Remembering: The role of extraneous reinforcement

In two experiments, pigeons' responding on an extraneous task was explicitly reinforced during delayed matching-to-sample trials. In Experiment 1, red or green sample stimuli were followed by retention intervals of 0.2, 1, 4, or 12 sec, during which pecks to a white center key were reinforced with 2.5-sec access to wheat according to extinction, variable-interval 30-sec, and variable-interval 15-sec schedules in different conditions. A proportion of .2, .5, .7, or .9 of subsequent red or green choice responses that matched the sample were reinforced with 3-sec access to wheat. The result was that increasing center key reinforcement, or reducing reinforcer probability, lowered overall accuracy. Initial discriminability fell, but with no change in the rate of forgetting. In Experiment 2, initial discriminability was affected by extraneous reinforcers that were contingent on center key pecking, but not by noncontingent reinforcers. A plausible conclusion is that initial discriminability decreases when reinforcers strengthen competing behaviors.     

Semantic Constraints on Word Learning: Proper Names and Adjectives

4 experiments examined 3- and 4-year-olds' interpretations of novel words applied to familiar objects in the sentence frame, "This Y is X," where X is a novel word, and Y is a familiar basic-level count noun (e.g., "dog", "cup"). These novel words are ambiguous and could be interpreted either as proper names (e.g., "Fred") or as adjectives/mass nouns (e.g., "red"/"lead"). The experiments addressed 2 questions. First, do children appreciate that the words can be construed either as proper names referring to individuals or as adjectives/mass nouns referring to salient properties/material kinds? The results showed that children could easily make either interpretation. Second, what factors affect children's tendency to make either a proper name or an adjective/mass noun interpretation? In the experiments, children learned the novel words for a range of animals and artifacts. Most children who learned the words for typical pets (e.g., a bird) made proper name interpretations, as did the majority of those who learned the words for certain non-pet animals (e.g., a caterpillar) described as possessed by someone, but only about half of those who learned the words for such non-pet animals not so described. Very few children who learned the words for either simple (e.g., a shoe) or complex (e.g., a boat) artifacts made proper name interpretations. The results provide clear evidence of the role of semantic information in constraining children's interpretation of a novel word, and they help to refine an understanding of what counts as a nameable individual for preschoolers.     

当代英语中的语法变迁——运用对应语料库追踪语言变化

本文阐述一种基于语料库研究语言变化的方法,集中探讨英国英语和美国英语中最近的语法变迁。该研究方法对匹配的对应语料库进行比较,所用语料库均采用准确对等的抽样方法对间隔大致相同时间的书面语言进行抽样提取语料样本。该研究揭示了英语用法增加和减少极为显著地模式,如进行体使用的增加与被动语态使用的减少,并通过口语化、美国化、密集化和规约化进程来解释上述变化。     

The History of the Planar Elastica: Insights into Mechanics and Scientific Method

Euler’s formula for the buckling of an elastic column is widely used in engineering design. However, only a handful of engineers will be familiar with Euler’s classic paper De Curvis Elasticis in which the formula is derived. In addition to the Euler Buckling Formula, De Curvis Elasticis classifies all the bent configurations of elastic rod—a landmark in the development of a rational theory of continuum mechanics. As a historical case study, Euler’s work on elastic rods offers an insight into some important concepts which underlie mechanics. It sheds light on the search for unifying principles of mechanics and the role of analysis. The connection between results obtained from theory and those obtained from experiments on rods, highlights two different approaches to scientific discovery, which can be traced back to Bacon, Descartes and Galileo. The bent rod also has an analogy in dynamics, with a pendulum, which highlights the crucial distinctions between initial value and boundary value problems and between linear and nonlinear differential equations. In addition to benefiting from the overview which a historical study provides, the particular problem of the elastica offers students of science and engineering a clear elucidation of the connection between mathematics and real-world engineering, issues which still have relevance today.

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Socioeconomic advantage and achievement motivation: Important mediators of academic performance in minority children in urban schools

A correlational study examined relationships between socioeconomic advantage, achievement motivation, and academic performance in an urban elementary school population of 130 minority students (African-American, Hispanic). Level of socioeconomic advantage (more/less) was determined by school records and eligibility for participation in a compensatory school-lunch program for low-income children. A self-report measure of students' self-efficacy, intrinsic value, and self-regulatory learning orientation was used to determine level of achievement motivation (high/low). Performance data in reading and mathematics were obtained from an individually administered achievement test. Multivariate analyses revealed that socioeconomic advantage and achievement motivation are significant mediators of academic performance in minority children, independent of intellectual ability. The classroom implications of socioeconomic advantage and achievement motivation on individual differences in academic performance of minority children in urban elementary schools are discussed.     

Sojourner adjustment: does missionary status affect acculturation?

Sojourners are individuals who leave their home culture and live in another country for an extended period of time. Previous research on the sojourner acculturation process has focused on investigations of coping and adjustment to cultural stressors of various groups (e.g., business managers, exchange students, embassy staff, military personnel, etc.); however, little research has been conducted specifically on one group of sojourners—missionaries. The primary aim of the present study was to compare the levels of coping and adjustment of missionaries to those of other expatriates. To accomplish this research goal, questionnaire packages were distributed to expatriates residing in Nepal (100 missionaries, 67 other expatriates). Along with coping and adjustment measures, questionnaire packages included measures of stress, satisfaction with life and social support. It was discovered that missionaries reported less satisfaction in their foreign posting than other expatriates. This finding may be due, in part, to their increased direct contact with host nationals compared to other expatriates, as well as lower social status and feelings of not being ‘connected’ to other, culturally similar, expatriate support.     

Sartre’s analysis of anti-Semitism and its relevance for today

In the second half of 1944, Jean-Paul Sartre wrote an essay entitled ‘Anti-Semite and Jew’. He analyses what might be termed the moral pathology of the anti-Semite. Such a person, Sartre suggests, has chosen to enact a passion, a passion of hatred. The motive is the desire for ‘impenetrability’ – a disavowal of reasoned argument – and a pleasure taken in the assertion and re-assertion of what is known to be false. Sartre’s essay was written hurriedly and looking back over 70 years, we can see its flaws. But I suggest that the kernel of his analysis of the anti-Semite is compelling, especially in the context of the growth of anti-immigrant prejudice in the UK and elsewhere. Using Sartre as a starting point, I discuss the nature of prejudice and suggest that to counter prejudices, a civic education is needed that emphasises a narrative of liberty.