Aquaculture — towards the future

Although the visionary aquatic worlds of the 1960s, in which vast sea-herds were to be reared for the good of mankind, are yet to be realised, aquaculture — the managed production of aquatic organisms — has been making steady and sometimes dramatic progress in recent years. That it has done so in spite of often shrinking resources is a tribute not only to the scientific advances and new technologies being evolved, but to the increasing skill in applying these in the right context. Present annual world aquaculture production of fin fish is estimated at 5 million tonnes, plus crutacea and edible algae.     

The Effects of Profanity in Violent Video Games on Players' Hostile Expectations,Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings,and Other Responses

Although effects of violence in video games have been researched extensively, no empirical studies have examined effects of profanity, a form of verbal aggression, in video games. An experiment (N = 321) investigated effects of profanity used by protagonist and antagonist characters in a “first-person shooter” game on players' hostile expectations, accessibility of aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, and other responses. Profanity used by both protagonist and antagonist characters increased hostile expectations, a direct precursor to aggressive behaviors. Findings suggest that profanity in video games may affect aggressive outcomes, emphasizing the need for more research investigating effects of profanity in media.     

Writing critical race theory and method: a composite counterstory on the experiences of black teachers in New Orleans post-Katrina

Using a critical race theory lens, the authors propose a way of writing race research using composite counterstories. Drawing on data from a yearlong study of school rebuilding in the time period immediately after Hurricane Katrina devastated the City of New Orleans, the authors examine the experiences of African-American educators in the school rebuilding efforts. Cook and Dixson look specifically at how composite counterstories speak back to racialized constructions of black educators that justified their post-Katrina displacement and usher in an era of school reform in which New Orleans is described as “ground zero” for the expansion of charter schools, the disempowerment of teachers’ unions, and the re-organization of teacher preparation. Given the context of the research, the authors argue that researchers should consider how composite counterstories facilitate racial research and ensure the protection of research participants.     

Newborn infants orient to sounds.

In 2 experiments, the majority of 21 newborn infants who were maintained in an alert state consistently turned their heads toward a continuous sound source presented 90 degrees from midline. For most infants this orientation response was rather slow, taking median latencies of 2.5 sec to begin and 5.5 sec to end. The most important factors in producing this impressive response seem to be the method of holding the infants during testing and the nature of the auditory stimulus.     

Infant Sensitivity to Adult Eye Direction

Adult eye direction was manipulated while adults interacted with 3–6-month-olds over closed-circuit television (Experiment 1) or in person (Experiment 2). Infants received 4 1-min interaction periods. For experimental groups, adult eye contact was maintained during Periods 1 and 3, and averted during Periods 2 and 4 (by viewing infants on a television monitor to maintain contingency). Control infants received eye contact during all periods. Experimental infants' smiling declined whenever adults looked away; their visual attention simply decreased across periods. Control infants showed little change in gaze or smiling across periods. The implications of these results for Baron-Cohen's model of infant theory of mind and Morton and Johnson's 2-process theory of infant face perception are discussed.     

Knowledge of Traumatic Brain Injury among Educators

The purpose of this study is to determine knowledge of traumatic brain injury among educators. Few studies have examined knowledge of traumatic brain injury in this population and fewer still have included a substantial proportion of general education teachers. Examining knowledge of traumatic brain injury in educators is important as the vast majority of children with traumatic brain injury will return to school and many are likely to require support in the short term and some will require special education services in the long term. The Common Misconceptions of Traumatic Brain Injury questionnaire was completed by 94 educators. Participants demonstrated accurate knowledge on a number of questionnaire items associated with the identification of individuals with traumatic brain injury, common socio-emotional effects, and recovery from traumatic brain injury; however, a considerable degree of uncertainly was indicated on several items relevant to the school setting. In addition, substantial misconception rates were noted on only four items including one pertaining to recovery and another concerning the likelihood of additional brain injuries. Knowing someone with traumatic brain injury, participating in training and having taught a student with traumatic brain injury resulted in greater knowledge. Implications of these findings for educators are discussed.