The Scottish Assisted Places Scheme: a comparative study of the origins,nature and practice of the APSs in Scotland,England & Wales

In 1981 two separate Assisted Places Schemes were launched. One was introduced for England & Wales, and another for Scotland. This paper examines the differences between the two schemes. It shows that they can be seen to be related to the differing educational systems of the countries, and to differences between the grant‐aided and direct grant schools which the schemes were designed, in part, to replace. It is shown that the Assisted Places Scheme is more important to the independent sector of Scotland than to that of England & Wales, for the scheme established in Scotland has been structured in such a way that it gives greater flexibility and greater funding to individual schools in that country.     

Children's use of syntactic and pragmatic knowledge in the interpretation of novel adjectives

In Study 1, English-speaking 3- and 4-year-olds heard a novel adjective used to label one of two objects and were asked for the referent of a different novel adjective. Children were more likely to select the unlabeled object if the two adjectives appeared prenominally (e.g., "a very DAXY dog") than as predicates (e.g., "a dog that is very DAXY"). Study 2 revealed that this response occurred only when both adjectives were prenominal. Study 3 replicated Study 1 with Hebrew-speaking 3- and 4-year-olds, even though in Hebrew both types of adjectives appear postnominally. Preschoolers understand that prenominal adjectives imply a restriction of the reference of nouns, and this knowledge motivates a contrastive pragmatic inference regarding the referents of different prenominal adjectives.     

Suboptimal choice in nonhuman animals: Rats commit the sunk cost error

The present experiments investigated the sunk cost error, an apparently irrational tendency to persist with an initial investment, in rats. This issue is of interest because some have argued that nonhuman animals do not commit this error. Two or three fixed-ratio (FR) response requirements were arranged on one lever, and an escape option was arranged on a second lever. The FRs were of different sizes, and escaping was the behavior of interest. Several variables that might influence the decision to persist versus escape were manipulated: the number of trials with different FR schedules in an experimental session (Exps. 1 and 2), effort to escape (Exp. 2), and the size of the larger FR (Exp. 3). The sunk cost error would result in never escaping, and the optimal strategy would be to escape from the larger FR. The main variable that determined persisting versus escaping was the size of the large FR. Rats that escaped from the large FR-apparently optimal behavior-did so at a suboptimal point, and hence committed the sunk cost error.     

Effects of mixed-method cooling on recovery of medium-fast bowling performance in hot conditions on consecutive days

Abstract This investigation examined physiological and performance effects of cooling on recovery of medium-fast bowlers in the heat. Eight, medium-fast bowlers completed two randomised trials, involving two sessions completed on consecutive days (Session 1: 10-overs and Session 2: 4-overs) in 31?±?3°C and 55?±?17% relative humidity. Recovery interventions were administered for 20?min (mixed-method cooling vs. control) after Session 1. Measures included bowling performance (ball speed, accuracy, run-up speeds), physical demands (global positioning system, counter-movement jump), physiological (heart rate, core temperature, skin temperature, sweat loss), biochemical (creatine kinase, C-reactive protein) and perceptual variables (perceived exertion, thermal sensation, muscle soreness). Mean ball speed was higher after cooling in Session 2 (118.9?±?8.1 vs. 115.5?±?8.6?km?·?h(-1); P?=?0.001; d?=?0.67), reducing declines in ball speed between sessions (0.24 vs. -3.18?km · h(-1); P?=?0.03; d?=?1.80). Large effects indicated higher accuracy in Session 2 after cooling (46.0?±?11.2 vs. 39.4?±?8.6 arbitrary units [AU]; P?=?0.13; d?=?0.93) without affecting total run-up speed (19.0?±?3.1 vs. 19.0?±?2.5?km?· h(-1); P?=?0.97; d?=?0.01). Cooling reduced core temperature, skin temperature and thermal sensation throughout the intervention (P?=?0.001-0.05; d?=?1.31-5.78) and attenuated creatine kinase (P?=?0.04; d?=?0.56) and muscle soreness at 24-h (P?=?0.03; d?=?2.05). Accordingly, mixed-method cooling can reduce thermal strain after a 10-over spell and improve markers of muscular damage and discomfort alongside maintained medium-fast bowling performance on consecutive days in hot conditions.