Ongoing Arguments Research Articles

Preschoolers' responses to ongoing interadult conflict: the role of prior exposure to resolved versus unresolved arguments.

Children's past experiences with interadult conflict are likely to influence their responses to ongoing arguments. Preschoolers' (4- to 5-year-olds) responses to interadult conflict were examined as a function of experimentally manipulated histories of exposure to resolved and unresolved arguments. Children were presented with two live arguments that were either resolved or unresolved, then they were presented with a third argument that was interrupted in progress (i.e., unresolved), and they were interviewed next. Children's overt-behavioral responses were videotaped and coded for distress level. The results support the notion that past experiences with conflict resolution ameliorate children's distress responses to ongoing arguments. In comparison to children previously exposed to unresolved conflict, those exposed to a history of resolved disputes were more likely to (a) exhibit lowered behavioral distress, (b) predict a lower likelihood of a conflictual outcome for the couple's argument, (c) report less negative perceptions of the arguing adults, and were less likely to (d) endorse intervention in conflict through attempts to stop the disputes; (c) and (d) pertained only to girls.

Military readiness: A case of rhetorical overkill

Whatever the outcome of the NATO deployment in Bosnia, it has raised the question of the relevance of current ideas on military readiness, especially with reference to the United States where the ongoing arguments between the Republican Congress and the Democratic administration on military spending has tended to obscure realities Professor Foster here discusses what is meant by readiness and how it can be interpreted. He points out the difficulties of the subjective nature of the concept leading to often contradictory judgements, both on the part of the military and their political counterparts.

Victory of the Minimalists and Privatisers?

For a number of years, Denis Lawton has been interested in the dominant ideologies of education and in the influence they exert on practical policy-making. In a paper published towards the end of the 1980s (Lawton, 1988), he argued that it was useful to divide political views on education into a number of ideological categories; and acknowledged a special debt to George and Wilding who in a recent study Ideology and Social Welfare (1985) had sought to establish the relationship between political ideology and general attitudes to welfare. It seemed clear to Lawton that ongoing Conservative arguments about education could usefully be seen in the context of more general discussion about the nature of the Welfare State.

The world declaration of the rights of the child: anticipated challenges.

The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child which was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly is described as a memorable chapter in the history of human civilization. This landmark document has neither been ratified by the United States nor publicized by child health professionals and media. A few of the Convention's guidelines related to early parent-child relations are briefly cited and the role of parents, particularly that of mothers, in protecting their children's rights is discussed. The author anticipates implementation of the guidelines might generate conflict of interest among groups with nontraditional views on family and child care and challenges to the implementations of the guidelines could therefore be expected. Among the reasons for such anticipated challenges are the ongoing controversial and emotional arguments in the literature on child development concerning maternal paid employment and alternative child care, changing views and emphasis on a new definition of marriage, family and motherhood by feminist groups, and inadequate educational indoctrination on child-care issues among some family physicians and pediatricians. The guidelines should not be buried under personal agendas, organizational biases, wishful thinking, ignorance, and political considerations. Finally, the obligation of professionals in health and human services as well as State authorities to support positive ideology on children's rights is discussed.

Obduction processes in ancient, modern and future ophiolites

Summary Geologic and tectonic processes of ophiolite obduction deduced from structural mapping, timing of deformation and metamorphism and palinspastic reconstruction of ancient ophiolite complexes compare closely with modern processes operative in the western Pacific. Many ongoing arguments about the origin of ophiolite complexes (oceanic, island arc or marginal basin) and their emplacement (subduction-related or not) are largely semantic and depend on exactly what individuals regard as island arcs, marginal basins or subduction zones. A review of tectonic processes currently active in the western Pacific region shows a wide range in size, shape and duration of arc-basin complexes and some of these show uniformitarian models similar to those proposed for emplacement of ancient ophiolites. The Tethyan ophiolites of the Semail (Oman Mountains) and Spontang (Western Himalaya of Ladakh-Zanskar) and the Ordovician western Newfoundland ophiolites are compared with recent examples of the Mariana basin, Yap trench, Banda arc, Luzon arc and Papua New Guinea. It is concluded that they are all connected in some way with marginal basins and island arcs in varying stages of development and maturity. Emplacement of these ophiolites is related to continental underthrusting of a trapped marginal basin and accretionary prism comparable to present-day examples of the N Australian margin underthrusting Timor and the Banda Sea and the SE China margin underthrusting the Luzon arc.

Structural studies on gels from isotactic polystyrene

The thermoreversible gelation phenomena exhibited by isotactic polystyrene (i-PS) was examined in depth, utilising a variety of experimental techniques. The primary aims were identification, relationship, description and visualisation of the morphologies corresponding to the two types of crystallization as diagnosed by the different crystal structures revealed by X-ray diffraction. While centred on electron microscopy the investigation used X-ray and electron diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy in combination. A satisfactory correlation between all these techniques was established, including the important reassurance that the characteristics of the gel state are preserved on drying, a feature necessitated by most structure methods. Thei-PS gel system as a whole displays particularly clearly the distinction between gel forming and chain folded lamellar crystallization and the coexistence, morphological relationship and competition between the two crystallizable species. In addition, and most significantly, the gel crystals possess a crystal structure involving extended chains, close to an all-trans conformation, which are quite different to those obtained from conventionally crystallizedi-PS (31 helix). This former extended conformation in itself has become the starting point for new geometric and stereochemical considerations and in addition offers a convenient diffraction based fingerprint to delineate between the two modes of crystallization. Thus the conversion of the gel crystal structure to the conventional 31 helix structure on heating could be monitored. Further, that in the processes of heat annealing, remnants of these gel fibres initiate the development and dictate the orientation of a shish-kebab type platelet growth with the 31 helix crystal structure. This conversion process has been followed by electron microscopy and supplemented infra-red spectroscopy, low angle X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The different roles of fibres and platelets on stretching have been identified. Conditions for the existence of the gel crystals in their different variants are specified with relevance to ongoing arguments and discussions in the subject. Further, it was established that passing through the gel phase significantly enhanced the crystallization in the conventional crystal form making the normally slowly crystallizingi-PS into a fast crystallizable polyolefin.