Controlling for ‘ability’: a conceptual and empirical study of primary and secondary effects

Although Boudon’s distinction between primary and secondary effects, and its associated rational action models of inequality of educational opportunity, have been more influential in the field of social stratification and mobility than in the sociology of education, there is good reason to reconsider the theoretical and practical implications of this approach. The investigation brings conceptual analysis and empirical research to bear on Boudon’s arguments in a manner that may be somewhat unorthodox. The theoretical arguments are developed in the context of a detailed empirical investigation of three transitions—age 10 to O‐level, O‐level to A‐level, and A‐level to degree—using the extensive 1970 British Cohort Study. It is concluded that primary and secondary effects should be recognised as methodological rather than theoretical concepts, that the techniques used to identify them are independent of rational action theory and that, contrary to an influential position, the evidence suggests that primary effects are more important than secondary effects in the generation of social disparities in access to education     

Who's in the mirror? Self-other discrimination in specular images by four- and nine-month-old infants

This research investigated the early determinants of self-other discrimination in infancy. Ninety-six 4- and 9-month-old infants were placed facing a live image either of themselves or of another person (experimenter) mimicking them. The specular image was either contingent (on-line), or contingent with a 2-s delay. After a first 1-min presentation, the video image of either the self or the other was suddenly frozen for 1 min (still-face episode). This was followed by a last minute of live presentation. From 4 months of age, infants appeared to perceive and act differentially when facing the specular image of themselves or the mimicking other. In general, infants tended to smile more, look more, and have more protracted first-look duration toward the mimicking other compared with the self. Developmentally, 9-month-olds showed markedly more social initiatives toward the mimicking other compared with the self during the still-face episode. In all, these results indicate that infants develop self-other discrimination in specular images long before mirror self-recognition, which is typically reported by the second year. Discrimination of the self from other is interpreted as a precursory ability and a perceptual foundation of later conceptual self development.     

Contributing factors to long‐term citation count in marine and freshwater biology articles

Researchers have investigated factors thought to affect the total number of citations in various academic disciplines, and some general trends have emerged. However, there are still limited data for many fields, including aquatic sciences. Using papers published in 2003–2005 (n = 785), we investigated marine and freshwater biology articles to identify factors that may contribute to the probability of citation and for cumulative citation counts over 10 years. We found no relationships with probability of citation; however, we found evidence that for those that were cited at least once, cumulative citations were related to several factors. Articles cited by books received more citations than those never cited by books, which we hypothesized to be indicative of the impact an article may have in the field. We also found that articles first cited within 2 years of publication received more cumulative citations than those first cited after 2 years. We found no evidence that self‐citation (as the first citation) had a significant effect on total citations. Our findings were compared with previous studies in other disciplines, and it was found that aquatic science citation patterns are comparable to fields in science and technology but less so to humanities and social sciences.     

Crossover pedagogy: The collaborative search for meaning

Robert Nash describes his cross-pedagogical approach to co-teaching with student affairs colleagues and shares a provocative classroom discussion that illustrates how it can help students create meaning for their lives.     

The writer is at the center of the scholarship: Partnering me‐search and research

Ever suffer from writer's blahs? Read on to learn from Robert J. Nash and DeMethra LaSha Bradley how to inject the vigor of personal narrative into the rigor of traditional research.