Critical variable

Abstract: This article addresses age-related attainment effects in second language acquisition, posing the question of whether such effects are to be explained in terms of a Critical Period with a predictable and abrupt offset point or in terms of the impact of a wider range of factors. It attempts to explore this question by focusing on four discussion points in the current debate: (i) the wide use of native-speaker behaviour as the key L2 attainment yardstick; (ii) the degree of compatibility of prevailing views regarding the notion of a critical period for L2 acquisition; (iii) the relative narrowness of much research in this area, where age of L2 onset is often regarded as the crucial if not the only critical variable; and (iv) insights relative to maturational constraints on language acquisition offered by recent brain research. The article concludes that a loosening of the association between ultimate L2 attainment research and Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) issues would shed more light on L2 attainment in terms both of the comprehensiveness and of the acuity of the insights which would result.

Abstract: The study presented in this paper aims at improving the current understanding of human-robot interaction by adopting a psychological approach. The acceptability of robotic devices in home settings, especially by elderly people, does not depend only on the practical benefits they can provide, but on complex relationships between the cognitive, affective and emotional components of people’s images of robots. This study has investigated the main dimensions of these representations, by comparing the attitudes towards technology in general, and domestic robots in particular, held by people at different stages of the lifespan. The results confirm that age is a critical variable.

Abstract: The consequences of a new system of integral equations for the theory of the critical point are discussed. Reasons are given for believing that the fundamental assumption of the Ornstein‐Zernicke theory about the direct correlation function is incorrect.