Similarities and Differences in Behavioral State Organization during Sleep Periods in the Perinatal Infant Before and After Birth

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of consistency in behavioral state organization for 30 low-risk human participants examined as fetuses at 38–40 weeks gestation and again as neonates at approximately 2 weeks postnatal age. behavioral states were assigned similarly for fetuses and neonmates in terms of heart rate pattern and the presence or absence of eye and gross body movements. We found that the time spent in a sleep period was distributed among quiet sleep (QS), active sleep (AS), and indeterminate states in virtually identical proportions for fetuses and neonates. However, the only within-subject consistency between the fetal and neonatal periods was in the duration of complete QS epochs. Fetuses made fewer transitions between QS and AS, but neonates had shorter and more structured AS → QS transitions. These findings suggest that, whereas central nervous system processes governing QS do not change appreciably, the control of AS undergoes significant changes in the 4 weeks spannig the fetal and neonatal periods. We believe that the duration of enclosed QS epochs provides the only stable measure of behavioral state development between the prenatal and postnatal periods.     

White Noise: The Attack on Political Correctness and the Struggle for the Western Canon

This paper provides a critical overview of the debate about political correctness and the status of the Western Canon in education. The paper analyses a number of critical themes in the debate: Who is it under attack? What is the Canon which is to be defended? Why does it need to be defended? And what notions of knowing and learning underlie the arguments of the proponents of the Canon? After outlining the ways in which the arguments of those attacking political correctness and defending the Canon are profoundly flawed, the paper suggests that the case for multiculturalism and diversified curriculum needs to be substantially strengthened if it is to present a viable alternative.