Direct and pairwise area estimation of physical shapes through vision and touch

On a perceptual task in which a participant estimated areas of five physical rigid shapes, participants could view and touch the shapes, using one of two estimation methods, direct or pairwise. For the direct method, participants held one shape at a time and estimated the area based on a unit square (equal to 1/10 of the actual area). Mean error by participants was 14.4%. In the pairwise method, when participants were simultaneously handed two shapes, their error was 0.3%. Both direct and pairwise errors for vision plus touch of physical stimuli were considerably lower than previous errors made when viewing with an overhead projector screen.     

Conceptualizing Sex Offender Denial From a Multifaceted Framework: Investigating the Psychometric Qualities of a New Instrument

The authors examined the psychometric properties of a clinician‐rated measure of sex offender denial. Convergent and discriminant validity for the measure was supported, and given its relationship to treatment attitudes, the measure demonstrated utility for assessing treatment change and readiness.     

Spaced training enhances equine learning performance

Animal Cognition - This field experiment examined whether the well-documented benefit of spaced over massed training for humans and other animals generalizes to horses. Twenty-nine randomly...     

Parental Perceptions of Services Provided for Children with Autism in Jordan

Providing formal support for children with autism and their parents is important and mandatory to improve children’s abilities and enhance the capabilities of parents. The present study attempted to investigate the perceptions of parents of children with autism regarding the services provided in Jordan. A questionnaire consisting of five sections was designed and distributed to a sample of 60 parents of children with autism (5–18 years old) among four special education institutions in Jordan. The questionnaire addressed five domains: demographics, type and number of received services, methods and difficulties of obtaining services, parents’ satisfaction, and parents’ perceived needed services. The results revealed that the service delivery system with which parents interacted was composed of multiple places and providers, but had several difficulties. Parents participating in this study expressed an average satisfaction with the received services. Issues pertaining to the cost of services, parents-professional partnerships, and overall quality of services were seen by parents as sources of low satisfaction. On the other hand, parents expressed the need for early intervention, family counseling, and community awareness services. Further suggestions and implications are presented in the study.