L’acquisition des phrases interrogatives chez les enfants francophones

In this article we present evidence in favour of the hypothesis that Computational Complexity (CC) constrains the development of question formation in French. We predict that children acquire wh in situ questions before wh fronted questions, root questions before long distance questions and questions without subject-verb inversion before questions with inversion. The results of an elicited production experimental task (in which participated 36 French-speaking children and 24 French-speaking adults) allow us to conclude that these predictions are confirmed. The production of questions with « partial movement » of the wh word, an unexpected result, can also be explained by the CC hypothesis.     

A critical review of ERP and fMRI evidence on L2 syntactic processing

The current review focuses on recent event-related brain potential (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in L2 syntactic processing data. To this end, critical factors influencing both the dynamics of neural mechanisms (ERPs) and critical functional brain correlates (fMRI) are discussed. These entail the critical period hypothesis, levels of proficiency, cross-linguistic syntactic similarities and dissimilarities as well as brain bases that may or may not be shared during syntactic processing in a first (L1) and a second (L2) language. The data to date reveal that (i) the critical period hypothesis plays less of a significant role than initially discussed, (ii) L2 proficiency is a driving factor influencing peak and extent of activation in brain correlates and in neurophysiological mechanisms as a function of learning, and (iii) language transfer effects (i.e., positive transfer effects when L1 and L2 are structurally similar or negative transfer effects when L1 and L2 are structurally dissimilar) primarily from the L1 to the L2 and potentially vice versa need to be critically considered in future research.     

Learning from the existence of models: On psychic machines,tortoises, and computer simulations

Using four examples of models and computer simulations from the history of psychology, I discuss some of the methodological aspects involved in their construction and use, and I illustrate how the existence of a model can demonstrate the viability of a hypothesis that had previously been deemed impossible on a priori grounds. This shows a new way in which scientists can learn from models that extends the analysis of Morgan (1999), who has identified the construction and manipulation of models as those phases in which learning from models takes place.     

Remembrance of things past: Cultural process and practice in the analysis of career stories

Stories can be a valuable tool for the career researcher. Questions arise, though, about how best to approach stories analytically such that their insights can be fully realised. In this paper I apply cultural theorist Raymond Williams’ analysis of cultural processes as dominant, residual and emergent (1977) to the narratives generated in a recent study into the careers of research scientists. I examine how these overlapping meaning systems are elucidated in individuals’ career narratives and consider implications for developing understanding.     

Sex differences in symbol-digit substitution and speeded matching

Sex differences in digit-symbol substitution and speeded matching tests have not been adequately explained. Recent attempts have suggested the importance of the comparison processes, associative memory, and a possible difference in processing verbal and spatial information. Four experiments, two on speeded matching and two on symbol-digit substitution, supported the hypothesis that both tests involve comparison processes and that the sex difference in these processes depends upon the type of information. A female advantage is clearest with verbal material on both matching and symbol-digit substitution tasks. A male advantage was found on a symbol-digit substitution test only after training on the symbol-digit associations and when symbol discrimination involved spatial orientation. These results question previous interpretations of the clerical speed and symbol-digit substitution tests in terms of perceptual encoding speed, attentional shifts or sex differences in motor skills.     

Conflict and integration in career decision schemes

This study investigates three aspects of the way high school seniors (166 males, 187 females) construe occupational alternatives: intensity (how strongly are career considerations related), conflict (how much conflict is involved in these relations), and evaluative accord (to what extent are one's stated preferences in agreement with the positivity with which occupations are rated on considerations). Using a variant of G. Kelly's (New York: Norton, 1955) grid methodology, students rated 10 career alternatives on 10 career considerations. The results indicate that the three variables are significantly interrelated.