Showing papers on "Context (language use) published in 1986"

Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative

Abstract: Introduction Problems of the Research Interview 1. Standard Practice 2. Research Interviews as Speech Events 3. The Joint Construction of Meaning 4. Language, Meaning, and Narrative Analysis 5. Meaning in Context and the Empowerment of Respondents Conclusion: Prospects for Critical Research Appendix: Suggested Reading in Narrative Analysis Notes Reference Index

The New York Review of Books

Abstract: It comes as something ofa surprise to reflect that the New York Review ofBooks is now over twenty years old. Even people of my generation (that is, old enough to remember the revolutionary 196os but not young enough to have taken a very exciting part in them) think of the paper as eternally youthful. In fact, it has gone through years of relatively quiet life, yet, as always in a competitive journalistic market, it is the controversies that attract the interest of the reader and to which the history (especially an admittedly impressionistic survey that tries to include something of the intellectual context in which a journal has operated) must give some attention. Not all the attacks which the New York Review has attracted, both early in its career and more recently, are worth more than a brief summary. What do we now make, for example, of Richard Kostelanetz's forthright accusation that 'The New York Review was from its origins destined to publicize Random House's (and especially [Jason] Epstein's) books and writers'?1 Well, simply that, even if the statistics bear out the charge (and Kostelanetz provides some suggestive evidence to support it, at least with respect to some early issues), there is nothing surprising in a market economy about a publisher trying to push his books through the pages of a journal edited by his friends. True, the New York Review has not had room to review more than around fifteen books in each issue and there could be a bias in the selection of

A hierarchical framework for stream habitat classification: Viewing streams in a watershed context

Abstract: Classification of streams and stream habitats is useful for research involving establishment of monitoring stations, determination of local impacts of land-use practices, generalization from site-specific data, and assessment of basin-wide, cumulative impacts of human activities on streams and their biota. This article presents a frame-work for a hierarchical classification system, entailing an organized view of spatial and temporal variation among and within stream systems. Stream habitat systems, defined and classified on several spatiotemporal scales, are associated with watershed geomorphic features and events. Variables selected for classification define relative long-term capacities of systems, not simply short-term states. Streams and their watershed environments are classified within the context of a regional biogeoclimatic landscape classification. The framework is a perspective that should allow more systematic interpretation and description of watershed-stream relationships.

Asymptotic Theory for ARCH Models: Estimation and Testing

Abstract: In the context of a linear dynamic model with moving average errors, we consider a heteroscedastic model which represents an extension of the ARCH model introduced by Engle [4]. We discuss the properties of maximum likelihood and least squares estimates of the parameters of both the regression and ARCH equations, and also the properties of various tests of the model that are available. We do not assume that the errors are normally distributed.

Learning to program = learning to construct mechanisms and explanations

Abstract: Teaching effective problem-solving skills in the context of teaching programming necessitates a revised curriculum for introductory computer programming courses.

Psychology of Language

Abstract: An understandable, clear overview of the psychology of language, where studying the psychology of language doesn't have to be confusing. In David Carroll's text, a topic that can sometimes seem bewildering to students is presented in a clear, interesting, and engaging style. Using a cognitive approach, Carroll brings the current developments and controversies in psycholinguistics to students in an engaging style and sets them in historical context. The book fills the need for an up-to-date and clearly written treatment of the field.

Psychological and biological models

Abstract: What makes people smarter than computers? These volumes by a pioneering neurocomputing group suggest that the answer lies in the massively parallel architecture of the human mind. They describe a new theory of cognition called connectionism that is challenging the idea of symbolic computation that has traditionally been at the center of debate in theoretical discussions about the mind. The authors' theory assumes the mind is composed of a great number of elementary units connected in a neural network. Mental processes are interactions between these units which excite and inhibit each other in parallel rather than sequential operations. In this context, knowledge can no longer be thought of as stored in localized structures; instead, it consists of the connections between pairs of units that are distributed throughout the network. Volume 1 lays the foundations of this exciting theory of parallel distributed processing, while Volume 2 applies it to a number of specific issues in cognitive science and neuroscience, with chapters describing models of aspects of perception, memory, language, and thought. David E. Rumelhart is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego. James L. McClelland is Professor of Psychology at Carnegie-Mellon University. A Bradford Book.

Sexual abuse in childhood: Psychosocial outcomes and implications for social work practice.

Abstract: A study of the prevalence of serious sexual assualt in childhood (up to age 16) is reported in the context of a community mental health study in a random sample of 377 women in a large Canadian city. Twenty-two percent of women reported sexual abuse in childhoos. Sexually abused women were twice as likely to have poor mental health as women who were not abused. The implications are addressed for helping adults whose poor mental health reflects the complex interaction of negative childhood events, including sexual abuse.

Change process research.

Abstract: Research on change processes is needed to help explain how psychotherapy produces change. To explain processes of change it will be important to measure three types of outcomes—immediate, intermediate, and final—and three levels of process—speech act, episode, and relationship. Emphasis will need to be placed on specifying different types of in-session change episodes and the intermediate outcomes they produce. The assumption that all processes have the same meaning (regardless of context) needs to be dropped, and a context-sensitive process research needs to be developed. Speech acts need to be viewed in the context of the types of episodes in which they occur, and episodes need to be viewed in the context of the type of relationship in which they occur. This approach would result in the use of a battery of process instruments to measure process patterns in context and to relate these to outcome.

Combining Economic Forecasts

Abstract: A method for combining forecasts may or may not account for dependence and differing precision among forecasts. In this article we test a variety of such methods in the context of combining forecasts of GNP from four major econometric models. The methods include one in which forecasting errors are jointly normally distributed and several variants of this model as well as some simpler procedures and a Bayesian approach with a prior distribution based on exchangeability of forecasters. The results indicate that a simple average, the normal model with an independence assumption, and the Bayesian model perform better than the other approaches that are studied here.

Interactions among multiple three-dimensional bodies in water waves: an exact algebraic method

Abstract: This paper deals with three-dimensional water-wave diffraction and radiation by a structure consisting of a number of separate (vertically) non-overlapping members in the context of linearised potential flow. An interaction theory is developed which solves the complete problem, predicting wave exciting forces, hydrodynamic coefficients and second-order drift forces, but is based algebraically on the diffraction characteristics of single members only. This method, which includes also the diffraction interaction of evanescent waves, is in principle exact (within the context of linearised theory) for otherwise arbitrary configurations and spacings. This is confirmed by a number of numerical examples and comparisons involving two or four axisymmetric legs, where full three-dimensional diffraction calculations for the entire structures are also performed using a hybrid element method. To demonstrate the efficacy of the interaction theory, it is applied to an array of 33 (3 by 11) composite cylindrical legs, where experimental data are available. The comparison with measurements shows reasonable agreement. The present method is valid for a large class of arrays of arbitrary individual geometries, number and configuration of bodies with non-intersecting vertical projections. Its application should make it unnecessary to perform full diffraction computations for many multiple-member structures and arrays.

Feedback to first language learners: the role of repetitions and clarification questions.

Abstract: The conclusion that information regarding the grammatically of children's speech is unavailable in parental input has recently been challenged (Moerk 1983 a, b, Hirsh-Pasek, Treiman & Schneiderman 1984). The present study expanded on this research by broadening the definition of ‘negative feedback’ and by describing individual styles of mother–child dialogues. The purpose was to investigate whether mothers of four 2-year-old children responded differentially to their children's well-formed or ill-formed utterances with explicit and implicit feedback. The middle-class, English-speaking, mother–child dyads were recorded in a naturalistic context at home during play and eating activities. Explicit and implicit feedback were different in terms of the proportion of responses available to the child and their relation to well-formed and ill-formed utterances. The style of response was similar for most analyses across the four mothers.

Social support and adaptation to stress by the elderly.

Abstract: The fiist of a two-phase project is reported that examined the prospective effects of stress and social support on the physical and mental health of the elderly. A sample of 50 elderly subjects was assessed at two points in time over a 6-month period. Results indicated that social support was a significant predictor of physical health status, whereas mental health was related to the Stress X Social Support interaction term. These latter results were consistent with the buffering hypothesis, in that high levels of social support served to reduce the negative impact of stress on mental health. Individuals who were in better mental health at the initial assessment experienced fewer stressful events and higher levels of social support over the subsequent 6-month period. The implications of these findings for research and theory regarding the relation between stress and social support are discussed. A consistent association has been found between negative life events and the onset of physical and mental health problems (e.g., Thoits, 1983). Recently, interest has focused on how positive resources, such as social support, may have beneficial effects on health in the context of stressful life experiences. Two different models of the relation between negative life events and social support have been proposed. The first, the buffering hypothesis, states that social support serves a protective role primarily during times of stress, through an enhancement of adaptive coping behavior (Cassel, 1976; Cobb, 1976, 1979). Thus, an interaction between stress and social support in predicting physical and mental health is hypothesized, with the role of social support differing depending on the level of stress. The second model views social support as having positive effects on health and well-being both in the presence and absence of stress. This latter model predicts that there will be a direct relation between social support and physical and mental health, independent of the effects of

Minimax principles for lower semicontinuous functions and applications to nonlinear boundary value problems

Abstract: Note that this is a natural extension of (a version of) the usual PalaisSmale condition to the present context. It is shown in [8] that several minimax principles of Ambrosetti-Rabinowitz type (see, e.g.,[1,6,7]) remain valid for functions satisfying (H) and (PS), and may therefore be used to prove the existence of critical points other than local minima.

Evaluation of competing software reliability predictions

Abstract: Different software reliability models can produce very different answers when called on to predict future reliability in a reliability growth context. Users need to know which, if any, of the competing predictions are trustworthy. Some techniques are presented which form the basis of a partial solution to this problem. Rather than attempting to decide which model is generally best, the approach adopted allows a user to decide on the most appropriate model for each application.

The relationship of anxiety and depression: a review of the literature.

Abstract: The nature of the relationship between anxiety and depression has been much debated. The research in the past 15 years is reviewed in the context of three conceptual models: (a) anxiety and depression differ quantitatively; (b) anxiety and depression differ qualitatively; and (c) combined anxiety and depression syndromes (anxious depressions) differ both quantitatively and qualitatively from either pure anxiety or pure depression. The major areas of research—phenomenological, treatment, course and outcome—are considered and findings in support of each position reviewed.

A Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence

Abstract: The triarchic theory of human intelligence provides a broader basis for understanding intelligence than do many, if not most theories of intelligence. The theory is called “triarchic” because it consists of three parts. The first part relates intelligence to the internal world of the individual, specifying the mental mechanisms that lead to more or less intelligent behaviour. This part of the theory specifies three kinds of mental processes that are instrumental in learning how to do things, planning what things to do and how to do them, and in actually doing the things. The second part of the theory specifies at what point in a persons’ experience with tasks or situations intelligence is most critically involved in handling of those tasks or situation In particular, this part of the theory emphasises the roles of dealing with novelty and of automatising mental processing in intelligence. The third part of the theory relates intelligence to the external world of the individual, specifying three kinds of macroprocesses — adaptation, selection and shaping — that characterise intelligent behaviour in the everyday world. This part of the theory thus emphasises the role of environmental context in determining what constitutes intelligent behaviour in a given milieu.

Context Clues Are Unreliable Predictors of Word Meanings.

Abstract: THREE STUDIES were conducted to determine the extent to which context helps students infer the meanings of unknown words. In Experiment 1, students in Grades 10 and 11 were randomly assigned to either a context or a no-context condition. The no-context group read lowfrequency words in isolation. The context group read the same words embedded in passages taken from novels. Experiment 2 was a repeated-measures study in which 39 students in Grade 11 read sets of words in isolation and also in passages taken from four different content areas. Experiment 3 was a systematic replication of Experiment 1 in which subjects were required to write definitions for the low-frequency words instead of choosing the definitions in a multiple-choice format. In none of the three experiments was there any statistically significant effect due to the context: t(99) = .552, p > .10; F(1, 38) = .227, p > .10; and t(83) = -.29, p > .10, respectively. The conclusion is drawn that instructional strategies that prioritize context clues should be reexamined.

Wildlife conservation evaluation: attributes, criteria and values

Abstract: The title of the book consists of three words: it is, perhaps, appropriate to begin by examining what each of these words means. As some words have a wide usage, it is important to define the sector of this usage which applies in the context of this book.

Development as Action in Context

Abstract: When in 1982 we started to design a longitudinal study on substance use during adolescence, employing developmental concepts to elucidate that behavior seemed almost truistic. But close scrutiny revealed a fairly consistent “developmental paucity” in the body of literature. Proceeding to the literature on normative development in adolescence, we were struck by another pervasive feature, a kind of isolationism: Either researchers emphasized emerging individual capabilities and behaviors apart from everyday contexts; or they stressed contextual features and their differences, apart from the developing individuals. As Bronfenbrenner (this volume) expressed it, the choice was between development out of context and context without development. Our aim with this introductory chapter and the contributions which follow is to illuminate the contours and features of a developmental perspective appropriate to the study of positive as well as problem behaviors in adolescence.

Use of semantic context by patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract: In this study we used semantic-priming procedures to examine limitations in the use of semantic context by patients with Alzheimer's disease. We also tried to determine whether any such contextual effects were mediated solely through automatic processes or whether attentional processes were also involved. Three tasks were applied to examine the effect of semantic context on the performance of 18 normal elderly and 18 normal young subjects, and on 18 patients with Alzheimer's disease. When normal and demented subjects were asked to decide whether a given item was a member of a certain category, results showed that their response times were equally affected by the item's dominance in the category. The time that demented patients took to recognize a word was actually affected more by the semantic context provided by a priming sentence than was that of normal subjects. When asked to generate the final word of an incomplete sentence, demented subjects performed very poorly unless potential responses were highly constrained by sentence context.

Confronting nature : the sociology of solar-neutrino detection

Abstract: Explanation and the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge.- Strategic Research Sites for the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge.- Experiment and Evidential Context: Their Early History and Background.- Experiment and Evidential Context - Funding the Link.- Consolidating the Link.- The Reception of Davis's Results - When is a Contradiction Not a Contradiction?.- The Interpretative Flexibility of Evidential Contexts.- Conclusion - Evidential Contexts and Social Contexts.