The trajectory of counterfactual simulation in development

Previous work has argued that young children do not answercounterfactual questions (e.g. “what would have happened?”)by constructing simulations of alternative possibilities in theway adults do. Here, we propose that children can engage insimulation when answering these questions, but considerdifferent counterfactual possibilities than adults. While mostprevious research has relied on narrative stimuli, we use causalperception events, which are understood even in infancy. InExperiment 1, we replicate earlier findings that childrenstruggle with counterfactual reasoning, but show that they arecapable of conducting the required simulations in a predictiontask. In Experiment 2, we use a novel multiple-choice methodthat allows us to study not only when children get it right, butalso how they get it wrong. We find evidence that 4-year-oldsengage in simulation, but preserve only some features of whatactually happened and not others

Changement linguistique et périodisation du francąis (pré)classique: Deux études de cas à partir des corpus du RCFC

RÉSUMÉCette étude propose d’explorer et d’identifier des moments particuliers où le changement linguistique se produit, afin de confirmer ou de rejeter l’idée d’une période spécifique désignée par le terme « français préclassique », avec une rupture – ou frontière chronolectale – détectable autour de 1630 (cf. Ayres-Bennett et Caron, 2016). Afin de vérifier dans quelle mesure cette chronologie peut être confirmée, il est nécessaire de multiplier des analyses fines et pointues sur des traits linguistiques qui ont subi des changements à l’époque en question et d’interroger une gamme de textes qui reflètent la variation discursive et pragmatique, au lieu de consulter le canon des traditions textuelles actuellement disponibles sur des bases numérisées, qui sont essentiellement littéraires. C’est pourquoi nous avons consulté des sources de nature différente, qui pourraient attester des usages émergents, à savoir les corpus du Réseau Corpus Français Préclassique et Classique (RCFC). Seront présentés les résultats de deux études de cas (la recatégorisation des formesdedans/dessous/dessus/dehorset la montée des clitiques), abondamment discutés par les remarqueurs.</jats:p

The Search for Invariance: Repeated Positive Testing Serves the Goals of Causal Learning

Positive testing is characteristic of exploratory behavior, yet it seems to be at odds with the aim of information seeking. After all, repeated demonstrations of one’s current hypothesis often produce the same evidence and fail to distinguish it from potential alternatives. Research on the development of scientific reasoning and adult rule learning have both documented and attempted to explain this behavior. The current chapter reviews this prior work and introduces a novel theoretical account—the Search for Invariance (SI) hypothesis—which suggests that producing multiple positive examples serves the goals of causal learning. This hypothesis draws on the interventionist framework of causal reasoning, which suggests that causal learners are concerned with the invariance of candidate hypotheses. In a probabilistic and interdependent causal world, our primary goal is to determine whether, and in what contexts, our causal hypotheses provide accurate foundations for inference and intervention—not to disconfirm their alternatives. By recognizing the central role of invariance in causal learning, the phenomenon of positive testing may be reinterpreted as a rational information-seeking strategy

A PCR-based screening program to assess the prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis in breeding stallions in South Africa

The first outbreak of Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) due to Taylorella equigenitalis in South Africa was reported to the OIE in May 2011 subsequent to importation of a stallion, the index case. Two additional positive stallions were identified on an initial trace-back. The outbreak-response prompted determination of the national prevalence and distribution of CEM. A nation-wide PCR-based screening of all breeding stallions motivated by a previous outbreak report [1] was implemented via a mandatory CEM-negative clearance certificate prior to use for natural breeding or semen collection. Compliance from breeders was facilitated by developing a web-based system providing an easily-accessed, rapid and costeffective sampling, testing and reporting process on www.cemsa.co.za. A submission form, information, a breed-indexed list of stallions achieving CEM-clearance and a method for obtaining and submitting two sets of swabs (with an interval > 7d) from the external genitalia were accessible on the website. A duplex PCR was chosen as the assay method due to potential for submission of samples with minimal restrictions on transit time and temperature criteria and rapid, high throughput, cost-effi-ciency and reported sensitivity *1,2+. A clearance certificate was issued via the website after negative results from both sets of samples.http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-equine-veterinary-sciencehb2016Equine Research Centr