The cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance impacts police-civilian interaction

This research examines how the cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance—a person’s (in)tolerance for uncertain or unknown situations—impacts communication alignment in crisis negotiations. We hypothesized that perpetrators high on uncertainty avoidance would respond better to negotiators who use formal language and legitimize their position with reference to law, procedures, and moral codes. Data were transcriptions of 53 negotiations from a Dutch–German police training initiative, where police negotiators interacted with a high (German) and low (Dutch) uncertainty-avoidant mock perpetrator. Consistent with accounts of cross-cultural interaction, negotiators tended to achieve more alignment in within-culture interactions compared to cross-cultural interactions. Moreover, German negotiators, who scored higher on uncertainty avoidance than the Dutch negotiators, were found to use more legitimizing messages and more formal language than their Dutch counterparts. Critically, irrespective of the negotiators cultural background, the use of these behaviors was a significant moderator of the degree to which negotiator and perpetrator aligned their communicative frames: Using legitimizing and formal language helped with German perpetrators but had no effect on Dutch perpetrators. Our findings show the effects of cultural background on communication alignment and demonstrate the benefits of using more formal language and messages that emphasize law and regulations when interacting with perpetrators high on uncertainty avoidanc

The Convergence of Thinking, Talking, and Writing: A Theory for Improving Writing

The author\u27s longstanding method of improving a law student\u27s legal writing is to encourage the student to talk-out what the student is trying to write. The author finds support for that method by exploring the relationship among thinking, talking, and writing through the work of experts in those fields. The author concludes that the best way to find the overlap of thinking, talking, and writing, which is the point of effective communications, is to talk-out what one is writing

Modernity, crisis and critique: an examination of rival philosophical conceptions in the work of Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor

In this thesis, I examine the rival conceptions of modernity, crisis and critique developed in the work of Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor. Since the publication of Habermas's highly influential The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity in the mid-1980s, scholarship on the conceptions of modernity and critique contained therein has gained its keenest focus in the context of the 'modernity vs. postmodernity' controversy. Meanwhile, in Sources of the Self; the Making of the Modern Identity - a book of comparable range and philosophical ambition to Habermas's study - Taylor has made his own distinctive contribution to what Habermas calls the philosophical discourse of modernity. But as yet, there has been no sustained investigation into the internal consistency and mutual challenge of the conceptions of modernity, crisis and critique defended by Habermas and Taylor. Taylor himself has recently proposed that a debate begin between what he terms cultural theory of modernity (to which his own work contributes), and acultural theory (to which Habermas owes allegiance). My thesis takes this invitation for debate as its point of departure for examining the competing claims of these two important philosophers. The problem which organizes my contribution to a debate of the kind called for by Taylor is how, within the constraints of a philosophical conception of modernity, the claim to normativity can be brought to clarification. In chapter two, the sense in which the category of normativity is rendered problematic under conditions of modernity is explored. If the success of modern science shows that a moral order is no fit object of cognition, it can seem that the only rational action-orientation is instrumental in kind

Linguistic change in a nonstandard dialect: phonological studies in the history of English in Ireland

It is not my aim to write a unified history of the English language an Ireland, since this has already been undertaken elsewhere (e.g. Hogan 1927; Bliss 1977,1979; Barry 1982). Rather I wish to concentrate on several specifically phonological developments which allow us to disentangle the competing but sometimes complementary influences exerted by Irish, English and Scots on Hiberno-English (henceforth HE). This emphasis reflects an attempt not only to chart the historical developments in greater detail than has been done hitherto but also to contribute to our theoretical understanding of phonological change. For various reasons the focus is for the most part on northern HE. For one thing, a detailed history of southern HE is already available (Bliss 1979). Secondly, much of my own research has been undertaken in the north, particularly while I was working on the project Sociolinguistic variation and linguistic change in Belfast M Milroy et al 1983). Most importantly, however, northern HE with its mixed linguistic heritage offers a rich and relatively untapped source of data for investigating the extent to which dialect contact may be implicated in phonological change. Despite the emphasis on northern HE, I draw on comparative material from southern dialects throughout the following pages. It is often remarked that, in contrast to the relative homogeneity of southern BE, the linguistic situation in the north of Ireland is quite varied (e. g. Adams 1977: 56). In fact Adam (1973) finds it convenient to recognise at least seven basic northern varieties spoken in an area with a population of just under two million. This diversity is in part a reflection of the complex interaction of Scots and English influences in the north, in addition to the contribution of Irish which has left its mark to varying degrees on all types of HE. It is the Scots element in particular that distinguishes much of northern from southern BE. Almost everything that has ever been written on HE stresses the supposed effects of Irish Gaelic contact with English on its development. I take up this issue in a treatment of HE consonant phonology in Chapter 3 and give it more detailed attention elsewhere in a discussion of the growth and structure of the HE verb phrase (Harris 1982). Although this is clearly an important area, it has been much discussed and it is not my intention to go over the sane ground here. Rather the focus in this thesis is on two other aspects of language contact in the north of Ireland. Firstly, I examine the linguistic developments that have arisen from contact between the typologically divergent phonological systems of English and Scots dialects. Secondly, I attempt to isolate several changes which reflect contact between nonstandard HE and modern standard British varieties. In Chapter 1 I describe the main types of northern HE that can be identified according to the different ways in which the tensions between English and Scots influences have been resolved. The conditions of contact are in many ways similar to those that obtained in the early stages of British settlement in North America. It therefore comes as no surprise to discover close linguistic parallels between certain United States and Canadian dialects on the one hand and northern HE on the other. These similarities also reflect the fact that the major British colonisation of Ireland was roughly contemporary with that of. North America. Hibernian and American dialects of English display many common seventeenth-century features which have since been lost from standard British varieties. The tension between Scots and English influences in northern HE manifests itself most clearly in the area of vowel phonology. Some dialects display a typically English system in which vowel length is phonemic. That is, in these varieties it is possible to identify one subsystem of inherently long vowels and another of inherently short vowels. In characteristically Scots dialects, on the other hand, vowel length is to a large extent phonetically conditioned. Between these two types lies a range of 'mixed' dialects which show varying degrees of compromise between phonemic and positional length. The diffusion of the English and Scots length patterns across different dialects, vowels and phonological environments can be expressed in term of implicational hierarchies which I set up in Chapter 2.I also examine the phonetic facts which can plausibly be said to deternine the order of segment-types on the hierarchies. In Chapter 3, Iattempt a partial. reconstruction of the internal history of the urban HE vernacular spoken in Belfast. By inspecting present-day sociolinguistic variation for signs of change in progress and checking the results against historical records, it is possible to identify the main phonological developments that have occurred over the last century or so. Comparative material from the city's rural hinterland dialects and from the descendants of the original British source dialects allows us to chart the continuing competition between English and Scots linguistic features. It is also possible to offer a fairly clear picture of the sorts of adaptive change that have been taking place in the vernacular as a result of contact with external standard norms. Thanks to its conservative nature, HE provides the historical phonologist with an invaluable store of archaic patterns of distribution which were once current in Early Modern English but which have since disappeared from standard varieties. Through direct observation of this material it is possible to gain new insights into some of the well-known problematical issues of English historical phonology. One of these, which I take up in Chapter 4, concerns the fate of Middle English (ME) /6: / (as in meat) in Southern Standard English. According to some interpretations, it merged with ME /a: / (as in mate), only to reseparate and undergo merger with ME /e: / (as in meet). Belfast Vernacular is one of several modern dialects in which these vowels remain three-way distinct. Comparative reconstruction of the changes that have produced the current reflexes in these dialects contributes to our understanding of what might have happened to M /ɛ:/ in the Southern Standard. In addition, the results have a bearing on the wider issue of the sorts of strategy that can be : implemented to avoid merger during chain-shifting. In Chapter 5,1 examine the other side of the coin. I identify different ways in which phonological merger is achieved and suggest how these might be modelled in terms of rules and representations. I take up the issue of falsely reported mergers and discuss some of the theoretical and methodological implications. It is a commonly held belief that there is a general trend towards dialect convergence in English as a result of the standardising pressures exerted by universal education and the media. However, recent sociolinguistic work suggests that, while old rural dialects may be in decline, diversification is continuing in recently evolved urban vernaculars (see Labov 1972a: 324; 1980a: 252). A survey of the changes that have affected Belfast Vernacular over the last 120 years or so does indeed confirm that a degree of standardisation has taken place. However, this has been restricted for the most part to the lexical incidence of phonemes. At the phonological level, almost no major structural alignment with Southern Standard English has taken place. Indeed, evidence from change in progress suggests that sane internal innovations are actually moving in directions which run counter to standard norm

Gracious laughter : the meditative wit of Edward Taylor

Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-223) and index.Study of the New England colonial poet, Edward Taylor, and the relationship between his verbal wit and his religious commitment to Puritan belief. Gatta evaluates the anti-utilitarian dimensions and Puritan themes in Taylor's poems to draw larger conclusions about the New England soul.Divinity at play. Another view of the Puritan divine ; Wit's anatomy : from mind to humor ; Taylor's play : reverent parody and the comic imagination -- Pills to purge New England melancholy. The diagnosis of Puritan sorrow ; Wit, meditation, and the word -- From depravity to festival. The aesthetics of depravity ; The problem of audience and expression ; The festal attraction of the Lord's Supper -- The comic design of Gods determinations touching his elect. The character and precursors of Gods determinations ; The divine plot and human parody of creation ; The ludicrous trials of the doubting soul and the unwitting compliance of Satan ; Christ's curious paradise regained -- A festival frame of spirit : the preparatory meditations. The contemplative spark : Taylor's poetic triptych ; Patterns of play in the meditations -- Songs and valedictions : later meditations and other verse. Typological wit and the holy delight of canticles ; Taylor's wit of valediction.Digitized at the University of Missouri--Columbia MU Libraries Digitization Lab in 2012. Digitized at 600 dpi with Zeutschel, OS 15000 scanner. Access copy, available in MOspace, is 400 dpi, grayscale

Washington University Record, November 15, 2002

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/record/1949/thumbnail.jp

Knowledge-based vision and simple visual machines

The vast majority of work in machine vision emphasizes the representation of perceived objects and events: it is these internal representations that incorporate the 'knowledge' in knowledge-based vision or form the 'models' in model-based vision. In this paper, we discuss simple machine vision systems developed by artificial evolution rather than traditional engineering design techniques, and note that the task of identifying internal representations within such systems is made difficult by the lack of an operational definition of representation at the causal mechanistic level. Consequently, we question the nature and indeed the existence of representations posited to be used within natural vision systems (i.e. animals). We conclude that representations argued for on a priori grounds by external observers of a particular vision system may well be illusory, and are at best place-holders for yet-to-be-identified causal mechanistic interactions. That is, applying the knowledge-based vision approach in the understanding of evolved systems (machines or animals) may well lead to theories and models that are internally consistent, computationally plausible, and entirely wrong

Analysing Policy Arguments

Abstract The complexity and distinctiveness of policy discourse bring a need for methods and advice in both specifying and assessing policy arguments. The paper reviews, links and systematizes work in three areas: (1) general advice from 'informal logic' on the exploration and analysis of sets of propositions that make up broad arguments; (2) commentaries on important elements and tactics in policy argumentation in particular, with special attention to aspects of 'framing'; and (3) proposed methods to specify and appraise whole positions in policy argument, including the 'logical framework approach' and Fischer's Logic of Policy Question

The Structure of the Gospel of Mark: Revisiting the Implications of Repetition and Characterization

The search for a distinctive and coherent structure to the Gospel of Mark has long been a challenge for scholarship. While denying redaction and narrative criticism\u27s slavish adherence to their methodology, this thesis utilizes repetition and characterization to assess the matter of Markan structure. Key points of repetition addressed within the text are repetition of words and phrases, forms, and thematic items. The discussion of words and phrases highlight: θάλασσα, πάλιν, εἰς π̍εραν, ἐν τ̂ηὁσ̂ω, and Jewish leaders. The forms addressed are call narratives, exorcisms, and passion predictions. The thesis presents six key repeated thematic elements: geopolitical locations, the senses of hearing and seeing, the motif of following, the recruitment of the Twelve, the feeding/boat sequences, and the temple and its destruction. With respect to characterization, the thesis addresses three main characters of the Gospel of Mark: the Jewish leaders, the disciples, and the unclean. With these tools, the thesis outlines a four-section structure: 1:1-6:29; 6:30-8:21; 8:22-10:52; 11:1-16:8