Truth, Fiction, and 'The Daughter of Time'

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is widely regarded as the architect and supreme exponent of the English “clue-puzzle” detective story, in which a trail of genuine clues and red herrings tests the deductive powers of investigator and reader in the solving of a crime which has been committed in a small community from within a limited group of suspects, but it was The Daughter of Time (1951), a clue-puzzle story by Christie’s less prolific contemporary Josephine Tey, that the British Crime Writers’ Association voted as the top crime fiction novel of all time in 1990. Although it continues to be acknowledged as a classic of the genre, The Daughter of Time, which investigates the suspicious disappearance of the two young sons of Edward IV from the Tower of London, shortly before Edward’s brother succeeded to the throne as Richard III, takes the detective story into the domain of “wild history”–the ingenious tying of history’s loose ends–and one of its common themes, the Secret Survival

Chaucer's Double Telling of the Knight's Tale

Among literary deathbed scenes, the pathos of Arcite's passing in Chaucer's Knight's Tale ranks with that of Falstaff, Little Nell, and Marguerite. But while Falstaff babbles of green fields (Henry V, II. 3), Arcite delivers a formal lamentation in which he mourns the unhappy lot of man and commends Emily, his bride-to-be, to his cousin, friend, and rival, Palamon. The latter is associated with all the chivalric virtues: 'That is to seyen, trouthe, honour, knyghtede, I Wysdom, humblesse, estaat, and heigh kynrede, I Fredom, and al that longeth to that art' (11. 2789-91),1 although from what we've seen of Palamon's conduct to this point, these lines sound more like Falstaffs delirium than an accurate assessment of knighthood in general, and Palamon's in particular. Arcite's eloquent valediction is not the only occasion in the Knight's Tale where discrepancies arise between ritual (whether verbal, like Arcite's lament, or staged, like the tournament of Book IV) and 'reality'. Set within the framework of chivalric romance, that narrative form in which the noble hero is characteristically successful in his quest, loved by his lady, and in command of his destiny, the Knight's Tale upends such comfortable audience expectations in a world controlled by spiteful deities, baleful fortune, and arbitrarily minded despots, where the best man does not get the girl, the bride dedicates herself to the goddess of virginity on her nuptial eve, and the wedding feast becomes the funeral meats. Although it is a story of love and war, told by a knight, fitting the Knight's Tale into the mould of medieval romance is a square peg into round hole exercise. Its source, Boccaccio's Teseida, calls itself an epic but owes much to popular Italian romance. If Chaucer really intended, as is sometimes suggested, to turn the twelvebook epic into a chivalric romance, he made a botched job of it; but if his purpose was to make the frequently banal conventions and optimistic outlook of that genre play an ironic counterpoint to the tale's bleak picture of the human condition, the result is a tour de force

Establishing Fraction-Decimal Equivalence Using A Respondent-Type Training Procedure

The purpose of this study was to teach children fraction-decimal equivalence using the respondent-type training procedure and test for any emergent generalization. In the first experiment, subjects were respondently trained on the conditional discriminations; A1→B1, A2→B2, and tested B1-A1, B2-A2. Subjects were then trained on the conditional discriminations C1→B1, C2→B2 and tested B1-C1, B2-C2. Subjects were subsequently tested for the emergence of the untrained relations A-C and C-A. When subjects were presented with the Stimulus A1 they observed 1/4 and when subjects were presented with A2 they observed 2/4. When subjects were presented with B1 they observed a circle with the upper left quarter shaded and when subjects were presented with B2 they observed a circle divided into four quarters with the upper half shaded. When subjects were presented with C1 they observed 0.25 and when subjects were presented with C2 they observed 0.50. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1 except that subjects were administered three generalization tests. In Generalization Test Number 1, the Stimuli A1, A2, C1, and C2 served as samples and shapes not seen in training but with the same shaded areas served as comparison stimuli. Generalization Test No. 2 was identical to the previous test, except that the comparison stimuli consisted of a shape not seen in training and the shaded area was altered. Generalization Test No. 3 was identical to the previous two tests except that the comparison stimuli were altered in that the number of shaded and unshaded areas was increased. Experiment 3 was identical to Experiment 2 except that an extra generalization test was added to the experiment. This test was identical to Generalization Test No. 3 of Experiment 2, except that the shaded areas were contiguous with each other. In Experiment 1, subjects were successful on all equivalence

Matching-to-sample and respondent-type training as methods for producing equivalence relations: Isolating the critical variable

The purpose of this study was to compare systematically the effectiveness of the respondent-type training procedure and the matching-to-sample training procedure. In Experiment 1, a within-subject design was used, to compare the effectiveness of the two procedures. In Condition 1, students were trained using the respondent-type training procedure (60 training trials) and tested for the emergence of symmetry and equivalence responding using a matching-to-sample test. Students were subsequently trained using the matching-to-sample training procedure (60 training trials) and tested using a matching-to-sample test. In Condition 2, the order of the training and testing was reversed (i.e., i, MTS training; ii, MTS test, iii, respondent training; iv, MTS test). Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1, except that during matching-to-sample training subjects were required to produce 12 consecutively correct responses before an equivalence test. During respondent-type training students were presented with 12 training trials. Experiment 3 was identical to Experiment 2 except that the two negative comparisons were removed from matching-to-sample training. Experiment 4 was identical to Experiment 3 except that the correct comparison appeared to the right, center, or left of the screen and three response keys were used. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3 respondent-type training was more effective than matching-to-sample training. In Experiment 4 when the negative comparisons were removed from matching-to-sample training and when the spatial position of the correct comparison varied both procedures were equally effective

First steps: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of the Group Family Nurse Partnership (gFNP) program compared to routine care in improving outcomes for high-risk mothers and their children and preventing abuse.

BACKGROUND: Evidence from the USA suggests that the home-based Family Nurse Partnership program (FNP), extending from early pregnancy until infants are 24 months, can reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect throughout childhood. FNP is now widely available in the UK. A new variant, Group Family Nurse Partnership (gFNP) offers similar content but in a group context and for a shorter time, until infants are 12 months old. Each group comprises 8 to 12 women with similar expected delivery dates and their partners. Its implementation has been established but there is no evidence of its effectiveness. METHODS/DESIGN: The study comprises a multi-site randomized controlled trial designed to identify the benefits of gFNP compared to standard care. Participants (not eligible for FNP) must be either aged < 20 years at their last menstrual period (LMP) with one or more previous live births, or aged 20 to 24 at LMP with low educational qualifications and no previous live births. 'Low educational qualifications' is defined as not having both Maths and English Language GCSE at grade C or higher or, if they have both, no more than four in total at grade C or higher. Exclusions are: under 20 years and previously received home-based FNP and, in either age group, severe psychotic mental illness or not able to communicate in English. Consenting women are randomly allocated (minimized by site and maternal age group) when between 10 and 16 weeks pregnant to either to the 44 session gFNP program or to standard care after the collection of baseline information. Researchers are blind to group assignment.The primary outcomes at 12 months are child abuse potential based on the revised Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory and parent/infant interaction coded using the CARE Index based on a video-taped interaction. Secondary outcomes are maternal depression, parenting stress, health related quality of life, social support, and use of services. DISCUSSION: This is the first study of the effectiveness of gFNP in the UK. Results should inform decision-making about its delivery alongside universal services, potentially enabling a wider range of families to benefit from the FNP curriculum and approach to supporting parenting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN78814904

Using the implicit relational assessment procedure (irap) to assess implicit gender bias and self-esteem in typicallydeveloping children and children with adhd and with dyslexia

The current research comprised two studies that explored the utility of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (irap) as a measure of children’s implicit attitudes to the self. Study 1 (n = 20) involved a sample of children with adhd and typically-developing children, all aged between 8 and 11 years. Across irap trials, each child’s own name (e.g., mary) was juxtaposed with a common name of the opposite gender (e.g., peter), and presented in conjunction with three positive or three negative words and the two relational terms similar and opposite. The results indicated that both groups of children showed an implicit pro-self bias in trial-types denoted as Self-Positive and Self-Negative. While the typically-developing children were neither positive nor negative towards the other gender, the children with adhd showed a pro-other bias in the Other-Negative trial-type. Study 2 (n = 20) involved typically-developing children and children with dyslexia, all aged between 9 and 14 years. Again, both groups showed a pro-self bias in the Self-Positive and Self-Negative trial-types, and both were neither positive nor negative in the Other-Positive trial-type. However, the typically-developing children were anti-others in the Other-Negative trial-type, while the children with dyslexia were pro-others. The study highlights the benefits of using both explicit and implicit measures, especially the irap, when assessing the implicit cognitions of children

Relational frame theory and stimulus equivalence: Conceptual and procedural issues

The article begins with a brief outline of the phenomenon of stimulus equivalence and its relationship to human verbal behavior. Relational Frame Theory is then outlined as a behavior-analytic account of both stimulus equivalence and human language. The experimental procedures that have typically been used to examine stimulus equivalence are then considered, before focusing on a series of studies that have developed two alternative procedures for analyzing equivalence class formation: the respondent-type training procedure and the precursor to the relational evaluation procedure. Relational Frame Theory is used to interpret the results that have arisen from these two methodologies. The article concludes that the empirical and theoretical analyses of stimulus equivalence and derived relations, more generally, will be enhanced considerably through the development of a wide range of experimental preparations

Protocol paper for the ‘Harnessing resources from the internet to maximise outcomes from GP consultations (HaRI)’ study: a mixed qualitative methods study

Introduction Many patients now turn to the internet as a resource for healthcare information and advice. However, patients’ use of the internet to manage their health has been positioned as a potential source of strain on the doctor–patient relationship in primary care. The current evidence about what happens when internet-derived health information is introduced during consultations has relied on qualitative data derived from interview or questionnaire studies. The ‘Harnessing resources from the internet to maximise outcomes from GP consultations (HaRI)’ study combines questionnaire, interview and video-recorded consultation data to address this issue more fully. Methods and analysis Three data collection methods are employed: preconsultation patient questionnaires, video-recorded consultations between general practitioners (GP) and patients, and semistructured interviews with GPs and patients. We seek to recruit 10 GPs practising in Southeast England. We aim to collect up to 30 patient questionnaires and video-recorded consultations per GP, yielding up to 300. Up to 30 patients (approximately three per participating GP) will be selected for interviews sampled for a wide range of sociodemographic characteristics, and a variety of ways the use of, or information from, the internet was present or absent during their consultation. We will interview all 10 participating GPs about their views of online health information, reflecting on their own usage of online information during consultations and their patients’ references to online health information. Descriptive, conversation and thematic analysis will be used respectively for the patient questionnaires, video-recorded consultations and interviews. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval has been granted by the London–Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee. Alongside journal publications, dissemination activities include the creation of a toolkit to be shared with patients and doctors, to guide discussions of material from the internet in consultation

The experiences of pupils with SEN and their parents at the stage of pre-transition from primary to post-primary school

The experiences of pupils with Special Education Needs (SEN) and their parents at pre and post-transition from primary to post-primary school have received little literature attention. This current paper outlines the outcomes of the post transition experiences of pupils with SEN and their parents and provides a follow up to their pre –transition experiences from a comprehensive research project conducted in the Republic of Ireland. Twenty six pupils with Special Education Needs (SEN) and twenty seven parents of pupils participated in focus groups after their transition to post primary school. Emergent themes for pupils included: settling in; asking questions, provoking questions; and it’s not as bad as you think it’s going to be. Emergent themes for parents included: social support is key to settling in; communication problems; and prevention is better than cure. Critical issues emerging from the data are discussed

A study of transition from primary to post-primary school for pupils with special educational needs

The NCSE is pleased to publish this research report on the experiences of young students with special educational needs (SEN), and their parents, of the move from primary to post primary school. This is an important transition for all students. Post primary schools tend to be bigger than primary schools, and students face more teachers, more formal and subject focused learning and a more regulated environment. The changes encountered are common to all students. However there are also specific implications for students with SEN, including changes in the organisation of SEN resources and supports, and the need for coordination across schools and other services to ensure a continuum of support to address individual special needs. This report is particularly welcome as it provides important insights into how students, and their parents, experience this transition, and lessons from their experiences highlight what works well and what might be improved. The NCSE believes that transition planning is particularly important for pupils with SEN moving from one level of education to the next, whether from early education to primary, primary to post primary or post school to training, work or college. The need for such planning is supported by the stories of parents and students in this research. Drawing on this research and other work on the topic, the NCSE intends to develop evidence based guidance on transition planning in relation to children and young people with special educational needs over the next year. In addition, this research report will be of great interest to teachers, parents, students and policy makers