Through a close analysis of socio-biologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy’s work on motherhood and ‘mirror neurons’ it is argued that Hrdy’s claims exemplify how research that ostensibly bases itself on neuroscience, including in literary studies ‘literary Darwinism’, relies after all not on scientific, but on political assumptions, namely on underlying, unquestioned claims about the autonomous, transparent, liberal agent of consumer capitalism. These underpinning assumptions, it is further argued, involve the suppression or overlooking of an alternative, prior tradition of feminist theory, including (...) feminist science criticism. (shrink)

Angelaki, Volume 17, Issue 1, Page 31-40, March 2012.

Departing from the theoretical position that childhood is a construction of identity, this article examines queer theory about childhood, arguing that definitions of ‘queer theory’ and of ‘childhood’ affect each other specifically in complex ways. In relation to this, it is argued that even where ‘queer theory’ defines itself as the dismantling of foundational categories, childhood often escapes this dismantling inadvertently and unintentionally. The reasons for, and implications of, this are explored.

Self-efficacy is an important predictor of learning and achievement. By definition, self-efficacy requires a task-specific assessment, in which students are asked to evaluate whether they can solve concrete tasks. An underlying assumption in previous research into such assessments was that self-efficacy is a one-dimensional construct. However, empirical evidence for this assumption is lacking, and research on students’ performance suggests that it depends on various task characteristics. The present study explores the potential multi-dimensionality of self-efficacy in the topic of linear functions. (...) More specifically, we investigate how three task characteristics – the representational format, embedding in a real-life context, or the required operation – are related to students’ self-efficacy. We asked 8th and 9th graders to evaluate their self-efficacy on specific linear function tasks which systematically varied along the three dimensions of task characteristics. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we found that a two-dimensional model which includes the task characteristic of real-life context fitted the data better than other two-dimensional models or a one-dimensional model. These results suggest that self-efficacy with linear functions is empirically separable with respect to tasks with vs. without a real-life context. This means that in their self-evaluation of linear function tasks students particularly rely on whether or not the linear function task is embedded in a real-life context. This study highlights the fact that even within a specific content domain students’ self-efficacy can be considered a multi-dimensional construct. (shrink)

This book marks a departure towards a theory of jewelry, something hitherto non-existent. The question is: what do I see and what's behind it? 'Thinking Jewellery' is published to accompany the 6th session of the Colloquium to be held at Idar-Oberstein.