A monte carlo study of kruskal's variance based measure on stress

Researchers in the past ten years have studied various parameters involved in nonmetric multidimensional scaling by utilizing Monte Carlo procedures. This paper develops stress distributions using Kruskal's second stress formula based upon a null hypothesis of equal likelihood in the ranking of a set of proximities. These distributions can serve to determine whether a set of data has other than random structure.This research was supported in part by a grant from the Baruch College Scholar Assistance program.     

Majority reaction to shifting and stable attitudinal deviates

Female undergraduates, in groups of four, voted several times on appropriate treatment for a delinquent, using an electrical signalling device. Two simulatedgroup members consistently agreed with subjects' initial position. A third simulated member (target) exhibited one of nine response patterns. In six movement conditions (which formed a 2 × 3 design), the target (a) gradually moved a short distance toward or away from modal group opinion and (b) manifested high, medium, or low net agreement with the majority position. In three stable conditions, the target consistently (a) agreed with modal opinion, (b) disagreed, or (c) took a neutralposition. In movement conditions, the target was evaluated significantly more favourably in the toward than in the away condition and in the high agreement than in the medium and low agreement conditions. In stable conditions, the agreeing target was liked significantly better than the neutral and disagreeing targets. The target's response pattern also affected subjects' attributions about the target's motives, communication to the target (in notes interspersed between votes), and opinion change. Results were discussed in terms of previous research dealing with majority reaction to moving and stable attitudinal deviates.     

A prospective naturalistic study of the impact of an intensive medical treatment on the social behavior of child and adolescent cancer patients

The impact of intensive chemotherapy and prolonged hospitalization on the social behavior of child and adolescent cancer patients was assessed. Twenty-three patients, aged 18 months to 21 years, were observed while they received chemotherapy in a protected environment or in a regular hospital room. Single-subject analyses were used to examine changes on six behaviors in relation to changes in physiological status. Fourteen patients showed significant change in the frequency of at least one behavior. Play and sleep were the behaviors most likely to change. The changes began to occur as patients experienced the systemic toxic effects of the drugs, although a dissipation of drug toxicity generally was not accompanied by a corresponding behavior change. The findings are discussed in relation to age-developmental and interindividual heterogeneity in response to treatment.     

Uncertainty, as defined by the contingency between environmental events, and the adrenocortical response of the rat to electric shock

The pituitary-adrenal system is thought to be sensitive to the degree of uncertainty in a situation. In addition, there is some question whether the pituitary-adrenal system can be conditioned in a Pavlovian sense. Three experiments are reported here. The first and third sought to define uncertainty in terms of conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus (CB-US) and US-US contingencies, which vary the amount of information that can be used to predict the occurrence of discrete shocks. The second experiment examined the possibility that the adrenocortical system was subject to the laws of Pavlovian conditioning, by using a conditioned emotional response paradigm. The results showed that the magnitude of the Pituitary-adrenal response varied in a curvilinear manner along the dimension of uncertainty. Very low and very high degrees of uncertainty resulted in greater corticosterone elevations than did moderate levels. No evidence for Pavlovian conditioning of the adrencortical system was found, although behavioral measures showed fear conditioning. The data presented were supportive of the hypothesis that the pituitary-adrenal response reflects the operation of an arousal system.     

Brief report: Compliance in the classroom: Using the „thumbs up”︁ procedure to increase student compliance to teacher requests

This study assessed the effectiveness of a program designed to increase compliance with teacher commands in a regular 5th grade math class. A reversal design (A-B-B'-A-B') was employed. The teacher used a discriminative stimulus to signal the students as to the availability of an opportunity to earn a point towards a reinforcer. To receive the point the students were required to return the signal and initiate compliance. The entire class was involved in the program; however, data were recorded on two students, one identified by the teacher as noncompliant; the other served as a control. The results indicated that the program was effective in increasing initiation of compliance to teacher commands. However, serious questions were raised about the generalizability of such a program.     

Attenuation of age-related conditioning deficits in humans by extension of the interstimulus interval

Young (17-22 years) and older (61-86 years) persons underwent classical conditioning of the eye-blink response to a tone conditioned stimulus (CS) and an airpuff unconditioned stimulus (UCS) at 1 of 3 interstimulus intervals (ISIs; 400, 650, and 900 ms). As in a previous study, older subjects conditioned more slowly and emitted fewer conditioned responses at the optimal 400-ms ISI. At longer ISIs, however, this age-related disruption of classical conditioning was attenuated. These differences in conditioning were not due to nonassociative factors, such as sensitivity to the tone CS or airpuff UCS or to differences in spontaneous blink rate, nor were they due to differences in general cognitive abilities. The results are discussed in terms of the role of temporal relationships between stimuli in conditioning across the life span.     

A Religious Diversity Tale: A Multi-Faith Case Study

This article examines the creation of a network of diverse religious leadership in a Midwest suburb where the intersection of religion and national pride fomented a community-wide conflict. Activated during a heated controversy over displaying a Christmas tree in a public school, the Network became a laboratory for testing viable strategies for community healing. The case of a Jewish student suspended for fighting when taunted for not singing Christmas Carols became a catalyst for debating what is religious, what is secular, and what is culturally American. The interaction of the key players is noted; educators, religious leaders, students and their families, particularly the mothers who regularly interacted across religious boundaries. The article describes the Network's experiment with deploying resources that accommodated diverse experiences of religion and patriotism, historically and culturally, within an American context.     

Infants and toddlers discriminate amount: are they measuring?

Four experiments that show an early ability to encode and retain information about extent are presented. We found that infants discriminate between the heights of dowels in a habituation task. We also found that toddlers discriminate between heights on a choice task in which a target dowel is presented and removed and they then choose between the target and a foil. Until 4 years of age, however, discrimination occurs only in the presence of a perceptually salient standard. Adults do not require a perceptually present standard; they can assess extent across temporal or spatial gaps by imposing a standard (measure). The present findings indicate that infants and toddlers do not possess an adult ability to establish extent, but that they do possess a skill that provides a start point for this important intellectual achievement.