Infant approach behavior as related to attachment.

The chief purpose of this study was to identify characteristics that distinguish approach as an attachment behavior from approach serving other behavioral systems. Locomotor approaches of 16 male and 10 female white middle-class infants to an attachment figure (the mother) and to a nonattachment figure (the visitor-observer) were examined under naturalistic conditions at home. Observations were made during 4-hour home visits at 3-week intervals; those from 26 to 54 weeks were used. When approach was examined in a free-choice situation and without regard to behavioral context, infants approached the mother proportionally (though slightly) more often than the visitor (p less than .05). In 2 behavioral contexts, however, spontaneous infant approaches were sharply differential to the mother; approaches accompanied by crying and approaches terminating in a pickup appeal were directed almost exclusively to the mother (p less than .0001 for both). Touching upon completion of the approach was not differential, except in the context of a pickup appeal. Object-oriented approaches were more often directed to the visitor than to the mother (p less than .002) and may be either exploratory or affiliative. It is suggested that neither approach nor touching can be assumed to serve the attachment system without consideration of context- both environmental and behavioral.     

The relative efficacy of vestibular-proprioceptive stimulation and the upright position in enhancing visual pursuit in neonates.

48 healthy neonates born to multiparae were randomly assigned to view a moving stimulus either in the horizontal or the upright position, with or without added vestibular stimulation and with or without pacifier sucking. The infant was shown a moving black line inside a strictly controlled visual environment provided by an apparatus which permitted horizontal and upright positioning and displacement of the infant. Visual tracking was recorded by a concealed TV camera positioned at a constant distance and angle from the infants' eyes in both positions. Quality of tracking during each of 4 trials was scored on a 7-point scale. Results indicate that vestibularproprioceptive stimulation provided to the infant either horizontally or semivertically significantly enhanced his visual tracking, whereas the upright position did not. Pacifier sucking also improved his performace.     

Constitutional problems concerning admission to institutions of higher education—questions relevant to a German-American comparison

The growing relevance of constitutional law for problems of access to higher education became particularly clear through the Numerus-Clausus decisions of the German Federal Constitutional Court (restricted admission due to lack of capacity) and litigation before the US-Supreme Court (preferential treatment for applicants from minority groups). The constitutions of both countries—the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany of May 23, 1949 and the Constitution of the United States of September 17, 1789, as amended—are based upon the same essential decisions regarding the fundamental characteristics and objectives of the State. The Federal Republic and the USA are democratic federations of states, committed to the pursuit of the common good, and defined in their form of government by the principle of the rule of law (secured above all by a catalog of basic human rights) as expressed through the doctrine of separation of powers. This article gives an overview of the university (especially its admission system) in both countries and analyses how the constitutions are applied to key problems of access to higher education. It leads to starting points for promising investigations into comparative (constitutional) law.

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Zusammenfassung Der immer grössere Zusammenhang zwischen den Staatsverfassungen und den Zulassungsproblemen zeigte sich sehr deutlich im numerus clausus — Entscheidung des bundesdeutschen Verfassungsgerichtes (beschränkte Zulassung wegen Mangel an Studienplätzen) — und im Rechtsstreit des Obersten Gerichtshofes der Vereinigten Staaten (Vorzugsbehandlung für Bewerber von Minderheitsgruppen). Die Verfassungen beider Länder — das Grundgesetz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vom 23. Mai 1949 und die Verfassung der Vereinigten Staaten vom 17. September 1798 in ihrer heute gültigen Abänderung — beruhen hinsichtlich der Grundzüge und Ziele des Staates auf den gleichen Entscheidungen. Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland und die USA sind beide demokratische Föderativstaaten, die den sozialen Wohlstand verwirklichen wollen und deren Regierungsform vom Grundsatz des Rechtsstaates bestimmt ist. Dieser findet seinen Ausdruck in der Doktrin der Machtteilung und ist vor allem durch eine Reihe von Menschengrundrechten gesichert. Dieser Artikel gibt eine Übersicht über die Universitäts- und vor allem die Zulassungssysteme beider Länder und analysiert, wie die Verfassungen angewandt werden, um die Probleme der Zulassung zur Hochschulbildung zu lösen. Er bietet Ausgangspunkte für vielversprechende vergleichende (konstitutionelle) Rechtsstudien.

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Résumé Le rapport croissant des constitutions avec les problèmes d'accès à l'enseignement supérieur devint très évident à travers le numerus-clausus — décision du tribunal constitutionnel de la République Fédérale d'Allemagne (admission restreinte dûe au manque de places d'études) — et le litige de la Cour Suprême des Etats-Unis (traitement préférentiel accordé aux candidats de groupes minoritaires). Les constitutions des deux pays — la loi fondamentale de la République Fédérale d'Allemagne du 23 mai 1949 et la constitution des Etats-Unis du 17 septembre 1789, telle qu'elle a été amendée — reposent sur les mêmes décisions essentielles concernant les caractéristiques et objectifs essentiels de l'Etat. La République Fédérale d'Allemagne et les Etats-Unis sont des fédérations démocratiques d'états, qui se sont engagées pour la réalisation du bien-être social et dont la forme de gouvernement est définie par le principe de l'autorité de la loi, tel qu'il est exprimé par la doctrine de la séparation des pouvoirs et assuré avant tout par une série de droits fondamentaux de l'homme. Cet article donne une vue d'ensemble des sytèmes universitaires (et surtout des systèmes d'admission à ces universités) des deux pays et analyse comment les constitutions sont appliquées pour résoudre les problèmes d'accès à l'enseignement supérieur. Il mène à des points de départ pour des études juridiques comparées prometteuses (du point de vue constitutionnel).

     

A new active R bandpass filter

A new active R filter which realizes a second order bandpass transfer function is given. The network employs only resistors and two operational amplifiers. Sensitivities to all passive and active circuit components are very low. Design equations are given and experimental results are also included.     

On Incremental Deformations of Initially Stressed Media with Couple Stresses

A two-dimensional theory for the incremental deformations of an initially stressed continuum with couple stresses is established in this paper. As applications of theory, the problems of internal instability and wave propagation are studied. It is found that the otherwise non-dispersive waves become dispersive, and additional local modes of buckling and vibratory motion are observed. To complete the theory, a stress function formulation of equations is also presented.     

Developmental priority of identity conservation: acceleration of identity and equivalence in normal and moderately retarded children

In an attempt to clarify the chronological relationship between identity and equivalence conservation, normal preschool-aged children (experiment 1) were exposed to brief videotape demonstrations of a model conserving identity and equivalence, identity only, equivalence only, or neither. Subsequent performances indicate that identity was easier to accelerate than equivalence, and training in both identity and equivalence appeared to be most effective in accelerating conservation. Trainable mentally retarded (TMR) children were then exposed to either the identity-equivalence-conserving or control model (experiment 2). This population, which some have argued remains at a preoperational level of functioning, was more likely to conserve identity than equivalence. In addition, conservation in the training group increased following training, though these gains were not maintained over a 3-week retention interval.     

Sex-related differences in response to practice on a visual-spatial test and generalization to a related test

93 first graders (mean age 6.5 years) were given a pretest and posttest on half of the items from the Children's Embedded Figures Test. Half of the children were randomly assigned to a training condition and received a brief training procedure on visual-spatial disembedding prior to the administration of the posttest. Children in the control condition received no training. The performance of girls improved significantly more from pretest to posttest than the performance of boys. Boys and girls showed similar beneficial effects of training in addition to the benefit of direct practice. The tendency that was observed for boys to perform higher than girls on the pretest, p less than .10, was not evident on the posttest. Scores on the pretest predicted scores on a different measure of visual-spatial ability only for children in the control group. The results are interpreted in terms of current theories of sex differences in visual-spatial perception.     

Behavior of narcotics-addicted newborns.

The behavior of narcotics-addicted and nonaddicted newborns on the first 2 days of life was assessed with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. In addition to classic signs of narcotics abstinence, addicted infants were less able to be maintained in an alert state and less able to orient to auditory and visual stimuli. These deficits were especially pronounced at 48 hours of age. Addicted infants were as capable of self-quieting and responding to soothing intervention as normal neonates, although they were substantially more irritable. These characteristics and addicted infants' greater resistance to cuddling are discussed in terms of their potential impact on early infant-care-giver interaction.