Disclaimer mannerisms of students: How to avoid being labelled as cheaters

Là où l'on trouve une règle, on trouve aussi des gens qui seront tentés de l'enfreindre. Or, on court toujours le risque de se faire qualifier de «déviant,» qu'on enfreint les règles ou non. Les examens d'université sont des événements hyper-réglementés où règne une atmosphère chargée de soupçons dans laquelle des moniteurs sont à l'affǔt du moindre geste, tels des sentinelles prětes à surprendre le tricheur à l'oeuvre. Conscients des enjeux, les étudiants doivent éviter tout signe suspect et se protéger contre les conséquences extrěmement graves d'une accusation de tricherie. Les stratégies d'évitement consistent à «gérer» les impressions en opposant des dénégations aux regards soupçonneux. Les auteurs décrivent les comportements bizarres et apparemment paranoïaques adoptés par les étudiants lorsqu'ils passent leurs examens pour qu'on ne les prennent pas pour des tricheurs: le détournement du regard, le déploiement des livres et des notes, le choix de l'emplacement dans la salle … Tout en s'intéressant plus particulièrement aux non-tricheurs innocents, la communication commente brièvement le cas des personnes effectivement coupables. Wherever there are rules there will be temptations for people to break them. Consequently, there is always the possibility of people being labelled deviant whether or not they do break the rules. University examinations are rule-riddled events shrouded in a ‘suspicion awareness context’ where suspecting invigilators are on guard against possible cheaters. Students, aware of this, must avoid all taint of suspicion and the dire consequences of being labelled a cheater. These avoidance strategies consist of impression management in the form of disclaimers. It is the purpose of this article to describe the bizarre and seemingly paranoid length students writing exams go to in: the control of their eyes, deployment of books and notes, and choice of space to avoid the stigma of being labelled a cheater. The emphasis is primarily on the innocent noncheaters but there is brief treatment also of the guilty.     

ANALYSIS OF THE LEAD TIME AND LEARNING FOR CAPACITY EXPANSIONS

Firms capable of reducing the time required to bring new products to the marketplace realize significant competitive gains. In this context, the existing literature on capacity expansion is limited because it does not consider the lead time required to construct and operationalize new capacity. Models are introduced here that capture the capacity expansion lead time as well as two types of learning. Specifically, learning may reduce the lead time or cost required to complete an expansion. Analytic and numerical results show that the optimal solution can be significantly affected by the explicit treatment of the lead time and learning.     

Relationships and alliances in the social interaction of kibbutz toddlers

Two groups of five 20-month-old Kibbutz toddlers were studied in order to examine relationships and alliances. The toddlers were observed during free-play periods over a two-month period. Evidence of relationships is found when children make special adjustments in their interactions with specific partners that would not be predicted based on the individual characteristics that these children display with others, and were found for both conflict and positive interactions. Qualitative analyses revealed a variety of types of relationships, although reciprocal relationships that combined either high or low levels of both positive and conflict interactions predominated. Alliances occur when third parties intervene in conflicts they witness in the group and were present, though relatively rarely, at this age. Alliances were based not on the established relationships in the group, but rather on who had been wronged in the initial conflict. Results are discussed in terms of the links between relationships, cultural standards of fairness, and alliances.     

PUBLIC OPINION AND CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION

The political views of citizens should be reflected in the governmentof a democratic society. Typically, citizens' views are expressedby their elected representatives. We used the Center for PoliticalStudies (CPS) 1986 National Election Study and a mail surveyof the U.S. House of Representatives to look at representationcollectively and dyadically. Collectively, we find some degreeof congruence between leaders and followers. However, thereare significant differences between them on half of the issueitems, with the leaders usually taking more extreme positionsthan the followers. We looked at leaders and followers dyadicallyin 33 districts using Achen's measures of representation. Wefound that the representatives' views are fairly close to thoseof their constituents, that representatives are efficient atpositioning themselves at the mean constituent position, andthat representatives respond to shifts in liberalism/ conservatismin their districts.