Showing papers by "University of Haifa published in 1997"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed 102 self-reports of decision-making under uncertainty with an inclusive method of classifying conceptualizations of uncertainty and coping mechanisms developed from the decisionmaking literature and found that decision makers distinguished among three types of uncertainty: inadequate understanding, incomplete information, and undifferentiated alternatives.
735 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a homological algebra of homotopy algebras, which is a generalization of homology of homophily of homologies.
Abstract: (1997). Homological algebra of homotopy algebras. Communications in Algebra: Vol. 25, No. 10, pp. 3291-3323.
430 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that children respond more informatively to an open-ended invitation when they have previously been trained to answer such questions rather than more focused questions.
267 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between memorization of new words (short-term and long-term) and teaching techniques involving different modes of vocabulary presentation and different language of vocabulary glossing and found that glossed words were always better retained than those glossed in L 2.
Abstract: The paper examines the relationship between memorization of new words (short-term and long-term) and teaching techniques involving different modes of vocabulary presentation and different language of vocabulary glossing. The four modes were: 1- words presented in isolation, 2 - in 'minimal context', i.e., in one meaningful sentence, 3 - in text-context, 4 - in 'elaborated' text context, i.e., in the original text supplemented by clarifying phrases and sentences. In each mode of presentation, half (ten) of the words were translated into learners' L 1 and half were explained in English. An additional group of learners served as a control. They were asked to learn the words for a quiz by themselves. All subjects were tested on the short-term and long-term retention of the target words. Retention scores were compared by mode of presentation, language of glossing and the interaction between the two. Words glossed in L 1 were always better retained than those glossed in L2. As for context effect, words presente...
233 citations
TL;DR: 5-year-olds had more Positive and Disciplinary representations and fewer Negative representations than did 4- year-olds, and there was moderate stability in individual differences in children's representations of mothers across the 2 ages.
Abstract: We investigated associations between children's representations of mothers in their play narratives and measures of children's and mothers' socioemotional adaptation, and explored the development of these representations between the ages of 4 and 5 years. Fifty-one children were interviewed using the MacArthur Story-Stem Battery to obtain their narrative representations of mothers. Positive, Negative, and Disciplinary representation composites were generated. Children who had more Positive and Disciplinary representations and fewer Negative representations had fewer behavior problems and their mothers reported less psychological distress. In addition, 5-year-olds had more Positive and Disciplinary representations and fewer Negative representations than did 4-year-olds, and there was moderate stability in individual differences in children's representations of mothers across the 2 ages. The results add an important dimension to research on parent-child relationships-that of children's perspectives on these relationships.
194 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a large number of planetary nebulae (458) were classified according to the process that caused their progenitors to blow axisymmetrical winds on the asymptotic giant branch.
Abstract: I classify a large number of planetary nebulae (458) according to the process that caused their progenitors to blow axisymmetrical winds. The classification is based primarily on the morphologies of the different planetary nebulae, assuming that binary companions, stellar or substellar, are necessary in order to have axisymmetrical mass loss on the asymptotic giant branch. I propose four evolutionary classes, according to the binary-model hypothesis: (1) Progenitors of planetary nebula that did not interact with any companion. These amount to ~10% of all planetary nebulae. (2) Progenitors that interact with stellar companions that avoided a common envelope, 11+2−3% of all nebulae. (3) Progenitors that interact with stellar companions via a common envelope phase, 23+11−5% of all nebulae. (4) Progenitors that interact with substellar (i.e., planets and brown dwarfs) companions via a common envelope phase, 56+5−8% of all nebulae. In order to define and build the different classes, I start with clarifying some relevant terms and processes related to binary evolution. I then discuss kinematical and morphological properties of planetary nebulae that appear to require the interaction of the planetary nebula progenitors and/or their winds with companions, stellar or substellar.
188 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define a generalization of simple voting games (SVGs) and show that these maximally responsive TVGs are more responsive than the corresponding SVGs.
Abstract: We defineternary voting games (TVGs), a generalization ofsimple voting games (SVGs). In a play of an SVG each voter has just two options: voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’. In a TVG a third option is added: abstention. Every SVG can be regarded as a (somewhat degenerate) TVG; but the converse is false. We define appropriate generalizations of the Shapley-Shubik and Banzhaf indices for TVGs. We define also theresponsiveness (ordegree of democratic participation) of a TVG and determine, for eachn, the most responsive TVGs withn voters. We show that these maximally responsive TVGs are more responsive than the corresponding SVGs.
177 citations
TL;DR: Early mother-child co-construction of a separation-reunion narrative and children's concurrent and later emotion narratives and behavior problems showed that children who were more emotionally coherent during the co-constructions had MSSB narratives that were more coherent, had more prosocial themes, and had fewer aggressive themes.
Abstract: The associations were studied between early mother-child co-construction of a separation-reunion narrative and children's concurrent and later (a) emotion narratives and (b) behavior problems Fifty-one children and their mothers were observed during a co-construction task when the children were age 4 1/2 At ages 4 1/2 and 5 1/2, children's narratives were elicited using the MacArthur Story-Stem Battery (MSSB), and mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist Results showed that children who were more emotionally coherent during the co-constructions had MSSB narratives that were more coherent, had more prosocial themes, and had fewer aggressive themes at ages 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 Moreover, such children had fewer behavior problems at both ages The relations between narrative processes and emotion regulation are discussed
173 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the process of renaming East Berlin's communist past in the years 1990-1994 and the subsequent reshaping of the city's postcommunist political geography as an aspect of the reunification of Germany, and of Berlin in particular.
172 citations
TL;DR: The data support the previous study indicating that UPSIT performance is largely independent of the executive or attentional deficits typically associated with schizophrenia, with the exception of verbal ability, and suggest that gender differences on the UPSIT are mildly accentuated in schizophrenia.
159 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the differences in effectiveness of three types of dictionaries (monolingual, bilingual, and bilingualised) in the comprehension and production of new words by EFL learners.
Abstract: This article examines the differences in effectiveness of 3 types of dictionaries— monolingual, bilingual, and “bilingualised” in the comprehension and production of new words by EFL learners. The participants in the research were 123 high school and university learners. The test consisted of 15 low-frequency words. Five were given with their entries from a monolingual learner's dictionary, 5 with their translations from a bilingual dictionary, and 5 with the entry from a bilingualised (or semibilingual) dictionary. The study tested participants on the comprehension of the target words and on their ability to use these words in their own sentences. The results of the experiment suggest that different dictionaries may be suitable for users with different abilities in dictionary use.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the politics of research in a "narrative" mode which challenges traditional research, issues of power that arise in collaborative research relationships, and the political implications of studying the private domain of life story and autobiography.
TL;DR: Molecular markers flanking the Yr15 gene of wheat have been identified using the near-isogenic-lines approach and the application of marker-assisted selection for the breeding of new wheat cultivars with the stripe rust resistance gene is discussed.
Abstract: The Yr15 gene of wheat confers resistance to the stripe rust pathogen Puccinia striiformis West., which is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat throughout the world. In the present study, molecular markers flanking the Yr15 gene of wheat have been identified using the near-isogenic-lines approach. RFLP screening of 76 probe-enzyme combinations revealed one polymorphic marker (Nor/TaqI) between the susceptible and the resistant lines. In addition, out of 340 RAPD primers tested, six produced polymorphic RAPD bands between the susceptible and the resistant lines. The genetic linkage of the polymorphic markers was tested on segregating F2 population (123 plants) derived from crosses between stripe rust-susceptible Triticum durum wheat, cv D447, and a BC3F9 resistant line carrying Yr15 in a D447 background. A 2.8-kb fragment produced by the Nor RFLP probe and a 1420-bp PCR product generated by the RAPD primer OPB13 showed linkage, in coupling, with the Yr15 gene. Employing the standard maximum-likelihood technique it was found that the order OPB13 1420 –Yr15–Nor1 on chromosome 1B appeared to be no less than 1000-times more probable than the closest alternative. The map distances between OPB13 1420 –Yr15–Nor1 are 27.1 cM and 11.0 cM for the first and second intervals, respectively. The application of marker-assisted selection for the breeding of new wheat cultivars with the stripe rust resistance gene is discussed.
TL;DR: The intention of this article is to show that, when applying his tribal policies, Saddam Hussein altered the Baʿth Party's most central tenets of faith, how and why he did this, and what it meant for Iraqi society as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The intention of this article is to show that, when applying his tribal policies, Saddam Hussein altered the Baʿth Party's most central tenets of faith, how and why he did this, and what it meant for Iraqi society and for the ruling party. Saddam Hussein's tribal policy started soon after the party came to power in July 1968, but it went through a quantum leap in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. First, rather than eliminating the tribal shaykh as a sociopolitical power, as dictated by party doctrine, he endeavored to manipulate the shaykhs and, through a process of socialization (or “Baʿthization”), turn them into docile tools in the service of the regime. Second, and a far sharper departure from party tradition, he turned the tribal shaykhs into legitimate partners for power-sharing; he tribalized the regime's Praetorian Guard; and he worked to reawaken long-suppressed and often forgotten tribal affinities in that part of Iraqi society which is no longer tribal and to graft onto it tribal values, or what he considered to be such values. Furthermore, he even took some steps to tribalize the party itself, and tribal customs, real or imagined, permeated the state's legal system. Kinship was legitimized as a principle guiding the selection of party leaders, and leaders' tribal roots were played up; tribal honor became a legitimate guiding principle behind foreign-policy decisions; and at least once, the president even called the Baʿth Party itself “a tribe.”
TL;DR: The rejection of root-initial gemination supports the psychological reality of the Obligatory Contour Principle, a pivotal constraint in autosegmental phonology, and Hebrew speakers' ratings reflect a phonological constraint on the location of geminates.
TL;DR: Inversion effects for isolated facial features: forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, and chin are reported, showing that configurational information extracted from a whole face is not necessary for obtaining the inversion effects.
Abstract: “Facial inversion effects” refers to the findings that recognition of inverted faces is less accurate than recognition of upright faces. We now report inversion effects for isolated facial features: forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, and chin. This shows that configurational information extracted from a whole face (i.e., from spatial relationships among the facial features) is not necessary for obtaining the inversion effects. Other factors, such as “upright-orientation,” mental rotation, and feature saliency, account for the inversion effects both in a whole face and in its isolated features. We propose a simple formula that satisfactorily predicts the recognition of a whole face and the inversion effects for that face on the basis of its individual features.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the use of examinations for studying student performance in chemistry examination on items that require higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) or lower-order Cognitive skills (LOCS) and found that students performed considerably lower on questions requiring HOCS than on those requiring LOCS.
Abstract: A major driving force in the current effort to reform science education is the conviction that it is vital for our students to develop their higher-order cognitive skills capacity in order to function effectively in our modem, complex science and technology-based society. In line with this rationale, this study focuses on the use of examinations for studying student performance in chemistry examination on items that require higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) or lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS). This usage of examinations is explored and demonstrated via “post-factum” data analysis of two case studies: the General Examination (in chemistry) and the Panhellenic Chemistry Competition administered natinally in Greece for secondary-school graduates in 1991. The main findings were: (a) students performed considerably lower on questions requiring HOCS than on those requiring LOCS; (b) performance on questions requiring HOCS may not correlate with that on questions requiring LOCS for which affective factors, LOCS-orientation in teaching and the extent of prior examination preparation may be responsible; and (c) examinations that contain intems of both types can be effectively used to identify HOCS- and LOCS- students within various contexts of chemistry teaching. Based on the above and previous related studies, the fostering of students' HOCS by appropriate teaching and assessment trategies is advocated.
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of Arabic vowels and Arabic context on reading accuracy of poor and skilled native Arabic readers reading narrative stories and newspaper articles was investigated, and a new Arabic reading model for skilled readers was suggested.
Abstract: This study investigated the effect of Arabic vowels and Arabic context on reading accuracy of poor and skilled native Arabic readers reading narrative stories and newspaper articles. Central to this study is the belief that reading theory today should consider additional variables, especially when explaining the reading process in Arabic orthography among poor and skilled readers. This orthography has not been studied: reading theory today is the sum of conclusions from studies conducted in Latin orthography. The subjects were 109 tenth-grade native Arabic speakers, 39 of them poor readers and 70 skilled readers. Subjects had to read Arabic narrative stories and newspaper articles. There were four reading conditions for each text type: vowelized text, unvowelized text, vowelized word naming, and unvowelized word naming. The results showed that vowels and contexts were important variables to facilitate word recognition in poor and skilled readers in Arabic orthography. A new Arabic reading model for skilled readers is suggested.
TL;DR: In this article, a study was conducted among 32 undergraduate students during their first year of earth sciences study in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where the students' spatial-visualization ability was measured at the beginning and at the end of the course by two different validated instruments.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to look for interrelations between the study of introductory geology courses and the development of spatial-visualization ability. The study was conducted among 32 undergraduate students during their first year of earth sciences study in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The students' spatial-visualization ability was measured at the beginning and at the end of the course by two different validated instruments. Pre- and post-geology scores were analyzed for any significant change and for correlation with final scores in the course. Results indicated that the students' spatial-visualization ability significantly improved after the first geology course was taken. Interviews revealed that the students claimed that only the earth-science courses required spatial-visualization skills. It is suggested that there is a two-way relationship between studying earth science and spatial-visualization skills. It seems that studying earth science itself might improve student spatial-visua...
TL;DR: The results showed that vowels and contexts were important variables to facilitate word recognition in poor and normal/skilled readers in Arabic orthography.
Abstract: This study investigated the effect of vowels and context on the reading accuracy of poor and skilled native Arabic readers in reading paragraphs, sentences, and words. Central to this study is the belief that reading theory today should consider additional variables, especially when explaining the reading process in Arabic orthography among poor and normal/skilled readers. This orthography has not been studied. Reading theory today is the sum of conclusions from studies conducted in Latin orthography. The subjects were 77 native Arabic speakers, 34 of them poor readers and 44 normal/skilled readers. The subjects had to read in Arabic 15 paragraphs, 60 sentences, and 210 words. There were three reading conditions: fully vowelized, partially vowelized, and unvowelized texts. The results showed that vowels and contexts were important variables to facilitate word recognition in poor and normal/skilled readers in Arabic orthography.
TL;DR: Analysis of synaptic spatial distribution showed a training-associated increase in the frequency of shorter distances between synaptic active zones in CA1, but not dentate, thus indicating alterations in local neural circuitry, suggesting that spatial memory formation in mammalian hippocampus may involve topographical changes in local circuitry without synapse formation de novo.
TL;DR: The authors found thousands of crushed olive stones with olive pulp in pits at the Kfar Samir prehistoric settlement off the Carmel coast south of Haifa, which they used to refine the chronological definition of cultural units along the southern Levant coast during the 7th millennium bp.
TL;DR: Results suggested that, for deaf individuals with excellent skills in sign language, the functional impairment caused by prelingual deafness may be restricted to the processing of phonological information.
Abstract: Two groups of prelingually deaf children and a hearing control group participated in an experiment examining the effect of communication mode on the development of phonemic awareness. Sixteen of th...
TL;DR: In this paper, a group of students who had studied functions modeled a multivariable situation and designed, described, and discussed various representations for functions of 2 variables through individual and group work.
Abstract: One major part of the effort to reform secondary school mathematics is the project of changing the goal of studying school algebra from the mastery of symbolic manipulations to the ability to reason algebraically. Another major component of these reform efforts is the creation of opportunities for students to communicate within and about mathematics. The ability to generalize, especially when the generalization requires a major breakthrough in habits of mind, is one indication of algebraic reasoning. In this article, I describe generalization activity as an opportunity to learn about seventh graders' understanding of functions. A group of students who had studied functions modeled a multivariable situation. Through individual and group work, they designed, described, and discussed various representations for functions of 2 variables. Their modeling efforts allowed them to analyze their understanding of representations of quantities, relationships among quantities, and relationships among the representations of quantities in both singleand multivariable functions.
TL;DR: In this article, the results showed a surprisingly large tendency on the part of the examinees to take advantage of the special features of the alternative methods and indicated that, on average, high ability examinees were better judge.
Abstract: A common belief among many test experts is that measurements obtained from multiple-choice (MC) tests can be improved by using evidence about partial knowledge. A large number of methods designed to extract such information from direct reports provided by examinees have been developed over the last 50 years. Most methods require modifications in test instructions, response modes, and scoring rules. These testing methods are reviewed and the results of a large-scale empirical study of the most promising among them are reported. Seven testing methods were applied to MC tests from four different content areas using a between-persons design. To identify the most efficient methods and the optimal conditions for their application, the results were analyzed with respect to six different criteria. The results showed a surprisingly large tendency on the part of the examinees to take advantage of the special features of the alternative methods and indicated that, on average, high ability examinees were better judge...
TL;DR: The authors explored the links between individual TV viewers' working models of attachment (Bowlby, 1980) and the parasocial relations they establish with their favorite TV character and found that males were more anxious about their current partner, while females were more secure in their current.
Abstract: The present study explores the links between individual TV viewers’ working models of attachment (Bowlby, 1980) and the parasocial relations they establish with their favorite TV character. Student subjects answered a survey that assessed the intensity of their parasocial relationships and the content of their mental models of attachment. Results show a selective pattern of relationships between attachment models and parasocial relationships. For dating subjects, males were found to have stronger parasocial relationships with their favorite characters as they were more anxious about their current partner. Females, on the other hand, were found to have stronger parasocial relationships as they were more secure in their current. Findings are discussed in terms of gender differences in romantic relationships.
TL;DR: Gametic phase disequilibria estimates revealed SFS and NFS unique predominant combinations which sharply differentiated the two slopes and indicated that there is differential interslope selection favouring slope‐specific multilocus combinations of alleles, or blocks of genes over tens to hundreds of meters.
Abstract: Genetic diversity was studied in six subpopulations (a total of 60 individuals) of wild barley, Hordeum spontaneum, the progenitor of cultivated barley, sampled from six stations located along a transect of 300 m across the two opposing slopes of ‘Evolution Canyon’, a Mediterranean microsite at Lower Nahal Oren, Mt Carmel. The two opposing slopes are separated by between 100 and 400 m and designated SFS (South-Facing Slope) and NFS (North-Facing Slope) with each having three equidistant test stations. The SFS, which receives up to 300% more solar radiation, is drier, ecologically more heterogeneous, fluctuating, and more stressful than the NFS. Analysis of 12 RAPD primers, representing a total of 51 putative loci, revealed a significant inter- and intraslope variation in RAPD band polymorphism. A significantly higher proportion of polymorphic RAPD loci was found amongst the subpopulations on the SFS (mean P= 0.909) than on the NFS (mean P= 0.682), on the basis of the presence and absence of 22 strong bands. Polymorphism generally increased upwards from the bottom to the top of the SFS (0.636, 0.773, 0.955) and NFS (0.409, 0.500, 0.545), respectively. Gametic phase disequilibria estimates, D, revealed SFS and NFS unique predominant combinations which sharply differentiated the two slopes and indicated that there is differential interslope selection favouring slope-specific multilocus combinations of alleles, or blocks of genes over tens to hundreds of meters. This suggests that selection overrides migration. RAPD polymorphism appears to parallel allozyme diversity which is climatically adaptive and driven by natural selection in the same subpopulations at the microsite.
TL;DR: Open-ended invitations appear to elicit both more numerous details and details that are believed to suggest credibility in interviews, and Implications for the application of CBCA codes to credibility assessment are discussed.
Abstract: Objectives. The goal of the study was to determine whether the criterion-based content analysis (CBCA) indicators of credibility were more likely to be elicited by open-ended interview prompts than by more directive prompts.
Methods. Coders independently applied a revised CBCA coding scheme while others rated interviewer utterance types and the length and richness of children's responses in transcripts of 20 forensic interviews of alleged victims of child sexual abuse.
Results. There were high correlations between the number of CBCA criteria identified and both the length and richness of the children's utterances. Open-ended invitations were especially useful in eliciting responses that contained CBCA criteria, as expected.
Conclusions. Open-ended invitations thus appear to elicit both more numerous details and details that are believed to suggest credibility. Implications for the application of CBCA codes to credibility assessment are discussed.
TL;DR: The main results show that this problem can be solved by an iterative method based on averaging at each step the Bregman projections with respect to f(x)=∑i=1nxi· ln xi of the current iterate onto the given sets.
Abstract: The problem considered in this paper is that of finding a point which is common to almost all the members of a measurable family of closed convex subsets of {R}_{++}^n, provided that such a point exists. The main results show that this problem can be solved by an iterative method essentially based on averaging at each step the Bregman projections with respect to f(x)=σ_i=1^nx_i\cdot \ln x_i of the current iterate onto the given sets.