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The Interpretation of Topical Indefinites as Direct and Indirect Aboutness Topics’ by Cornelia Ebert and Stefan Hinterwimmer deals with the interpretation of sentences that contain indefinite DPs marked as topics. It has often been observed that topical indefinites can be interpreted in either of the following ways: (i.) they receive widest scope (in episodic sentences); (ii.) they are interpreted generically (in sentences with generic tense); (iii.) they induce so‐called Quantificational Variability Effects (in the presence of adverbial quantifiers). These three observations have not been systematically related to each other so far. The contribution of the paper consists in showing that the three readings that are in principle available to topical indefinites can be based on a single underlying principle, which is responsible for the interpretive effect of topicality in the context of adverbial quantifiers and generic operators as well as in combination with determiner quantifiers.

Variation in behaviour is an essential ingredient and necessary precondition for creativity. This chapter explores the role of associative learning processes in the generation of behavioural variability. Behavioural variability can be explicitly selected through reinforcement. Importantly, operant variability appears to reflect instrumental control of a stochastic process, rather than the dynamics of a memory process. Furthermore, variation in behaviour spontaneously increases as the expectation of reinforcement decreases. Expectation-induced variability is functionally relevant for generating novel solutions, and is linked to the unusually high creative output found in patients suffering from mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder. Basal ganglia pathways in vertebrates appear to be centrally involved in modulating the trade-off between variability versus stereotypy in behaviour.

Environmental flow assessments take place in many different management contexts, at various spatial scales, within different biophysical systems, and in contrasting socioeconomic and political settings. These settings and circumstances have a strong bearing on the scope for provision of an environmental flow regime and the methods most suited to achieving the desired ecological outcomes. This chapter describes techniques for assessing environmental flow requirements for rivers. They range from the simplistic use of available hydrologic records to establish minimum and flushing flows to sophisticated modeling procedures that link changes in river discharge with geomorphological and ecological responses at species, community, and ecosystem scales. Hydrological methods include the Montana (Tennant) method, flow duration curve analysis, Range of Variability Approach (RVA), and flow translucency approach.