French involvement and solidarity in South West France with the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

My postgraduate research project since August 2009 has focused on the ways in which solidarity and support were created and developed between people in the South West of France and the Second Republic in Spain. The first chapter of my thesis looks at how support for leftist politics and Republicanism in Spain was developed in the South West, a border region with close social, economic and political connections to Spain, especially following the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in April 1931. The second chapter investigates how community groups, local French Front Populaire committees, Trade Unions and left-wing political parties worked to establish solidarity with the Spanish Republicans, within their local communities, ranging from the large cities such as Toulouse and Perpignan, down to localized actions in smaller sous-préfectures and communes. This chapter aims to demonstrate that support for the Republic took root across the South West and was developed due to the strong links to her Iberian neighbour discussed in chapter one. Chapter three examines how smaller government connected of regional functionaries falling under the aegis of pro-Republicans in the French government circumvented Non-Intervention laws and supported the Republic via partisan acts of assistance in crucial border posts and aerodromes in the South West. This chapter aims to demonstrate that despite the traditional narrative of the Spanish Civil War, which emphasises France’s adherence to the Non-Intervention agreement from August 1936, on a local level a plethora of actions in favour of the Republic were carried out. This research constitutes a significant step towards understanding international solidarity during the conflict beyond the major players such as the USSR and Mexico, countries which flouted the Non-Intervention agreement in favour of the Republic without any qualms. Finally chapter four looks at the volunteers from the South West to fight alongside the Republicans against the Spanish Nationalists backed by Hitler and Mussolini. The chapter will also illuminate the complex network of support services provided in the region to those wishing to enlist in the Republican army, underlining the important social contribution provided by pro-Republican elements within border communities in the South West

French involvement and solidarity in South West France with the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

My postgraduate research project since August 2009 has focused on the ways in which solidarity and support were created and developed between people in the South West of France and the Second Republic in Spain. The first chapter of my thesis looks at how support for leftist politics and Republicanism in Spain was developed in the South West, a border region with close social, economic and political connections to Spain, especially following the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in April 1931. The second chapter investigates how community groups, local French Front Populaire committees, Trade Unions and left-wing political parties worked to establish solidarity with the Spanish Republicans, within their local communities, ranging from the large cities such as Toulouse and Perpignan, down to localized actions in smaller sous-préfectures and communes. This chapter aims to demonstrate that support for the Republic took root across the South West and was developed due to the strong links to her Iberian neighbour discussed in chapter one. Chapter three examines how smaller government connected of regional functionaries falling under the aegis of pro-Republicans in the French government circumvented Non-Intervention laws and supported the Republic via partisan acts of assistance in crucial border posts and aerodromes in the South West. This chapter aims to demonstrate that despite the traditional narrative of the Spanish Civil War, which emphasises France’s adherence to the Non-Intervention agreement from August 1936, on a local level a plethora of actions in favour of the Republic were carried out. This research constitutes a significant step towards understanding international solidarity during the conflict beyond the major players such as the USSR and Mexico, countries which flouted the Non-Intervention agreement in favour of the Republic without any qualms. Finally chapter four looks at the volunteers from the South West to fight alongside the Republicans against the Spanish Nationalists backed by Hitler and Mussolini. The chapter will also illuminate the complex network of support services provided in the region to those wishing to enlist in the Republican army, underlining the important social contribution provided by pro-Republican elements within border communities in the South West

Competition as rational action : why young children cannot appreciate competitive games

Understanding rational actions requires perspective taking both with respect to means and with respect to objectives. This study addresses the question of whether the two kinds of perspective taking develop simultaneously or in sequence. It is argued that evidence from competitive behavior is best suited for settling this issue. A total of 71 kindergarten children between 3 and 5 years of age participated in a competitive game of dice and were tested on two traditional false belief stories as well as on several control tasks (verbal intelligence, inhibitory control, and working memory). The frequency of competitive poaching moves in the game correlated with correct predictions of mistaken actions in the false belief task. Hierarchical linear regression after controlling for age and control variables showed that false belief understanding significantly predicted the amount of poaching moves. The results speak for an interrelated development of the capacity for “instrumental” and “telic” perspective taking. They are discussed in the light of teleology as opposed to theory use and simulation

Language skills, peer rejection, and the development of externalizing behavior from kindergarten to fourth grade

Background: Children with poorer language skills are more likely to show externalizing behavior problems, as well as to become rejected by their peers. Peer rejection has also been found to affect the development of externalizing behavior. This study explored the role of peer rejection in the link between language skills and the development of externalizing behavior. Methods: Six hundred and fifteen (615) children were followed from kindergarten to grade 4. Receptive language skills were measured with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test in grade 2. Teachers reported externalizing behavior and peer reports of social rejection were measured annually. Results: Children with poorer receptive language skills showed increasing externalizing behavior, while children with better receptive language skills showed decreases in externalizing behavior. Children with poorer receptive language skills experienced peer rejection most frequently. The link between receptive language skills and the development of externalizing behavior was mediated by the development of peer rejection. Findings suggested that this mediational link applied mostly to boys. Conclusion: Children with poorer language skills are at increased risk of becoming rejected by mainstream peers, which adds to the development of externalizing behavior. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. © 2010 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Constructing a New Theory From Old Ideas and New Evidence

A central tenet of constructivist models of conceptual development is that children's initial conceptual level constrains how they make sense of new evidence and thus whether exposure to evidence will prompt conceptual change. Yet little experimental evidence directly examines this claim for the case of sustained, fundamental conceptual achievements. The present study combined scaling and experimental microgenetic methods to examine the processes underlying conceptual change in the context of an important conceptual achievement of early childhood—the development of a representational theory of mind. Results from 47 children ( M age = 3.7 years) indicate that only children who were conceptually close to understanding false belief at the beginning of the study, and who were experimentally exposed to evidence of people acting on false beliefs, reliably developed representational theories of minds. Combined scaling and microgenetic data revealed how prior conceptual level interacts with experience, thereby providing critical experimental evidence for how conceptual change results from the interplay between conceptions and evidence.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97271/1/cogs12031.pd

The Mind Behind the Message: Advancing Theory‐of‐Mind Scales for Typically Developing Children, and Those With Deafness, Autism, or Asperger Syndrome

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90598/1/j.1467-8624.2011.01728.x.pd

Young children's psychological explanations and their relationship with perception- and intention-understanding

The present study examined two key aspects of young children's ability to explain human behaviour in a mentalistic way. First, we explored desires that are of a level of difficulty comparable with that of false beliefs. For this purpose, the so-called 'alternative desires' were created. Second, we examined how children's psychological explanations are related to their understanding of perception and intention. A perception-understanding task, an intention-understanding task and a psychological-explanation task were administered to 80 three-year-olds. Results offer support for the thesis that the level of difficulty of belief and desire explanations is comparable. Moreover, children's psychological explanations are related to their understanding of perception and intention. The results lend support to the idea that mentalistic explanations are an explicit manifestation of children's level of theory of mind

Individual Differences in Theory of Mind From Preschool to Adolescence: Achievements and Directions

In this article, we provide a state-of-the-science overview of research on normative individual differences in theory of mind. We begin by examining achievements in research on individual differences in theory of mind in the preschool years and more recent work on middle childhood and adolescence. In doing so, we outline several converging lines of evidence for social influences on individual differences in theory of mind, and assess the claim that individual differences in theory of mind matter for children’s social lives. We then evaluate two conceptualizations of individual differences in theory of mind: the developmental lag and genuine differences accounts. By placing the study of individual differences in theory of mind center stage, we aim to highlight fruitful avenues for research on normative variation in theory of mind both within and beyond the preschool years.Rory T. Devine was funded by a grant from the Isaac Newton Trust, Cambridge.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdep.12124/abstract