bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dextrous Robot Fingers with Desirable Kinematic Forms
Authors: Tischler C.R. , Samuel A.E. , Hunt K.H.
Published: March 2007

Kinematic chains with mobility requirements that are suitable for applications such as dextrous robot hands can be found using a pro cess called number synthesis. This process, however, enumerates many kinematic chains, some of which are more suitable than others for practical applications. Here we examine those characteristics of kinematic chains which make for practical and robust dextrous robot hands. Eliminating the chains that possess undesirable characteris tics while retaining those with desirable features vastly reduces the list of candidates, leaving only the most suitable chains. Number synthesis produces kinematic chains independent of specific joint and link geometry; a process for assigning essential dimensions to a kinematic chain is discussed.
Real-Time Collision- Free Trajectory Optimization of Robot Manipulators via Semi-Infinite Parameter Optimization
Authors: Schlemmer M. , Gruebel G.
Published: March 2007

Real-time collision-free trajectory control is dealt with by semi- infinite optimization techniques. This allows an optimal control problem incorporating a robotlobstacle distance function for col lision detection to be reduced to a finite-dimensional parameter- optimization problem. This reduced problem can be solved effi ciently by the numerical parameter-optimization method of sequen tial quadratic programming. In the case of a time-varying robot environment, a series of such optimization problems is solved in an iterative time frame, constituting a real-time optimization loop.
A Practical Quality Index Based on the Octahedral Manipulator
Authors: Lee Jaehoon , Duffy Joseph , Hunt Kenneth H.
Published: March 2007

The octahedral manipulator is a "3-3" device that is fully in parallel. It has a linear actuator on each of its six legs. The legs connect an equilateral platform triangle to a similar base triangle in a zigzag pattern between vertices. Our proposed quality index takes a maximum value of 1 at a central symmet rical configuration that is shown to correspond to the maxi mum value of the determinant of the 6 x 6 Jacobian matrix of the manipulator. This matrix is none other than that of the nor malized line coordinates of the six leg-lines; for its determi nant to be a maximum, the platform triangle is found to be half of the size of the base triangle, and the perpendicular distance between platform and base is equal to the side of the platform triangle.

When the manipulator is actuated so that the octahedron departs from this central configuration, the determinant al ways diminishes, and, as is well known, it becomes zero when a special configuration is reached (the platform then gain ing one or more uncontrollable freedoms). Our quality index λ, 0 ≤ λ ≤ 1, is a constructive measure of acceptable design proportions.

The double-spherical joints (there are six) are the source of the critical practical difficulties. Kinematic substitutions can circumvent this problem, but often there is no reasonable alternative to accepting a reduction of maximum quality index through separation by fairly short distances of some or all of the double-ball joints. Too great a separation easily leads too far toward generality; any fully-in-parallel manipulator of more general proportions should be tested for quality against our octahedral form simply because no different form can be superior to a well-designed octahedron from the points of view of structural soundness and ability to apply both forces and controlled displacements to the end-effector platform.
The Relationship Between Musical Complexity and Liking in Jazz and Bluegrass
Authors: Orr Mark G. , Ohlsson Stellan
Published: March 2007

Berlyne (1971) and others have proposed that liking of music is an inverted-U shaped function of its complexity. Past research has been inconclusive concerning the generality of the inverted-U relationship. The present studies tested the generality of this relationship across related but distinct musical styles. Our experimental participants judged the complexity and liking of short pieces of music created by professional musicians who where instructed to improvise at different levels of complexity. Experiment 1 tested whether the inverted-U relationship was present between perceived complexity and liking for jazz and bluegrass when each style was presented separately. Experiment 2 replicated the findings from Experiment 1 under interleaved presentation conditions. The results support the inverted-U shaped relationship between perceived complexity and liking for bluegrass but not for jazz. It is possible that the relationship between liking and perceived musical complexity varies across musical styles.
Innovation in the Music Classroom
Authors: Walker Robert
Published: March 2007

One of the most extensive projects in recent times was developed in the USA during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This emanated from musicians and teachers associated with the Manhattanville College in New York City. Over this period new ideas were formulated and new practices were disseminated across the whole of the USA, and many participants from practically all the States contributed. This paper is intended to explain its contents, philosophy and objectives, and to provide some comment on these.
The Effects of Accompanying Harmonic Context on Vocal Pitch Accuracy of a Melody
Authors: Sterling Pam
Published: March 2007

This study examined the effects of five stylistically diverse vocal harmonisations (traditional tonal, chromatic, dissonant, quartal, and chords with extensions) on a singer's ability to sing an accompanying melodic line. Twenty-five college female sopranos enrolled in various university choral ensembles learned three unfamiliar melodies in an isolated setting, then sang each melody with each of the five different harmonisations. Performances were measured against a prerecorded reference tape using the Micro Music Pitch Master.

Results indicated a statistically significant difference among performances with the various harmonic accompaniments and suggested a higher degree of vocal pitch accuracy oni melodies accompanied by traditional tonal harmony. Secondary findings indicated a statistically significant inverse relationship between years of choral ensemble experience and the number of trials needed to learn an unfamiliar melody, and between the number of trials needed to learn an unfamiliar melody and total performance score for each melody.
Relationship of Personal Characteristics to Mood and Enjoyment after Hearing Live and Recorded Music and to Musical Taste
Authors: Wheeler Barbara L.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the influence of mood, personality characteristics, musical taste, musical training, college major, gender, and age, plus hearing music live or recorded, on listeners' moods after hearing music and on their enjoyment of the music. It also looked at the influence of the above listener characteristics on musical taste. Subjects were 101 undergraduate students, and the Personality Research Form served as the personality measure. Students took the personality test, answered a question describing their moods, heard either a live or a recorded musical perform- ance, again described their moods, and answered other questions about themselves and their responses to the music. Mood follow- ing the music was found to be predicted by mood prior to the music, enjoyment of the music, the Change scale of the PRF, and negatively by the Understanding scale. An interaction between mood prior to the music and enjoyment of the music was also found to be significant in predicting mood following the music. Significant predictors of enjoyment following the music and of taste for each of the seven types of music were also found. Implications of the findings for those who need to understand how music affects people, and needs for further research, are discussed.
A Comparison of Prompts to Aid Rhythmic Sight-Reading of String Students
Authors: Salzberg Rita S. , Wang Cecilia Chu
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the effectiveness of three prompts on rhythmic sight- reading ability. Forty-six string students of ages 8 to 16 individually sight- read rhythmic exercises under four conditions-counting out loud, foot tapping, counting and tapping simultaneously, and no prompt. Each subject was pre-tested in order to be placed at one of the five difficulty levels which matched his sight-reading ability. The scores were obtained by counting the number of beats accurately performed for each eight-measure exercise. A repeated-measures analysis of variance yielded a significant interaction effect at the 001 level between prompt conditions and ability levels. Counting out loud was the most effective prompt for the less experienced students. There were no significant differences in prompt conditions for the more advanced students. These results may suggest that prompts for rhythmic sight-reading may need to change as students' abilities increase.
A Study of Event Hierarchies in Tonal and Post-Tonal Music
Authors: Butler David
Published: March 2007

It is paradoxical that although there is general agreemenrt that imlusici pitc1b perception is much more accurate when the listener is givetn a tonal cOl1tt for the stimulus, leading perceptual theories disagree in their definitiois o tonal context itself. Nearly all cognitive theories of so-called pitch istruct Li-., in music assume that relations among acoustical components of sound. or mathematical groups, or geometrical constructs, can serve as adequate bases on which rules of musical composition and comprehension of pitch relationl- ships may be formulated. These theories have an obvious intellectual iippecai but do not describe the temporal structure of pitch relations in actual music, and thus fail to account for significant differences in the compositiona treatment of pitch from one style period, or one culture, to another. I hc perceptual theory of event hierarchies, advanced most notably by Bharucha attempts to describe the perception of pitch relationships in musical timtc and thus is an important exception to the rule that perceptual theories oi musical pitch deal solely in timeless abstractions. The event-hierarchhx theory holds that as musical events (tones, chords) unfold in a specitic composition, they are interpreted hierarchically by the listener; this cxvent hierarchy activates in the listener a tonal hierarchy, a hierarchy of ccivt classes. The two hierarchies are thought to be perceptually co-generativec symbiotic partners in what Deutsch (1984) calls an "elaborate bootstrapping operation". No adequate description yet exists of this bootstrapping opera tion, in which relatively stable and unstable members of a totial hierarchx are said to generate a piece-specific event hierarchy as the event hicrarchx defines the tonal hierarchy. Beyond the critical chicken-egg character of such a theory, there is the likelihood that the theory is far more comuplex than the cognitive act it is supposed to describe. An inspection of represen- tative samples of Western tonal and post-tonal music shows that stvic- dependent differences exist in the time orders of intervals that occtur onlv rarely in the diatonic set. The paper includes the first report of the results of an experiment using temporal organising schemes extracted from actual tonal and post-tonal compositions. These results indicate that aural context conveyed by temporal collocation of rare intervals may be as influenti'il as pitch content is in eliciting a sense of tonal structure in the musical listener. and further that temporal organisation of rare intervals mav provide perceptual cues for metrical organisation in tonal music.
Research Note. Adult Non-Singers: The Beginning Stages of Learning to Sing
Authors: Mitchell Philip A.
Published: March 2007

Three adult poor pitch singers were tested for their ability to hear relatively subtle variations from familiar folk melodies. Their vocal abilities were also assessed and then each singer participated individually in weekly training sessions in which they practised pitch-matching and singing a simple song. All three subjects performed at ceiling on the listening comprehension test. After 8 to 12 weeks, two of the subjects were near mastery on vocal matching of a sustained keyboard tune; none showed significant improvement in free singing. The discrepancy between comprehension and production abilities is noted and an error-analysis of the pitch-matching trials is used to shed some light on the learning process.
Speech, Vision, and Music Perception: Windows on the Ontogeny of Mind
Authors: Lynch Michael P. , Eilers Rebecca E. , Bornstein Marc H.
Published: March 2007

The study of speech perception and colour vision in infants has provided information on the ontogeny of mind and a general investigative framework that would be useful in the developmental study of music perception. Infants differentiate speech contrasts and primary colours similarly to adults, suggesting that predispositions for systematic representation of the percep- tual world may be influential from birth. Comparatively little is known about infants' musical processing, but what has been discovered is already serving to broaden the general understanding of perception. A review of findings in speech and vision is presented as a model for possible future work in music perception that could result in greater understanding of perceptual development.
Professional Musicians' Approaches to the Learning and Interpretation of Music
Authors: Hallam Susan
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the approaches of professional musicians to the learning and interpretation of music. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 practising freelance musicians spanning a wide range of age and experience and encompassing most of the traditional orchestral instruments. The findings were considered in relation to current psychological models of adult learning and intellectual development. Pask's (1976) model of learning provided appropriate categorisations for many of the statements made by the musicians, although intuitive and analytic approaches were also identified. In addition, considerable individual diversity was identified in the level of spontaneity or planning considered acceptable in relation to performance. The intellectual developmental scheme proposed by Perry (1970) also provided an appropriate basis for considering differential levels of musical development. Educational implications and criteria for the formulation of future models to account for the learning and interpretation of music are discussed.
Nature or Nurture? A Re-examination of Sloboda and Howe's (1991) Interview Study on Talent Development in Music
Authors: Gagne Francoys
Published: March 2007

The core of this text will consist of a re-examination of data gathered by Sloboda and Howe (1991) through interviews with young students in a specialist music school. I will demonstrate that these authors, guided by a strict environmentalist framework, incorrectly interpreted their data because they did not acknowledge the role of musical giftedness as a significant determinant of the large differences observed in their sample between exceptional and average students. I intend to show that their results cannot be correctly interpreted without introducing musical aptitudes as a significant causal factor. Since the authors did not specify in their text what theoretical framework guided their study, my description of their position as strict environmentalism is inferred from other publications by them (e.g. Sloboda, Davidson and Howe, 1994; Howe, Davidson and Sloboda, 1998).
Reconfiguring the User:
Authors: Mackay Hugh , Carne Chris , Beynon-Davies Paul , Tudhope Doug
Published: March 2007

Users or consumers have become increasingly prominent in sociological work on technology - as in the social sciences generally. This paper takes up and extends arguments developed by Steve Woolgar about how producers of technology `configure the user'. Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a recent technology (or methodology) for computer system development which emphasizes extensive user involvement throughout the development process. Drawing on ethnographic research of RAD, the paper develops four arguments. First, that decoding (by users) as well as encoding (by producers) is important for understanding technology production. Second, that designers configure users but they, in turn, are configured - both from within their own organizations, and by users. Third, that the boundary between user and designer is fluid and, indeed, configured. Finally, it develops the case for an extended actor-network approach which encompasses users or consumption.
On Choosing Typographic Settings for Reference Lists
Authors: Hartley James
Published: March 2007

References at the end of journal articles are typically printed in one of three or four major referencing styles, together with hundreds of different ways of presenting the elements within the references themselves. This paper suggests that greater clarity could be achieved by choosing between one of two major referencing styles, and using an agreed setting for the elements within both of them.
The Contradictions of Professionalism: Scientists, Trade Unionism and the First World War
Authors: MacLeod Kay
Published: March 2007

The 1914-18 war had a profound effect upon the professional identity and self-esteem of scientists and engineers in Europe. For the growing community of young science graduates, many or them products of university expansion after 1890, the experience of working together on urgent problems of direct applicability to the war effort raised immediate questions of status and recognition. in Britain, the 'national interest' and international rivalry had prompted the expansion in science numbers; but who would ensure that the 'pay and prospects' problem which had beset the angry pre-war years would not revive once the emergency ended? To secure scientists and engineers an economic future, and a political say in scientific affairs, became the goal of several militant associations. From 1917, riding the crest of the wave of trades unionism and industrial reorganiz, ion occurring m the country generally, these militant groups drew variously on university researchers, industrial scientists and technical experts in government service. Of these, perhaps the most famous, and intellectually most important, was the National Union of Scientific Workers. The early history of the NUSW reveals some of the motives impelling political organization in science and the conflict between professional values and political goals which remains with such organizations today.
Quantitative Foundations for the Sociology of Science: On Linking Blockmodeling with Co-Citation Analysis
Authors: Lenoir Timothy
Published: March 2007

In blockmodeling and co-citation analysis recent studies of scientific specialties and research areas have hit upon two new quantitative methods of investigating the cognitive and social structure of science. After examining the assumptions upon which these techniques are based and the objections that have been levelled against them, this paper discusses the potential for linking the two methods in order to provide a descriptive foundation for the construction of a sociology of scientific knowledge.
The Sun-Set: The Presentation of Certainty in Scientific Life
Authors: Pinch Trevor J.
Published: March 2007

This paper examines a debate over the certainty of scientific knowledge which has arisen in solar neutrino science. Material drawn from Interviews with participants is used to show the different perceptions of certainty available. It is argued that the craft element of science gives scientists confidence in their own results, but is also a source of uncertainty for scientists unfamiliar with the craft practices in use outside their own fields. The fundamental uncertainty of scientific knowledge encountered by scientists working at the research frontiers is discussed, and it is suggested that this type of uncertainty is unlikely to be revealed in interview material because scientists are aware of the possible public audience for their remarks. The implications of this for the analysis of public- science debates where scientific certainty is a contentious issue are briefly discussed.
The Social Construction of Mountain Bikes: Technology and Postmodernity in the Cycle Industry
Authors: Rosen Paul
Published: March 2007

In this paper, I raise some problems with the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT): the separation of its first and second stages, dealing with a technology's development, from its third stage, the wider social context; and its underelaboration of the `relevant social groups'. (RSGs) by which it claims to explain the third stage. By following up Pinch & Bijker's example of the safety bicycle with a case study on mountain bikes and the technological controversy of mountain bike frame geometry, I show that the third stage is crucial to understanding both the first and second stages. I suggest that the wider context of mountain bikes is postmodernity, and explore how these artefacts have precipitated a shift in the cycle industry's production processes from Fordism to post-Fordism. This wider context is then used to understand the social construction, not just of the artefacts, but of their RSGs and the relations among them.
Uses of Knowledge and Values in Technical Controversies: The Case of Nuclear Reactor Safety in the US
Authors: Del Sesto Steven L.
Published: March 2007

This paper addresses some sociological and political factors related to the creation, use, and control of knowledge and information in technical disputes. This is accomplished by way of a content analysis of testimony of pro- and anti-nuclear witnesses speaking on nuclear reactor safety before the US Congressional Joint Committee on Atomic Energy in 1973-74. The analysis attempts to show how competing social groups impose their `world views' as cognitive, non-evaluative definitions of reality, and that some groups are in a better political position to achieve this through the use of influence and power. The findings suggest that the use of evaluative intelligence in the hearings is a function of location in the political process rather than simply a function of group affiliation as such. It is concluded that the state of cognitive knowledge itself may play a more limited role than we think in determining the kinds of informational inputs to the policy process. Future research should concentrate on the ways in which groups and individuals succeed in anchoring their claims in culture, socioeconomic arrangements, and in political parties, as well as on the ways in which opposing groups control the use of knowledge in order to validate their own world views as cognitive definitions of the situation.
Sources of Ideas for Applied University Research, and their Effect on the Application of Findings in Australian Industry
Authors: Maguire Carmel , Kench Robin
Published: March 2007

This paper investigates a number of projects to determine whether the findings of university research undertaken in response to industry's expressed needs were more likely to achieve industrial application than the findings of research which owed its origin to the ideas of university researchers. Seventeen research projects, pursued by chemical engineers and food technologists working in six Australian universities, have been examined. The progress of the findings has been measured against five stages in the process of industrial adoption. A statistical test of the ranking of all the projects suggests that, whereas there was no significant difference between progress made by university-initiated and industry-initiated projects overall, the industry-initiated projects made significantly more progress towards adoption than those initiated by universities and pursued without interaction with industry. The projects initiated by universities in which there was constant interaction with industry were all adopted. The number of cases studied is small and the sample is biased towards those with obvious potential for industrial application. Within these limitations, and with the awareness that innovation in industry depends on many variables, the evidence of these case studies suggests that close interaction between university researchers and industry may be more important than the sector in which research ideas arise in determining whether that research will find industrial application.
Expertise and Causal Attribution in Deciding between Crime and Mental Disorder
Authors: Smith Roger
Published: March 2007

Medicolegal expertise raises many issues of sociological and political concern, some of which are discussed here in relation to the insanity defence and the plea of diminished responsibility. The paper describes the social process of attributing a crime either to punishable conduct or to mental abnormality in terms of voluntarist and mechanist accounts of motivation. This description explains some current difficulties. But the paper then criticizes logical and empirical shortcomings in this description and therefore reformulates mechanism and voluntarism as terms within a common scheme for classifying causes. It is then possible to analyze structural reasons for the difficulties facing psychiatric expertise and for the general failure to achieve a coherent theory of responsibility. The paper concludes by suggesting how a social psychology of causal attribution might link the intellectual process of classifying conduct with the social distribution of power and authority.
The Discourse and Praxis Models in Recent Reconstructions of Scientific Knowledge Generation
Authors: Tibbetts Paul , Johnson Patricia
Published: March 2007

In recent sociological reconstructions of knowledge generation in science, two models of analysis have emerged. On the discourse model, reconstructions are grounded in what scientists say and write; on the praxis model, the focus is on what scientists do. The differences between these respective models are examined in this Note, particularly in the context of three studies employing elements of both models: Laboratory Life (1979), The Manufacture of Knowledge (1981), and Opening Pandora's Box (1984). The salient issues of this Note are: (a) the frequently ambiguous relation in these studies between scientists' praxis and scientists' discourse about praxis ; (b) the extent to which the discourse analysis model is successful in moving towards an understanding of scientific praxis ; (c) the problematic strategy of anthropological strangeness; and (d) the hermeneutic relation between the sociological observer's and the scientist's respective interpretive frameworks, laboratory context and situated practices.
Limitations of Co-Citation Analysis as a Tool for Science Policy
Authors: Hicks Diana
Published: March 2007

Co-citation analysis, a tool initially developed for use in science studies, is entering the science-policy arena where the technical demands placed on data differ. Comparison of co-citation data and a manually generated bibliography of a physics specialty (spin glass) revealed that, at present, co-citation analysis is inconsistent and fragile when used to track national participation in a specialty over time. Specifically, co-citation clusters only emerged some time after the field began, were inconsistent in their coverage over time, were subject to errors in citations, under-represented experimental work and were found to contain a significant subjective element.
Of Conceptual Intersections and Verbal Collisions: Towards the Routing of Slezak
Authors: Fuller Steve
Published: March 2007

I argue that AI, as described by Slezak, is too diffuse an entity to score any direct hits on SSK. I begin by highlighting Slezak's affinities with positivism and internalist history of science, but then observe a dilemma in his attempt to seek refuge under the mantles of both Herbert Simon and Noam Chomsky: Chomsky's cognitive creationism is incompatible with Simon's programmed discoveries. Throughout, I attack the empirical testability of the AI research on which Slezak most heavily relies, as well as defend the wisdom of SSK's reliance on behaviourism. Nevertheless, I claim that, for all its faults, AI research needs to be taken more seriously by SSK, on both intellectual and political grounds, but that rapprochement between AI and SSK is a long way off.
The Professionalization of Brazilian Scientists, the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC), and the State, 1948-60
Authors: Botelho Antonio José Junqueira
Published: March 2007

The Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC) played a crucial role in the professionalization of Brazilian scientists between 1950 and 1960. During this period, Brazilian science underwent a redefinition in which scientific interests and political legitimacy were closely imbricated in issues of state power and political economy. The SBPC strove to define the logic of the scientific field according to the professional interests of the scientists. However, given changes in the country's political economy which altered the power balance within the state, and the changing nature of political legitimacy, SBPC's logic was ultimately defeated. The main conclusion arising from this analysis is that professionalization is shaped by political struggles between opposing logics of political action. It also suggests that the nature of these different logics is to be found in the interaction of the `disciplines' discourse, in Foucault's sense; and this, in turn is shaped by the professional practice of the actors.
Individualism, Causal Location, and the Eclipse of Scholastic Philosophy
Authors: Hutchison Keith
Published: March 2007

Freudenthal has proposed that seventeenth-century philosophy depends upon a presumption that the behaviour of a material object is to be accounted for in terms of properties that are localized within its fundamental particles, rather than in the relationships between the object and its environment. He attributes this metaphysical preference to a special emphasis on the priority of the individual in contemporary social developments. I argue the contrary: the localization of causality is not a characteristic of the new philosophy, but is indeed one of the fundamental principles of the scholastic tradition, both in its social philosophy and in its philosophy of nature. By comparison with their opponents, the seventeenth-century mechanists are radical holists, promoting the view that the bulk of an object's properties resides in relationships with the remainder of the universe. Freudenthal's contrast between the matter-theory of `feudal-organic' Europe and that of early capitalism is quite invalid, and with it, his attempt at social explanation of the genesis of modern science.
Mobilizing Psychoanalysis: Michael Balint and the General Practitioners
Authors: Osborne Thomas
Published: March 2007

This paper seeks to gain a sociological purchase on contemporary forms of psychoanalytically-derived expertise. Through a case study of Michael Balint's influential work with general medical practitioners in post-war Britain, it is argued that psychoanalytic forms of intervention actually bear some striking resemblances to various aspects of the more conventionally `scientific' disciplines. Finally, the paper considers the status of psychoanalysis and general practice as instruments for the `government of subjectivity' in our times.
Stalking Theoretical Physicists: An Ethnography Flounders: A Response to Merz and Knorr Cetina
Authors: Gale George , Pinnick Cassandra L.
Published: March 2007

We believe that Merz and Knorr Cetina, in extending the methodology of lab studies into the domain of theoretical physics, have overextended its legitimate application. We argue that they adopt three distinct `languages', but do not clarify their relative epistemic status. As a result, they demonstrate an implicit realist metaphysics, and reveal intrinsic limitations of their methodology.
Self-Organization of Scientific Specialization and Diversification: A Quantitative Case Study
Authors: Wagner-Döbler Roland
Published: March 2007

The dynamics of scientific specialization are investigated in the field of mathematical logic — a major subdiscipline of mathematics, embracing some 15,000 authors from 1874 through 1990. The following dimensions of specialization are described quantitatively, using a comprehensive bibliography: the number of areas of this subdiscipline in relation to the number of contributors; the frequency distribution of the number of areas within logic that those contributors deal with; the analogous frequency distribution of the most prolific logicians; and the degree of division of labour between these prolific logicians. The salient characteristics of these distributions is their skewness, pointing to `Lotka's Law' and other similar distributions, which are discussed as quantitative indicators of scientific self-organization.
Experiences and Voices of Eugenics Field-Workers: `Women's Work' in Biology
Authors: Bix Amy Sue
Published: March 2007

Experiences and ideas of eugenic `field-workers' offer a new historical perspective on American eugenics, while highlighting terms of women's early twentieth-century scientific education and research employment. To advance knowledge of heredity, the US Eugenics Record Office (ERO), between 1910 and 1924, trained 258 students (85% of them women) to collect information about individuals, families and communities. Though some historians have dismissed eugenic field-workers as careless or uncritical, many had scientific or medical backgrounds, and took research seriously. While gendered expectations and other obstacles limited women's hopes for professional advance, the female field-workers created a strong community and culture of their own. Comparing notes, some recognized that their results did not support eugenic assumptions, and cautioned against letting enthusiasm overwhelm scientific integrity. These women field-workers raised serious questions about methodology and ethics, but the situation of eugenics work at the time undermined chances for such criticism to be acknowledged. After World War I, military-related research and political manoeuvring dominated eugenics, further marginalizing field-workers. Ironically, while ERO head Charles Davenport had wanted students to promote eugenics, some demonstrated more fundamental commitment to scientific ideals — but to little avail.
Social Interests, Contextualizations and Uncertainties in Risk Assessment
Authors: de Mello José Manoel Carvalho , de Freitas Carlos Machado
Published: March 2007

This paper presents a case study of the laboratory risk assessment of a proposal for the use, in vehicles in Brazil, for a six-month `emergency' period, of a new type of fuel involving a mixture of methanol, ethanol and gasoline. It uses an integrated approach to examine the development of this risk-assessment process in its social, environmental and techno-scientific contexts. The process is shown to involve a dynamic interweaving of certain structured interests mixing both scientific and societal considerations, inside and outside the laboratory. This approach reveals the limits and uncertainties in the assessment of risks to the environment and to health, not only because of technical gaps, but also as a result of the contextual dynamics, and of social interests. The study suggests that a wider and more realistic understanding of the risk-assessment process could enhance opportunities for enlarging social participation in the definition of risks, and in the democratization of decision-making processes.
Making Things the Same
Authors: Alder Ken
Published: March 2007

This paper documents the connection between the technological and political transformations of late 18th-century France. Its subject is the efforts of state military engineers to produce functionally identical artifacts (interchangeable parts manufacturing). These efforts faced resistance from artisans and merchants attached to the corporate-absolutist ancien régime, for whom artifacts were idiosyncratic, and `thick' with multiple meanings. I argue that to oblige artisans to produce standardized artifacts, the military engineers defined these artifacts with instruments such as technical drawing and the tools of manufacturing tolerance, which the engineers then refined in increasingly rule-bound ways to forestall further subversion by artisans. Hence, I offer a historical account of how the `objectivity' of these artifacts was the outcome of social conflict and negotiation over the terms of an exchange. In particular, I explain why engineers eventually turned to projective drawings (including the descriptive geometry) over alternative ways of representing artifacts (such as free-hand, academic, and perspectival drawings). And I document the origins of manufacturing tolerance, in which the dimensions of an artifact were circumscribed with gauges and machine-tools to preclude possible sources of disagreement. The paper closes with its own `thick' narrative of how standards of production emerged out of social conflict in a particular community on the eve of the French Revolution - a process which reflected the emerging political `toleration' of the French state for its citizen-producers. The SCOT programme can be used to provide a political account of how the operation of seemingly `objective' artifacts can be coordinated across vast physical, temporal and cultural boundaries.
Putting Stress in Life
Authors: Viner Russell
Published: March 2007

Hans Selye discovered Stress in 1935 as a syndrome occurring in laboratory rats. In the modern world, Stress has become a universal explanation for human behaviour in industrial society. Selye's discovery arose out of widespread interest in the stability of bodily systems in 1930s' physiology; however, his findings were rejected by physiologists until the 1970s. This analysis is framed in terms of Latour's actor-network theories, and traces the translation of Stress from the animal laboratory into the narratives of modern life experience. This mapping reveals that translation was brought about by Selye's recruitment of a broadly based constituency outside of academic physiology, whose members each saw in Stress a validation of their pre-existing ideas of the relationship of the human mind and body in industrial civilization. While Selye was successful in realizing Stress as a scientific fact, he was unable to make his institute the obligatory passage point for Stress research. Selye's notion of a universal non-specific reaction has become accepted in almost all forms of human discourse about life and health, and physiologists in the 1990s use Stress as a unifying concept to understand the interaction of organic life with the environment. However, this modern use of Stress contains none of the physiological postulates of Selye's original findings.
"No One Will Lissen": How our Legal System Brutalizes the Youthful Poor. Lois G. Forer, Preface by David L. Bazelon, New York, John Day Co., 1970, pp. 352, $8.95
Authors: Robitscher Jonas
Published: March 2007

In 1966 this Journal published a Juvenile Court Issue (Vol. 10, No.3) in which a panel of nationally recognized specialists re-evaluated the philosophy of the juvenile court movement. The Gault case created a big stir, but have conditions improved since ? We have asked Dr Robitscher to evaluate the situation and to review the book of Mrs Forer, who has been in the forefront of the fight. (The Editors.)
Is There a Criminal Mind?
Authors: Scott Edward M.
Published: March 2007

Human beings have minds-not just brains. Some criminals have criminal minds. An effort has been made to affirm these two phenomena in the body of this article. As a result, certain hypotheses have been tendered.
Stress and Job Dissatisfaction Among Correctional Officers: An Unexpected Finding
Authors: Grossi Elizabeth L. , Berg Bruce L.
Published: March 2007

A number of previous studies have examined the impact of stress on correctional officers. Findings in several of these previous studies indicate that peer support is positively related to increases in work stress. This, however, tends to contradict theoretical assumptions about the ability of support systems to offer coping mechanisms for stress. This research examines the question of methodological precision by assessing the indice used to measure "peer support." The finding described here is that, while "peer support" has been used as a reliable indicator, it well may be an invalid one when measuring work stress.
Examining the Relationship between Airborne Pollen Levels and 911 Calls for Assistance
Authors: Walters Glenn D.
Published: March 2007

An effort was made to investigate the effect of airborne pollen levels on the number of 911 calls logged by the police department of a medium-sized midwestern city. Daily recordings of temperature, pollen count level, and the total number of 911 calls were available for the years 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989, March through October. Each year was partitioned into three relatively equal time periods—TPI (March 1-May 24), TP2 (May 25-August 14), and TP3 (August 15-October 31)—the hypothesis being that airborne pollen and 911 calls would be positively correlated during TPI and TP3 (periods of high pollen activity) but not during TP2 (period of low pollen activity). Results tended to support this hypothesis, although multivariate analyses revealed that these findings were largely a result of the moderately strong relationship between pollen and temperature, the latter of which was more strongly correlated with 911 calls for assistance.
The CHOICE Program: A Comprehensive Residential Treatment Program for Drug-Involved Federal Offenders
Authors: Walters Glenn D. , Heffron Michael , Whitaker Diane , Dial Shella
Published: March 2007

This article describes the CHOICE program, a comprehensive residential drug treatment program for offenders who have been seriously involved with drugs in the past. This ten-month program is comprised of seven principal elements or components-Intake/Evaluation/Follow-Up, Drug Education, Skills Development, Lifestyle Modification, Wellness, Responsibility, and Individualized Counseling/Case Supervision-each of which is discussed in the body of this paper. The individual strengths, weaknesses, and future research agenda of this residential program for drug-involved offenders are discussed in the conclusion of this preliminary report.
Young Offenders' Explanations of Crime and Preferred Method of Disposition
Authors: Fowler Richard S. , Bray Dominic G. , Hollin Clive R.
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the hypothesis that sex offenders might differ from non-sex offenders in causes attributed to and disposition advocated for sex and other offences. Fifteen of the 33 subjects were sex offenders, the remainder having committed a variety of other offences. Subjects listened to the details of four audiotape fabricated crimes (rape, robbery, arson, manslaughter), then verbally completed a previously validated scale of explanations of offending, and finally recommended a type of disposition. No significant difference in causal explanation was found between sex and non-sex offenders; although sex offenders appeared more treatment-oriented in their preferred means of disposition. Across all subjects there was an interaction between type of crime and explanation, replicating previous research that found that explanations of crime amongst the general population are crime-specific. A contradiction between the attribution of mental instability and punitive disposition for rape was discussed in relation to a labelling hypothesis of sex offenders.
Recidivism Rates of Youth Completing an Intensive Treatment Program in a Juvenile Correctional Facility
Authors: Hagan Michael , King Robert P.
Published: March 2007

This study analyzed the recidivism rates for 55 youth who had been placed at a state juvenile correctional facility who had completed the Intensive Treatment Program for juvenile delinquents judged as having the most severe psychological and behavioral problems. Rates of recidivism for 55 youth were determined two years after completion of the program. Approximately one half of the subjects were successfully maintained in community placements two years post discharge. The strong ecological approach combined with cognitive behavioral training, individualized contracts and family therapy was deemed successful.
Prison Reform in England: An Overview
Authors: Carlie Michael Kaye
Published: March 2007

Using data gathered in interviews with members of the British penal reform lobby and the Prison Service, observations in Her Majesty's Prisons, and a review of the literature, the author introduces the reader to the British penal reform movement. While reforms at the preand post-incarcerative stages are reviewed, the emphasis of the research is on identifying the need for and kinds of incarcerative reform. The process of penal reform in England is outlined and barriers to change are identified.
Labelling Effect on Adolescents' Self-Concept
Authors: Al-Talib Nadhim I. , Griffin Christine
Published: March 2007

The present research reports the findings of a study assessing delinquency amongst British adolescents. The aim of the study was to investigate whether labelled and unlabelled delinquents differ in the patterns of their self-concept. Subjects were selected from secondary schools, educational guidance centers, and community homes. In total 360 labelled, unlabelled, and nondelinquent male and female adolescents completed a structured questionnaire based on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and a Self-Report Delinquency Scale. The findings revealed that a significant difference exists between the groups in the patterns of their self-concept. Adolescents who have been labelled as delinquents had a lower self-concept than their unlabelled delinquent counterparts. Both groups were lower in their self-concept than their nondelinquent counterparts.
Evidence of Child Maltreatment among Adolescent Parricide Offenders
Authors: Heide Kathleen M.
Published: March 2007

Beginning in the 1980s, a series of popular accounts of adolescents who killed parents indicated that these youths were victims of child maltreatment. In this article, definitions of specific types of abuse and neglect are presented. The incidence of these forms of childhood maltreatment among the author's sample of adolescent parricide offenders (APOs) is reported. Thereafter, evidence of child abuse is investigated across the ten previously published studies of APOs appearing in the professional literature from 1941 through 1984. Results revealed that various forms of child abuse and neglect were evident in others' reports, although not necessarily identified by them as such. These findings provide additional confirmation that understanding the phenomenon of child maltreatment is critical in unraveling the dynamics leading to the slaying of a parent. The results underscore the need for education about the parameters of abuse and neglect.
Once Upon a Time Served: Therapeutic Application of Fairy Tales within a Correctional Environment
Authors: Holton C. Lewis
Published: March 2007

During this century, correctional policy has swung dramatically from stark punitive control to rehabilitative "cure. " We have sought a 'just model"for corrections, and we have seen "experts" go on record that "nothing works. "In our search to find the approach that best facilitates adjustment by offendersthat engenders internalization of mainstream societal valueswe seem to have overlooked a medium that has proven itself over centuries of use: fairy tales. In Future Shock, Toffler asserted that "Education's prime objective must be to increase the individual's 'cope-ability'." To establish fairy tales as the missing "cope-ability" link, this article constructs three fundamental premises: (1) Fairy tales are compatible with criminological and correctional theory. (2) The therapeutic potential of the tales is real and accessible. (3) Fairy tales, which are often viewed as "children's stories, " are an appropriate vehicle for such a therapeutic endeavor, in terms of offenders'levels of cognition, moral reasoning, and psychological processing.