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.     

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.     

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.     

奋发有为扎实工作圆满完成2002年工作任务

春回大地,万物复苏.祖国处处充满着生机与活力. 2002年是继续深化改革、加快对外开放的重要之年,是中国以世贸组织正式成员身分融入经济全球化之中的一年.我们将面临着机遇与挑战.     

企业集团竞争力评价研究

结合企业集团的特点 ,讨论了企业集团的竞争力评价的指标体系及选择原则 ,介绍了评价指标的合成方法 ,给出了提高企业竞争力的途径 .     

艺术的审美自治--20世纪西方美学片论之三

艺术的审美自治是20世纪上半段重要的美学思潮,在理论与创作上都有突出的表现与形式,强调艺术的审美本体是其主要特征:这股思潮本身则是现代社会种种矛盾的产物。     

危机与改革——国际田联现状分析

为了更有效地推动田径的发展 ,国际田联应致力于组织机构、比赛项目设置、裁判规则与手段等方面的研究与改革 ,加大反兴奋剂的力度 ,并努力消除与国际奥委会和其他国际体育组织之间的冲突     

Factors Associated with the Development of Nonmetropolitan Growth Nodes in Producer Services Industries, 1980–1990*

Abstract Over the 1980–1990 period, employment in producer services industries in the nonmetropolitan United States increased substantially. This growth resulted in the development of nonmetropolitan growth nodes in producer services industries. A growth node refers to a nonmetropolitan area that contains a greater than average concentration of employment in a particular industry sector relative to other nonmetropolitan areas. Moreover, this industry concentration not only increases over time, but also represents an important source of employment growth within the area. With nonmetropolitan counties as the spatial unit of analysis, 317 growth nodes in producer services industries are identified for the 1980–1990 period. Access to workers with clerical and administrative support skills, access to highly educated workers, higher earnings per employed worker, access to recreational amenities, and proximity to metropolitan areas were associated with the development of nonmetropolitan growth nodes in producer services industries during this period.