Strength of German accent under altered auditory feedback.

Borden's (1979, 1980) hypothesis that speakers with vulnerable speech systems rely more heavily on feedback monitoring than do speakers with less vulnerable systems was investigated. The second language (L2) of a speaker is vulnerable, in comparison with the native language, so alteration to feedback should have a detrimental effect on it, according to this hypothesis. Here, we specifically examined whether altered auditory feedback has an effect on accent strength when speakers speak L2. There were three stages in the experiment. First, 6 German speakers who were fluent in English (their L2) were recorded under six conditions--normal listening, amplified voice level, voice shifted in frequency, delayed auditory feedback, and slowed and accelerated speech rate conditions. Second, judges were trained to rate accent strength. Training was assessed by whether it was successful in separating German speakers speaking English from native English speakers, also speaking English. In the final stage, the judges ranked recordings of each speaker from the first stage as to increasing strength of German accent. The results show that accents were more pronounced under frequency-shifted and delayed auditory feedback conditions than under normal or amplified feedback conditions. Control tests were done to ensure that listeners were judging accent, rather than fluency changes caused by altered auditory feedback. The findings are discussed in terms of Borden's hypothesis and other accounts about why altered auditory feedback disrupts speech control.     

A model of serial order problems in fluent, stuttered and agrammatic speech

Many models of speech production have attempted to explain dysfluent speech. Most models assume that the disruptions that occur when speech is dysfluent arise because the speakers make errors while planning an utterance. In this contribution, a model of the serial order of speech is described that does not make this assumption. It involves the coordination or 'interlocking' of linguistic planning and execution stages at the language-speech interface. The model is examined to determine whether it can distinguish two forms of dysfluent speech (stuttered and agrammatic speech) that are characterized by iteration and omission of whole words and parts of words.     

Academic procrastination: The pattern and correlates of behavioural postponement

Using a series of computer-based assignments, we examined whether students’ submission patterns revealed a hyperbolic pattern of temporal discounting, such that few assignments are submitted far ahead of the deadline and submission of assignments accelerates at an increasing rate as the deadline becomes imminent. We further examined whether variables related to self-regulation – namely, self-reported procrastination, implementation intentions, say-do correspondence, and perceived academic control – correlated with behavioural postponement. Results revealed strong behavioural evidence of temporal discounting, especially among those who identified themselves as procrastinators. Among the self-regulation measures, only say-do correspondence consistently correlated with procrastination.     

Measuring Sense of Community Responsibility in Community‐Based Prevention Coalitions: An Item Response Theory Analysis

Research on sense of community (SOC) has traditionally been approached from a resource perspective. Recently, however, research on the experience of SOC has evolved to include a related but distinct construct of sense of community responsibility (SOC‐R), or feelings of accountability for the well‐being of a community. This study applied item response theory to examine the psychometric properties of a SOC‐R scale used in an evaluation of community‐based substance abuse prevention coalitions. Data were collected in 2017 from coalition members (analytic sample = 309) in the northeastern United States. Findings indicate that the scale was reliable, unidimensional, and functioned well, particularly at low and moderate levels of the construct. The addition of two items intended to capture higher levels of the construct improved the scale's functioning at higher levels of SOC‐R. The adapted SOC‐R scale was also shown to have moderately strong relationships with conceptually relevant variables, including SOC, coalition participation, number of roles performed in the coalition, and engagement in community action activities. These findings provide empirical evidence to support the reliability and validity of the SOC‐R scale, and have critical implications for our conceptualization of the SOC construct, its measurement, and for the evaluation of community‐based prevention interventions.     

When Faith,Race, and Hate Collide: Religious Ecology,Local Hate Cultures,and Church Burnings

This study explores the extent to which the spate of church burnings that occurred throughout the South during the 1990s may have been influenced by local religious ecologies, diverse forms of civic engagement, and broader community support for racial animus that we call local hate cultures (e.g., prior hate crime incidents, hate group presence). We use county-level data from a variety of sources to determine the degree to which church arsons were associated with relevant features of local communities. Various congregational factors measuring county-level religious ecology are significantly associated with the number of church burnings in Southern communities, as are several local hate culture indicators. Our study provides empirical confirmation of the linkages between church arsons, the public role of religious institutions, and local hate cultures. It also suggests a number of theoretical refinements for existing community-level approaches to the study of religion and hate crimes.     

Assessing Efficacy of Stuttering Treatments

Efficacy has been defined as the extent to which a specific intervention, procedure, regimen, or service produces a beneficial result under ideally controlled conditions when administered or monitored by experts. Studies on efficacy can be divided into those that study methods of conducting treatment (i.e., treatment process research) and those that are concerned with the effects of treatments (i.e., treatment outcome research). This review covers both areas, emphasizes the former, and considers such key determinants of efficacy as measurement, treatment integrity, and design issues. A set of criteria is given and a meta-analysis of whether studies published since 1993 meet these criteria is reported (incorporating some pragmatic and ethical considerations). The review ends by considering directions that warrant further investigation in the future.

Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to describe (1) measurements appropriate for evaluating treatment efficacy studies; (2) how to evaluate reports of stuttering treatment programs; and (3) different designs used in treatment efficacy studies.