bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cognitive-Behavioral Programs for Offenders
Authors: Lipsey Mark W. , Chapman Gabrielle L. , Landenberger Nana A.
Published: July 2017

A systematic review using meta-analytic techniques was conducted with 14 studies selected to provide the best evidence on the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral programs for reducing the reoffense recidivism of criminal offenders. The results indicated that, overall, cognitive-behavioral programs are effective, and the best of them are capable of producing sizable reductions in recidivism. Many of the available studies, however, investigate research-oriented demonstration programs; the effects found for routine practical programs were notably smaller. Moreover, the research coverage of both juvenile and adult programs in institutional and noninstitutional settings is uneven and leaves troublesome gaps in the evidence.
Neoliberalism and the Regulation of Global Labor Mobility
Authors: Overbeek Henk
Published: July 2017

Globalization involves the international expansion of market relations and the global pursuit of economic liberalism. The essential factor in this process is commodification, including the commodification of human labor. Globalization integrates an increasing proportion of the world population directly into capitalist labor markets and locks national and regional labor markets into an integrated global labor market. We are on the threshold of global initiatives to shift the balance even further, especially regarding the management of global migration flows. The answer cannot be a return to strictly national forms of migration control and should not be a complete capitulation to market-driven regulation of migration. One possible answer is a new, multilateral, democratically screened, global migration regime to set forth and guarantee the general principles governing the regulation of transnational migrations, ensure proper coordination between regional and national migration regimes, and call into existence new institutional forms of transnational democratic governance.
Globalization and Culture: Placing Ireland
Authors: Fagan G. Honor
Published: July 2017

Instead of asking how globalization can help us understand Ireland today, this article starts from the premise that Ireland may be useful for an understanding of globalization. Always at a crossroads culturally and through its huge migration overseas, contemporary Ireland is seen as the epitome of a globalization success story. The article examines the constant (re)creation of Irish identity and its complex (re)constitution in the era of globalization. It concludes that if an Ireland did not already exist, globalization theory would have to invent it.
Unani Tibb: History, Theory, and Contemporary Practice in South Asia
Authors: Sheehan Helen E. , Hussain S.J.
Published: July 2017

This article is a collaboration between an expert practitioner and researcher of Unani Tibb and a social scientist. A hakim (physician), versed in the thinking and language of biomedicine, describes a traditional system of medicine to nonspecialists. Relevant sociological, historical, and organizational aspects of Unani Tibb are presented. Expanding interest in Asian medical systems has made Ional practitioners' leading seminars and writing books on their medical systems for American and European audiences commonplace. This article describes how one South Asian medical system works. There is an emerging phenomenon of traditional medical systems' opening themselves to seekers of alternative health care; in a recent initiative, the government of India (GOI) encouraged medical tourism for Indian systems of medicine. Future research will need to analyze the outcomes of these types of interactions, the most recent for a medical system with a long history of interaction with many medical and social traditions.
Changing Scripts at Work: Managers and Professionals
Authors: Kunda Gideon , Van Maanen John
Published: July 2017

In this article, the authors explore how structural changes in the labor market for professional and managerial employees might be changing the nature of emotional labor required in these occupations. They first draw on ethnographic data in a firm noted for stable long-term employment to illustrate how efforts to create a corporate culture focus on shaping employees' emotional labor toward displays of loyalty and commitment to their employer. This is followed by a speculative analysis of how the current shift toward market-based forms of employment and an entrepreneurial work ethic is changing both the substance and the style of emotional labor.
The Psychosocial Consequences of Emotional Labor
Authors: Wharton Amy S.
Published: July 2017

Understanding the psychological consequences of emotional labor for workers has been an ongoing project among students of emotional labor. Drawing on Hochschild's pathbreaking work in this area, five major streams of qualitative and quantitative research have emerged, including (1) the experiences of workers who perform emotional labor; (2) comparisons between performers and nonperformers of emotional labor; (3) the conditions under which emotional labor may be positive or negative; (4) variations between workers that condition their responses to emotional labor; and (5) consequences of emotional labor at work for workers' private lives. This article reviews each area and concludes with suggestions for future research on the psychological consequences of emotional labor.
Religion and Civic Engagement: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Smidt Corwin
Published: July 2017

This study examines the relationship between religious involvement and civic engagement in a comparative, cross-cultural perspective. Using data from a 1996 survey of 3000 Canadians and 3000 Americans, the study assesses religion's relative contribution to civic engagement in the two settings. The study reveals that both religious tradition and, more important, church attendance play an important role in fostering involvement in civil society in both countries, even after controlling for the effects of other factors generally associated with fostering civic activity among members of society.
Death and Civil Society
Authors: Otero Lorena Melton Young
Published: July 2017

By comparing death and burial rituals in neighboring communities in western Mexico, much can be learned about civil society. Four communities are examined, two traditional and two in the process of change as they struggle with the influx of a sizable number of U.S. retirees as well as the growing number of Protestant church denominations that are appearing in the area.
The Social Capital of Opinion Leaders
Authors: Burt Ronald S.
Published: July 2017

Opinion leaders are more precisely opinion brokers who carry information across the social boundaries between groups. They are not people at the top of things so much as people at the edge of things, not leaders within groups so much as brokers between groups. The familiar two-step flow of communication is a compound of two very different network mechanisms: contagion by cohesion through opinion leaders gets information into a group, and contagion by equivalence generates adoptions within the group. Opinion leaders as brokers bear a striking resemblance to network entrepreneurs in social capital research. The complementary content of diffusion and social capital research makes the analogy productive. Diffusion research describes how opinion leaders play their role of brokering information between groups, and social capital research describes the benefits that accrue to brokers.
The Diffusion of an Unsuccessful Innovation
Authors: Soule Sarah A.
Published: July 2017

It is often assumed that only successful or effective innovations diffuse. This article examines the diffusion of an unsuccessful protest tactic used during the student divestment movement: the shantytown. Two factors led student activists to adopt it. The first factor was the media construction of the tactic as successful. The second factor was how this tactic fit with an existing student tactical repertoire and resonated with students' perceptions of South Africa. These factors led students to adopt it without attaining information about its effectiveness at actually forcing university divestment.
High-Carbohydrate Diet and Atherosclerosis in Rabbits
Authors: Shah V. V. , Hansoti R. C. , Shah K. D. , Purandare S. M. , Deshpande C. K. , Sapru R. , Jha S. S.
Published: July 2017

In a study of physical and nutritional characteristics of cases of coronary heart disease, it was found that a large number of patients had low intake of fat, about 50 gm per day, and their carbohydrate intake was high. As a result high-carbohydrate diet was considered to be a possible factor in atherosclerosis. Yudkin also incriminated sugars in the causation of coronary atherosclerosis. Therefore a study was planned to assess the effect of high-carbohydrate diet on coronary arteries of rabbits. In this experiment it was decided to study the effect of high-carbohydrate diet alone on lipid fractions in the blood and the effects on coronary arteries and aorta when added fats are not given.
The Relationship of Blood Pressure to Hospitalization, Dietary Sodium and Serum Renin in Essential Hypertension
Authors: Bloomfield Daniel K. , Gould Anne B. , Cangiano JOSE L. , Vertes Victor
Published: July 2017

A direct relationship between the level of renin in the blood and the height of the blood pressure in humans has not been definitely established. Hitherto, the development of methods of measurement of renin has been fraught with great technical difficulties. Recently, Gould et al. developed a sensitive method for the assay of renin in human serum. The use of this method has enabled us to undertake a study of the relationship of the level of circulating renin in the blood to the height of the blood pressure under various conditions in patients with essential hypertension. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between the level of circulating renin in the blood and the fall of blood pressure which occurs as a result of hospitalization and reduction of dietary sodium.
A Note on the Notion of Balance in Designs
Authors: Gupta Sudhir
Published: July 2017

The important work by Calinski (1977) on the notion of balance is briefly pointed out and an application is discussed.
Optimum Allocation for Ratio and Regression Estimators in Sampling on Two Occasions
Authors: Kumar Rajesh , Dayal Shambhu
Published: July 2017

The problem of optimum allocation of sample and the corresponding efficiencies and costs in case of regression and ratio estimators in sampling on two occasions have been looked into. A comparison of efficiencies and costs of two estimators has also been made under different situations.
Multivariate Majorization and Directional Majorization : Negative Results
Authors: Bhandari Subir Kumar
Published: July 2017

General relations between directional majorization and multi variate majorization are studied, and sufficient conditions for directional majorization not to imply multivariat majorization are obtained.
Speed of Convergence of the Maximum Likelihood Estimator in the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process
Authors: Bishwal J. P. N. , Bose Arup
Published: July 2017

Berry-Bsseen bounds with random norming and Jario deviation probabilities arc derived for the maximum likelihood estimator of the drift parameter in tho Ornstoin-Uhlenbeck proccss.

AMS (1991) Subject Classification: Primary 62F12, 62M05 Secondary 60FOS, 60F10
Cyclic Group Divisible Designs
Authors: Midha Chand K. , Dey Aloke
Published: July 2017

New cyclic solutions of several group divisible incomplete block designs arc presented, A new group divisible desian is reported whose solution is also cyclic. We also present non-isomorphic solutions of several group divisible designs listed in the catalogue of Clatworthy (1973).
The Analysis of Fatal Accidents in Indian Coal Mines
Authors: Mandal A. , Sengupta D.
Published: July 2017

This paper describes the analysis of fatal incidents of Indian coal mines from April 1989 to March 1998. It is found that Indian mines have considerably higher accident and fatality rates compared to those in USA and South Africa, respectively. While open cast mines are generally known to be safer than underground mines, the Indian open cast mines are shown to be at least as hazardous to the workers as the Indian underground mines. Analysis of the accident rates is made via a few regression models involving the effects of working shifts, the various companies, the types of mine, manshift and production. The accident-prone combinations of mine type and company are identified for follow-up action. The break-up of the accidents by cause is also studied.

AMS (2000) Subject Classification: Primary 62-07; Secondary 62P99, 62N05.
Police Searches
Authors: McConnell Jon P.
Published: July 2017

Some innkeepers who have allowed warrantless police searches of guest rooms or cooperated with the police in other ways have been sued for violating guests'rights. This article explains the circumstances under which such searches are justified, and shows how to avoid liability for violating guests'rights under current law
Training at the Top
Authors: Powers Thomas F. , Patterson John W. , Leenders Michiel R.
Published: July 2017

This spring a group of senior hospitality-industry executives will commence a new senior-management program. After two years of intensive preparation in program design, materials development, and class testing, as well as industry-education dialogue, the Advanced Management Program for the Hospitality Industry (AMPHI) will start in April 1983 at the University of Guelph. The hospitality industry's need for a top-management program of this type was revealed in earlier research and confirmed by strong industry support. This article explains the whys and hows of the new program
Teleconferencing Update
Authors: Gillette Paul E.
Published: July 2017

What some hotel chains are doing-plus practical pointers for promoting teleconferencing
On Avoiding the Influence of Implicit Leadership Theories in Leader Behavior Descriptions
Authors: Gioia Dennis A. , Sims Henry P.
Published: July 2017

Previous research has shown that questionnaire measures of leader behavior can be susceptible to response bias stemming from individual “implicit leadership theories.” The research reported here extended this work by exploring the impact of implicit theories in a managerial context, using both an objective leader behavior manipulation and a leader performance cue manipulation. The findings confirmed that the popular measure initiating structure as measured by the LBDQ, was indeed responsive to the performance cue manipulation in a manner consistent with previous implicit leadership theory research. However, results from more “behaviorally oriented” measures were not significantly responsive to the performance cue manipulation, but were shown to be very good representations of actual leader behaviors. The discussion focused on how researchers might reduce the bias stemming from implicit leadership theories.
How Large Should the Sample Be? Part II—The One-Sample Case for Survey Research
Authors: Hinkle Dennis E. , Oliver J. Dale , Hinkle Charles A.
Published: July 2017

In a previous article, the authors discuss the importance of the effect size and the Type II error as factors in determining the sample size (Hinkle and Oliver, 1983). Tables were developed and presented for one-factor designs with k levels (2 ≤ k ≤ 8). However, between the time the article was submitted and its publication, the authors presented these tables at several national and regional meetings. A recurring question from colleagues attending these meetings was how these tables could be used for the one-sample case ( k = 1). Since they could not be, we were encouraged to develop comparable tables for the one-sample case. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to readdress the sample size question and to present these tables.
Configural Frequency Analysis as a Statistical Tool for Developmental Research
Authors: Lienert Gustav A. , Oeveste Hans Zur
Published: July 2017

Configural frequency analysis (CFA) is suggested as a technique for longitudinal research in developmental psychology. Stability and change in answers to multiple choice items and in Yes-No item-patterns obtained with measurements repeated two or three times are identified by CFA and illustrated by developmental analysis of an item from Gorham's Proverb Test.
Validity Studies Using the Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB): IV. Predicting Achievement at the University Level
Authors: Hakstian A. Ralph , Woolsey Lorette K.
Published: July 2017

Results of two studies are presented in which university-level examinees were administered certain tests of the Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB). In the first study, 71 male and 95 female university freshmen were given six CAB tests— V, N, Sp, I, Ma, and Cf. Year-end course grades in six subject areas were obtained for use as criteria, and two averages were computed for this purpose as well. The six CAB tests, along with four linear composites based on them, were found to be correlated significantly, for the most part, with the various subject-area criteria. The composite measures yielded correlations at about the level as would tests in the SAT or ACT series. In the second study, 96 male and 120 female university students were administered three CAB test which fall in the divergent-production category, Fs, Fi, and O. Year-end course grades in Introductory Psychology were used as the criterion measure. The Fs and Fi measures, along with a simple linear composite of them, Cognitive Flexibility, were found to be significantly correlated with the criterion variable.
Hierarchical Factoring in a Standardized Achievement Battery
Authors: Martin David J. , Dunbar Stephen B.
Published: July 2017

This study was concerned with the factorial validity of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). Previous research identified a strong general factor for this battery, which was taken as evidence of redundancy among the subtests. Hierarchical factor analysis was done with a subset of the standardization data to explore the presence of second-order group factors. The results supported the construct validity of the Language and Mathematics subscales, though a degree of factorial complexity was found in both. Verbal and Visual Information group factors were also identified. Extension of the ITBS general and group factors to subtests of the Cognitive Abilities Test supported the interpretations made of the various group factors.
Validity of Higher-Order Ability Constructs in Structure-of-Intellect Tests All Involving Semantic Content and Operations of Cognition or Evaluation: A Confirmatory Maximum Likelihood Factor Analysis
Authors: Mace David E. , Michael William B. , Hocevar Dennis
Published: July 2017

Through use of confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis in conjunction with the LISREL V computer program devised by Jöreskog and Sörbom, an evaluation was made of the validity of higher-order ability constructs in structure-of-intellect tests all containing semantic content and operations of cognition or evaluation. The hypothesized first-, second-, and third-order factors were all reproducible with every one of the estimated factor loadings being significant beyond the .01 level. Although the first- and second-order factors were shown to be reproducible and statistically separable, the high intercorrelations among the six first-order product factors and the two second-order operations factors would suggest from a practical standpoint that the single third-order factor of semantic content would constitute a plausible alternative for accounting for much of the covariance among the test variables.
The Long-Term Predictive Validity of an Academic Self-Concept Measure Relative to Criteria of Secondary School Grades Earned over Eleven Semesters
Authors: Darakjian Gregory P. , Michael William B. , Knapp-Lee Lisa
Published: July 2017

In a longitudinal investigation spanning approximately five years with an initial sample of 240 junior high school students, the subscales of the Dimensions of Self-Concept (DOSC) revealed declining predictive validity coefficients relative to criteria of secondary school grades. Nevertheless, the Level of Aspiration subscale consistently exhibited significant predictive validities of student success during each of four time segments. During the four temporal periods investigated the median validity coefficients of the Level of Aspiration subscale from the first to the last were .49, .46, .42, and .37—all values being significant beyond the .01 level.
The Development and Validation of a Scale Measuring Attitudes toward Statistics
Authors: Wise Steven L.
Published: July 2017

This study describes the development and validation of a new instrument entitled Attitudes Toward Statistics (ATS) to be used in the measurement of attitude change in introductory statistics students. Two ATS subscales are identified: Attitude Toward Course and Attitude Toward the Field, respectively. These subscales were demonstrated to have both high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. It is further shown that each ATS subscale provides distinctly different information about the attitudes of introductory statistics students.
The Criterion-Related Validity of the Academic Ability Scale of the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery for a Sample of American Indian Students
Authors: Diessner Rhett
Published: July 2017

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress were given to a sample of 37 Yakima Indian students. The predictive validity of the Academic Ability Scale was statistically significant with respect to four of five STEP subtests.
A Children's Form of Your Style of Learning and Thinking: Preliminary Norms and Technical Data
Authors: Reynolds Cecil R. , Kaltsounis Bill , Torrance E. Paul
Published: July 2017

The development of a children's form of your style of learning and thinking is briefly described. Equivalent forms, reliability coefficients from several samples generally proved satisfactory. Normative data for several reference groups are reported. Cautions concerning use of the scale in its present, preliminary form are provided and the scale itself presented.
Creativity and the Home Environment
Authors: Domino George
Published: July 2017

Home environments of highly creative and less creative boys were studied through 150 question semi-structured interviews with 86 mothers. Interview responses, categorized along 24 dimensions, revealed significant differences related to parental creativity, independence and flexibility, emotional distance, and differential parental patterning.
Skin protection in the sun: a survey of the quality of information available in general interest magazines
Authors: Miller James , Irving Fiona
Published: July 2017

A survey was carried out in July 1994 to assess the quality of information readily available to the public through general interest magazines, on the damaging effects of sun exposure. Information in the magazines was compared to the messages given in a recently published professional consensus statement. Disparities were found between the information set out by the professionals and that reaching the public about the issues of sun exposure in the UK, and about the risks of tanning. There was room for improvement on many of the issues studied.
The Effects of High and Low Sentence Contingency on Learning and Attitudes
Authors: Becker Selwyn W. , Carroll Jean
Published: July 2017

By a logical analysis it was shown that the sentence contingency index is roughly equivalent to Shannon's measure of redundancy. In two independent experiments it was demonstrated that a significantly greater number of multiple-choice questions are answered by those who study text characterized by higher sentence contingency, or redundancy. The findings were compared to those found in investigations of the effects of redundancy on words and syllables.

Data from a third experiment provided support for the conclusion that preference for text material also is related to sentence contingency.
Gating Techniques as an Aid in Speech Analysis
Authors: Hart J. 't , Cohen A.
Published: July 2017

A survey is given of the various techniques applied in gating out portions of a speech utterance by means of tape cutting, mechanical suppression, and electric circuits, as found in the literature.

Three aims are distinguished: to obtain objective measurements for resynthesizing speech or mechanical recognition, to establish perceptual cues through subjective measurements, to answer the question whether speech segmentation is at all possible. The various designs are evaluated in relation to the purpose for which they were built and wherever possible results are specified. The authors' various designs and overall approach are specified in the survey.

In conclusion theoretical implications of applying the technique of gating are considered.
A Model for Continuous Language Behaviour
Authors: Morton John
Published: July 2017

The errors made in reading passages of statistical approximations were analysed. They fell into categories of omissions, substitutions and errors showing the influence of preceding words and the influence of subsequent words (including errors of transposition). A relationship is shown between errors of transposition and omissions in such a way as to indicate that the material in the eye-voice span was subject to decay in a way similar to that described in some theories of immediate memory. Many of the errors due to effects of preceding words and certain of the substitutions and omissions are shown to be consistent with the transformational model for grammar due to Chomsky.

Since it can be shown mathematically and linguistically that natural language sequences cannot be treated fully by information theory, the concept of ‘thought units' is developed to explain functionally language behaviour which may be described statistically by information theory. These thought units are then linked with the ‘kernel strings' which are the core of Chomsky's grammar. Finally some suggestions are put forward relating this structure to problems of semantics, with particular reference to comprehension in reading.
Typing Errors as Clues to Serial Ordering Mechanisms in Language Behaviour
Authors: MacNeilage Peter F.
Published: July 2017

623 typing errors produced by 5 subjects in a free typing situation were classified into two main categories : (a) spatial errors, in which a letter adjacent on the keyboard to the correct letter was typed, and (b) temporal errors, or errors in the order in which the required letters were typed. Spatial errors were mostly associated with the left hand and keyboard difficulty, while temporal errors mostly arose from language structure variables. Results were incompatible with “one stage” or “chaining” theories of serial ordering. They suggested a hierarchical or “three stage” output mechanism consisting of (a) a “determining tendency”, (b) a programming mechanism, reflected by temporal errors, and (c) a relatively separate executive mechanism, reflected by spatial errors. Some characteristics of the programming mechanism are discussed.
A Factor Analysis of Semantic Differential Ratings Across Scales
Authors: Schutz Richard E.
Published: July 2017

An exploratory study of the factorial structure of concepts in “semantic space”. A principal components analysis was performed on 80 concepts, using ratings across 20 semantic differential scales, and components rotated to simple structure. The analysis yielded 6 factors, which appear to represent independent dimensions of denotative meaning.
Oral Responses of Aphasics Under Different Syntactical Conditions
Authors: Rollin Walter Jerome
Published: July 2017

A group of 32 aphasic subjects were given a list of ten questions taken from the Eisenson test, “Examining for Aphasia”. Each question was varied in terms of five different syntactical patterns and presented twice by means of a tape recording. The results of their performance on this total fifty item test are summarized below:

(1) There are no significant differences among responses given by a group of aphasic patients to questions phrased in five different syntactical patterns.

(2) There is a highly significant degree of association among the five syntactical conditions in terms of correctness and incorrectness of response to each of the question items.

(3) There are no significant differences between responses given by a group of aphasic patients, under conditions of five different syntactical patterns, when presented question items in two trials.
A Linguistic Study of the Written Compositions of Ten-Year Old Children
Authors: Sampson Olive C.
Published: July 2017

The article reviews some of the recent literature of the linguistic approach to children's compositions. The results of two research studies are then described and discussed. These form part of a larger project involving a longitudinal follow-up of 50 representative cases. The present work investigates the grammatical structures and subordination index characteristic of 10 year olds.
An Experimental Investigation of the Function of Filled Pauses in Speech
Authors: Lallgee Mansur G. , Cook Mark
Published: July 2017

Filled pauses have been described as a product of anxiety, and have also been explained as attempts by the speaker to maintain control of the ' floor'. The latter hypothesis is tested directly, by altering the pressure on the subject to continue speaking. Possible confounding effects of anxiety are controlled for. Filled pauses do not increase, as pressure to continue speaking increases. It is suggested that the ' control' hypothesis may apply only to monologues ; evidence concerning the relative frequency of filled pauses in monologues and dialogues is presented.
Phoneme Use and the Perception of Meaning By Children in Hawaii
Authors: Dixon Paul W. , Fukuda Nobuko K. , Gibson Verner L. , Petersen Robert O.H.
Published: July 2017

Fourth grade children (N=47) m Hawaii were individually presented with two stimulus pictures simultaneously with a taped verbal stimulus for 30 trials. If the word on the tape, e.g., leak [i] was similar to their pronunciation of lick [I], they chose the picture illustrating " lick " as the one showing the meaning of the verbal stimulus. A fifteen minute post-discrimination interview was rated for amount of dialect use. Prediction of picture choice from interview ratings supported the hypothesis derived from the motor theory of speech perception that patterns of speech production (encoding) affect how auditory stimuli are perceived (decoded) which, in this population of English speakers, affected the perception of meaning of a standard English auditory stimulus.
Levels of Analysis and Social Class Differences in Language
Authors: Garvey Catherine , Dickstein Ellen
Published: July 2017

Previous studies have demonstrated that certain differences in speech behaviour can be related to the social characteristics of speakers. However, these studies have not explicitly examined the effect of level of linguistic analysis on correlations observed between language variables and status variables. Three levels of analysis of a linguistic construction were selected for study: grammatical form, lexical choice and use of a predication type. The corpus was the speech of forty-eight dyads of children (male, female; low, middle socio-economic status; Negro, white) performing three problem-solving tasks. The grammatical form of the construction differentiated between social groups, sexes and races. Lexical choice within the construction differentiated between social groups. Use of the predication type however, seemed to depend primarily on the task itself. The findings demonstrate that status differences in speech behaviour at one level of linguistic analysis cannot be taken as evidence that similar status differences exist at another level.
The Intelligibility of English Speech to Non-Native English Speakers
Authors: Irvine D.H.
Published: July 2017

A series of experiments were carried out on groups of students at PCL to investigate their performance on two tests of speech intelligibility: the single word test of Fry and the sentence test (AIS) of the author. The performance on these tests of the non-native English speaking (nnE) students was significantly below that of their native English speaking counterparts. It was shown that the nnE groups had a much better understanding of written words than they had of spoken words.
Self-Ratings and Linguistic Proficiency in Bilingual Subjects
Authors: Lindman Ralf
Published: July 2017

A representative sample of 100 Ss were drawn from a bilingual community in Finland. They were matched on self-rated proficiency in Swedish and Finnish and tested on six variables of linguistic proficiency in each language by parallel tests. Factor analysis revealed two factors for each language: one performance factor and one self-rating factor. The conclusion is drawn that the subjective impression of linguistic proficiency was equally little differentiated in each language, and to some extent independent of test performance.
Measuring Some Semantic and Pragmatic Variables in the Speech of Two Psychiatric Patients
Authors: Ross Robert N.
Published: July 2017

This is a report of research in progress to develop methods for studying semantic structures underlying the speech of patients in psychotherapy. It uses the notion of case relations as markers of semantic functions to describe underlying semantic representations. In particular, semantic representations are related to personality differences between two patients in classic psychoanalysis. Significant differences are found in the frequency distributions of some semantic functions, especially Beneficiary and Bearer, in the distributions of semantic functions by topic of discourse, and in the correlations of semantic functions with each other.
Age Differences in the Pronunciation of Foreign Sounds
Authors: Snow Catherine E. , Hoefnagel-Höhle Marian
Published: July 2017

The hypothesis that the years up to the age of puberty constitute a critical period for language acquisition was tested. Two kinds of data are presented which suggest that younger children are not better than older children and adults in learning a foreign language. In a laboratory study, it was found that the ability to imitate foreign words under controlled input conditions increased linearly with age. In a study of naturalistic second language acquisition, it was found that the older subjects had an initial advantage in pronunciation, and that age differences in pronunciation ability disappeared by 4-5 months after starting to learn the second language. By 10-11 months after starting to speak the second language, the younger children excelled in pronouncing some sounds, though there was still no overall age difference. These results are impossible to reconcile with the predictions of the critical period hypothesis for language acquisition.
Language Productivity of Black and White Children in Black Versus White Situations
Authors: Terrell Francis , Terrell Sandra L. , Golin Sanford
Published: July 2017

This study hypothesized that subjects would have increased language productivity when talking to members of their own ethnic group than when talking to members of a different ethnic group. Males (N=148) between the ages of 7-9 years participated in this study. Subjects consisted of 22 black children who were required to give a speech to all black children (BS-BA); 22 black children who were required to give a speech to all white children (BS-WA) ; 22 white children who were required to give a speech to all white children (WS-WA); and 22 white children required to give a speech to all black children (WS-BA). The speeches were recorded and analysed. The results support the hypothesis of this study. Since language productivity depended on the interaction of race and context, the results were seen as not in accord with the deficiency theory of black-white differences in language productivity.
Phonetic Activity in Reading: an Experiment With Kanji
Authors: Erickson D. , Mattingly I.G. , Turvey M.T.
Published: July 2017

Reading seems to require phonetic short-term storage even if the writing system is logographic. A short-term memory probe paradigm was used to test the ability of Japanese subjects to recall kanji characters. When pairs of characters in a silently read list were homophonous, recall was significantly poorer than when the silently read list included no such pairs, presumably because of confusion in phonetic short-term storage. Since the kanji have no overt phonetic structure, it would seem that this kind of storage is involved in the reading of kanji not because of the particular structure of the writing system but because of the essentially linguistic nature of the task. Evidently the linguistic process cannot readily disperse with phonetic short-term storage. It is suggested, however, that the design of a writing system does not depend directly on linguistic process but rather on the partial and uneven awareness that users of the system have of certain aspects of this process.
Language Acquisition and the Discovery of Phrase Structure
Authors: Wolfp J. Gerard
Published: July 2017

A computer program intended as a step towards an empirically adequate theory of first-language acquisition by children is presented. It has been tested on a sample of English transcribed as a sequence of word classes. The structures formed by the program correspond in many cases with recognized structures in English, and there is a significant correspondence between a parsing of the sample by the program and conventional surface-structure analysis. Anomalies in the program's performance are discussed.
Perception of Intonation in Native and Non-Native Speakers of English
Authors: Berkovits Rochele
Published: July 2017

Sensitivity to intonational cues in non-native speakers of a language was investigated. Groups of native and non-native speakers of English listened to recordings of constituent structure ambiguities read with intonation patterns appropriate to either the more probable or less probable interpretation. Experiment I employed a paraphrase/translation task in which attention was called neither to the ambiguity nor to the intonation. In Experiment II, subjects were alerted to both these variables and were asked to identify which of the two readings they had heard. The results indicated that native and non-native speakers alike can make use of intonation if they explicitly listen for it, though prosodic features are generally ignored when other cues (e.g., semantic and pragmatic) are available.
Clausal Intonation After Unilateral Brain Damage
Authors: Cooper William E. , Soares Carlos , Nicol Janet , Michelow Diane , Goloskie Susan
Published: July 2017

Thirteen right-handed adult speakers, including five patients with unilateral left-hemisphere damage, four patients with unilateral right-hemisphere damage, and four patients with non-neurological damage, read aloud sentences designed to test influences of clause and utterance length on two acoustical measures of intonation, fundamental voice frequency ( Fo) and timing. Patients with unilateral damage to the left-hemisphere exhibited more abnormality in Fo and speech timing than did patients with right-hemisphere damage.
Visual Feedback of Intonation Ii: Feedback Delay and Quality of Feedback
Authors: Weltens B. , De Bot K.
Published: July 2017

In two experiments we investigated qualitative aspects of pitch visualizers: feedback delay, i.e. the time-pan between the production of an utterance and the plotting of its fundamental-frequency contour, and the quality of the contours with speech material that differed in intonation pattern and in the number of unvoiced segments. The results showed that feedback delay is not a critical factor when using a pitch visualizer for intonation teaching, but that the nature of the speech material - and probably also the voice quality of the speaker who produces the utterances - does dramatically affect the quality of the visual feedback. Both findings have immediate consequences for the design and the application of pitch visualizers.
Pronoun Resolution in Skilled and Less-Skilled Comprehenders: Effects of Memory Load and Inferential Complexity
Authors: Oakhill Jane , Yuill Nicola
Published: July 2017

This paper reports two experiments that investigate skilled and less-skilled compre-henders' ability to understand pronouns. In the first experiment, the less-skilled group made more errors in answering questions about pronoun antecedents than did the skilled group, even when there was a gender cue to the correct referent, and when the clause containing the referents was available for them to refer back to. In the second experiment, the pronoun antecedents always differed in gender, and the children's attention was drawn to the pronominal link by requiring them to provide a pronoun appropriate to the sentence, before they answered a question about it. The difficulty of the pronoun resolution was manipulated by varying the inferential complexity of the pronoun-anaphor link. In both tasks, the difference between the groups was larger when a complex inference was required than when only a simple inference was needed. We conclude that the less-skilled comprehenders' difficulty in resolving pronouns may arise in part because they do not attend properly to cues such as gender of referent, and in particular because they have difficulty drawing necessary inferences, especially when the inferential processing is at all complex. The implications of these results for remediation are discussed.
Intonation Problems of Hearing-Impaired Hebrew-Speaking Children
Authors: Rosenhouse Judith
Published: July 2017

Intonation of hearing-impaired Hebrew-speaking children in Israel was studied in two speech modes: spontaneous speech and reading aloud a written text. Attention was focused on statements and questions, usually considered basic types of semantic definition and (apparently) of intonation patterns. The subjects were 9–12 year-old hearing-impaired children and a control group of hearing children of the same ages. The utterances were analysed by an IBM speech training program, which enabled graphical presentation of fundamental frequency and intensity distributions. This report presents preliminary conclusions concerning Fo ranges, Fo contours (internal vs. final intonation structure), and duration problems on hearing-impaired children, and considers the possibility and value of defining and studying intonation of the hearing-impaired.
When Can Listeners Detect Disfluency in Spontaneous Speech?
Authors: Lickley R. J. , Bard E. G.
Published: July 2017

Three experiments investigated listeners' ability to detect disfluency in spontaneous speech. All employed gated word recognition with judgments of disfluency for spontaneous utterances containing disfluencies and for three kinds of fluent control utterances from the same six speakers: repetitions of corrected recordings of original disfluent items, spontaneous fluent utterances loosely matched in structure to the disfluent items, and repetitions of those spontaneous fluent items. In Experiment 1, 120 stimuli were word-level gated and presented to 20 subjects for word identification and for judgments on whether the utterance was about to become disfluent. Listeners were unable to predict disfluency reliably. New subjects ( N = 20, 43) judged whether the same utterances had already become disfluent at each word gate in Experiment 2 or at each 35 ms gate in Experiment 3. Subjects reliably detected existing disfluencies during the first word gate after the interruption and before they recognized the word. Though more common around disfluencies than at similar points in controls, failures of word identification were not reliably associated with detection. Results are discussed in the light of computational models of disfluency detection.
Improving Forage Crops for Semi-Arid Areas
Authors: Medrano H. , Chaves M.M. , Porqueddu C. , Caredda S.
Published: July 2017

In semi-arid areas, forage crops for grazing are suitable for extensive, marginal lands because they can sustain competitive meat or milk production, they protect against soil erosion risks, and they can form the basis of an alternative sustainable agriculture. Drought is the main limiting factor to plant growth in these lands, seriously affecting total herbage production and seasonal availability of forage. Recent research work looking for new cultivars of some annual self-reseeding pasture crops (annual rye grass, lupin and subterranean clover) with an enhanced capacity for herbage or seed production under water stress, has demonstrated the difficulties in obtaining new cultivars of well adapted crops with substantial yield improvement under drought conditions. New management strategies for improving pasture availability for grazing and self-reseeding ability have been tested (also at farm level) showing clear possibilities for enhancement of herbage production and a more regular seasonal distribution in drought-prone environments.
The Role of Policy in the Encroachment of Maize Cultivation in Semi-Arid Zimbabwe
Authors: Wright Jim , Vaze Prabhat , Gundry Stephen
Published: July 2017

For many areas of smallholder dryland agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, cultivation of drought-resistant small grains such as millets and sorghum offer reliable harvests and food security. Despite this, the area given over to maize in such semi-arid areas has been increasing, although there is a risk of crop failure associated with its longer growing season. The influence of agricultural policy on this change in cropping patterns is examined here in the context of Zimbabwe. It is argued that despite the official extension advice discouraging maize cultivation, other aspects of policy have indirectly contributed to this change in cropping patterns. These aspects include seed supply, changes in producer prices, and the operation of the drought relief programme.
Where Once There was Grain to Burn: A Farming System in Crisis in Eastern Malawi
Authors: Shaxson Louise , Riches Charlie
Published: July 2017

The parasitic weed Striga asiatica is a serious problem in maize crops in southern Malawi and much of the rest of southern Africa. The authors spent two years studying farmer knowledge of the weed in an area of south-eastern Malawi, and the links between population pressure, soil fertility and Striga incidence. Following a discussion of the history of the study village, the results of a series of field trials are presented which test the effect of altered fertilizer applications on yields of maize plants in Striga infested areas. These show that simply changing the timing of fertilizer application, using the rates farmers currently use, could have a dramatic effect on the maize plant's ability to cope with the weed and on the economics of maize production.
Manipulation of Rumen Function by the Inoculation of Novel Microorganisms
Authors: Dalrymple Brian P. , McSweeney Chris S.
Published: July 2017

The use of inoculants to improve the performance of animals is practised widely in many intensive animal production industries, but this practice is less widespread in the extensive grazing systems. Here we describe the background and some recent developments in the area of utilizing ruminal micro-organisms for the modification and improvement of productivity in ruminants. The inoculants, designed for establishment in the new domestic ruminant host, have specific, superior or modified activities, but currently have a restricted geographical or species distribution. Current work has focused on three novel or augmented activities, namely: reducing the toxicity of particular plant poisons, increasing the utilization of plant fibre and the modification of protein supply. The most successful projects so far have tackled the detoxification of the plant poisons, mimosine and fluoroacetate, but projects aimed at increasing the utilization of plant fibre are now well advanced. Molecular techniques have significantly assisted in the identification, differentiation and tracking of organisms and are essential for the construction of modified organisms.