PAST: Viewing the programming process

A software package called PAST (Programmer Assessment Software Tools) is described. PAST was designed as a research and diagnostic tool to analyze how programmers develop and test program code. PAST uses line changes between successive compiles to estimate a programmer’s cognitive processing. Line changes are highlighted and graphically presented between any two versions or compiles. Summary graphs and statistics across all versions also are provided. Applications of PAST for expanding our understanding of programming and applying it to research, teaching, and learning are discussed.     

Abstract versus modality-specific memory representations in processing auditory and visual speech

Serial recall of lip-read, auditory, and audiovisual memory lists with and without a verbal suffix was examined. Recency effects were the same in the three presentation modalities. The disrupting effect of a suffix was largest when it was presented in the same modality as the list items. The results suggest that abstract linguistic as well as modality-specific codes play a role in memory for auditory and visual speech.     

Critique,rhétoricité, communicabilité

La critique et la théorie littéraires contemporaines présentent un paradoxe: elles notent, par la référence à la rhétorique, la rupture de la propriété argumentative ou persuasive de l'oeuvre; elles préservent cependant l'hypothèse d'une propriété conversationnelle du littéraire — hypothèse qui n'est pas véritablement explicitée. Ce paradoxe, essentiellement lisible dans la déconstruction, l'est aussi dans les propositions de Sartre, dans la pensée du dehors de Foucault, dans le dialogisme de Bakhtine. Le paradoxe revient, de fait — telle est la thèse de cet article — à énoncer une propriété rhétorique et persuasive de l'oeuvre, au moyen d'une référence à la rhétorique d'abord confondue avec la tropologie et avec l'effacement du jeu persuasif. Cette ultime propriété rhétorique et persuasive est identifiable par l'alliance de lasuspension, qui caractérise le texte littéraire dès lors qu'il est placé sous le signe de la rupture de l'argument et de la persuasion, et du jeu anaphorique, lui-même indissociable du questionnement que suscite la suspension. A partir du constat de ce questionnement, il convient de dire que le texte littéraire est ce qui fait fond à la disparité du doxique, et que celui-ci apparaît comme le répondant provisiore et variable de lacasuistique que constitue le texte littéraire.     

Developmental sequences in the age of onset of disruptive child behaviors

Retrospective and prospective reports of the onset of disruptive child behaviors were analyzed in a sample of clinic-referred boys. The younger boys (ages 7–9 years), compared with the older boys (ages 10–12 years), showed the highest level of disruptive behavior and, judging from mothers' reports, had the fastest progression of onsets from less serious to more serious problem behaviors. Despite some overlap, developmental sequences in problem behavior within the domains of hyperactivity/inattention, oppositional behavior, and conduct problems were similar across the two age groups. This was also the case for developmental sequences of overt or confrontive problem behaviors and covert or concealing conduct problems. Sequences of the onset of oppositional behavior and conduct problems were validated through prospective data, based on the information from mothers, teachers, and boys themselves. The implications of the findings are discussed for the formulation of developmental pathways of behavior and the analysis of causal factors.     

BODILY REFORM AS HISTORICAL PRACTICE: THE SEMANTICS OF RESISTANCE IN MODERN SOUTH AFRICA

This paper seeks to explore why rituals of bodily reform play so prominent a role in movements of social reconstruction, particularly in collective action which never attains the level of explicit historical discourse. I argue that the crucial signifying role of the body here derives from its position as primary mediator between the self and the sociocultural context. In the case of a protest movement in modern South Africa, I show how the semantics of bodily affliction and reform permit participants to address and redress the historical roots of their conflict-laden experience. Here, sociocultural contradiction takes tangible shape in the ‘natural’ contradictions of the human body, and reconstitution proceeds by alike drawing upon media from the body's seemingly inexhaustible stock. But in this, the body is more than mere ‘natural alibi’ or set of unmotivated signs; it provides implements determined by an inherent, natural logic which engages in what is a reciprocally determining relationship with the semantic logic of specific sociohistorical projects.     

Fathers' expectations and aspirations for their children

Do contemporary fathers have the same kinds of goals, beliefs, aspirations, and expectations about their children that fathers had 30 years ago? To answer this question, we interviewed 102 White fathers of 133 daughters and 126 sons about the topics probed by Aberle and Naegele (1952). We also asked about how the fathers expressed approval and disapproval of their children's behaviors, about their techniques for encouraging their children to develop the traits the fathers considered desirable, and about the sources of sex education for children. In general, our contemporary fathers mimicked some of the expectations of the earlier group and differed in others. Like the earlier group, some expectations were gender stereotypic. These expectations presumably function to restrict or limit the socialization of their children. More striking were the differences in the two sets of responses. In contrast to the statements from Aberle and Naegele's fathers, our fathers expressed many similar expectations for their daughters and sons. The educational and occupational levels of the fathers and the family composition qualified only a few of the above results.     

The effect of the divorce experience on spiritual growth

This essay presents the findings from a study of the effect of divorce on spiritual growth among Protestants. Looking at movement in the areas of love of God, self, and others, it shows that the divorce experience can have varying levels of impact which relate at least partially to the traumatic intensity of the experience itself.Excerpted from The Effect of Divorce on Spiritual Growth: A Study in Protestant Spirituality (unpublished thesis), (c) 1984 Jean M. Blomquist. All rights reserved.