12-month-olds' phonotactic knowledge guides their word-object mappings

This study examined whether 12‐month‐olds will accept words that differ phonologically and phonetically from their native language as object labels in an associative learning task. Sixty infants were presented with sets of English word–object (N = 30), Japanese word–object (N = 15), or Czech word–object (N = 15) pairings until they habituated. Infants associated CVCV English, CCVC English, and CVCV Japanese words, but not CCVC Czech words, with novel objects. These results demonstrate that by 12 months of age, infants are beginning to apply their language‐specific knowledge to their acceptance of word forms. That is, they will not map words that violate the phonotactics of their native language to objects.     

Genesis: the Brynmor Jones report

An account of the impetus given by the Brynmor Jones report (Audio visual aids in Higher Education, 1965) to the development of educational technology in Britain. The author, who was closely involved in the developments, discusses the influence of the audio‐visual movement in the United States and the emergence of a national organisation (NCET) and the Open University.     

Evaluation of the plumb-bob method for reading greens in putting

This study evaluated the validity of the plumb-bob method as used to determine the break of a putt. Two separate experiments were conducted to examine the consequence of violating inherent assumptions in the method. In the first experiment, a controlled putting environment was constructed to assess the plumb-bob method in determining the break of a putt, if the slope of the green was not constant from the position of the golfer behind the ball through to the hole. It was determined that if the slope of the green beneath the golfer was different from the slope between the ball and the hole, then the plumb-bob method would provide an incorrect indication of break. The second experiment examined the ability of a golfer to stand perpendicular to a slope. Half of the participants in the study deviated by +/-1.5 degrees or greater from standing perpendicular to a slope. A + 1.5 degrees error on a 1.4 m (approximately 4.5 ft) putt translates into reading an extra 0.08 m of break and a missed putt. The plumb-bob method was found to be an invalid system for determining the break of a putt.