Hegemony and globalism: Kenneth Burke and paradoxes of representation

Kenneth Burke's concern for the processes of identification underlying rhetorical action can play an important role in mediating tensions between globalism and community interests. Looking to imagination's potential for bridging gaps between individuals and groups offers to combine certain of Burke's key insights with recent theoretical work on hegemony. Bringing Burke into conversation with articulation theory provides conceptual tools for holding social orders open for rearticulation, and for rearticulating the democratic imaginary. This conversation stresses the need to translate universal concerns into particular contexts, which remains a contentious process requiring imagination.     

Can Technology Decrease Sexual Risk Behaviors among Young People? Results of a Pilot Study Examining the Effectiveness of a Mobile Application Intervention

College students represent an important population for studying and understanding factors that influence sexual risk given the populations' high risk of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. Using a quasi-experimental design, the efficacy of a brief and theory-driven mobile application intervention designed to decrease sexual risk behaviors among young college students (N = 118) was tested. Ninety-six percent (n = 114) of the participants showed an increase in contraceptive use knowledge from pretest to posttest (p = .013). Participants did not show a statistically significant change in intention to reduce sexual risk behaviors or actual risk reduction. This study supports the use of technology to educate college students about sexual health.     

Vaginal introital diameter in the evaluation of sexual abuse

Physical objective markers to aid in the diagnosis of sexual abuse are few. We therefore studied 242 females, ages 1 through 12 years, to determine if the vaginal introital diameter is useful in evaluating a child for sexual abuse. The children were divided into three groups: Group I, history of sexual contact and/or Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Group II, no history of sexual contact but at risk; and Group III, nonabused. A vaginal introital transverse diameter of greater than 4 mm was more prevalent among children in Group I (94%) than in Group II, (5%); or in Group III (0%) (chi 2, p less than .001). Eighty-eight percent of children who complained of penile-vaginal penetration had a vaginal introital diameter greater than 4 mm as compared to 18% of children with no penetration (chi 2, p less than .001). Forty-six percent of children who complained of fondling with penetration had a vaginal introital diameter of greater than 4 mm as compared to 14% in those without a history of penetration (chi 2, p less than .008). Fifty-eight percent of children with more than one encounter had a vaginal introital diameter greater than 4 mm as compared to 29% in those with one encounter (chi 2, p less than .006). In a logarithmic regression analysis, the greatest proportion of children with a vaginal introital diameter greater than 4 mm was observed in the penile-vaginal contact group (chi 2, p less than .00003). The test is not very sensitive but highly specific. The sensitivity drops precipitously at greater than 5 mm without losing the specificity. A vaginal introital diameter of greater than 4 mm is highly associated with sexual contact in children less than 13 years of age.     

When We Inquire Into Our Own Practice: An Early Childhood Teacher Research Group

Every day, early childhood teachers confront issues, problems, and concerns in their classrooms. Sometimes they do nothing. Sometimes they use trial and error. Sometimes they go to a workshop or read an article. We have found a way to intentionally and systematically research and answer our own questions and to enrich our own professional development through teacher research. Teacher research provides early childhood educators with a strategy that supports reflective thinking and practice. This article describes the experience of a small group of early childhood teacher researchers. How is it different from other required assessments? How is it different from other professional development?     

In a daily time–place learning task,time is only used as a discriminative stimulus if each daily session is associated with a distinct spatial location

It is difficult for rats to acquire daily time–place (TP) learning tasks. One theory suggests that rats do not use time of day as a stimulus signaling a specific response. In the present study, we tested rats’ ability to use time of day as a discriminative stimulus. A fixed-interval procedure was used in which one lever provided reinforcement on a FI-5-s schedule in morning sessions, and the same lever provided reinforcement on a FI-30-s schedule in afternoon sessions. Because only one place was used in this paradigm, the rats could only use time of day to acquire the task. Mean responses during the first 5 s of the first trial in each session indicated that the rats did not discriminate between the two sessions. In Phase II, a different lever location was used for each of the two daily sessions, which meant that both spatial and temporal information could be used to acquire the task. The rats readily acquired the task in this phase, and probe trials indicated that the rats were using a combination of spatial and temporal information to discriminate between the two different trial types. When the spatial cue was removed in Phase III, rats no longer discriminated the two sessions, suggesting that time can only be used as a discriminative stimulus when each daily session is associated with a distinct spatial location.     

A notational analysis of elite tennis strategy

A notational analysis of singles events at all four Grand Slam tournaments between 1997 and 1999 was conducted to determine the influence of the sex of the player and court surface on elite tennis strategy. Rallies of 7.1 ± 2.0 s in women's singles were significantly longer than those in men's singles (5.2 ± 1.8 s P < 0.001). Rallies of 6.3 ± 1.8 s at the Australian Open, 7.7 ± 1.7 s at the French Open, 4.3 ± 1.6 s at Wimbledon and 5.8 ± 1.9 s at the US Open were recorded. Rallies were significantly longer at the French Open than at any other tournament ( P < 0.05) and significantly shorter at Wimbledon than at any other tournament ( P < 0.05). In women's singles, 52.8 ± 12.4% of points were baseline rallies, significantly more than in men's singles (28.6 ± 19% P < 0.001). The proportion of baseline rallies played at the French Open (51.9 ± 14.2% of points) was significantly greater than at the Australian Open (46.6 ± 12.5%), Wimbledon (19.7 ± 19.4%) and the US Open (35.4 ± 19.5% P < 0.05). The results show that both the sex of the player and surface of the court have a significant influence on the nature of singles tennis at Grand Slam tournaments.     

Collaborative action research to develop the use of solution‐focused approaches

This collaborative action research project involves two educational psychologists (EPs) working with teachers from four primary schools to develop the use of solution‐focused approaches. The project illustrates a way in which EPs might make a distinctive contribution to improving outcomes for children and young people. Realist interviews were used to identify mechanisms responsible for encouraging change in practice and many of these can be linked to action research or solution‐focused approaches. The project will be funded for two years and this report is based on the first year. Progress has been encouraging and findings suggest that solution‐focused action research is a successful model for introducing a new initiative.