On the Demography of South Asian Famines Part II

Part I of this paper (published in the last issue) was focused on demographic responses to three major famines which occurred in late nineteenth-century India. Part II deals with the 1943–44 famine in Bengal and the 1974–75 famine in Bangladesh. The paper presents important and hitherto unanalysed demographic data on the Bengal famine. Drawing on the analysis of Part I, it argues that because of flaws in the data which have been used, there is a need to reconsider some of the judgements which have been made about the demographic consequences of both the 1943–44 and 1974–75 famines. It is contended that some serious misconceptions have arisen concerning short-term demographic responses to famine. Finally, possible implications for famines in other parts of the world are discussed.     

Information systems and managerial decision making

The role of an information system is to support managerial decision processes. Some of these processes can be completely specified in advance and, as long as the specification remains acceptable to management, resolution can be done automatically, within the framework of the information system. However, in other cases, managers are involved in all stages of the decision process, which cannot be completely specified in advance. The task of the information system in these cases is to provide information to the managers engaged in making the decisions. This paper considers these problems from the point of view of the information system designer and makes recommendations about design and implementation.     

Reason's other: the emergence of the disabled subject in the Northern renaissance

By the late fifteenth century, the debate over the role of reason and the constitution of the human subject freed public discourse from its reliance on God and placed the rational individual at the centre of social and political thought. The emphasis on rationality necessitated a parallel discourse on its opposite—‘reason’s Other'. In this period, representations of disabled people change in response to this new paradigm. Late medieval cultural documents, such as those of Brant and Bosch, employ folly as a metaphorical device, associated with the qualities of Everyman. However, with the rise of renaissance humanism, the benign metaphors of folly associated with the abstract everyman quickly become inscribed on the bodies of those people who would be constructed as reason's ‘Other’—people with intellectual and physical disabilities—and the abstract discourse of folly is transformed into a much more direct representational association of disability with depravity.

What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! … the paragon of animals! Hamlet II.ii     

Differences in Life Satisfaction and School Satisfaction Among Adolescents From Three Nations: The Role of Perceived Autonomy Support

Past research shows that higher well‐being is reported by adolescents who live in individualistic rather than collectivistic nations. Such cross‐national differences may be due to the amount of autonomy support adolescents receive from authority figures. To examine this hypothesis, in the current study, 322 adolescents from Denmark, South Korea, and the United States completed self‐report surveys that assessed adolescents' school and life satisfaction and their experience of autonomy support from parents and teachers. Results showed that Danish adolescents reported highest school satisfaction, life satisfaction, and perceived autonomy support, followed by American and Korean adolescents, respectively. Furthermore, cross‐national differences in school and life satisfaction were partially mediated by adolescents' perceptions of autonomy support from authority figures. These findings support self‐determination theory ( Deci & Ryan, 1985 ) and the ecological model of child development ( Bronfenbrenner, 1986 ).     

Is Poker a Game of Skill or Chance? A Quasi-Experimental Study

Due to intensive marketing and the rapid growth of online gambling, poker currently enjoys great popularity among large sections of the population. Although poker is legally a game of chance in most countries, some (particularly operators of private poker web sites) argue that it should be regarded as a game of skill or sport because the outcome of the game primarily depends on individual aptitude and skill. The available findings indicate that skill plays a meaningful role; however, serious methodological weaknesses and the absence of reliable information regarding the relative importance of chance and skill considerably limit the validity of extant research. Adopting a quasi-experimental approach, the present study examined the extent to which the influence of poker playing skill was more important than card distribution. Three average players and three experts sat down at a six-player table and played 60 computer-based hands of the poker variant “Texas Hold’em” for money. In each hand, one of the average players and one expert received (a) better-than-average cards (winner’s box), (b) average cards (neutral box) and (c) worse-than-average cards (loser’s box). The standardized manipulation of the card distribution controlled the factor of chance to determine differences in performance between the average and expert groups. Overall, 150 individuals participated in a “fixed-limit” game variant, and 150 individuals participated in a “no-limit” game variant. ANOVA results showed that experts did not outperform average players in terms of final cash balance. Rather, card distribution was the decisive factor for successful poker playing. However, expert players were better able to minimize losses when confronted with disadvantageous conditions (i.e., worse-than-average cards). No significant differences were observed between the game variants. Furthermore, supplementary analyses confirm differential game-related actions dependent on the card distribution, player status, and game variant. In conclusion, the study findings indicate that poker should be regarded as a game of chance, at least under certain basic conditions, and suggest new directions for further research.