The Encoding-Error Model of Pathway Completion without Vision

We present a model that accounts for errors in short-cutting to complete a triangular pathway by individuals deprived of visual input. The model assumes that systematic error arises from components of navigation concerned with encoding an internal representation of the pathway, rather than the computation of a homeward trajectory or motor output per se. Subjects' tendency to compress the range of actually produced turns and distances, in comparison to the range of correct values, is attributed to regression toward the mean of encoded values during encoding of segments and turns, in the face of uncertainty about the actual values. Individual-subject variations are attributed to differences in the encoding-function parameters, not to variations in the processes themselves. The model provides excellent accounts of data obtained with triangular pathways but fares less well when pathway complexity increases, at which point errors do not appear to be solely attributable to encoding processes. The sources of error identified by the model are likely to play a role in navigation more generally.     

Numerical Fragility Analysis of Vertical-Pile-Supported Wharves in the Western United States

This study develops seismic fragility curves for vertical-pile-supported wharves commonly found in the western United States. Nonlinear time-history analyses of a two-dimensional numerical model under two ground motion suites are performed. The results show that the jumbo container cranes increase by 10.8% in the wharf deck drift. By using the experiment-based limit states, the proposed fragility curves demonstrate that, at a PGA of 0.50 g, the probabilities of exceeding slight, moderate, extensive, and complete limit states are approximately 23.0%, 7.0%, 4.0%, and 3.0%, respectively, while at a PGA of 1.00 g, the exceeding probabilities increase to 44.0%, 19.0%, 14.0%, and 11.0%, respectively.     

Folk Elements in Nineteenth-Century Puritanism

THE IDIOM OF THE PEOPLE. By JAMES REEVES. Heinemann, 1958. Pp. xii, 244. Reviewed by Margaret Dean-Smith.

EUSKALERRIKO IPUIÑAK: Basque Folktales. Edited with notes and Spanish versions by A. IRIGARAY. Itxaropena Argitaldaria, Zarauz, 1957. Pp. 225, 40 pesetas. Reviewed by P. L. Henry.

DAHOMEAN NARRATIVE. A Cross-Cultural Analysis. By MELVILLE J. and FRANCES S. HERSKOVITS. Northwestern University Press, Evanstown, 1958. Pp. xvi, 490. Reviewed by Jack Berry.

FOLKLORE OF OTHER LANDS. By A. M. SELVI, L. KAHN, R. C. SOULE. S. F. Vanni; New York. Five dollars. Reviewed by K. M. Briggs.

ALTE NEWE ZEITUNG. A sixteenth-century collection of fables. Edited by ELI SOBEL. Folklore Studies x, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1958. Pp. xii, 64. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

BRAUCHTUMSGEBÄCKE UND WEIHNACHTSSPEISEN. Ein volkskundlicher Beitrag zur österreichischen Kulturgeographie. By E. BURGSTALLER. Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für den Volkskundeatlas in Österreich, vol. ii, Linz, 1957. Pp. 136, (18), 7; 5 plates, 22 maps. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

AN ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLKLORE, Vol. 1–67, 68, 69, 70. By TRISTRAM P. COFFIN. American Folklore Society, Philadelphia, 1958. Pp. xvi, 383. $6.50. Reviewed by Wilfrid Bonser.

DEUTSCHES HANDWERKERLEBEN UND DER AUFSTIEG DER STADT. By MAX RUMPF. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, 1955. Pp. 244, 106 photographs. WÜRTTEMBERGISCHES JAHRBUCH FÜR VOLKSKUNDE, 1956. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, 1956. Pp. 164; 12 photographs, 1 map and 2 drawings. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

DAS VOTIVBILD. By L. KRISS-RETTENBECK. Hermann Rinn, Munich, 1958. Pp. 185; Plates 173. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

THE SINGING MOUNTAINEERS. By RUTH STEPHANS. Thomas Nelson &; Sons, Edinburgh, 1958. 18s. net. Reviewed by C. A. Burland.

THE YOUNG TRAVELLER IN MEXICO. By BETTY ROSS. Phoenix House, London 1958. Pp. 136. 9s. 6d. net. Reviewed by C. A. Burland.

THE COLLECTING OF FOLK MUSIC AND OTHER ETHNOMUSICOLOGICAL MATERIAL. Edited by Maud Karpeles. Reviewed by A. H.

THE PREHISTORY OF AFRICA. By H. ALIMEN. Hutchinson, London, 1957. 63s. Reviewed by Robert A. Kennedy.