Assistance with learning competence and decision-making in schools and further education

721 first-year university students were asked about the amount of help they had received or might have received at their pre-tertiary institutions in developing their learning competence and in course/university/career decision-making. Over all items, nearly 30% felt they had been helped minimally, 40-45% slightly to moderately, and nearly 30% moderately to very much. They felt they had been helped most with learning competence concerns, less with their career and educational decision-making, and least of all with handling distracting personal worries. There were no significant differences by sex or by type of institution previously attended. The correlation between perceived amount of help and A-level scores was not significant. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the possible contribution of learning competence to attainment and the need for realistic educational and career decision-making.     

Counselling approaches to increasing students' learning competence

Learning competence is a comprehensive term which encompasses study skills, relevant interpersonal skills, and absence of debilitating achievement anxiety. 721 first year university freshmen were asked about the areas in which they felt more and less competent as learners. A factor analysis of their responses suggested eight areas of learning competence including: planning, organising and effective use of study time; effective reading and memorising; interpersonal relations and ability to obtain study help; and examinations. Ways in which counsellors can assist students with these varying learning concerns are reviewed, and it is suggested that more attention be paid in schools and colleges to professional approaches and structures for increasing student learning competence.     

A low-cost high-speed digital data acquisition and display system

A flexible and inexpensive data acquisition and display system based upon the KIM-1 microcomputer module is described. A simple signal-conditioning circuit and program are shown that will allow events to be counted at rates to 1,000/sec and stored in successive time bins. The program counts events from each of two event detectors and stores the count of each detector in an independent set of time bins. Up to 127 16-bit bins are available to each event detector and bin width can be varied from 1 msec to 1 min. A separate input can be used to time-lock data collection to a specific stimulus allowing poststimulus histograms or IRTs to be collected. The collected data can be sequentially displayed as a decimal number on a built-in LED display and stored for later analysis on an inexpensive audio cassette recorder.     

Transfer between downshift in reward magnitude and continuous delay of reward

Two separate experiments were conducted to investigate transfer of persistence between delay and a downshift in reward magnitude. In the first experiment, experimental rats were initially downshifted in reward magnitude and later tested for persistence to continuous delay of large reward. It was found that these rats were more persistent to the effects of delay than control rats which did not receive prior experience with a downshift in reward magnitude. In the second experiment, experimental rats were first trained to receive large reward under delayed conditions and then tested for persistence to a downshift in reward magnitude. Compared to control rats which received no prior experience with delay, the experimental rats showed a significantly smaller negative contrast effect. The results were interpreted as supporting Amsel's theory of persistence as well as Capaldi's recent interpretation of contrast effects.     

A linguistic analysis of fluent aphasia

Fluent aphasia is a general term for those posterior aphasic syndromes which involve little or no motor difficulties and which exhibit rather normal rates of speech output. This paper is a comparative neurolinguistic study of three types of fluent aphasia. Differences as well as similarities regarding language behavior both within and across groups are analyzed. Much attention is given to anomia and to how it is confronted by each group. Various possible paraphasic processes which may be involved in the genesis of neologisms are discussed. Localization information is provided for the patients in the study, and special attention is drawn to prerequisite neuroanatomical involvement for neologistic jargon.     

Book reviews

Déclarations Communes Islamo‐Chrétiennes 1954–1995: textes originaux et traductions françaises. Choix de textes présentés par: Juliette Nasri Haddad, sous la direction de: Augustin Dupré la Tour et Dr Hisham Nashabé, 1997. Beyrouth, Dar el‐Machreq, Distribution Librairie Orientale, B.P. 1986, Beyrouth, Liban. 376 pp. + 14 large charts, hb. np., ISBN 2 7214 5008 5

Ultimate Visions: reflections on the religions we choose. Martin Forward (Ed.), 1995. Oxford, One World Publications. 208 pp., pb. $14.95, ISBN 1 85168 100 0

Cross and Crescent: responding to the challenge of Islam. Colin Chapman, 1995. Leicester, Inter‐Varsity Press. 364 pp., pb. £9.99, ISBN 0 85110 992 6

Louis Massignon: the crucible of compassion. Mary Louise Gude, 1996. Notre Dame and London, University of Notre Dame Press. 283 pp., hb. np., ISBN 0 268 031308 X

The New Islamic Dynasties: a chronological and genealogical manual. C. E. Bosworth, 1996. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. 389 pp., hb. £49.50, ISBN 0 7486 0684 X

A Short Introduction to Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism. Majid Fakhry, 1997. Oxford, Oneworld. 151 pp., pb. £8.99, $13.95, ISBN 1 85168 134 5

Religion and Politics under the Early ‘Abbasids: the emergence of the proto‐Sunni elite. Muhammad Qasim Zaman, 1997. Leiden, Brill. 232 pp., hb, Nlg 137.00, US$85.75, ISBN 90 04 10678 2

NichtMuslimische Untertanen im Islam: Grundlage, Ideologie und Praxis der Politik frühislamischer Herrscher gegenüber ihren nichtMuslimischen Untertanen mit besonderem Blick auf die Dynastie der Abbasiden (749–1248). (Studies in Oriental Religions, 34). Wolfgang Kallfelz, 1995. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag. 180 pp., pb. np., ISBN 3 447 03720 2

Hierarchy and Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought. Louise Marlow, 1997. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 194 pp., hb. np., ISBN 0 521 56430 1

The Dual Nature of Islamic Fundamentalism. Johannes J. G. Jansen, 1997. Ithaca, Cornell University Press/London, Hurst & Co.. 197 pp., hb. £25.00, ISBN 1 85065 274 0

Islam and Democracy. John Esposito & John Voll, 1996. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 232 pp., pb. £16.99, ISBN 0 19 510816 7

New World Order: Western fundamentalism in action. S. M. KORESHI, 199?. Islamabad, Institute of Policy Studies and Islamabad Publications. 306 pp., hb. Rs.250.00, ISBN 969 448 039 6

Das Eigene als Fremdes: Chancen und Bedingungen des christlich‐islamischen Dialogs. Ralf Geisler, 1997. Hannover, Lutherisches Verlagshaus. 104 pp., hb. DM24.80, ISBN 3 7859 0741 9

Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe. Barbara D. Metcalf (Ed.), 1996. Berkeley and London, University of California Press. xix + 264 pp., hb. $50, £40, ISBN 0 520 20403 4; pb. $20, £15, ISBN 0 520 20404 2

Allah in the West: Islamic movements in America and Europe. GILLES KEPEL, 1997. Oxford, Polity Press. 273 pp., pb. £13.95, ISBN 0 7156 1558 9

An Occasion For War: civil conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860. Leila Tarazi Fawaz, 1994. Berkeley, University of California Press. 302 pp., pb. $17.00, ISBN 0 520 20086 1

Master and Disciple: the cultural foundations of Moroccan authoritarianism. Abdellah Hammoudi, 1997. Chicago & London, Chicago University Press. 195 pp., hb. £30.50, ISBN 0 226 31527 4; pb. £11.92, ISBN 0 226 31528 2

Islam in South‐East Asia: a study for Christians. Robert A. Hunt, 1997. New York, General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church; Petaling Jaya [Malaysia], Methodist Church of Malaysia. vii+ 172 pp., pb. np., ISBN 1 890569 04 6