Self-perceived information needs and concerns of elderly persons.

The research was intended to identify the dimensions underlying self-perceived information needs and concerns of an elderly population. The spontaneously mentioned needs and concerns expressed in 271 letters from a sample of the population were extracted and a multidimensional scaling procedure was used to represent the 58 most frequently mentioned items in configurations of varying dimensionality. To interpret the multidimensional spaces, another sample of 176 elderly subjects was asked to rate the 58 concerns on eight properties. These ratings were then regressed onto the multidimensional configurations. The results indicate that the most frequently mentioned information needs and concerns of elderly persons can be parsimoniously understood in terms of three underlying dimensions: (1) Improving the Quality of Life vs Securing the Necessities of Life, (2) Health-related vs Not Health-related, and (3) Individual vs Societal Responsibility.     

Lingual vibrotactile threshold and suprathreshold responses of normal-speaking black and white young adults.

A paradigm for studying oral sensory tactile function through use of single frequency vibration applied to the dorsal surface of the tongue was administered to a group of 10 young black women and 10 young white normal-speaking women. Analyses showed no differences between groups with regard to lingual vibrotactile threshold of sensitivity or suprathreshold magnitude-estimation scaling responses.     

Differences in lingual vibrotactile threshold shifts during magnitude-estimation scaling between normal-speaking children and children with articulation problems.

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in function of the tactile sensory system between groups of normal-speaking children and children with articulation problems. This task was accomplished by studying possible tactile threshold shifts occurring during magnitude-estimation scaling of vibratory stimuli presented to the dorsal surface of the tongue. 10 normal-speaking children (M age = 7.8 yr.) and 9 children with articulation problems (M age = 7.5 yr.) participated. The normal-speaking children and articulatory defective children performed differently on the magnitude-estimation scaling task in which threshold was allowed to return to baseline after each stimulus presentation. These two groups of children also showed dissimilar threshold shifts for the suprathreshold intensities employed in the magnitude-estimation scaling.     

Effects of noise on sleep inertia as a function of circadian placement of a one-hour nap.

The purpose of the present study was to analyse the arousing effects of noise on sleep inertia as a function of circadian placement of a one-hour nap. In a first experiment, we measured the effects of sleep inertia in a neutral acoustic environment after a one-hour nap placed either at 0100 or 0400 on response time during a spatial memory test. In a second experiment were analysed the effects of an intense continuous noise on sleep inertia. The results showed that noise produced a total abolition of sleep inertia after an early nap (0000 to 0100). This may be due to the arousing effect of noise; however, results are less clear after a late nap 0300 to 0400 as noise seems to be ineffective. This result is discussed in terms of either a function of time-of-day effect or of prior sleep intensity. Moreover, our data suggest a possible interaction of noise with partial sleep deprivation leading to a slight deleterious effect those subjects who did not sleep at all.     

Did Pearson reject the Neyman-Pearson philosophy of statistics?

I document some of the main evidence showing that E. S. Pearson rejected the key features of the behavioral-decision philosophy that became associated with the Neyman-Pearson Theory of statistics (NPT). I argue that NPT principles arose not out of behavioral aims, where the concern is solely with behaving correctly sufficiently often in some long run, but out of the epistemological aim of learning about causes of experimental results (e.g., distinguishing genuine from spurious effects). The view Pearson did hold gives a deeper understanding of NPT tests than their typical formulation as accept-reject routines, against which criticisms of NPT are really directed. The Pearsonian view that emerges suggests how NPT tests may avoid these criticisms while still retaining what is central to these methods: the control of error probabilities.A portion of this research was carried out during tenure of a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Fellowship; I gratefully acknowledge that support. A version of this paper was presented at the 1987 meeting of the Society for Exact Philosophy. This paper benefited from discussions and communications with George Barnard and Isaac Levi. I thank Harlan Miller for helpful comments on earlier drafts.     

Adolescents and computers: attitude, personality and motive for interaction]

This empirical study was undertaken to clarify controversial points emanating from previous theoretical and empirical papers dealing with apparently negative consequences on the personality development of young people who have at least a causal working-acquaintance with computers. We tested 174 persons of both sexes (age: 14-18 years) with a "Computer-Attitude-Questionnaire" and the "Mehrdimensionaler Pers?nlichkeitstest für Jugendliche" (Schmidt, 1981; "Multidimensional-Personality-Test"). A subgroup of 63 persons who have access to and do avail themselves of computers on a regular basis (as leisure-time activity) also answered the "Computer-Motive-Questionnaire". Statistical analyses revealed that the personality test-values of young people with a positive attitude toward computers range within the test-norm. The data for these people describe them as stress resistant, emotionally stable, well-balanced, sociable, achievement-oriented, and less aggressive.     

A psychophysiological study of the use of partial information in stimulus-response translation.

Ss performed a hybrid go/no-go reaction task in which colored letters were assigned in various ways to 4 finger responses, 2 on each hand. In addition to reaction time, psychophysiological measures were used to assess the duration of stimulus identification and the onset of central and peripheral motor activity. The results suggest that response selection can begin on the basis of 1 stimulus dimension (e.g., color), while the other dimension (e.g., letter form) has not yet been identified. Other results are discussed with regard to "selection for action" (Allport, 1987) and the importance of stimulus-response translation strategies in the use of partial information.     

On the transmission of partial information: inferences from movement-related brain potentials.

Results are reported from a new paradigm that uses movement-related brain potentials to detect response preparation based on partial information. The paradigm uses a hybrid choice-reaction go/nogo procedure in which decisions about response hand and whether to respond are based on separate stimulus attributes. A lateral asymmetry in the movement-related brain potential was found on nogo trials without overt movement. The direction of this asymmetry depended primarily on the signaled response hand rather than on properties of the stimulus. When the asymmetry first appeared was influenced by the time required to select the signaled hand, and when it began to differ on go and nogo trials was influenced by the time to decide whether to respond. These findings indicate that both stimulus attributes were processed in parallel and that the asymmetry reflected preparation of the response hand that began before the go/nogo decision was completed.     

Prediction of early social and academic adjustment of children from the inner city

Investigated predictors of five measures of early school adjustment for an ethnically diverse cohort of 683 inner-city kindergartners and first graders. Data from 2 consecutive years were collected from teachers, school records, and children. A multiple-regression preduction model significantly explained children's competence behavior, problem behavior, reading achievement, mathematics achievement, and school absences. Prior adjustment and sociodemographic factors explained a majority of the variance in adjustment. Perceived quality of parent involvement was signifcantly related (in the expected direction) to all five outcomes. Exposure to life events was significantly associated in the expected direction with competence behavior, problem behavior, and school absences but not with reading and mathematics achievement. Together, parent involvement and life-event variables explained as much as 12% of the variance in adjustment independent of sociodemographic and prior adjustment factors. The role of family and school factors in the adjustment of children at risk is discussed [corrected].     

Parenting stress among families of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Prior research has shown that parenting stress levels can be quite high among families of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study investigated the degree to which such stress was related not only to the child's ADHD, but also to various other child, parent, and family-environment circumstances. Multimethod assessments were conducted on 104 clinic-referred children with ADHD. Data collected from these subjects were entered into hierarchical multiple-regression analyses, utilizing the Parenting Stress Index as the criterion. The results showed that child and parent characteristics accounted for a substantial portion of the variance in overall parenting stress. The child's oppositional-defiant behavior and maternal psychopathology were especially potent predictors. The severity of the child's ADHD, the child's health status, and maternal health status also emerged as significant predictors. These findings are discussed in terms of their impact upon the clinical management of children with ADHD.The authors are grateful to Mary Maher and Paula Nevins for their assistance in collecting and coding the data. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Kenneth Fletcher for his helpful comments regarding the statistical analyses.