The Effects of Praising Qualifying Autoclitics on the Frequency of Reading

In the current study, tacts with positive qualifying autoclitics for reading were reinforced in order to determine if this procedure would increase the time spent reading by participants. Participants included 5 children, between 9–10 years old. Participants were individually exposed to 4 free operant sessions during which they were instructed to independently choose play activities. During pre- and post-treatment conditions, no consequences were provided for choosing reading. In addition, 4 treatment sessions were conducted on days separate from the free operant session days, during which the experimenter praised each positive reading-related statement emitted by the participant. Following treatment sessions, 4 out of 5 participants increased the time allocated to reading, suggesting that reading could be increased when praise is delivered contingent upon positive reading-related verbalizations.     

Wodurch kann die soziale Ungleichheit des Schulerfolgs am stärksten verringert werden?

Social inequality of student achievement in school has a variety of causes, all of them are well investigated scientifically. But, if a particular cause could be neutralized, which of these causes would have the strongest effect of reducing social inequality? Based on data of the PISA 2000 study, the contribution argues that the secondary social effect, which mainly represents the parental decisions for transitions to different branches of the higher educational system, has at least the same quantity as the primary social effect, which consists in all family background conditions of a student. Simple simulations show how the social inequality will change, if either the primary or the secondary social effect are neutralized. These changes cannot be forecasted in an easy or linear way under different conditions.     

Xinjiang’s geographies in motion

Starting from the idea that places are socially constructed, this essay explores how a place is established and lived in Xinjiang by the members of the area’s two largest ethnicities, the Uyghur and the Han. This article demonstrates that there are differences in the ways Han and Uyghur imagine and ‘live’ Xinjiang.¹1. Xinjiang is not a very fortunate toponym to use here because it is a Han-language term (meaning ‘New Frontier’) that was imposed during the colonization of the region by the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). However, since there is no other term that comprises both regions of Tarim Basin and Dzungaria and also eastern Xinjiang, I am compelled to use it. For a discussion of the complex question of toponym-usage in this region see Millward, Eurasian Crossroads.View all notes At the same time it asserts that Uyghur and Han do not establish distinct spatial relationships just because of their ethnicity, but also to enhance ethnic solidarity and boundaries vis-à-vis the other. This essay also demonstrates that places are historically contingent, and discusses the ways in which the influx of temporary Han migrants and settlers – and Han capital – has generated new layers of spatial meaning and new power differentials.     

La qualité de l'emploi en Amérique latine: théorie et faits

Traditionnellement, la littérature sur le développement consacrée aux marchés du travail d'Amérique latine s'est concentrée sur le nombre d'emplois et la productivité. Mais, étant donné la persistance d'une forte proportion d'emplois informels ou précaires, pour que l'analyse ait du sens, il faut aussi considérer des implications du statut professionnel sur la qualité de l'emploi. Partant d'observations faites ces dernières décennies, les auteurs concluent que la plupart des aspects de cette qualité – protection sociale comprise – dépendent de la signature d'un contrat écrit. Ce constat les conduit à formuler quelques suggestions pour stabiliser l'emploi formel et assurer un financement suffisant de la protection sociale.     

Quality of employment in Latin America: Theory and evidence

Historically, the development literature concerned with Latin American labour markets has focused on job numbers and productivity. But given the persistence of large shares of informal and now otherwise precarious employment, the authors argue that meaningful analysis also requires consideration of the implications of occupational status for the quality of employment. Based on empirical evidence from recent decades, they conclude that most dimensions of this concept – including social protection – depend on the conclusion of a written contract of employment. This finding leads them to outline policy options for stabilizing formal employment and securing adequate funding for social protection.     

Computation of Sharp Bounds on the Expected Value of a Supermodular Function of Risks with Given Marginals

We show that the rearrangement algorithm (RA) introduced in Puccetti and Rüschendorf (2012 Puccetti, G., Rüschendorf, L. (2012). Computation of sharp bounds on the distribution of a function of dependent risks. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics 236(7):1833–1840.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to compute distributional bounds can be used also to compute sharp lower and upper bounds on the expected value of a supermodular function of d random variables having fixed marginal distributions. Compared to the analytical methods existing in the literature the algorithm is widely applicable, more easily obtained and gives insight into the dependence structures attaining the bounds.