Development of temporal-reconstructive abilities

In a study of the ability to reconstruct the times of past events, 86 children from 4 to 13 years recalled the times of 2 in-class demonstrations that had occurred 3 months earlier and judged the times of hypothetical events. Many of the abilities needed to reconstruct the times of events were present by 6 years, including the capacity to interpret many temporally relevant cues, but there were substantial changes well into middle childhood in the availability of temporally useful episodic information. Children were poor at remembering the events' proximity or order with respect to a major holiday, but the order of the 2 target events was well recalled by 6 years.     

“Putting Patients First”: Systematically Distorted Communication and Merck's Marketing of Vioxx

An estimated 27,000–60,000 patients died while taking Merck's drug Vioxx between 2000 and 2004. This essay uses Deetz's treatment of systematically distorted communication and Nilsen's significant choice to analyze Merck's communication about the drug. The company claimed publicly to be forthright about Vioxx's safety. The article shows, however, that Merck systematically distorted communication through neutralization, topical avoidance, and disqualification in ways that thwarted physicians’ and patients’ abilities to make an informed choice about Vioxx. The analysis shows that Merck employees’ consent to economic priorities framed these communication practices as legitimate and rational within the organization. The same practices, however, appeared socially irresponsible to members of the scientific community outside the company. In contrast to Merck's practices, the essay offers more participatory communication applications that uphold companies’ moral obligation to their stakeholders.     

The Mis/recognition of Enron Executives' Competence as Cultural and Social Capital

This case study examines Enron's top executives' activities through Bourdieu's notion of misrecognized competence or “capital.” Top executives' practices were misrecognized as valuable and legitimate competencies against the backdrop of the company's changing new-economy context. Most approaches to intellectual, social, and cultural capital assume their automatic value. In contrast, this essay shows that the perceived value of executives' practices was the result of Enron's context and executives' communicative efforts to position their own contributions as the most important. As outsiders scrutinized the company, however, executives' activities were exposed as self-serving and primary contributors to Enron's troubles.     

Articulation Visibility at Two-Year Colleges

Articulation between two-year colleges and universities provides a critical opportunity for potential students. Most institutions declare their support of articulation; however, the visibility of this support to potential students is inconsistent at best. Articulation agreements that are visible and easily understood by potential students serve as a motivation to the pursuit of higher education. Conversely, the lack of a complete, visible path to a baccalaureate degree is a powerful deterrent to enrollment. For this study, articulation is a coordinated effort and process to support efficient transfer between institutions of higher education. (DeMott, 1999 DeMott , J. ( 1999 ). Seven steps to articulation success . High School Magazine , 6 , 22 – 24 . [Google Scholar]). The purpose of this study is to explore the general visibility of existing articulation opportunities at two-year colleges. The visibility of articulation agreements is a critical practical factor in their potential positive impact on student behavior and success.     

Method of solving differential equations with constant coefficients

The equation developed here is fundamental for an understanding of the behavior of inhomogeneous insulation, especially when the insulating material is of considerable extent in the form of continuous flat sheets, or cables, or discontinuous form as in pole-line construction. The “unit” may then be measured in terms of area in the case of sheets, and in terms of length in the case of cables. It is of basic importance in insulation research, testing, and operation. It furnishes the logical basis for the establishing of safety factors.     

Young Children's Understanding of "Remember" and "Forget"

3 studies examined young children's understanding that if one "remembers" or "forgot," one must have known at a prior time. In Study 1,4-year-olds but not 3-year-olds understood the prior knowledge component of "forgot"; both groups understood that a character with prior knowledge was "gonna remember." Study 2 controlled for the possibility that good performance on "remember" might be due to a simple association of remembering with knowledge. A significant number of 4-year-olds but not 3-year-olds understood that when 2 characters currently knew, the one with prior knowledge remembered, and that when neither character currently knew, the one with prior knowledge forgot. Study 3 made prior knowledge more salient by making the remembered or forgotten item visible to the subjects throughout. 4-year-olds performed near ceiling on both verbs, whereas 3-year-olds' performance did not differ from chance. The results are discussed in relation to children's developing understanding of the mind.     

Psychometric approaches to the identification of LD: IQ and achievement scores are not sufficient

Simulated data were used to demonstrate that groups formed by imposing cut-points based on either discrepancy or low-achievement definitions of learning disabilities (LD) are unstable over time. Similar problems were demonstrated in longitudinal data from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study, where 39% of the children designated as having LD in Grade 3 changed group placement with repeated testing in Grade 5. These results show that the practice of subdividing a normal distribution with arbitrary cut-points leads to instability in group membership. Approaches to the identification of children as having LD based solely on individual test scores not linked to specific behavioral criteria lead to invalid decisions about individual children. Low-achievement definitions are not a viable alternative to IQ-discrepancy definitions in the absence of other criteria, such as the traditional exclusions and response to quality intervention. If we accept the premise of multiple classes of low achievers, then we must develop identification systems that are valid and abandon systems whose only merits are their historical precedence and convenience.     

Project PATRON—Audio and video on demand at the University of Surrey

In the March 1997 issue, Derek Law described the “Follet Program” which has provided finding and guided the development of digital library initiatives in the United Kingdom for several years now. In this column Elizabeth Lyon and Jon Maslin describe work at the University of Surrey which is a practical illustration of the success of the program in fostering leading edge experimentation resulting in production systems using a mix of off-the-shelf technology and local development. Project PATRON is an excellent example of the ways that libraries may support the teaching-learning process using technology enabled multi-media—CBL, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.