Event Processing through naming: Investigating event focus in two people with aphasia

Some people with aphasia may have trouble with verbs because of fundamental difficulties in processing situations in a way that maps readily onto language. This paper describes a novel assessment, the Order of Naming Test, that explores the conceptual processing of events through the order in which people name the entities involved. The performance of non-brain damaged control participants is described. The responses of two people with non-fluent aphasia are then discussed. Both 'Helen' and 'Ron' showed significant difficulty with verbs and sentences. Ron also had trouble on a range of tasks tapping aspects of event processing, despite intact non-verbal cognition. While Helen's performance on the Order of Naming Test was very similar to the controls, Ron's differed in a number of respects, suggesting that he was less focused on the main participant entities. However, certain aspects of his response pointed at covert event processing abilities that might be fruitfully exploited in therapy

Smarter choices and telecoms – the evidence

In May 2004, a research report entitled ‘Smarter Choices’ was published in conjunction with the new White Paper on the ‘The Future of Transport’. The study looked at ten transport measures, including telework, teleconferencing and home shopping. The study suggested that, within ten years, and within a supportive context, a ‘high-intensity scenario’ of implementing these measures could reduce national traffic levels by 11%, with greater effects in certain circumstances, including, for example, a 21% reduction in urban peak traffic. This paper concentrates on telework and teleconferencing. Taken together, these represented about 37% of the potential national traffic reduction identified. The study also showed that telework and teleconferencing were often associated with other benefits, including financial savings for employers and a better work–life balance for employees. Hence, increasing their use could have a range of positive effects. Some critics have argued that encouraging organisations to adopt telework or teleconferencing leads to more dispersed lifestyles and business activities, thereby increasing travel not reducing it. Whilst this is logically possible, current evidence does not support this. Moreover, a key issue is the context in which these activities are encouraged. For example, the effect of promoting them in a context where road and air travel are priced to reflect environmental impacts is likely to be significantly different to the effect of promoting them in a context of an expansion of cheap, long-distance travel. The Smarter Choices research suggests that, where employers are encouraged to promote telework or teleconferencing as part of a package with explicit objectives to reduce travel, significant traffic reductions can be achieved

Will solar radiation management enhance global security in a changing climate?

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