Speaking to the People: The Rhetorical Presidency in Historical Perspective

TRAGEDY AND THE THEORY OF DRAMA. By Elder Olson. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1961; pp. 276. $6.50.

THE LONDON STAGE, 1660–1800: A CALENDAR OF PLAYS, ENTERTAINMENTS &; AFTERPIECES TOGETHER WITH CASTS, BOX‐RECEIPTS AND CONTEMPORARY COMMENT COMPILED FROM THE PLAYBILLS, NEWSPAPERS AND THEATRICAL DIARIES OF THE PERIOD. PART 3: 1729–1747. Edited with a Critical Introduction by Arthur H. Scouten. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1961; Volume I, pp. ccxxxiii+596; Volume II, pp. lii+597–1315. $50.00.

NEW WORLD WRITING. Numbers 19 and 20. New York: Lippincott, 1961, 1962. $3.50; paper $1.65.

BURKE, DISRAELI, AND CHURCHILL: THE POLITICS OF PERSEVERANCE. By Stephen R. Graubard. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961; pp. 262. $5.00.

PRESIDENT JAMES BUCHANAN: A BIOGRAPHY. By Philip Shriver Klein. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1962; pp. xviii+506. $7.50.

THREE PROPHETS OF RELIGIOUS LIBERALISM: CHANNING—EMERSON—PARKER. Introduced by Conrad Wright. Boston: Beacon Press, 1961; pp. 152. Paper $1.25.

REVIVALISM AND SEPARATISM IN NEW ENGLAND, 1740–1800: STRICT CONGRE‐GATIONALISTS AND SEPARATE BAPTISTS IN THE GREAT AWAKENING. By C. C. Goen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963; pp. x+370. $7.50.

MARK TWAIN'S HUMOR: THE IMAGE OF A WORLD. By Pascal Covici, Jr. Dallas, Texas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1962; pp. xiv+266. $4.50.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: A CRITIQUE AND A PROGRAM. By Oliver C. Carmichael. New York: Harper, 1961; pp. ix+213. $4.50.

DECISION BY DEBATE. By Douglas Ehninger and Wayne Brockriede. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1962; pp. 412. $6.00.

NEBRASKA SYMPOSIUM ON MOTIVATION, 1961. Edited by Marshall R. Jones. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1961; pp. x+210. $4.25; paper $3.25.

MY LANGUAGE IS ME: PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH A DISTURBED ADOLESCENT. By Beulah Parker. Foreword by Theodore Lidz. New York: Basic Books, 1962; pp. viii+397. $8.50.

TELEVISION IN THE LIVES OF OUR CHILDREN. By Wilbur Schramm, Jack Lyle, and Edwin B. Parker. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1961; pp. xii+324. $6.00.

TELEVISION AND RADIO. Edited by Poyntz Tyler. (The Reference Shelf, Vol. 33, No. 6.) New York: H. W. Wilson, 1961; pp. 192. $2.50.     

Stray the course: Technology's impact upon the representative‐elector artifact

Rhetorical critics usually understand political communication as messages in terms of speeches, campaign strategies, and voter behavior. By focusing upon messages, critics have failed to understand political communication as structurally formative of communication. A new methodology is proposed which conceives of rhetorical artifacts as enhancements of political communication. American congressional elections are presented as the artifact to be analyzed from the new perspective. Because the proposed methodology treats congressional elections as a structural genre, the contemporary, technological impact of electronic media can be criticized and compared to the artifact originally invented by the founders; the course they set has been strayed. Implications for political communication and its research conclude that we face what Habermas would call a “legitimation crisis.”;     

Analysis of accelerometer-derived interpersonal spatial proximities: A calibration,simulation, and validation study

The purpose of this study was to estimate distances from accelerometer-derived Bluetooth signals as a measure of interpersonal spatial proximity. Accelerometer-derived proximity data were collected indoors and outdoors over a 10m range to calibrate simulation models. Proximity data were simulated over 20m (indoor) and 50m (outdoor) ranges. Competing statistical and machine learning models were used to predict simulated distances; the Root-Mean-Square-Error (RMSE) was calculated. Simulation estimates were validated under conditions wherein a single beacon-receiver (SBR) and multiple beacons-receivers (MBR) collected proximity data indoors and outdoors within a ≤10m range. Simulation data showed that a Random Forest (RF) model performed optimally. The validated RF RMSE was ≤2.7 for SBR, and ≥90% of predicted distances were accurately classified as ≤10m. For MBR, ≥67% of predicted distances were accurately classified as ≤10m. Simulation and validation data suggest that distances can be estimated from accelerometer-derived proximity data within a 20m range using a SBR.     

Low-cost method of removing periodical duplicates using a collection growth formula at a medium-sized academic library

The authors detail a low-cost, two-phased formula-based approach to bound periodical weeding at a medium-sized academic library with the goal of opening space for five years' growth, while still meeting user needs. Phase I included weeding bound titles with overlapping microfilm holdings. Phase II used the following criteria to determine which titles to discard: (1) four or fewer items, (2) availability in the University of Wisconsin System, (3) usage statistics and online access, (4) department consultation. This article summarizes the design, implementation, and successful results of the project.     

Was it worth it? A qualitative exploration into graduate perceptions of doctoral value

The recruitment of doctoral graduates yields collective knowledge, skills, networking, and prestige benefits to organisations, and to UK industries. As individuals though, do graduates experience overall benefit from their doctorate, and how do they perceive the value that engaging with doctoral study confers? This interview study used a critical, interpretive lens to examine perceptions of value across experiences of doctoral education and asked specifically about the utility of doctoral skills, behaviours, and competencies when translated into different workplaces. It presents some of the first insights into how doctoral value is perceived by graduates and the costs and benefits of doctoral study within and beyond the academy. Doctoral graduates (n?=?22) identified four domains of doctoral value: (1) career value; (2) skills value; (3) social value; (4) personal value. These were influenced by factors experienced both during and after their degrees: (1) time since graduation; (2) supervision; (3) accrued social connectivity; (4) employer value of the doctorate. Our conceptual model of doctoral value contributes to international higher education knowledge by providing a structure for enhancing the doctoral experience and its benefits, both during study and for entering the job market.     

An analysis of the different patterns of 1:1 interactions between educational professionals and their students with varying abilities in inclusive classrooms

The purpose of this study was to examine the different types and patterns of 1:1 interactions provided by general educators, special educators and paraprofessionals to children with mild disabilities (n?=?13), severe disabilities (n?=?13), and children without disabilities (n?=?13) in inclusive classrooms. General educators, special educators, and paraprofessionals' 1:1 interactions with students in three comparison groups were recorded in 17 elementary and middle school classrooms using a partial interval observation system. We found significant differences with respect to interaction frequency and content. Teachers and paraprofessionals had consistently more 1:1 interactions with students with severe disabilities, followed by children with mild disabilities, and then students without disabilities. In comparison to special education teachers and paraprofessionals, general educators interacted significantly more frequently with children without disabilities and children with mild disabilities. In contrast, paraprofessionals interacted significantly more often with students with severe disabilities and less frequently with children with mild disabilities and students without disabilities. Instructional interactions in social, behavioural, and functional domains were infrequent in these classrooms. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of these findings for future research and practice.     

A Note on Cluster Effects in Latent Class Analysis

This article examines the effects of clustering in latent class analysis. A comprehensive simulation study is conducted, which begins by specifying a true multilevel latent class model with varying within- and between-cluster sample sizes, varying latent class proportions, and varying intraclass correlations. These models are then estimated under the assumption of a single-level latent class model. The outcomes of interest are measures of bias in the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and the entropy R ² statistic relative to accounting for the multilevel structure of the data. The results indicate that the size of the intraclass correlation as well as between- and within-cluster sizes are the most prominent factors in determining the amount of bias in these outcome measures, with increasing intraclass correlations combined with small between-cluster sizes resulting in increased bias. Bias is particularly noticeable in the BIC. In addition, there is evidence that class separation interacts with the size of the intraclass correlations and cluster sizes in producing bias in these measures.     

Contextual influences on the interaction between conflicting memories in the rat

Contextual events redundant to the learning, in sequence, of passive and active avoidance were of one type for the former task and of another for the latter. During later testing, these contextual events were found to determine which of these acquired, conflicting dispositions would be manifested in behavior. Mutual interference in retention otherwise seen under similar circumstances seemed subordinate to the influence of the three types of contextual stimuli tested—drug (pentobarbital), compound (the experimental room in which conditioning took place), and a relatively unitary stimulus (a constantly sounding buzzer). The discussion considered the defining characteristics of a “contextual stimulus” and the mechanisms through which contextual events control the manifestation of learned behaviors and alleviation of interference in retention.