Multimodal representational gestures in the transition to multi-word productions

The aim of this study was to analyze the use of representational gestures from a multimodal point of view in the transition from one-word to multi-word constructions. Twenty-one Spanish-speaking children were observed longitudinally at 18, 21, 24, and 30 months of age. We analyzed the production of deictic, symbolic, and conventional gestures and their coordination with different verbal elements. Moreover, we explored the relationship between gestural multimodal and unimodal productions and independent measures of language development. Results showed that gesture production remains stable in the period studied. Whereas deictic gestures are frequent and mostly multimodal from the beginning, conventional gestures are rare and mainly unimodal. Symbolic gestures are initially unimodal, but between 24 and 30 months of age, this pattern reverses, with more multimodal symbolic gestures than unimodal. In addition, the frequency of multimodal representational gestures at specific ages seems to be positively related to independent measures of vocabulary and morphosyntax development. By contrast, the production of unimodal representational gestures appears negatively related to these measures. Our results suggest that multimodal representational gestures could have a facilitating role in the process of learning to combine meanings for communicative goals.     

The Read Feed: Reviews

Abstract

Michelle DeMars reviews Academic Libraries for Commuter Students: Research-Based Strategies. Hayley Moreno reviews Coding with XML for Efficiencies in Cataloging and Metadata: Practical Applications of XSD, XSLT, and XQuery.     

Incorporating eye tracking into cognitive interviewing to pretest survey questions

In this study, we investigated whether incorporating eye tracking into cognitive interviewing is effective when pretesting survey questions. In the control condition, a cognitive interview was conducted using a standardized interview protocol that included pre-defined probing questions for about one-quarter of the questions in a 52-item questionnaire. In the experimental condition, participants’ eye movements were tracked while they completed an online version of the questionnaire. Simultaneously, their reading patterns were monitored for evidence of response problems. Afterward, a cognitive interview was conducted using an interview protocol identical to that in the control condition. We compared both approaches with regard to the number and types of problems they detected. We found support for our hypothesis that cognitive interviewing and eye tracking complement each other effectively. As expected, the hybrid method was more productive in identifying both questionnaire problems and problematic questions than applying cognitive interviewing alone.     

Domains, ranges and strategy-proofness: the case of single-dipped preferences

We characterize the set of all individual and group strategy-proof rules on the domain of all single-dipped preferences on a line. For rules defined on this domain, and on several of its subdomains, we explore the implications of these strategy-proofness requirements on the maximum size of the rules’ range. We show that when all single-dipped preferences are admissible, the range must contain two alternatives at most. But this bound changes as we consider different subclasses of single-dipped preferences: we provide examples of subdomains admitting strategy-proof rules with larger ranges. We establish exact bounds on the maximal size of strategy-proof functions on each of these domains, and prove that the relationship between the sizes of the subdomains and those of the ranges of strategy-proof functions on them need not be monotonic. Our results exhibit a sharp contrast between the structure of strategy-proof rules defined on subdomains of single-dipped preferences and those defined on subsets of single-peaked ones.     

Assessing the relevance of higher education courses

The establishment of the European Higher Education Area has involved specifying lists of professional competencies that programs are expected to develop, and with this the need for procedures to measure how every course within a higher education program is aligned with the program's competencies. We propose an instrument for characterizing this alignment, a process that we call assessing the relevance of a course. Using information from the course syllabus (objectives, contents and assessment scheme), our instrument produces indicators for characterizing the syllabus in terms of a competence list and for assessing its coherence. Because assessment involves quality, the results obtained can also be used to revise and improve the course syllabus. We illustrate this process with an example of a methods course from a mathematics teacher education program at a Spanish university.     

Assessing the role of hope in processes of transitional justice: mobilizing and disciplining victims in Sierra Leone’s truth commission and reparations programme

Existing studies have not been able to take the role of hope in processes of transitional justice (TJ) into account, as they focus on how TJ changes institutions and the relationships between individuals and therefore conclude that failed processes of TJ have no effect. In contrast to this approach, a different understanding of power as productive helps to understand how TJ-instruments create hope and which effects this has on how people conceive of themselves and the world they live in. A framework for analysing such processes is introduced that brings together individual meaning-making of hope and hopelessness with the role of the state in the provision of hope in the context of uncertainty. Transitional justice is therefore discussed as a performative project that aims at triggering specific emotions among the persons taking part in it and the broader society and at creating a vision of a better future based on social equality through the protection and fulfilment of human rights. By applying this framework to the case of the Sierra Leone truth and reconciliation commission and the reparations programme, it is argued that hope had a mobilizing as well as a disciplining function in these instruments. The promise of support mobilized victims to provide statements to the truth commission, and therefore enabled the commission to work in the first place. However, it failed in its attempt to discipline victims in their feelings about the past violence. The reparations programme constituted the embodiment of these promises, but victims interpreted its inadequate benefits and bad management as a proof that the state still does not care for them and competition over benefits is the norm despite their entitlement to support. This experience destroyed the hopes of many victims and created social envy among them, preventing the development of solidarity among victims and the chance for resistance against this policy.     

Intergenerational cooperation within the household: a Public Good game with three generations

We analyze cooperation of individuals in a family context, using a Public Good game. In a lab experiment, 165 individuals from 55 three-generation families (youth, parent, and grandparent) play a repeated Public Good game in three different treatments: one in which three members of the same family play each other (family), a second with the youth and two non-family members, while preserving the previous generational structure (inter-generational), and a third in which three randomly-selected players play each other (random). We find that all the age groups cooperate more when playing with relatives, indicating that family ties may have a positive relationship to contributions to the Public Good. We also find that this trend is more evident for the youths and the parents than for the grandparents. Furthermore, young individuals tend to cooperate less than older generations, especially in non-family treatments. Our results serve as evidence of the relationship between family ties and inter-generational cooperative behaviors.

     

Where Lies the Harm in Lottery Gambling? A Portrait of Gambling Practices and Associated Problems

Lotteries are one of the most prevalent forms of gambling and generate substantial state revenues. They are also argued to be one of the least harmful forms of gambling. This paper is one of the first to examine exclusive lottery gamblers and compares their gambling patterns and problems as well other associated risky behaviours to those who are not exclusive lottery gamblers. Data were derived from two large surveys conducted with representative adult samples in France (n?=?15,635) and Québec (n?=?23,896). Participants were separated into two groups: exclusive lottery gamblers (ELGs) and non-exclusive lottery gamblers. Using multivariate analysis, study results reveal that ELGs, who represent two thirds of gamblers, generally exhibit less intensive gambling patterns and are less likely to report other risky behaviours. However, harms associated with moderate risk and problem gambling are found to be concentrated in specific subpopulations for both groups, primarily males, older individuals, and those who report lower income and education level. Given widespread participation in lotteries and concentration of harm within specific subgroups, these findings point to the need for prevention efforts despite the lower levels of harm associated with lottery gambling.