Pluralism in Education: The display of Islamic affiliation in French and British schools

The expression of Islamic affiliation by Muslim students in French and British schools has been perceived as particularly problematic to the extent that it has become a focal point for public and media attention. The controversies over the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in French and British public schools and the state funding of Islamic schools in Britain are case studies representing a range of issues raised by religious pluralism in education, particularly the display of religious affiliation in public schools. In France the prohibition of the Islamic headscarf in public schools provoked a national controversy in 1989. In Britain the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in public schools resulted in a localized and minor debate but the question of state funding of Islamic schools became a major controversial issue in 1990. The press coverage of the case studies is used as an analytical tool with which to examine the exchange of public information and opinion in the press on this type of religious expression. Over 1,500 press articles on the two case studies were published from 1989 to 1998 by selected French and British national daily newspapers, religious papers and education papers. A quantitative analysis of the articles measures the magnitude of each controversy and its prominence in the press. A qualitative content analysis of the articles examines actual press content and compares the primary issues, prevalent opinions and supporting arguments defining the debates in each case study.     

珠心算过程的眼动和认知研究

本实验采用眼动技术和实验神经心理学的方法对珠心算的认知过程进行了实验研究。研究发现,在竖式运算时,接受过珠心算训练的儿童与没有接受过珠心算训练的儿童相比其眼动轨迹显著不同;神经心理实验的结果表明,训练组儿童在数学运算能力、数字记忆空间、注意力、大脑功能偏侧化等方面均与非训练组儿童有显著差别。     

Response latencies to the onset and offset of visual stimuli

Simple response times (RTs) are known to be slower to the offset of a visual stimulus than to its onset. This is called the onset advantage. In the first of four experiments, we discovered that a spurious onset advantage can be produced by the long persistence of P31 phosphor. In the remaining three experiments, we found that offset RTs were slower only when they were made in a context in which responses to the abrupt onset of some stimuli had to be suppressed. We tested this hypothesis of response suppression in two ways: (1) by mixing regular onset trials with other trials on which a response to an onset had to be suppressed, and (2) by ramping the emergence of "offset" stimuli over time, so that offsets were the only abrupt events in the display. In both cases, we found that the onset advantage depended critically on whether the responses were made in a context of response suppression. We conclude that the onset advantage is mediated not by sensory factors such as visible persistence, but by response programming factors that are strongly affected by contextual events.     

Influence of instructions and cognitive articulation on reducing the Müller-Lyer illusion with a repeated trial

The role of specific, suggestive instructions and of the subject's cognitive articulation in fostering modifications of Müller-Lyer illusory effect was studied. 60 female students were divided into four subgroups on the basis of (a) Witkin's GEFT scores and (b) instructions given to the subjects for the repeated trial. Analysis shows no statistically significant difference between the more and less articulated subjects on the first trial, for influence of both cognitive articulation and instructions or their interaction on the reduction of the illusion. Data are interpreted in terms of some theoretical explanations of geometrical illusions, such as 'centration theory' and 'assimilation theory'.     

Rorschach indices for discriminating between two schizophrenic syndromes

Thinking disturbance and disorder of affects may be different in two subtypes of schizophrenia, the "florid" and the "withdrawal" syndromes. In Exner's approach to the Rorschach system, the diagnostic indicators of disordered thinking may point out large differences not only between schizophrenic and control subjects but also between different types of schizophrenics. The Rorschach protocols of 45 subjects (15 "florid" schizophrenics, 15 "withdrawn" schizophrenics, and 15 controls of the same age and education, matched by sex) were examined on several Exner indices. Compared with the control group, both schizophrenic types confirmed an impairment of perceptual accuracy and of reality testing as well as a reduced emotional control. Compared with the "withdrawn" group, the "florid" schizophrenic subjects showed significantly higher indices of poor perceptual functioning, of an inadequate organizational activity (more Whole and Z responses characterized by negative Form Quality) and greater disordered ideational production.     

Effects of observing competitive and violent versions of a sport

Males were randomly assigned to view either (1) a film clip featuring hockey fights or (2) a film of nonaggressive hockey action or (3) a no-film control condition after having first been angered or treated politely by an experimental confederate. The dependent variable was represented by a measure of aggressive mood and a behavioral measure of retaliatory aggression. Analyses revealed that both angered and nonangered subjects exhibited an increase in aggressive mood following exposure to the fight film. However, the analysis involving retaliatory aggression against the confederate yielded an anger x film interaction. While angered subjects were more aggressive than nonangered, only angered subjects retaliated against the confederate after viewing the fight film. The results were discussed in terms of Berkowitz’s (1974) aggressive cue theory. A version of this paper was presented at the meeting of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Edmonton, Canada, November 1987.     

Inverse duration effects in partial report.

In partial-report experiments, an array of stimuli is displayed briefly, followed by a probe indicating the items to be reported. When exposure duration of the array is increased, 2 contrasting outcomes have been found: Some experiments find that performance improves (direct-duration effect); others find that it deteriorates (inverse-duration effect). The objective here was to identify the reasons for the discrepant results. This was done by investigating the roles played by 5 factors that differed between the 2 sets of contrasting studies. An inverse-duration effect was obtained in each of 6 experiments; its magnitude was affected by retinal eccentricity and by the number of items denoted by the probe. The effect was independent of array configuration and of number of items in the array. The direct-duration effect was shown to arise from a confounding of exposure duration and brightness.     

OBJECT SUBSTITUTION:

Abstract —Can four dots that surround, but do not touch, a target shape act as a mask to reduce target discriminability? Although existing theories of metacontrast and pattern masking say "no." we report this occurs when targets appear in unpredictable locations. In three experiments, a four-dot mask was compared with a standard metacontrast mask that surrounded the target. Although accuracy was predictably different for the two masks at a central display location in Experiment I. both masks had similar strong effects on accuracy in parafoveal locations. Experiment 2 revealed that both four-dot and metacontrast masking were insensitive to contour proximity in parafoveal display locations, and Experiment 3 showed that four-dot masking could occur even at a central location if attention was distributed among several targets. We propose that targets in unattended locations are coded with low spotiotemporal resolution, leaving them vulnerable to substitution by the four dots when attention is directed to them.     

Linking personal values to gender

Two studies were conducted to investigate the relation between personal values and aspects of gender. Study 1 used the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) to examine the nature of stereotypes concerning the values of the “typical man” and the “typical woman”. Results supported the hypothesis that men are viewed as more likely to endorse agentic values, such as freedom and accomplishment, whereas women are viewed as more likely to endorse communal values, such as friendship and equality. Study 2 assessed men and women's possession of stereotypic sets of masculine and feminine values, using the RVS, and examined their relation to gender-related personality traits, gender-related interests and role behaviors, and global self-perceptions of masculinity and femininity. Masculine values were found to be significantly related to socially desirable masculine traits, socially undesirable masculine traits, masculine interests and a global self-concept of masculinity. Feminine values were shown to be significantly related to socially desirable feminine traits, feminine interests, feminine role behaviors, and a global self-concept of femininity. These results suggest that gender-linked personal values merit inclusion with traits, interests, role behaviors, and global self-concepts as part of an emerging multidimensional conception of gender characteristics.