Acquisition of the concept of teaching and its relationship with theory of mind in French 3- to 6-year olds

Little is known about how and when preschoolers master the concept of teaching, particularly in relation to the acquisition of theory of mind (ToM). We investigated the relationship between the two in children aged 3-6 years old. One hundred and seventeen French preschool pupils answered questions about different teaching situations illustrated in ten stories involving knowledge differences and/or false belief. Four change-of-location ToM stories were also administered. Our results indicate a developmental progression from understanding teaching situations to grasping the notion of knowledge gaps. Moreover, they confirm that ToM seems to be involved in understanding more complex teaching situations.     

Long-term high fructose and saturated fat diet affects plasma fatty acid profile in rats

As the consumption of fructose and saturated fatty acids (FAs) has greatly increased in western diets and is linked with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a moderate (10 weeks) and a prolonged (30 weeks) high fructose and saturated fatty acid (HFS) diet on plasma FA composition in rats. The effects of a few weeks of HFS diet had already been described, but in this paper we tried to establish whether these effects persist or if they are modified after 10 or 30 weeks. We hypothesized that the plasma FA profile would be altered between 10 and 30 weeks of the HFS diet. Rats fed with either the HFS or a standard diet were tested after 10 weeks and again after 30 weeks. After 10 weeks of feeding, HFS-fed rats developed the metabolic syndrome, as manifested by an increase in fasting insulinemia, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as by impaired glucose tolerance. Furthermore, the plasma FA profile of the HFS group showed higher proportions of monounsaturated FAs like palmitoleic acid [16:1(n-7)] and oleic acid [18:1(n-9)], whereas the proportions of some polyunsaturated n-6 FAs, such as linoleic acid [18:2(n-6)] and arachidonic acid [20:4(n-6)], were lower than those in the control group. After 30 weeks of the HFS diet, we observed changes mainly in the levels of 16:1(n-7) (decreased) and 20:4(n-6) (increased). Together, our results suggest that an HFS diet could lead to an adaptive response of the plasma FA profile over time, in association with the development of the metabolic syndrome.     

Books on Research Methodology

Mary N. Barton and Marion V. Bell's compilation Reference Books: A Brief Guide (Baltimere: Enoch Pratt Free Library, $1.25)

Martha L. Hackman's The Practical Bibliographer (Prentice-Hall, $5.95 cloth, $2.95 paper)

Hubert M. Blalock An Introduction to Social Research (Prentice-Hall, $5.95 cloth, $2.95 paper)     

The Enduring Nature of the Tripartite System of Secondary Schooling in Germany: Some Explanations

This paper suggests explanations for the enduring nature of the tripartite system of secondary education in Germany and the failure to develop the comprehensive school (Gesamtschule) over a long period.     

The relevance of hedonic price indices

We argue that for the case of heterogeneous commodities with infrequent tradings, such as paintings, it is relevant to base a price index on hedonic regressions using all sales and not resales only. To support this conclusion we construct a price index for paintings by Impressionists and their followers and compare the various estimators using bootstrapping techniques.     

Introduction d'un Modele Conceptuel comme Cadre de Reference dans la Formation Initiale des Instituteurs Primaires (Ecole Normale de l'Etat,Andenne (B) )

The article examines strategies for the training of Primary teachers in Belgium, a level of training which was increased from two to three years duration in 1983. An action research at the EN de l'Etat at Andenne has focused on the conceptual model (following a structure of analysis proposed by Antoine Leon). This model, and the typology of teaching/learning situations which it embodies, permits the student to establish theoretical terms of reference at the outset of training, and to acquire educational insights which relate meaningfully to the goals of teaching. The approach adopted makes certain demands upon the students; for example, they need to take stock, objectively, of their own experiences of learning and must be prepared to question their own assumptions. An important factor in the research has been the use of micro‐teaching, with CCTV, and it is necessary that the students be given an early opportunity to try out their learning from the studio setting in a ‘real’ environment. Overall, however, the experiment, which has been conducted in liaison with the Free University of Brussels, is a promising avenue for achieving the integration of theory with practice.     

Beyond entities: promoting explorative search with bundles

Search engines are increasingly going beyond the pure relevance of search results to entertain users with information items that are interesting and even surprising, albeit sometimes not fully related to their search intent. In this paper, we study this serendipitous search space in the context of entity search, which has recently emerged as a powerful paradigm for building semantically rich answers. Specifically, our work proposes to enhance an explorative search system that represents a large sample of Yahoo Answers as an entity network, with a result structuring that goes beyond ranked lists, using composite entity retrieval, which requires a bundling of the results. We propose and compare six bundling methods, which exploit topical categories, entity specializations, and sentiment, and go beyond simple entity clustering. Two large-scale crowd-sourced studies show that users find a bundled organization—especially based on the topical categories of the query entity—to be better at revealing the most useful results, as well as at organizing the results, helping to discover novel and interesting information, and promoting exploration. Finally, a third study of 30 simulated search tasks reveals the bundled search experience to be less frustrating and more rewarding, with more users willing to recommend it to others.