Written Argumentation by a 10-Year-Old Pupil in Sweden

Most pupils become confident with narrative texts. However, studies show that pupils do not learn to master discursive genres in a satisfactory way. Therefore it is important to study pupils’ written argumentation and to develop knowledge about text production in an education that also highlights linguistic structures. The present article investigates written argumentations produced by 10–12 year-old pupils. The aim is to investigate perspectives in the texts, and thereby catch the entire texts—their content, function and form—and to relate text analysis to interaction in the classroom. The theoretical framework emanates from the dialogical and triadic conception of language and text where ideational, relational and textual aspects play a central role. In this article the focus is on the three perspective dimensions—relief, hierarchy and sequences—in one argumentative text written by a 10-year-old girl and the discursive practice within which her text is produced.     

Valence of Affective Verbal Fluency: fMRI Studies on Neural Organization of Emotional Concepts <Emphasis Type="Italic">Joy</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fear</Emphasis>

The present study was designed to examine the underlying brain mechanisms of positive and negative emotional verbal fluency. Three verbal fluency tasks (one non-emotional phonemic task, two emotional tasks: Joy and Fear) were used in this study. The results were analyzed for 35 healthy, Polish-speaking, right-handed adults aged 20–35. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (3T) was used to show brain activity during active participation in emotional verbal fluency tasks. The results reported for emotional fluency confirmed activation of different brain regions for the negative and positive emotional verbal fluency: in positive emotional verbal fluency Joy elicits greater activation in the frontal regions and the cingulate cortex, while in negative verbal fluency Fear is reflected in activation of parietal and temporal areas. The study provides an evidence for differentiation in neural mechanisms between positive and negative emotional verbal fluency and/or positive and negative retrieving processes, and differentiation in brain-related determinants of the emotional concepts organization.     

Rapid contact call-driven induction of NR2A and NR2B NMDA subunit mRNAs in the auditory thalamus of the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)

In situ hybridization histochemistry was used to assess the effect of auditory stimulation with natural contact calls on expression of NR2A and NR2B NMDA subunit mRNAs in neurons of the thalamic auditory relay nucleus ovoidalis (Ov) of a vocal learning parrot species, the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). The results showed that both the core (Ov) and ventromedial shell subdivisions (Ovm) of ovoidalis contained neurons expressing NR2A and NR2B mRNA in no-stimulation control subjects and that the distributions of neurons expressing these subunit mRNAs were very similar in both the core and shell of Ov. Contact call stimulation (5, 30 and 180 min) resulted in substantial increases of 50-60% in the number of neurons expressing NR2A and NR2B mRNAs in both the core and shell. Staining intensity, as measured by the optical density of stained somata approximately doubled compared to controls for both NR2 subunits in the 5 and 30 min conditions, but declined from 30 to 180 min. In all conditions, the density, but not staining intensity, of neurons expressing NR2B exceeded NR2A expression. Furthermore, the density of neurons expressing both subunit mRNAs in call stimulation conditions was greater in the core than in the shell despite the fact that total neuronal density was approximately 20% higher in the shell. Previous experiments have shown that call stimulation is more effective at inducing expression of the immediate early gene zenk in the Ov shell than core; however the present results do not indicate that either NR2A or NR2B mRNA expression mediates this effect since neither subunit exhibits greater expression in Ovm. Ca(++) release is needed for immediate early gene expression, however and, notably, Ovm contains large numbers of neurons containing CGRP, a peptide which has been shown to increase cytosolic Ca(++) levels.     

Social representations of the individual: a post-Communist perspective

Social representations of the individual are examined in three post-Communist Central European nations, i.e. the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and in three West European nations, i.e. Scotland, England and France. All six nations share a common European history since the Renaissance and Humanism, based on such values as freedom, agency, individual rights and individual responsibility. Many of these values were rejected by the Communist regimes in which people lived for 40 years. Extreme forms of individualism developed in certain West European nations during the same period. In view of these historical events we have asked the following questions: Do people in the post-Communist countries of Central Europe, after 40 years of totalitarian collectivism, still adhere to the values of the common European heritage? What is the meaning of ‘the individual’ today, in Western democracies and in Central European post-Communist nations? Which issues are important for the well-being of the individual and how do they relate to the political and economic circumstances of those individuals? The results show that the values of the common European heritage in Central Europe have not been destroyed and that factors relating to the well-being of the individual differ between the two parts of Europe. These data are discussed in terms of the political and economic situations in Central and Western Europe, the relationship between language and social representations and the structure of social representations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Helping when the desire is low: Expectancy as a booster

Motivation and Emotion - One might assume that the desire to help (here described as Want) is the essential driver of helping declarations and/or behaviors. However, even if desire to help (Want)...     

Discrete Dualities for Double Stone Algebras

We present two discrete dualities for double Stone algebras. Each of these dualities involves a different class of frames and a different definition of a complex algebra. We discuss relationships between these classes of frames and show that one of them is a weakening of the other. We propose a logic based on double Stone algebras.     

Logic of nondeterministic information

In the paper we define a class of languages for representation o knowledge in those application areas when a complete information about a domain is not available. In the languages we introduce modal operators determined by accessibility relations depending on parameters.     

Correspondence Results for Relational Proof Systems with Application to the Lambek Calculus

We present a general framework for proof systems for relational theories. We discuss principles of the construction of deduction rules and correspondences reflecting relationships between semantics of relational logics and the rules of the respective proof systems. We illustrate the methods developed in the paper with examples relevant for the Lambek calculus and some of its extensions.