Social interaction targets enhance 13-month-old infants' associative learning

Infants are attentive to third-party interactions, but the underlying mechanisms of this preference remain understudied. This study examined whether 13-month-old infants (N = 32) selectively learn cue–target associations guiding them to videos depicting a social interaction scene. In a visual learning task, two geometrical shapes were repeatedly paired with two kinds of target videos: two adults interacting with one another (social interaction) or the same adults acting individually (non-interactive control). Infants performed faster saccadic latencies and more predictive gaze shifts toward the cued target region during social interaction trials. These findings suggest that social interaction targets can serve as primary reinforcers in an associative learning task, supporting the view that infants find it intrinsically valuable to observe others’ interactions.     

Elders' Decisions To Enter Assisted Living Facilities: A Grounded Theory Study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a substantive theory of elders' decision-making process to relocate to an assisted living facility. The researchers interviewed a purposive sample of 28 elders who resided in assisted living facilities. The theory of elders' decisions to relocate to an assisted living facility is a story about elders weighing and balancing gains and losses to go to where the help is. Decision makers weigh and balance gains and losses before, during, and after relocating to an assisted living facility. Elders stay at their current residence if gains outweigh losses and they relocate if losses outweigh gains. Understanding the process of decision-making in this segment of the population may lead to the development of interventions that can promote positive relocation experiences among elders and increase the effectiveness of their decision-making behaviors.     

Firm-specific human capital, job matching, and turnover: evidence from major league baseball, 1900–1992

The two dominant labor market turnover hypotheses, the firm-specific human capital model (FSHCM) and the job-matching model, suggest different patterns of player mobility in major league baseball. The matching hypothesis predicts greater mobility of players in positions that require substantial team production. A better match may offer large productivity gains. Alternately, the FSHCM predicts players in positions requiring the greatest amount of teamwork will benefit from specific knowledge, making them less likely to change teams. We examine the frequency distribution of trades by player position from 1900–1992 and find the FSHCM provides the best explanation for turnover in this industry.     

A process for objective review of physician performance

How do you objectively evaluate physicians at reappointment. How do you establish a common ground for the evaluation process that still acknowledges acceptable differences in performance? Perhaps one physician has some difficulty with documentation and attendance at meetings, but has no quality problems clinically. Another physician may have good documentation and meeting attendance, but has some quality problems. Another physician has a behavior pattern that is disruptive, a few documentation problems, but excellent quality. Yet another physician is a marginal practitioner with major problems in several areas, including quality. Reappointment of these physicians might be extremely difficult, especially if the credentials committee is recently appointed and not familiar with the details of the performance data.     

世界文学的维度性

仅仅谈论世界文学这一点就会让我们将文学置于空间范畴之内进行思考,尤其是在其广延方面.这是否就是一种好的知性之举呢?这里需要做两方面的考察.第一,这种思维习惯很难与很多现有的、信息充分的关于文学的具体性的论点相得益彰;第二,语义学和隐喻学通过文学翻译和跨文化阐释而产生的交叉,对文学某种单一的广延领域.以及这一观念构成了极大的障碍.