bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
International Integration and National Corruption
Authors: Sandholtz Wayne , Gray Mark M.
Published: April 2008

We argue that greater degrees of international integration lead to lower levels of corruption, which we define as the misuse of public office for private gain. We theorize that international factors affect a country's level of corruption through two principal channels. One acts through economic incentives, altering for various actors the costs and benefits of engaging in corrupt acts. The second mode is normative. Prevailing norms in international society delegitimate and stigmatize corruption. Countries that are more integrated into international society are more exposed to economic and normative pressures against corruption. We therefore test the following hypothesis: the more a country is tied into international networks of exchange, communication, and organization, the lower its level of corruption is likely to be. The analysis of data from approximately 150 countries strongly confirms our expectation.
Alliance Reliability in Times of War: Explaining State Decisions to Violate Treaties
Authors: Leeds Brett Ashley
Published: April 2008

Understanding the conditions under which state leaders are willing to honor alliance commitments in war will increase knowledge about the escalation and diffusion of conflict and about the propensity of states to fulfill agreements under anarchy. New data analysis provides evidence that alliance commitments are fulfilled about 75 percent of the time. But how can one understand the failure of alliance partners to act as promised in the remaining 25 percent of cases? Formal modelers have deduced that because of the costs associated with alliances, state leaders who form alliances are likely to fulfill them; those alliances that are formed should be fairly reliable. I argue, therefore, that one can best account for violations of alliance agreements either through an understanding of the factors that reduce the costs of violation or through changes that have occurred since the alliance was formed. Using detailed data on alliance commitments between 1816 and 1944, I find evidence commensurate with this argument. Changes in the power of states or in their policymaking processes are powerful predictors of the failure to honor past commitments; and nondemocratic states and major powers, sets of states that I argue suffer lower costs from reneging on agreements, are more likely to violate treaties.
Multilateral Determinants of Regionalism: The Effects of GATT/WTO on the Formation of Preferential Trading Arrangements
Authors: Mansfield Edward D. , Reinhardt Eric
Published: April 2008

Preferential trading arrangements (PTAs) have spread widely over the past fifty years. During the same era, multilateral openness has grown to unprecedented heights, spurred by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). If the cornerstone of the manifestly successful multilateral regime is nondiscrimination, why have its members increasingly resorted to preferential liberalization? We argue that developments at the heart of GATT/WTO encourage its members to form PTAs as devices to obtain bargaining leverage within the multilateral regime. Specifically, the growth in GATT/WTO membership, the periodic multilateral trade negotiation rounds, as well as participation and, especially, losses in formal GATT/WTO disputes, have led its members to seek entrance into PTAs. Conducting the first statistical tests on the subject, we find strong evidence in support of this argument.
Nutrition and Well-Being in the Late Nineteenth Century
Authors: LOGAN TREVON D.
Published: April 2008

Using the 1888 Cost of Living Survey, I estimate the demand for calories of American and British industrial workers. I find that the income and expenditure elasticities of calories for American households are significantly lower than the corresponding elasticities for British households, suggesting that American industrial workers were nutritionally better off than their British counterparts. I further find that the calorie elasticity differential between the two countries was driven by the higher wages enjoyed in the United States. Additional analysis reveals that the relative price of calories was approximately 20 percent greater in Great Britain than in the United States.
The Atlantic Telegraph Cable and Capital Market Information Flows
Authors: HOAG CHRISTOPHER
Published: April 2008

The completion of the undersea Atlantic telegraph cable more closely integrated securities markets on two continents. This article conducts an event study on the introduction of the Atlantic Cable in July 1866. Using daily data on one security with a dual listing on the New York and London stock exchanges, the event study provides some evidence that the information lag between the two markets shortened from ten days to zero days. Cointegration analysis confirms the result. Historical markets priced securities so well that transatlantic steamship crossing times can be recovered from stock prices.
The Effect of Changes in Reserve Requirements During the 1930s: The Evidence from Nonmember Banks
Authors: CARGILL THOMAS F. , MAYER THOMAS
Published: April 2008

Despite the widespread acceptance of Friedman and Schwartz's interpretation of the 1936/37 increase in member bank reserve requirements as the major cause of the 1937/38 recession there is surprisingly little straightforward evidence on this issue, perhaps because data limitations and structural instability preclude econometric modeling. We exploit a simple alternative, comparing member banks with nonmember banks not subject to changes in reserve requirements. The results support the hypothesis that the increase in reserve requirements reduced the availability of bank credit and contributed to the recession.
Women's Economic Advancement in the Twentieth-Century United States
Authors: BAILEY MARTHA J.
Published: April 2008

The integration of women into formal labor markets was one of the most salient changes of the twentieth century. The “female century,” in the words ofThe Economist, witnessed an extraordinary transformation of women's opportunities and outcomes both in and outside the household. My dissertation explores both the causes and the consequences of women's move from home to market in the United States during three episodes of rapid change. It begins by documenting demand-side shifts during the 1940s that increased the earnings and occupational choices of African-American women; then demonstrates the impact of contraceptive technology on the extent and intensity of women's participation in the formal labor market after 1960; and, finally, estimates the consequences of shifts in women's labor supply for the growth of earnings inequality in the United States during the 1980s.
The Geography of Invention in High- and Low-Technology Industries: Evidence from the Second Industrial Revolution
Authors: SUTTHIPHISAL DHANOOS
Published: April 2008

Technological progress has long been widely recognized as a crucial source of economic growth. Many countries have, accordingly, devoted considerable resources to promote more rapid generation and diffusion of technology in their economies. Yet recent studies reveal a persistence of stark contrasts across countries and geographic space more generally, not only in productivity, but also in the generation of new technological knowledge. What accounts for these geographic disparities is not well understood.
Screening for hearing loss and middle-ear effusion in school-age children, using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions: a feasibility study
Authors: Georgalas C , Xenellis J , Davilis D , Tzangaroulakis A , Ferekidis E
Published: April 2008

Introduction:

The characteristics of otoacoustic emissions that make them ideally suited for universal newborn hearing loss screening could potentially be useful for the screening of older children. This study was performed in order to assess the role of otoacoustic emissions in a screening programme for middle-ear disorders and hearing loss in school-age children.

Methods:

Cross-sectional, preliminary screening study.

Setting:

Primary schools of Argolida municipality, south-east Greece, between December 2004 and March 2005.

Patient selection and recruitment:

All the primary school students of Argolida were invited, by press releases and individually by their teachers, to attend a session of otological and audiological screening.

Results:

One hundred and ninety-six children were evaluated using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions. Twenty per cent failed in both ears, while in 32 per cent otoacoustic emissions could not be produced in at least one ear. Younger children had higher rates of absent transient evoked otoacoustic emissions. The absence of otoacoustic emissions was highly correlated with tympanic membrane changes seen on otoscopy and the presence of a type B tympanogram. As a single screening modality, otoacoustic emissions had a 100 per cent sensitivity in diagnosing hearing loss worse than 30 dB, and a 90 per cent sensitivity and 64 per cent specificity in diagnosing hearing loss worse than 25 dB, which did not improve by adding tympanometry to the screening protocol.

Conclusion:

These results strongly suggest the potential usefulness of otoacoustic emission testing in screening school-age children for hearing loss. Further studies, taking into account cost-effectiveness issues, are indicated.
Causes of childhood deafness in Pukhtoonkhwa Province of Pakistan and the role of consanguinity
Authors: Sajjad M , Khattak A A , Bunn J E G , Mackenzie I
Published: April 2008

Background:

Deafness is the hidden disability of childhood, and leads to poor educational and employment prospects. There is little published information on deafness in Pakistan. Profound hearing impairment is more prevalent in countries where consanguineous marriages are common, such as Pakistan. This study aimed to assess causes of childhood deafness and association with parental consanguinity, within deaf and hearing children in the Peshawar district of Pukhtoonkhwa Province, Pakistan.

Methods:

One hundred and forty deaf children were identified from two schools for deaf children within the Peshawar district. These children were assessed via audiology, otoscopic examination, case note review and parental history, in order to attempt to ascertain the cause of their deafness. Two hundred and twenty-one attendees at a local immunisation clinic (taken as representative of the local childhood population) were also screened for hearing impairment. Parents of both groups of children were assessed by interview and questionnaire in order to ascertain the mother and father's family relationship (i.e. whether cousins or unrelated).

Results:

Of the 140 deaf school pupils, 92.1 per cent were profoundly hearing impaired and 7.9 per cent were severely hearing impaired. All these children had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. A possible cause of deafness was identified in only six of these children. Parental consanguinity (i.e. first or second cousins) was established for 86.4 per cent of deaf school pupils and 59.7 per cent of immunisation clinic attendees. None of the control children were identified as having a hearing problem.

Conclusion:

The prevalence of parental consanguinity was significantly higher in deaf children compared with non-hearing impaired children. However, the study also confirmed a high rate of consanguinity within the general Peshawar community. In this setting, prevention of consanguineous unions is the only means of reducing levels of congenital hearing impairment. The current levels of hearing disability represent both a prominent public health problem and an important, potentially preventable childhood disability.
Squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal vestibule: a 20-year case series and literature review
Authors: Dowley A , Hoskison E , Allibone R , Jones N S
Published: April 2008

Squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal vestibule is a rare disease with significant morbidity and mortality, and a five-year recurrence-free survival rate of between 42 and 92 per cent. There are several staging systems: the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) skin and nasoethmoid complex system, the Union International Centre Cancer (UICC) nasal fossa system, and Wang's system. Treatment options include radiotherapy or surgery for early lesions, but more advanced cases require radical surgery with post-operative radiotherapy. We present a case series spanning the last 20 years in one centre, and we compare this series with cases reported in the literature, paying particular attention to staging, treatment and outcome. We found that patients with tumours staged T2 or T3 (Wang system) who received radiotherapy alone did poorly in comparison with those who received surgery or surgery and radiotherapy.
Alessandro Duranti, ed., Key terms in language
and culture. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. Pp. v, 282.
Authors: Tetreault Chantal
Published: April 2008

Key terms in language and culture
(hereafter Key terms) is an ambitious collection of
75 short essays on concepts central to linguistic anthropology
and related fields. This book began as an informational session
at the American Anthropological Association meetings in 1998
and was first published as a special issue of the Journal
of Linguistic Anthropology (vol. 9, no. 1–2, 1999).
Alessandro Duranti, Key terms' chief editor and
architect, is an experienced navigator in the varied terrain of
language and culture research; he is also the author of Linguistic
anthropology, a comprehensive textbook that covers the
discipline's major theoretical and methodological contributions.
In Key terms, Duranti appeals to the expertise of 74 other
scholars working on questions central to language and culture research.
The result is a powerful and eclectic volume that brings together
core concepts from anthropology, linguistics, folklore, philosophy,
sociology, and psychology, among other fields.
Patrizia Violi, Meaning and experience.
Translated by Jeremy Carden. (Advances in Semiotics, Thomas
A. Sebeok, general ed.). Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana
University Press, 2001. Pp. xiv, 291. Hb $49.95.
Authors: MacLaury Robert E.
Published: April 2008

In this clearly wrought translation from Italian,
the philosopher Patrizia Violi analyzes and criticizes in exacting
detail the development of lexical semantics from the classical
models through structuralism, prototype theory, and frame
semantics, to end at the threshold of cognitive semantics (cf.
Violi 1997). Her critique expounds on both well-known and
little-known concepts, but she does not innovate theory. Her
account could be useful as a handbook to anyone who teaches
lexical semantics or who wishes to match his or her overview
of this field with that of an accomplished academic who has
given it vast thought; the work is too advanced for most students.
The reader likely will disagree with some of Violi's
explications, all of which, nevertheless, are sufficiently informed
to force clarification of any contrary position. The book rivals
the main synopses published in English (Durbin & Radden
1987, Hjelmslev 1953, Johnson-Laird 1983, Taylor 1989), but
it adds a semiotic facet derived mainly from works of Umberto
Eco, Diego Marconi, and Algirdas J. Greimas. Of its references,
248 are in English, 24 in Italian, 24 in French, and 16 in other
languages; all but two are generally available. Many of the
277 notes are immediately germane to the text, although others
are dispensable distractions. The nine-page index is taxonomic
but cryptic; for example, externalism appears under
both Linguistics and Meaning, each appearance
with different pages, but intension and extension
are elusive; because the book is a review of concepts, this
handicap is grave.
Alison Sealy, Childly language: Children, language and the
social world. London: Longman, Pearson Education, 2000. Pp. 229.
Authors: de León Lourdes
Published: April 2008

This book aims to explore discursive
representations of childhood and how they contribute to create
the social categories of ‘children’ and
‘childhood’. It uses a combination of approaches
and methods that range from textual analysis, to elicitation
of utterances, to data from natural interactions. Although the
title suggests that the study covers general phenomena, it is
based exclusively on British English. Some of the findings may
resonate in the wider cultural area of the First World, and
there may be parallels with more global notions of
‘children’; however, the subtitle should have made
clear that the study is restricted to British English.
Diane Belcher and Ulla Connor, eds.,
Reflections on multiliterate lives. (Bilingual Education
and Bilingualism, Vol. 26, Series editors Colin Baker &
Nancy Hornberger.) Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters,
2001. Pp. vii, 211. Hb $79.95, pb $29.95.
Authors: Scheyder Elizabeth
Published: April 2008

Many authors write books and papers about
deficits in second language teaching and competence, shining
a spotlight on what teachers are doing “wrong” or
what students are lacking. In this volume, Diane Belcher and
Ulla Connor set out to provide a model that bypasses these negative
perspectives and showcases success stories in second (or
nth) language learning. The result is a compilation
of auto-ethnographies from 18 adults with successful professional
careers who were asked to provide their “L1/L2 literacy
autobiograph(ies)” (p. 209).
Tessa Carroll, Language planning and language
change in Japan. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2001.
Pp. 275. Hb. $40.00
Authors: Wetzel Patricia J.
Published: April 2008

The strength of this book (henceforth
LPLCJ) is that it is filled with information about
an important but little-understood aspect of Japanese culture:
Japan's stance toward its own language. It takes as its
point of departure “the study of language planning as
a branch of the sociology of language” (p. 10). For reasons
that I will outline below, I find this particular approach
unsatisfying, but the book's strengths far outweigh its
weaknesses, and I will outline the former here before offering
my own opinion on how this topic should be approached.
Mimi Nichter, Fat talk: What girls and their
parents say about dieting. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 2000. Pp. xi, 263. Hb $22.95.
Authors: Bucholtz Mary
Published: April 2008

The relationship between language and the
body has become an increasingly prominent area of research within
linguistics and related disciplines. Some investigators of this
question have examined how facts about the human body are encoded
in linguistic structure, while others have explored the use
of the body as a communicative resource in interaction.
Surprisingly little, however, has been written about the role
of language in constructing the body as a social object. In
Fat talk, Mimi Nichter, a medical anthropologist,
addresses this issue by examining the discourse of dieting among
American teenage girls. Although language itself is not the
center of the analysis, Nichter draws on a wide range of
sociolinguistic research to investigate how the body is constructed
through talk – a question that will be of equal interest
to scholars of language, culture, and society.
Growing up monolingual in a bilingual community: The Quichua
revitalization paradox
Authors: RINDSTEDT CAMILLA , ARONSSON KARIN
Published: April 2008

The present investigation concerns language
ideology and language practices in relation to a language shift
– from Quichua-Spanish bilingualism to Spanish monolingualism
– that seems to be under way. The analyses are based on
fieldwork in an Ecuadorian sierra community characterized by
ethnic revitalization. Among adult comuneros, the
vernacular is seen as an essential part of their Indian cultural
heritage. In the children's daily lives, the adults,
particularly women and the elderly, speak Quichua among themselves,
yet children are not addressed in the vernacular by either parents
or elder siblings, and those under 10 years of age are generally
more or less monolingual in Spanish. The paradoxical mismatch
between ideology and daily practices – the ethnic
revitalization paradox – is analyzed in light of Quichua
speaking practices in intergenerational encounters, and in
children's play dialogues. Ultimately, being Quichua means
something different to members of each generation.
Can robots make good models of biological behaviour?
Authors: Webb Barbara
Published: April 2008

How should biological behaviour be modelled? A relatively new approach is to investigate problems in neuroethology by building physical robot models of biological sensorimotor systems. The explication and justification of this approach are here placed within a framework for describing and comparing models in the behavioural and biological sciences. First, simulation models – the representation of a hypothesis about a target system – are distinguished from several other relationships also termed “modelling” in discussions of scientific explanation. Seven dimensions on which simulation models can differ are defined and distinctions between them discussed:

1. Relevance: whether the model tests and generates hypotheses applicable to biology.

2. Level: the elemental units of the model in the hierarchy from atoms to societies.

3. Generality: the range of biological systems the model can represent.

4. Abstraction: the complexity, relative to the target, or amount of detail included in the model.

5. Structural accuracy: how well the model represents the actual mechanisms underlying the behaviour.

6. Performance match: to what extent the model behaviour matches the target behaviour.

7. Medium: the physical basis by which the model is implemented.

No specific position in the space of models thus defined is the only correct one, but a good modelling methodology should be explicit about its position and the justification for that position. It is argued that in building robot models biological relevance is more effective than loose biological inspiration; multiple levels can be integrated; that generality cannot be assumed but might emerge from studying specific instances; abstraction is better done by simplification than idealisation; accuracy can be approached through iterations of complete systems; that the model should be able to match and predict target behaviour; and that a physical medium can have significant advantages. These arguments reflect the view that biological behaviour needs to be studied and modelled in context, that is, in terms of the real problems faced by real animals in real environments.
Some robotic imitations of biological movements can be counterproductive
Authors: Balasubramaniam Ramesh , Feldman Anatol G
Published: April 2008

It is proposed here that Webb's ideas about robots as possible models of animals need some rethinking. In our view, even though widely used biorobotics strategies are fairly successful at reproducing the macroscopic behavior of biological systems, there are still several problems unresolved on the side of robotics as well as biology. Both mathematical and hardware-like robotics models should be feasible physiologically. Control principles elaborated in robotics are not necessarily applied to biological control systems. Although observations of flying birds inspired aerodynamics and thus modern airplanes, little knowledge has been added to the neurophysiological principles underlying flight in birds. Chess playing computers might outperform most chess players, but they cannot be considered as physiologically feasible models of human thinking.
Okay for content words, but what about functional items?
Authors: Bickerton Derek
Published: April 2008

Though Bloom makes a good case that learning content-word meanings requires no task-specific apparatus, he does not seriously address problems inherent in learning the meanings of functional items. Evidence from creole languages suggests that the latter process presupposes at least some task-specific mechanisms, perhaps including a list of the limited number of semantic distinctions that can be expressed via functional items, as well as default systems that may operate in cases of impoverished input.
Concept modeling, essential properties, and similarity spaces
Authors: Gärdenfors Peter
Published: April 2008

Bloom argues that concepts depend on psychological essentialism. He rejects the proposal that concepts are based on perceptual similarity spaces because it cannot account for how we handle new properties and does not fit with our intuitions about essences. I argue that by using a broader notion of similarity space, it is possible to explain these features of concepts.
Word meaning, cognitive development, and social interaction
Authors: Garton Alison F.
Published: April 2008

This review proposes that Bloom's linkage of word meaning with more general cognitive capacities could be extended through examination of the social contexts in which children learn. Specifically, the child's developing theory of mind can be viewed as part of the process by which children learn word meanings through engagement in social interactions that facilitate both language and strategic behaviours.
Innateness, abstract names, and syntactic cues in How Children Learn the Meanings of Words
Authors: Harley Heidi , Piattelli-Palmarini Massimo
Published: April 2008

Bloom masterfully captures the state-of-the-art in the study of lexical acquisition. He also exposes the extent of our ignorance about the learning of names for non-observables. HCLMW adopts an innatist position without adopting modularity of mind; however, it seems likely that modularity is needed to bridge the gap between object names and the rest of the lexicon.
How to solve the distinguishability problem: Triangulation without explicit training
Authors: Lurz Robert W.
Published: April 2008

Heyes's (1998) triangulation approach to distinguishing a “theory” of mind (ToM) from a “theory” of behavior (ToB) in chimpanzees fails. The ToB theorist can appeal to the explicit training sessions and analogical reasoning to explain/predict the chimpanzees' behaviors. An alternative triangulation experiment is sketched, demonstrating how the removal of such training sessions paves the way toward solving the distinguishability problem.
Theory of mind and other domain-specific hypotheses
Authors: Heyes C. M.
Published: April 2008

The commentators do not contest the target article's claim that there is no compelling evidence of theory of mind in primates, and recent empirical studies further support this view. If primates lack theory of mind, they may still have other behavior control mechanisms that are adaptive in complex social environments. The Somatic Marker Mechanism (SMM) is a candidate, but the SMM hypothesis postulates a much weaker effect of natural selection on social cognition than the theory of mind hypothesis (on inputs to cognitive mechanisms, not on the mechanisms themselves), and there is currently no evidence that it is specific to social stimuli or to primates. “Two Guesser” training would make the goggles test too chauvinistic, and in its current form the goggles problem could not be solved by physical matching because, while wearing goggles, an individual cannot see itself seeing.
Functional identification of constraints on feature creation
Authors: Schyns Phillipe G. , Goldstone Robert L. , Thibaut Jean-Pierre
Published: April 2008

Dawson's provocative comment makes three connected points: (1) to be falsifiable, theories that assume flexible features must constrain their feature creation and mechanisms, (2) the explanatory power of such functional theories is rooted in the properties of their underlying physical mechanisms, and (3) to derive the relevant constraints of feature creation from these mechanisms, it is critical to avoid the scope slip. We will argue here that even though we agree with (1) and (2), (3) confuses two different levels of analysis of computational systems: the functional identification and the physical implementation of relevant constraints.
The nature and function of models
Authors: Giere Ronald N.
Published: April 2008

There is no best scientific model of anything; there are only models more or less good for different purposes. Thus, there is no general answer to the question of whether one should model biological behavior using computer simulations or robots. It all depends on what one wants to learn. This is not a question about models, but about scientific goals.
Why theories of word learning don't always work as theories of verb learning
Authors: Naigles Letitia R.
Published: April 2008

Bloom's theory of word learning has difficulty accounting for children's verb acquisition. There is no predominant preverbal event concept, akin to the preverbal object concept, to direct children's early event-verb mappings. Children may take advantage of grammatical and linguistic information in verb acquisition earlier than Bloom allows. A distinction between lexical and grammatical learning is difficult to maintain for verb acquisition.
The name game updated
Authors: Nelson Katherine
Published: April 2008

Bloom's domain general theory remains strictly cognitive and individualistic. By ignoring the contribution of social interaction and collective construction of concepts, he fails to solve the word learning problem.
Doing versus knowing
Authors: Killeen Peter R.
Published: April 2008

Aristotle's four causes frame Webb's question. Comprehension requires specification of trigger, function, mechanism, and representation. Robots are real models of function. Physical, biological, and epigenetic constraints delimit the hypothesis space for candidate mechanisms. Robots constitute a simplified system more susceptible to formal representation than the target system. They thus constitute an important tool in a constructivist development of scientific knowledge.
Models are better than their theory
Authors: Kötter Rolf
Published: April 2008

As modelling becomes a popular approach in the study of biological systems it is necessary to clarify its concepts and dimensions. This helps to characterize and to distinguish models but cannot establish their quality. The virtue of a model depends on the insight gained in respect to a specific scientific question, and it is hard to measure this with a theory.
Words, grammar, and number concepts: Evidence from development and aphasia
Authors: Varley Rosemary , Siegal Michael
Published: April 2008

Bloom's book underscores the importance of specifying the role of words and grammar in cognition. We propose that the cognitive power of language lies in the lexicon rather than grammar. We suggest ways in which studies involving children and patients with aphasia can provide insights into the basis of abstract cognition in the domain of number and mathematics.
Word extension: A key to early word learning and domain-specificity
Authors: Waxman Sandra R.
Published: April 2008

Bloom provides a masterful synthesis of recent advances in word-learning, placing them within the framework of abiding theoretical issues. I will augment and challenge his approach by underscoring the significance of word extension for questions concerning (a) the origin and evolution of infants' expectations, and (b) domain-specificity in word-learning.
Research, robots, and reality: A statement on current trends in biorobotics
Authors: Niebur Ernst , Elhilali Mounya , Obeid Iyad , Werfel Justin , Blanchard Mark , Frasca Mattia , Ghose Kaushik , Hofstoetter Constanze , Indiveri Giovanni , Tilden Mark W.
Published: April 2008

While robotics has benefited from inspiration gained from biology, the opposite is not the case: there are few if any cases in which robotic models have lead to genuine insight into biology. We analyze the reasons why biorobotics has been essentially a one-way street. We argue that the development of better tools is essential for progress in this field.
An ideational account of early word learning: A plausibility assessment
Authors: Nolan Rita
Published: April 2008

The theoretical framework of Bloom's account of child word learning is here assessed only for initial plausibility and neural plausibility. The verdict on both dimensions is low, largely due to the size and character of knowledge it is claimed that the child brings to the task. It is suggested that elements of constructivist accounts could profitably be drawn from to reduce this implausibility.
The conundrum of correlation and causation
Authors: Pepperberg Irene M.
Published: April 2008

Biology can inspire robotic simulations of behavior and thus advance robotics, but the validity of drawing conclusions about real behavior from robotic models is questionable. Robotic models, particularly of learning, do not account, for example, for (a) exaptation: co-opting of previously evolved functions for new behavior, (b) learning through observation, (c) complex biological reality, or (d) limits on computational capacity.
Biomimetic robots and biology
Authors: Selverston Allen I.
Published: April 2008

Using robots that operate in the real world as opposed to computer simulations of animal behavior is a form of modeling that may provide some biological insights. However, since engineering principles and materials differ significantly from those used in biology, one should be extremely cautious in interpreting robot biomimicry as providing an explanation of biological mechanisms.
Soul searching and heart throbbing for biological modeling
Authors: Young Daniel L. , Poon Chi-Sang
Published: April 2008

Biological models are useful not only because they can simulate biological behaviors, but because they may shed light on the inner workings of complex biological structures and functions as deduced by top-down and/or bottom-up reasoning. Beyond the stylistic appeal of specific implementation methods, a model should be appraised according to its ability to bring out the underlying organizing and operating principles – which are truly the model's heart and soul.
Robots can be (good) models
Authors: Webb Barbara
Published: April 2008

It appears there is general support amongst the commentaries for the potential usefulness of biorobots as models, with some caveats. These include the issue that not all areas of biology have been addressed by this methodology (and perhaps some cannot be?); and that other methodologies may sometimes be more useful. Which dimensions of biorobotic (or other models) are considered important varies with the goals of the investigator. These goals are also an essential part of the “modelling relationship.”
Does TEC explain the emergence of distal representations?
Authors: Siebel Mark
Published: April 2008

Hommel et al. (2001) try to explain the emergence of distal representations by an evolutionary account which includes their theory of event coding. A closer look at the way the terms “distal representations” and “representations of events” are defined reveals, however, that their hypothesis of a common code for perceived and to-be-produced events is in fact superfluous. Moreover, it shows that they mix up empirical facts with conceptual/definitional facts in the second assumption of their explanation.
The role of language of instruction and vocabulary in the English phonological awareness of Spanish–English bilingual children
Authors: SAN FRANCISCO ANDREA ROLLA , CARLO MARÍA , AUGUST DIANE , SNOW CATHERINE E.
Published: April 2008

This study explores influences on bilingual children's phonological awareness (PA) performance in English, examining the role of language of instruction and vocabulary. English monolingual and Spanish–English bilingual kindergartners and first graders receiving either English or Spanish literacy instruction were assessed in English PA and in English and Spanish vocabulary, as appropriate. Spanish-instructed bilinguals were more likely than English-instructed bilinguals or English monolinguals to treat diphthongs as two units, reflecting their analysis in Spanish phonology and orthography. Surprisingly, unbalanced bilinguals dominant in either English or Spanish scored better on English PA than children with approximately equal scores on the English and the Spanish vocabulary test. This finding suggests that familiarity with many lexical items within a language constitutes a source of analyzable phonological knowledge.
The production of passives by children with specific language impairment: Acquiring English or Cantonese
Authors: LEONARD LAURENCE B. , WONG ANITA M.-Y. , DEEVY PATRICIA , STOKES STEPHANIE F. , FLETCHER PAUL
Published: April 2008

The production of passive sentences by children with specific language impairment (SLI) was studied in two languages, English and Cantonese. In both languages, the word order required for passive sentences differs from the word order used for active sentences. However, English and Cantonese passive sentences are quite different in other respects. We found that English-speaking children with SLI were less proficient than both same-age and younger typically developing peers in the use of passives, although difficulty could not be attributed to word order or a reliance on active sentences. Cantonese-speaking children with SLI proved less capable than same-age peers in their use of passive sentences but at least as proficient as younger peers. The implications of these cross-linguistic differences are discussed.
Nonword repetition and word learning: The nature of the relationship
Authors: GATHERCOLE SUSAN E.
Published: April 2008

This article presents a theoretical framework designed to accommodate core evidence that the abilities to repeat nonwords and to learn the phonological forms of new words are closely linked. Basic findings relating nonword repetition and word learning both in typical samples of children and adults and in individuals with disorders of language learning are described. The theoretical analysis of this evidence is organized around the following claims: first, that nonword repetition and word learning both rely on phonological storage; second, that they are both multiply determined, constrained also by auditory, phonological, and speech–motor output processes; third, that a phonological storage deficit alone may not be sufficient to impair language learning to a substantial degree. It is concluded that word learning mediated by temporary phonological storage is a primitive learning mechanism that is particularly important in the early stages of acquiring a language, but remains available to support word learning across the life span.
Beyond words: Phonological short-term memory and syntactic impairment in specific language impairment
Authors: Bishop Dorothy V. M.
Published: April 2008

The assessment of nonword repetition in children goes back at least to 1974, when the Goldman–Fristoe–Woodcock Auditory Skills Battery was published, including a subtest (Sound Mimicry) assessing nonword repetition (Goldman, Fristoe, & Woodcock, 1974). Nevertheless, it was not until 20 years later, when Gathercole and Baddeley (1990) reported a study of short-term memory in children with specific language impairment (SLI), that a theoretical framework was developed linking deficits in nonword repetition to impaired language acquisition. Gathercole's Keynote in this issue (2006) tells the story of how this initial study revealed a striking nonword repetition deficit in children with SLI, complementing work on typically developing children showing a major role of phonological short-term memory (STM) in word learning. As she points out, the story is a complex one: phonological STM is not the only skill tapped by the nonword repetition task, and children may do poorly for different reasons. Furthermore, relationships between nonword repetition and word learning may be reciprocal, with vocabulary level affecting children's ability to segment nonwords efficiently and retain them in memory. However, the original finding, that deficient nonword repetition is a strong correlate of SLI, has stood the test of time, to the extent that poor performance on this test has been used successfully as a marker of a heritable phenotype in molecular genetic studies of SLI (Newbury, Monaco, & Bishop, 2005).
Do nonword repetition errors in children with specific language impairment reflect a weakness in an unidentified skill specific to nonword repetition or a deficit in simultaneous processing?
Authors: Marton Klara
Published: April 2008

This Commentary supports Gathercole's (2006) proposal on a double deficit in children with specific language impairment (SLI). The author suggests that these children have a limited phonological storage combined with a particular problem of processing novel speech stimuli. According to Gathercole, there are three areas of skill contributing to memory for nonwords: general cognitive abilities, phonological storage, and an unidentified skill specific to nonword repetition. The focus of this Commentary is to examine whether these children's nonword repetition performance is influenced by an unidentified skill or some other processes. An alternative hypothesis is that the nonword repetition errors observed in children with SLI are related to one of their main weaknesses, to their difficulties in simultaneous processing of information. Evidence for this argument comes from our recent studies: from error analyses data and from findings on nonword repetition with stimuli that included meaningful parts (monosyllabic real words).
Phonological networks and new word learning
Authors: Service Elisabet
Published: April 2008

The first report of a connection between vocabulary learning and phonological short-term memory was published in 1988 (Baddeley, Papagno, & Vallar, 1988). At that time, both Susan Gathercole and I were involved in longitudinal studies, investigating the relation between nonword repetition and language learning. We both found a connection. Now, almost 20 years later, in her Keynote Gathercole (2006) reviews a multitude of data bearing on the interpretation of this often replicated connection. Her main conclusions are three. First, both nonword repetition and word learning are constrained by the quality of temporary storage. She sees this storage as multiply determined, that is, affected by factors like perceptual analysis, phonological awareness (ability to identify and reflect on the speech sounds that make up words). Second, both nonword repetition and word learning are also affected by sensory, cognitive, and motor processes. Third, an impairment of phonological storage is typically associated with specific language impairment (SLI) but may not be a sole causal factor.
Precautions regarding nonword repetition tasks
Authors: Smith Bruce
Published: April 2008

Using nonword repetition tasks as an experimental approach with both adults and children has become quite common in the past 10 to 15 years for studying lexical learning and phonological processing (e.g., Bailey & Hahn, 2001; Gathercole, Frankish, Pickering & Peaker, 1998; Munson, Edwards, & Beckman, 2005; Storkel, 2001; Vitevich & Luce, 2005). In her Keynote, Gathercole (2006) indicates that “The ability to repeat multisyllabic nonwords…probably represents the most effective predictor of language learning ability that is currently known” and that “nonword repetition…may also hold the key to understanding developmental disorders of language learning.” Her Keynote reviews many of the findings from a variety of nonword repetition studies with typically developing children and children with specific language impairment (SLI) or other language-related disorders. Despite the substantial benefits and interesting findings that nonword test paradigms have provided in addressing different issues, a number of questions and precautions should be kept in mind regarding such approaches. Researchers who routinely employ these procedures are likely to be well aware of these issues, and in fact, Gathercole points out some of the limitations. For those less familiar with nonword repetition tasks, it seems advisable to reinforce the need for a certain amount of caution in evaluating the results of such approaches.
Manipulating the characteristics of words and nonwords to better understand word learning
Authors: Vitevitch Michael S.
Published: April 2008

The work of Susan Gathercole and others on nonword repetition has increased general interest in the relationship between memory and language, and has provided a fertile theoretical framework for researchers to explore how the language system makes use of the phonological loop, a component in Baddeley's (1986) working memory model. Gathercole (2006) integrated a number of findings from a variety of research methodologies and populations to support this theoretical framework. She also discussed how this framework might be applied to increase our understanding of language disorders characterized by word learning problems. Synthesizing the findings from many and diverse areas of study to formulate a coherent theory is a challenge, but this challenge must be undertaken if we hope to significantly advance our understanding of human behavior, including the differences in processing that are found across the lifespan and across individuals. I admire Gathercole for undertaking this challenge (and the additional challenge of applying the theory to language disorders) in the area of word learning.
Further evidence of gender stereotype priming in language: Semantic facilitation and inhibition in Italian role nouns
Authors: CACCIARI CRISTINA , PADOVANI ROBERTO
Published: April 2008

Two experiments tested the activation of gender stereotypes for Italian role nouns (e.g.,teacher). The experimental paradigm was modeled on the one proposed by a study by Banaji and Hardin: participants were shown a prime word followed by a target pronoun (heorshe) on which they performed a gender decision task. The prime words were Italian role nouns that had an associated female stereotype, an associated male stereotype, or no associated stereotype (control condition). The results of Experiment 1 showed no influence of stereotypes on the gender decision response to personal pronouns. However, when, in Experiment 2, the prime-target interval and the prime presentation times were prolonged, a stereotypical gender priming effect did emerge. A different inhibition pattern was found when the pronoun was preceded by a noun associated with a male stereotype instead of a female one.
Spontaneous language markers of Spanish language impairment
Authors: SIMON-CEREIJIDO GABRIELA , GUTIÉRREZ-CLELLEN VERA F.
Published: April 2008

Spanish-speaking (SS) children with language impairment (LI) present with deficits in morphology and verb argument structure. These language areas may be useful for clinical identification of affected children. This study aimed to evaluate the discrimination accuracy of spontaneous language measures with SS preschoolers to tease out what combination of grammatical measure(s) were responsible for the LI deficits, and to determine the role of verb argument structure and syntactic complexity in identifying SS children with LI. Two sets of experiments were conducted on the spontaneous language samples of SS preschoolers with and without LI using discriminant function analyses. The study found that (a) mean length of utterance in words (MLUW) and ungrammaticality index in combination are fair to good discriminators of preschoolers with LI; (b) a morphology model combining correct use of articles, verbs, and clitics fairly discriminates LI children but may miss children whose language has limited syntactic complexity; and (c) semantic–syntactic complexity measures, such as MLUW, theme argument omissions, and ditransitive verb use, should be considered in the assessment of Spanish LI. The children who were bilingual and Spanish dominant in the study were classified as accurately as the Spanish-only children.