Infants' Ability to Learn Phonetically Similar Words: Effects of Age and Vocabulary Size

What do novice word learners know about the sound of words? Word‐learning tasks suggest that young infants (14 months old) confuse similar‐sounding words, whereas mispronunciation detection tasks suggest that slightly older infants (18–24 months old) correctly distinguish similar words. Here we explore whether the difficulty at 14 months stems from infants' novice status as word learners or whether it is inherent in the task demands of learning new words. Results from 3 experiments support a developmental explanation. In Experiment 1, infants of 20 months learned to pair 2 phonetically similar words to 2 different objects under precisely the same conditions that infants of 14 months (Experiment 2) failed. In Experiment 3, infants of 17 months showed intermediate, but still successful, performance in the task. Vocabulary size predicted word‐learning performance, but only in the younger, less experienced word learners. The implications of these results for theories of word learning and lexical representation are discussed.     

Dealing with Toxicity in the Risk Society: The Case of the Hamilton,Ontario Plastics Recycling Fire*

Une perspective de la construction sociale sert de cadre a l'analyse des controverses sur la gestion des risques qui ont été provoquées à la suite d'un incendie majeur dans une usine de recyclage de matières plastiques à Hamilton, en Ontario. En mettant l'accent sur les processus de réclamation au c?ur de l'interaction entre les représen‐tants du gouvernement, les acteurs environnementaux, les experts techniques et les résidants, il a été révélé qu'un accent trop limité aux questions d'ordre technique avait mené a l'exclusion des préoccupations fondées sur la rationalité culturelle ayant ainsi entraine un cadre d'interaction très litigieux divisant profondément. Les conséquences des conclusions empiriques de la thése de la société des risques ainsi que de la théorie sur la communication des risques sont explorées. A social construction perspective is applied in the analysis of the risk management controversies that arose in response to a large toxic fire that occurred at a Hamilton, Ontario plastics recycling facility. By focussing on the claimsmaking processes involved in the interaction of government officials, environmental movement actors, technical experts, and residents, it was found that an overly narrow focus on technical matters led to the exclusion of lay concerns based on cultural rationality, thereby resulting in a very contentious and divisive setting for interaction. Implications of the empirical findings for the risk society thesis and risk communication theory are explored.     

Betrayal and repetition: Understanding aggression in sexually abused girls

Betrayal by a significant object is seen as primary in causing behavioral and emotional disturbances in incest victims, leading to a pervasive identification with the aggressor and disturbances in object relations development. Identification with the aggressor is understood not as a uniform defense mobilized against a specific affect but as a complex compromise formation which defends against anxiety, while also providing libidinal, aggressive and superego gratifications. Far from simply attempting to overcome the past, identifications thus preserve affects that have become pleasurable and self-defining. Two case studies of adolescent girls illustrate how treatment can help victims recognize and begin to forego the sadomasochistic pleasure derived from these identifications, a relinquishment necessary for true mastery.     

The Role of Cancer Risk in the Regulation of Industrial Pollution

The extent of carcinogen regulation under existing U.S. environmental statutes is assessed by developing measures of the scope and stringency of regulation. While concern about cancer risk has played an important political role in obtaining support for pollution control programs, it has not provided the predominant rationale for most regulatory actions taken to date. Less than 20% of all standards established to limit concentrations of chemicals in various media address carcinogens. Restrictions on chemical use are more frequently based on concerns about noncancer human health or ecological effects. Of the chemicals in commercial use which have been identified as potential human carcinogens on the basis of rodent bioassays, only a small proportion are regulated. There is an inverse relationship between the scope of regulatory coverage and the stringency of regulatory requirements: the largest percentages of identified carcinogens are affected by the least stringent requirements, such as information disclosure. Standards based on de minimis cancer risk levels have been established for only 10% of identified carcinogens and are restricted to one medium: water. Complete bans on use have affected very few chemicals. The general role that carcinogenicity now plays in the regulatory process is not dramatically different from that of other adverse human health effects: if a substance is identified as a hazard, it may eventually be subject to economically achievable and technically feasible restrictions.     

New Voices in Iceland. Parents and Adult Children: juggling supports and choices in time and space

This paper deals with parents' perspectives and experiences of bringing up children with a variety of impairments in Iceland, and how they impact the young disabled adults' approach to the status of adulthood. The paper is based on a qualitative study that explored perspectives and experiences of 36 young disabled adults (16-24 years old), their parents, friends and teachers. The purpose of this paper is to share themes related to patterns of parents' reactions and choices when coming to terms with parenting a disabled child, the support they found from their social network and professionals, and their sons or daughters' subsequent views of themselves and their prospects as young adults. The paper includes different perspectives on adulthood and the extent to which the young disabled people expect to reach that status or remain as 'eternal youth' enmeshed in segregated services. Findings show that the type and nature of early support for parents of disabled children is critical for the young adults' approaching adulthood in regular society or expecting to remain in the limbo of 'eternal youth' within segregated settings. Early 'betrayals' may, however, be revisited at each subsequent transition point. Furthermore, parents and their disabled children who struggled for social inclusion could obtain full active membership in society, even against social and physical barriers, and medically defined disability labels.     

“He Survives Everything”: A Latency-Aged Child with Play Disruption in the Face of Trauma and Early Object Loss

It is hypothesized that trauma and early object loss result in the arrest of the normal and healthy progression of a child's development and also disrupts a child's capacity to engage in symbolic play. In therapy, over time, with a constant object, a latency-aged child was able to re-enact early trauma and loss, make substantial gains in development, and begin to play in a symbolic and expressive way.     

Childhood Developmental Risk for Teen Childbearing in Britain

Adolescence is often assumed to be the most important period of life for understanding teen childbearing risk. Developmental perspectives challenge that assumption, offering the possibility that early childhood characteristics may have unique and lasting effects on the risk for teen childbearing. This study examined family life risk factors (socioeconomic status, family stress, and parental involvement in education) and how their effects on teen childbearing risk varied, depending on the childhood age at which they were experienced. Prospective life history data from the National Child Development Study of Great Britain were used to study a birth cohort of 4,928 British women, 15.3% of who became pregnant as teens. This study demonstrated that data from early childhood significantly contribute to the understanding of teen childbearing risk.