Relations among language exposure, phonological memory, and language development in Spanish-English bilingually developing 2-year-olds

The relation of phonological memory to language experience and development was investigated in 41 Spanish-English bilingual first language learners. The children’s relative exposure to English and Spanish and their phonological memory for English- and Spanish-like nonwords were assessed at 22 months of age, and their productive vocabulary and grammar in both languages were assessed at 25 months of age. Phonological memory for English-like nonwords was highly correlated with that for Spanish-like nonwords, and each was related to vocabulary and grammar in both languages, suggesting a language-general component to phonological memory skill. In addition, there was evidence of language-specific benefits of language exposure to phonological memory skill and of language-specific benefits of phonological memory skill to language development.     

Social representations of democratic transition: Was the Philippine People Power a non‐violent power shift or a military coup?

This research looked at social representations of the 1986 People Power in the Philippines among Filipino civilians and the military. Using mixed qualitative–quantitative methods, the research collected military narratives, ran a survey of civilians and military personnel and reviewed newspaper accounts of People Power anniversary celebrations over 20 years. Civilians saw People Power as a strong and positive power shift, while the military viewed it as an aborted coup led by military officers that was weak and bad. The findings about the social representations of transition are linked to civilian–military social identities after 1986 and illuminate the subjective landscape of State power contests in a new democracy.     

Media presentation of the mental health bill and representations of mental health problems

This paper discusses the findings of a study that examined the way in which the Mental Health Bill of June 2002 was presented in the British national and local media over a 3‐year period. A Lexis Nexis search yielded 256 articles, which were then analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Overall, and perhaps contrary to what might have been expected given previous studies' conclusions regarding the media's negative portrayal of mental ill health, most articles tended to present a negative view of the Bill as unnecessarily repressive, and consequently were more sympathetic towards mental heath service clients, although this was not the case for tabloid articles. However, this paper then considers the more implicit representations found within the articles. It focuses particularly on the continued linking of mental ill health and violence, and also on the way in which the mental health service user might be portrayed as passive and rather pitiful as an alternative to violent and dangerous. It is suggested that the continued use of such images may stem from the fact that mental health problems have long been constructed as ‘Other’, and are therefore deeply engrained in our society. The implications of this for anti‐stigma campaigns are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Power and Participation: Social Representations among Children in Pre-school

Children’s play is usually connected with qualities such as happiness and innocence, and regarded as important and necessary for learning and development. However, play is not always a state of joy. Experiences of being socially excluded or ignored and of taking part in such activities are occurring. The article draws on a re-analysis of empirical data from a study of pre-school children’s play. The focus in the article is directed towards how pre-school children within the context of play communicate and act in relation to social participation and power. The theoretical framework is built upon a socio-cultural research tradition, particularly emphasising context and communication. Interpretive reproduction, secondary adjustment, and social representations are used as additional theoretical concepts in the analyses and discussions of the results. Empirical data show that children’s social representations of power and participation in play include rationales for who can join the play and who can not, and also how to allow exceptions from the main rule that ‘anyone can join’.     

Representations of handguns by young adults in the US and UK

The representation of handguns by a sample of university students (n = 96) from one of the southern states of the US, was contrasted with that of a sample of university students in the UK (n = 100), employing ANOVA and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. Exploring the structure of response, the findings showed little evidence for a common cross‐locational representation of handguns for the US and UK samples taken together. There was support for the existence of distinctive locational representations, some support for gender‐specific representations, and strong support for representations of handguns according to particular combinations of locality and gender. Representations of handguns by US males from the southern states were the most distinctive, complex and integrated in structure, bringing into question simplistic assumptions concerning the nature of an alleged ‘southern sub‐culture of violence’ or of a more general ‘gun culture’. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Representations of ethnicity in people's accounts of local community participation in a multi‐ethnic community in England

In this paper we examine the impact of the social construction of ethnic identities on the likelihood of local community participation. We do so in the context of an applied interest in the current policy emphasis on partnerships between government and local communities in initiatives to reduce health inequalities, and a conceptual interest in the role of social representations in perpetuating unequal power hierarchies. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 75 residents of a deprived multi‐ethnic area in south England. Informants described themselves as African‐Caribbean, Pakistani and White English; half men and half women, aged 15–75. We draw attention to the way in which ethnic identities may be constructed in ways that undermine the likelihood of local community participation. Stereotypical representations of ethnically defined ingroups and outgroups (the ethnic ‘other’) constituted key symbolic resources used by our informants in accounting for their low levels of engagement with local community networks. We examine the content of these stereotypes, and highlight how their construction is shaped by historical, economic and social forces, within the context of the ‘institutional racism’ that exists in England. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Construction et validation d’une échelle de mesure des représentations sociales du travail informel

IntroductionReliable tools capable of assessing the various dimensions of the representations of informal work are inexistent. This very situation contributes in eliminating the possibilities of quantitative studies on informal work in psychology.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to put forward a quantifying instrument of the representations of informal work, presenting adequate psychometric qualities.MethodThree case studies have been realized in Cameroon: the first one is qualitative, and enables the identification of considerable elements of the representations of informal work through proper analyses; the last two studies are quantitative. Data are collected with a questionnaire and analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses through SPSS17.0 and Amos.21 software.ResultsThree dimensions of representations of informal work arises from analyses: nature and security, normative aspects, financial aspects related to informal work. It is also noted that intentions to engage into the restructuring programmes of informal work are significantly oriented by the representations of informal work.ConclusionThus, the convenience of the scale once validated, its perspectives and its limits remain arguable.     

Modification des représentations sociales des métiers d’infirmier et d’animateur socioculturel chez des étudiants grâce à une action de santé publique menée en interdisciplinarité

Health care and social care professionals are increasingly encouraged to exchange views and to define prevention actions, in order to respond to the needs of the users in a targeted and personalized way. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of interdisciplinary work between a group of nursing students and a group of third-year degree students in social intervention, on their respective representations concerning their future profession. One hundred and twenty-nine nursing students and 41 third-year degree students in social intervention responded twice to a specific questionnaire, built up from the skills listed in the respective competency framework of the two groups of students. The results indicate that after designing and carrying out a public health action with specific audiences (children, teenagers, students, people in precarious situations, people with disabilities), the two groups of students experience a meaningful change in the social representation of each other's profession: it moves from a role of care or animation technician to a more complex vision of the two professions, more in connection with the competency frameworks. It is therefore for the initial training to prepare them early for interdisciplinary work, so that they become professionals capable of responding appropriately to the specific needs of users.     

Social representations of organ donors and non‐donors

This paper illustrates the empirical investigation of social representations by means of photographs as stimulus material and the technique of correspondence analysis to study the resulting data. The research was part of a campaign carried out to promote organ donation in Malta. The study tries to find out whether a public communication campaign could change perceptions. Five focus groups were held before the campaign and another five, two months after the campaign. Part of the data collected through these focus groups was analysed using correspondence analysis. The results showed that before the campaign, donors were generally perceived to be either young or important people or public personalities. After the campaign, donors were perceived more to be ordinary family people, educated, generous and religious. On the other hand, before the campaign, non‐donors were seen as conservative, uncouth and uncaring, whereas after the campaign non‐donors were generally perceived to be older, uninformed and uneducated people. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An open measurement problem of interest

This open problem urges a seach for a nice “union” of algbraic measurement models having two or more operations and probabilistic choice models. The difficulty lies in arriving at probabilistic formulations of linking properties, such as distribution properties, between the two operations. The goal is a formulation that leads to a representation theorem in terms of a random variable representation and that reduces to a known algebraic representation when there is no noise.