Children's internal organization of locative categories

4 locative categories were investigated to determine whether their examples were organized according to the prototype/nonprototype distinction. A ranking task was presented to 30 adult subjects to see whether they would judge those instances which had been designated as prototypes by the experimenter to be the best exemplars of each category. An elicited-drawing task was administered to see whether there was a preference for drawing adult-designated prototypical instances. A matching task was presented to determine whether fewer errors would occur in response to adult-designated prototypical instances. The latter 2 tasks were presented to 4-year-olds, 6-year-olds, and adults, with 17 subjects in each group. The results provide strong evidence of prototype/nonprototype organization in 3 of the locative categories and weak evidence in the fourth. Tentative conclusions regarding the development of such organization are drawn.     

Transmission line realization of subwavelength resonator formed by a pair of conventional and LHM slabs

INTRODUCTION Left-handed materials (LHMs), first investigated theoretically by Veselago (1968), have received sub- stantial attention in the scientific and engineering communities. The unique properties of these meta- materials are promising for a diversity of microwave applications, such as new types of beam steerers, modulators, filters, superlens (Pendry, 2000), cou- plers and antenna radoms (Smith et al., 2004). Re- cently, a transmission line (TL) approach has been successfully in…     

中国商业银行利率竞争分析

1　Introduction　Theobjectiveofthisstudyistoexaminecompeti tionenvironmentforinterestrateandtopreviewthecompetitiontrendsaftertheinterestratehasbeenful lyliberalizedinChina .Underthedominantfixedin terestrate ,almostnorealcompetitionregardingin terestratehadeveroccurredamongcommercialbanksinChinauntilveryrecentlywhentheinterestratelib eralizationreformhasbeenunderwaysince 2 0 0 0 .Tostudythecompetition ,thepaperisstructuredasfol lows .Section 2 providesaquantitativeexaminationoftheenvironment…     

Intentionality as measured in the persistence and elaboration of communication by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

In human infancy, 2 criteria for intentional communication are (a) persistence in and (b) elaboration of communication when initial attempts to communicate fail. Twenty-nine chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were presented with both desirable (a banana) and undesirable food (commercial primate chow). Three conditions were administered: (a) the banana was delivered (successful communication), (b) half of the banana was delivered (partially successful communication), and (c) the chow was delivered (failed communication). The chimpanzees exhibited persistence in and elaboration of their communication in every condition except when the banana was delivered. Thus, their communication was about a specific item, demonstrating that both intentionality and nonverbal reference are capacities shared by humans with our nearest living relatives, the great apes.     

The vicissitudes of measurement: a confirmatory factor analysis of the Emotional Autonomy Scale

This study examined the factor structure of the Emotional Autonomy Scale (EAS) as proposed by Steinberg and Silverberg. Participants were from three independent samples of adolescents in grades 6 (n = 1,842), 8 (n = 1,769), and 10 (n = 1,232), with each sample consisting of three ethnic groups: African American, European American, and Mexican American. None of the confirmatory factor analyses for these samples supported the factor structure proposed by Steinberg and Silverberg. From the three models tested, the EAS is best described by the four originally proposed factors, combined with two method factors, one consisting of the positively worded scale items and one consisting of the negatively worded scale items. Results show that the EAS exhibits poor construct validity and behaves quite differently for the different grade and ethnic groups. The strong impact of method variance on the factor structure is discussed. Although various alternative solutions to the psychometric problems in the EAS are proposed, the most credible solution may be to reexamine the conceptual foundations of emotional autonomy and develop better measures of those concepts for adolescents.     

The dynamics of “tokenism”: How college students are affected by the proportion of women in their major

This study provides an empirical test of Kanter's theory of tokenism (1977a,b)—that individuals will be affected adversely by declining representation of their own gender within an environment. Using students' college major as the environmental backdrop, this study examines how the proportion of women in a major affects students' college grades, academic self-concept, mathematical self-concept, social selfconcept, satisfaction with the major, and persistence in the major. Data are drawn from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's 1985 Freshman Survey and 1989 Follow-Up Survey. The sample includes 7,641 women and 5,074 men in 344 fouryear colleges and universities. Regression results indicate that the proportion of women in the major has essentially no impact on the cognitive and affective development of college students. Instead, this study illustrates how the relationship between the gender composition of the major and student outcomes can be accounted for by characteristics of students, aspects of the college environment, and the effects of major field.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1994 Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New Orleans, Louisiana.     

Gender Differences in Children's Normative Beliefs about Aggression: How Do I Hurt Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

This research was designed to assess whether children view relationally manipulative behaviors (i.e., those behaviors labeled relational aggression in past research) as "aggressive." 2 studies were conducted to evaluate whether children view relationally manipulative behaviors as associated with 2 defining features of aggression, anger (Study 1) and intent to harm (Study 2). Results of Study 1 ( n = 459, 9–12-year-olds) indicated that relational aggression was the most frequently cited angry behavior for girls' interactions whereas physical aggression was the most frequently cited angry behavior for boys' interactions. Results of Study 2 ( n = 60, 9–11-year-olds) demonstrated that relational aggression and verbal insults were the most frequently cited harmful behaviors for girls whereas physical aggression and verbal insults were the most frequently cited harmful behaviors for boys. These studies provide the first evidence that children view relationally manipulative acts (relational aggression) as angry, harmful behaviors (i.e., as "aggressive").     

优化问题的新步长法则

The step-size procedure is very important for solving optimization problems. The Armijo step-size rule, the Armijo-Goldstein step-size rule and the Wolfe-Powell step-size rule are three well-known line search methods. On the basis of the above three types of line search methods and the idea of the proximal point methods, a new class of step-size rules was proposed. Instead of a single objective function f, f ＋1/2（x - xk）^TBk（x-Xk） was used as the merit function in iteration k, where Sk is a given symmetric positive definite matrix. The existence of the steplength for the new rules was proved. Some convergence properties were also discussed.     

The effects of combining simulations and laboratory experiments on Zimbabwean students’ conceptual understanding of electric circuits

ABSTRACT

Background

Information Communication Technologies are increasingly present in the African educational system at all educational levels. However, their integration into pedagogical practices to improve the quality of teaching and learning across disciplines remains the exception.