Interpreting functional analysis outcomes using automated nonparametric statistical analysis

Current methods employed to interpret functional analysis data include visual analysis and post-hoc visual inspection (PHVI). However, these methods may be biased by dataset complexity, hand calculations, and rater experience. We examined whether an automated approach using nonparametric rank-based statistics could increase the accuracy and efficiency of functional analysis data interpretation. We applied Automated Nonparametric Statistical Analysis (ANSA) to a sample of 65 published functional analyses for which additional experimental evidence was available to verify behavior function. Results showed that exact behavior function agreement between ANSA and the publications authors was 83.1%, exact agreement between ANSA and PHVI was 75.4%, and exact agreement across all 3 methods was 64.6%. These preliminary findings suggest that ANSA has the potential to support the data interpretation process. A web application that incorporates the calculations and rules utilized by ANSA is accessible at https://ansa.shinyapps.io/ansa/     

Good Workers and Crooked Bosses: The Effect of Voice Suppression by Supervisors on Employees’ Populist Attitudes and Voting

This study is the first to explore the effect of political socialization in the workplace on populist attitudes. We investigate the effect of workplace voice suppression on employees' populist attitudes and voting. We expect employees who were suppressed by supervisors to hold more populist attitudes and to be more likely to vote for a populist party than employees who were not. We argue that some employees experience voice suppression by supervisors as stressful, so splitting is likely to be employed as a defense mechanism. Splitting is achieved through cognitive distinction and antagonism between “the good workers” and “the crooked bosses.” Such a split mental framework can generalize into a worldview that contrasts “the pure people” and “the corrupt elite,” a core characteristic of populism. We predict that the extent to which suppression triggers splitting and consequentially incites populist attitudes and voting depends on employees' acceptance of power distance. We test our hypotheses using SEM on survey data from 2990 members of the Dutch labor force. Our results show that experiences of voice suppression are positively related to populist attitudes and populist voting. As expected, this effect is stronger for employees who are less accepting of power distance.     

Apraxia in corticobasal degeneration.

Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a degenerative disease that often presents with an asymmetric progressive ideomotor limb apraxia. Some apraxic subjects may fail to perform skilled purposive movements on command because they have lost the memories or representations that specify how these movements should be performed (representational deficit). In contrast, other apraxic subjects may have the movement representations but are unable to utilize the information contained in them to execute skilled purposive movements (production-execution deficit). To learn if the apraxic deficit in CBD is induced by a representational or a production-execution deficit, we tested three nondemented subjects with CBD on tasks requiring production of meaningful or meaningless gestures to command, gesture imitation, gesture discrimination, and novel gesture learning. A fourth subject with incomplete data also is presented. The results suggest that the apraxia associated with CBD is initially induced by a production-execution defect with relative sparing of the movement representations.     

A Cognitive Model of Dynamic Cooperation With Varied Interdependency Information

We analyze the dynamics of repeated interaction of two players in the Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) under various levels of interdependency information and propose an instance‐based learning cognitive model (IBL‐PD) to explain how cooperation emerges over time. Six hypotheses are tested regarding how a player accounts for an opponent's outcomes: the selfish hypothesis suggests ignoring information about the opponent and utilizing only the player's own outcomes; the extreme fairness hypothesis weighs the player's own and the opponent's outcomes equally; the moderate fairness hypothesis weighs the opponent's outcomes less than the player's own outcomes to various extents; the linear increasing hypothesis increasingly weighs the opponent's outcomes at a constant rate with repeated interactions; the hyperbolic discounting hypothesis increasingly and nonlinearly weighs the opponent's outcomes over time; and the dynamic expectations hypothesis dynamically adjusts the weight a player gives to the opponent's outcomes, according to the gap between the expected and the actual outcomes in each interaction. When players lack explicit feedback about their opponent's choices and outcomes, results are consistent with the selfish hypothesis; however, when this information is made explicit, the best predictions result from the dynamic expectations hypothesis.     

Constraints on statistical computations at 10 months of age: the use of phonological features

Recently, several studies have argued that infants capitalize on the statistical properties of natural languages to acquire the linguistic structure of their native language, but the kinds of constraints which apply to statistical computations remain largely unknown. Here we explored French‐learning infants' perceptual preference for labial‐coronal (LC) words over coronal‐labial words (CL) words (e.g. preferring bat over tab) to determine whether this phonotactic preference is based on the acquisition of the statistical properties of the input based on a single phonological feature (i.e. place of articulation), multiple features (i.e. place and manner of articulation), or individual consonant pairs. Results from four experiments revealed that infants had a labial‐coronal bias for nasal sequences (Experiment 1) and for all plosive sequences (Experiments 2 and 4) but a coronal‐labial bias for all fricative sequences (Experiments 3 and 4), independently of the frequencies of individual consonant pairs. These results establish for the first time that constellations of multiple phonological features, defining broad consonant classes, constrain the early acquisition of phonotactic regularities of the native language.     

The Impact of Acculturation and Cultural Values on Hispanic Immigrants’ Parenting

This study explored the process Hispanic immigrant families undergo when immigrating to the United States through the implementation of a constructivist grounded theory methodology. The theory illustrates the process in three phases: Arriving to a new country, Integrating new values, and Maintaining values. Through these phases the constant interaction between cultures and its influence in family dynamics is illustrated. More specifically, this theory suggests immigrant families are open to include elements of the new culture encountered while keeping elements of their native culture present once their basic necessities are met. The sample of the study consisted of 16 parents. These parents incorporated the English language, granted greater freedom to their children, became more involved with the school system, included American traditions in their celebrations, and altered their discipline methods based on their interaction with the new culture. Additionally, parents maintained the value of respect, the Spanish language, fostered family cohesion, and instilled their spiritual beliefs to their children.     

Parental Knowledge/Monitoring and Depressive Symptoms During Adolescence: Protective Factor or Spurious Association?

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Parental knowledge/monitoring is negatively associated with adolescents’ depressive symptoms, suggesting monitoring could be a target for...     

The Effects of a Couples‐Based Health Behavior Intervention During Pregnancy on Latino Couples’ Dyadic Satisfaction Postpartum

Many couples tend to report steadily decreasing relationship quality following the birth of a child. However, little is known about the postpartum period for Latino couples, a rapidly growing ethnic group who are notably underserved by mental and physical health caregivers in the United States. Thus, this study investigated whether a brief couples’ intervention focused on helping couples support each other while increasing healthy behaviors might improve dyadic functioning postpartum. This study presents secondary analyses of data regarding couple functioning from a larger randomized controlled trial with 348 Latino couples to promote smoking cessation. Portions of the intervention taught the couple communication and problem‐solving skills to increase healthy behavior. Couples participated in four face‐to‐face assessments across 1 year starting at the end of the first trimester. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that the treatment group reported an increase in relationship satisfaction and constructive communication after the intervention, which diminished by 1‐year follow‐up, returning couples to their baseline levels of satisfaction. Results suggest that incorporating a brief couple intervention as part of a larger health intervention for Latinos may prevent postpartum decreases in relationship satisfaction.