Exact and resampling probability values for measures associated with ordered r by c contingency tables

Permutation procedures to compute exact and resampling probability values associated with measures of association for ordered r x c contingency tables are described. Comparisons with asymptotic probability values demonstrated that exact and resampling permutation procedures were preferred for sparse contingency tables.     

A measure of effect size for r x c contingency tables

Goodman and Kruskal's tau measure of categorical association is advanced as a replacement for conventional measures of effect size for r x c contingency tables. Goodman and Kruskal's tau is an asymmetric measure of categorical association which is based entirely on the observed data and possesses a clear interpretation in terms of proportional reduction in error. Comparisons with conventional measures of effect size based on chi-squared such as Pearson's phi2, Tschuprow's T2, and Cramer's V2 demonstrate the advantages of employing tau as a measure of effect size.     

Maximum-corrected and chance-corrected measures of effect size for the Mantel-Haenszel test

Two measures of effect size are described for the Mantel-Haenszel test. Both measures belong to the r-family of effect size measures. One measure is based on a maximum-corrected model, and the second measure is based on a chance-corrected model.     

Encoding Processes and Release from Proactive Interference in Short-Term Memory of Preschool Children

A modified proactive interference paradigm was developed to investigate encoding and memory processes in preschool-age children. The buildup and release from proactive interference in preschool-age children parallels that of adults and of mentally retarded persons, indicating that very young children and older people may use many of the same encoding dimensions.     

Regional brain activity change predicts responsiveness to treatment for stuttering in adults

Developmental stuttering is known to be associated with aberrant brain activity, but there is no evidence that this knowledge has benefited stuttering treatment. This study investigated whether brain activity could predict progress during stuttering treatment for 21 dextral adults who stutter (AWS). They received one of two treatment programs that included periodic H₂¹⁵O PET scanning (during oral reading, monologue, and eyes-closed rest conditions). All participants successfully completed an initial treatment phase and then entered a phase designed to transfer treatment gains; 9/21 failed to complete this latter phase. The 12 pass and 9 fail participants were similar on speech and neural system variables before treatment, and similar in speech performance after the initial phase of their treatment. At the end of the initial treatment phase, however, decreased activation within a single region, L. putamen, in all 3 scanning conditions was highly predictive of successful treatment progress.     

Is preschool executive function causally related to academic achievement?

The primary objective of this study was to reevaluate the well-established result that preschoolers' performance on executive function tasks are positively associated with their performance on academic achievement tests. The current study replicated the previously established concurrent associations between children's performance on EF tasks and academic achievement tests. Specifically, children's performance on measures of inhibitory and motor control were positively associated with their performance on tests of reading, writing, and mathematics achievement (rs?=?.2?.5); moreover, although diminished in magnitude, most of these associations held up even after including an earlier measure of academic achievement as a covariate (rs?=?.1?.3). However, the application of an alternative analytic method, fixed effects analysis, a method that capitalizes on repeated measures data to control for all time stable measured and unmeasured covariates, rendered the apparent positive associations between executive function and academic achievement nonsignificant (rs?=?.0?.1). Taken together, these results suggest that the well-replicated association between executive function abilities and academic achievement may be spurious. Results are discussed with respect to the importance of utilizing analytic methods and research designs that facilitate strong causal inferences between executive function and academic achievement in early childhood, as well as the limitations of making curriculum development recommendations and/or public policy decisions based on studies that have failed to do so.     

Pacific Islands Families (PIF) Study: Behavioural Problems During Childhood

Pacific peoples represent one of the fastest growing population subgroups in New Zealand and suffer disproportionately from diabetes, obesity, and other diseases. There is little research on the predictors of behavioral problems in Pacific children or the role that cultural variables play in shaping the unique environments in which child development occurs This study aims to examine the: (1) prevalence of behavior problems at 2, 4, and 6 years-of-age among Pacific children, and (2) relationships between maternal, cultural, and socio-demographic factors and behavioral problems. Data were gathered from the Pacific Islands Families Study. Maternal reports of child behavior were obtained using the Child Behavior Checklist for over 1000 Pacific children. The prevalence of clinical internalizing problems at ages 2, 4, and 6 years was 16.8, 22 and 8.5%, and clinical externalizing was 6.7, 10.7, and 14.6% respectively. Significant risk factors associated with clinical internalizing were maternal depression, maternal smoking, intimate partner violence, and having a single mother. Significant risk factors for clinical externalizing were harsh parenting, maternal depression, having a New Zealand born mother, and low household income. Across dimensions, a protective factor was found for children with mothers who described themselves as strongly aligned with Pacific traditions. These findings contribute to the limited longitudinal data specific to children from different ethnic groups and demonstrate the importance of cultural factors in developmental outcomes.     

Imagination, language, and the perceptual world: a post-analytic phenomenology

This paper seeks to integrate analytic philosophy and phenomenology. It does so through an approach generated, specifically, in relation to imagination and its cognitive significance. As an Introduction, some reservations about existing phenomenological approaches to imagination—in the work of Sartre and Edward S. Casey—are considered. It is argued that their introspective psychological approach needs to be qualified through a more analytic orientation that determines essence, initially, on the basis of public discourse concerning the term ‘imagination.’ Part One then articulates this orientation through an ‘analytic reduction’ that identifies imagination’s essence in public discourse as thought in its quasi-sensory mode. Part Two offers a sustained phenomenological investigation of this essence, and identifies four major intrinsic features. On the basis of this, Part Three shows how imagination is implicated, centrally, in the capacity to acquire language. In Conclusion the proceeding arguments are defended against possible objections, and a final key summarizing argument is formulated to show that imagination must be regarded, also, as necessary to perception and its capacity to articulate a world. The paper ends with a few thoughts on the further potential of post-analytic phenomenology.     

Thinking meta-theoretically about the role of internalization in the development of body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors

Internalization of societal standards of physical attractiveness (i.e., internalization of the thin ideal for women and internalization of the mesomorphic ideal for men) is a widely studied and robust risk factor for body dissatisfaction and maladaptive body change behaviors. Substantial empirical research supports internalization as both a mediator and a moderator of the relation between societal influences and body dissatisfaction. In this paper, a primer on mediation and moderation is followed by a review of literature and discussion of the extent to which internalization can theoretically fulfill the roles of both mediation and moderation. The literature review revealed a stark contrast in research design (experimental versus non-experimental design) when alternate conceptualizations of internalization are adopted. A meta-theoretical, moderated mediation model is presented. This model integrates previous research and can inform future empirical and clinical endeavors.