Neuropsychological significance of variations in patterns of academic performance: Verbal and visual-spatial abilities

Forty-five 9- to 14-year-old children with learning disabilities whose WISC Full Scale IQs fell within the range of 86–114 were divided into three groups on the basis of their patterns of reading, spelling, and arithmetic achievement. Group 1 was composed of children who were uniformly deficient in reading, spelling, and arithmetic; children in Group 2 were relatively adept at arithmetic as compared to their performance in reading and spelling; Group 3 was composed of children whose reading and spelling performances were average or above, but whose arithmetic performance was relatively deficient. The performances of these children on 16 dependent measures were compared. The performances of Groups 1 and 2 were superior to that of Group 3 on measures of visual-perceptual and visual-spatial abilities; Group 3 performed at a superior level to that of Groups 1 and 2 on measures of verbal and auditory-perceptual abilities. The results are discussed in terms of the relationships between varying patterns of academic abilities and patterns of brain-related behaviors, and the nature of the neuropsychological abilities that may limit performance on arithmetic calculation tasks.The research reported herein was supported, in part, under Grant #195 of the Ontario Mental Health Foundation. Funds were also supplied by Windsor Western Hospital Centre.     

Service Delivery and High School Peer Counseling Systems

Earlier rationales supporting peer counseling systems have emphasized possibilities of increased service delivery and innovative counseling models. An ongoing peer counseling program was studied through questionnaires administered to clients, teachers, the general student body, and peer counselors themselves. Specific attention was directed to numbers of students served. Distinctions between formal and informal counseling relationships and problem content areas are discussed. Results suggested the existence of two distinct service delivery systems. An informal system served large numbers of self-referred students and dealt primarily with personal-social problems. A formal system reached fewer students, relied upon staff referral, and addressed academic difficulties. Implications for the design of peer counselor programs with varying goals were discussed.     

A digital frequency discriminator for biofeedback research

The design and construction of a digital frequency discriminator, useful in various research and clinical applications of biofeedback, is presented. The module may be constructed for approximately $25 (excluding power supply and mounting hardware).     

Dichhaptic hand-order effects with verbal and nonverbal tactile stimulation

The palms of normal right-handed subjects were stimulated dichhaptically, i.e., with competing, bimanually presented tactile stimuli consisting of pairs of letters, pairs of digits, or pairs of line orientations. The subjects were required to identify both stimuli in a particular order, and order of report was compared between hands and across stimulus materials. Results indicated right-hand superiority for letters and left-hand superiority for lines; no hand differences occurred for digits. However, observed differences between hands appeared with second reports only, suggesting that measures of tactile storage are more sensitive to laterality differences than measures closer in time to actual stimulation.     

Fluorescent lighting: A purported source of hyperactive behavior

Seven first-grade children with conduct disorders and/or hyperactivity attended full-day sessions at a laboratory school classroom. During an 8- week period, the classroom lighting conditions alternated at the end of each week. During oddnumbered weeks, the classroom was illuminated by a standard coolwhite fluorescent system. On even-numbered weeks, illumination was a daylightsimulating fluorescent system of equal footcandles with controls for purported soft X rays and radio frequency (RF). There were no effects of lighting conditions on hyperactive behavior as assessed by (a) independent observations of task orientation or (b) ratings of activity level. A Critical Flicker Fusion (CFF) measure, a reported indicator of visual-sensory fatigue, indicated that the daylight-simulating condition was associated with a decreasing CFF across weeks.This research was a joint endeavor initiated by Alan Rosenbaum and directed by Dr. Daniel O'Leary. Dr. Philip Hughes and Mr. Frank LaGuisa and their associates at the General Electric Lighting Development Section consulted with us in all phases regarding lighting and electromagnetic radiation. We are very grateful to Dr. Susan O'Leary, director, and Marlene Schneider, head teacher, of the University Laboratory School, where this study was conducted. Special thanks go to Mark Durand, Ruth Shepard, and Michael Mignone, who contributed to variousphases of this study. The observers were Wilma Meyers and Frank Tucci. This research was supported in part by General Electric and in part by the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Detailed technical information concerning the lighting and measurement is available in a full text from the authors.     

Some symmetric,invariant measures of multivariate association

A distinction is drawn between redundancy measurement and the measurement of multivariate association for two sets of variables. Several measures of multivariate association between two sets of variables are examined. It is shown that all of these measures are generalizations of the (univariate) squared-multiple correlation; all are functions of the canonical correlations, and all are invariant under linear transformations of the original sets of variables. It is further shown that the measures can be considered to be symmetric and are strictly ordered for any two sets of observed variables. It is suggested that measures of multivariate relationship may be used to generalize the concept of test reliability to the case of vector random variables.     

Interrelationships among subject variables believed to predict cerebral organization

A variety of subject variables have been proposed as having predictive value for determining cerebral organization. Subject variables proposed as likely candidates include strength of handedness, familial sinistrality, writing posture, and sex. The present study examined the interrelationships among these variables by means of a questionnaire given to 847 undergraduates.     

Goal attainment and satisfaction scores for CMHC clients

The purpose of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of goal attainment scales and client satisfaction measures. The findings revealed that goal attainment results, like other types of self-report psychotherapy outcome measures, are directly related to (a) indicators of a client's social class, and (b) the manner of treatment termination (unilateral dropout vs. mutual consent). The extent of client--therapist agreement on goal scores was relatively low thereby supporting the necessity of obtaining both perspectives in evaluating treatment outcome. Furthermore, because measures of client satisfaction were found to be sufficiently independent from goal outcome scores, it was concluded that they provide a unique source of program evaluation data. Finally, it was concluded that Goal Attainment Scaling is best considered to be a quality assurance tool for individual client/therapist dyads rather than a mechanism for the determination of the effectiveness of specific mental health programs and services.