recent years. A pilot study of five universities reviews their equity profiles and on‐the‐ground practices in relation to students with disabilities. Particular attention is paid to departments of Social Work which are postulated to contain the conditions under which disability issues in education might be recognised. The research suggests that there are major resource problems in meeting needs, exacerbated by bureaucratic conflict in government, and a limited willingness by resource‐pressed universities to plan effectively the recruitment and support of students with disabilities. Greatest progress has occurred where student action is most sustained and senior staff have a personal commitment to change     

Real-time simulation in computer-assisted instruction

Large scale computer-assisted instruction systems generally impose severe constraints upon the demands that individual users may make. Nevertheless, it is possible to overcome these problems and a program is described which teaches students how to fly a specific maneuver through real-time simulation of the flight of a student-controlled airplane. This is achieved in spite of the fact that the student is flying his plane through the use of a manually controlled analog input device. Both computational and educational implications are discussed.Contractual support for this work was provided in part by the Life Sciences Program Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Contract number F44620-70-C-0105. Dr. Charles Hutchinson was the scientific monitor of the contract.