Finding Signatures of Linguistic Reasoning

Hinzen lays out the platform of un-Cartesian linguistics, and the ramifications threaten widespread beliefs about the relations between language and thought. The theoretical story is compelling but my commentary will address my concerns as a laborer in research

Evolution of self-gravitating magnetized disks. I- Axisymmetric simulations

In this paper and a companion work, we report on the first global numerical simulations of self-gravitating magnetized tori, subject in particular to the influence of the magnetorotational instability (MRI). In this work, paper I, we restrict our calculations to the study of the axisymmetric evolution of such tori. Our goals are twofold: (1) to investigate how self-gravity influences the global structure and evolution of the disks; and (2) to determine whether turbulent density inhomogeneities can be enhanced by self-gravity in this regime. As in non self-gravitating models, the linear growth of the MRI is followed by a turbulent phase during which angular momentum is transported outward. As a result, self-gravitating tori quickly develop a dual structure composed of an inner thin Keplerian disk fed by a thicker self-gravitating disk, whose rotation profile is close to a Mestel disk. Our results show that the effects of self-gravity enhance density fluctuations much less than they smooth the disk, and giving it more coherence. We discuss the expected changes that will occur in 3D simulations, the results of which are presented in a companion paper.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The emergence of bound variable structures

Even for aduelts, quantifiers such as all , some , every seem to involve difficult mapping between logic and grammar. A sentence like every boy ate every food requires a little concentration before the meaning comes through. One might think that there is no natural mapping of such sophisticated aspectes of cognition onto grammatical structure. Current linguistic theory, however, reveals that syntax puts sharp limits on how quantification works. The study of quantifiers might reveal how cognition connects to grammar and how they are intertwined int he process of acquisition. We will try to present the acquisition problem in a manner slightly abstracted from the technical details of linguistic theory

Unbiased assessment of first language acquisition in English: Distinguishing development and dialect from disorder.

The project described in this article reflects the combined expertise of linguists studying the distinctive characteristics of AAE, developmental psycholinguists with extensive experience studying normal acquisition in several domains of language, and clinicians skilled in assessment of and intervention with language-impaired children. Another important feature of the project was that the research contract included an agreement between the principal investigators, the federal funding agency, and a major publishing company (The Psychological Corporation) for the publishers to carry out the field testing and standardization of the assessment instrument as soon as the researchers developed the materials. This considerably reduced the time from conception to publication of the tests