The effect of syntactic structure upon speech initiation times of stuttering and nonstuttering speakers

Past research has shown that adults who stutter tend to be slower than adults who do not stutter at initiating various speech-like movements, nonsense syllables, words, short phrases, and simple sentences. The present study sought to extend this research by examining the effect that syntactic structure has upon stutterers' and nonstutterers' ability to initiate sentences. Eleven persons who stutter (mean age=22.2 years) and 11 nonstuttering controls (mean age=23.3 years) read, rehearsed, and then reproduced a series of 96 sentences within a simple reaction time paradigm. The sentences were presented in four blocks of 24 sentences, and each block contained one version of each of the 24 base sentences. Versions of the base sentences varied, from simple to complex, along four levels of syntactic complexity. Results indicated that speech initiation times (SITs) were significantly longer for participants who stutter than they were for nonstuttering controls for three of the four sentence types. There was no significant difference in SITs across the four sentence types for either group. Among the stuttering participants, there was no significant correlation between stuttering severity and overall initiation time for the sentences. Consistent with other studies, the present findings suggest that persons who stutter are slower than persons who do not stutter at planning and/or initiating motor movements associated with speech production. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to (1). describe how persons who stutter typically perform during various reaction time tasks, (2). explain the rationale for examining the effect of syntactic complexity upon speech initiation time, (3). discuss how the speech initiation times of persons who stutter compare to those of persons who do not stutter during the production of various types of sentences, (4). identify future research needs in this area.     

Selective inhibition in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder off and on stimulant medication

Selective inhibition requires discrimination between auditory signals and is assessed using a modification of the stop-signal task. Selective inhibition was assessed in a group of 59 clinic-referred, DSM-IV-diagnosed children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and compared to that of a community sample of 59 children. Methylphenidate (MPH) effects on selective inhibition were assessed in a subset of the ADHD sample that participated in an acute, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial with 3 fixed doses of MPH. Children with ADHD performed more poorly than controls on the majority of selective stop-signal task parameters: they exhibited more anticipatory (invalid) responses, with less accurate and more variable responses on the response execution task, as well as a slower selective inhibition process. MPH improved speed of both inhibition and response execution processes; it also reduced variability of response execution and decreased nonselective inhibition. On the one hand, findings are consistent with purported inhibition deficit in ADHD, but on the other hand, suggest that neither the impairment itself, nor MPH effects, were restricted to inhibition.     

Repetition priming mediated by task similarity in semantic classification

In the present study, the specificity of repetition priming between semantic classification tasks was examined using Osgood's (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957) semantic space as a heuristic for determining the similarity between classifications. The classification tasks involved judging the meaning of words on semantic scales, such as pleasant/unpleasant. The amount of priming across classifications was hypothesized to decrease with increasing distance (decreasing similarity) between semantic scales in connotative semantic space. The results showed maximum repetition priming when the study and the test classifications were the same, intermediate degrees of priming when the study and the test classification scales shared loadings on semantic factors, and little priming when the study and the test classification scales loaded primarily on orthogonal semantic factors--that is, when the distance between scales was maximized. Consistent with the transfer-appropriate processing framework, repetition priming in semantic classifications was highly task specific, decreasing with increasing distance between classification scales.     

The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank: examining potential race differences

The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (RISB; Rotter, Lah, & Rafferty, 1992; Rotter & Rafferty, 1950) was administered to African American (n = 94) and White (n = 100) members of fraternal organizations at a large Midwestern university to explore possible influences of racial group and socially desirable response tendencies. The RISB protocols were reliably scored (interrater agreement = 92%) by 3 independent scorers blind to participant racial membership. The mean scores of the 2 racial groups were not significantly different (p > .05). However, using the traditional categorical placement scores resulted in a disproportionate assignment rate for African American scores to the maladjusted group than would be anticipated by mere chance.     

Executive control of visual attention in dual-task situations

A theory of executive control is presented that proposes that executive processes control subordinate processes by manipulating their parameters, reconfiguring them to respond in accord with the current task set. It adopts C. Bundesen's (1990) theory of visual attention (TVA) and R. M. Nosofsky and T. J. Palmeri's (1997) exemplar-based random walk (EBRW) as the theory of subordinate processes. It assumes that a task set is a set of TVA and EBRW parameters sufficient to perform a task and that set switching involves changing those parameters. The theory solves 2 computational problems that emerge in dual-task situations: the binding problem and the serial order problem. It can perform dual tasks in series or in parallel but prefers the serial strategy because it is faster and it solves the binding problem naturally. The theory accounts for concurrence cost, set-switching cost, crosstalk between tasks, and the modulation of crosstalk by task set.     

Further examination of the treatment of multiply controlled inappropriate mealtime behavior

We systematically replicated Bachmeyer et al. (2009) by examining extinction procedures matched to each function, individually and in combination, to treat the food or liquid refusal of 4 children diagnosed with a feeding disorder whose inappropriate mealtime behavior was maintained by multiple functions (i.e., escape and attention). Previous research suggests that adding differential reinforcement to extinction procedures may result in better treatment outcomes. Therefore, we added differential reinforcement to extinction procedures matched to each function. Differential reinforcement and extinction matched only to escape or attention resulted in low rates of inappropriate mealtime behavior and high, stable levels of acceptance for only 1 child. Consistent with Bachmeyer et al., inappropriate mealtime behavior decreased, and acceptance increased for the remaining 3 children only after we matched differential reinforcement and extinction procedures to both escape and attention.     

How Did You Like This Course? The Advantages and Limitations of Reaction Criteria in Ethics Education

Ethics courses are most commonly evaluated using reaction measures. However, little is known about the specific types of reaction data being collected (e.g., content relevance, course satisfaction) and how these reaction data relate to improvements in trainee performance (e.g., knowledge, moral reasoning). Using a sample of 381 ethics training sessions, major reaction data categories were identified. Content and course satisfaction were the most frequently collected types of reaction criteria. Furthermore, content relevance (r = .84) and course satisfaction (r = .79) showed strong, positive relationships with performance criteria, whereas content satisfaction demonstrated a moderate, negative relationship (r = –.28). These results and future directions for ethics training evaluation are discussed.     

What is space? A media ecology approach

We will explore the nature of space from a media ecology/Marshall McLuhan point of view. We will examine both space and time as the origin or etymology of the term ‘space’ includes both the notion of 3-space and time. We show how various media of communication influence how we perceive space and time from the origin of language to today’s digital revolution.     

Comparison of Video Prompting with and Without Voice‐Over Narration: A Replication with Young Children with Autism

We compared the effects of video prompting (VP) with and without voice‐over narration on the play skills of two young children with autism spectrum disorder using an adapted alternating treatment design. The results showed increases in play skills when using VP with and without voice‐over narration for both participants. These results suggest that the difference in effectiveness between VP with and without voice‐over narration may be negligible for some children with autism. Implications for the use of VP without additional teaching strategies and the need for additional component analyses are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Comparison of the Effects of Ethics Training on International and US Students

As scientific and engineering efforts become increasingly global in nature, the need to understand differences in perceptions of research ethics issues across countries and cultures is imperative. However, investigations into the connection between nationality and ethical decision-making in the sciences have largely generated mixed results. In Study 1 of this paper, a measure of biases and compensatory strategies that could influence ethical decisions was administered. Results from this study indicated that graduate students from the United States and international graduate students studying in the US are prone to different biases. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for developing ethics education interventions to target these decision-making biases. In Study 2, we employed an ethics training intervention based on ethical sensemaking and used a well-established measure of ethical decision-making that more fully captures the content of ethical judgment. Similar to Study 1, the results obtained in this study suggest differences do exist between graduate students from the US and international graduate students in ethical decision-making prior to taking the research ethics training. However, similar effects were observed for both groups following the completion of the ethics training intervention.