Psychometric Properties and Norms of the Family Needs Scale

We studied 205 low-income families, using the Family Needs Scale (FNS). Factor analysis of the FNS data resulted on a 7-factor solution with high internal consistency within the various subscales. We provide normative scores based on the factor structure of the FNS. A total of 53 parents completed the FNS on two occasions with an average of four weeks between these two ratings. In general, the test-retest reliabilities were low to moderate. A total of 61 pairs of parents independently rated their families with the FNS. Again, agreement between raters was low to moderate. Several factors that may have detracted from better test-retest and interrater reliability were identified. Our data point to the need for more psychometric studies with the FNS.     

Artificial intelligence for the measurement of vocal stereotypy

Both researchers and practitioners often rely on direct observation to measure and monitor behavior. When these behaviors are too complex or numerous to be measured in vivo, relying on direct observation using human observers increases the amount of resources required to conduct research and to monitor the effects of interventions in practice. To address this issue, we conducted a proof of concept examining whether artificial intelligence could measure vocal stereotypy in individuals with autism. More specifically, we used an artificial neural network with over 1,500 minutes of audio data from 8 different individuals to train and test models to measure vocal stereotypy. Our results showed that the artificial neural network performed adequately (i.e., session-by-session correlation near or above .80 with a human observer) in measuring engagement in vocal stereotypy for 6 of 8 participants. Additional research is needed to further improve the generalizability of the approach.     

The Explorative Nature of Heideggerian Logic

Human Studies - This paper argues for a fundamental re-reading of Heideggerian philosophy, especially regarding the logical structures presented by Heidegger in the thirties and onward. The field,...     

Peat Bogs,Sperm, and Family Values: Teaching Naturalism Charitably

Introductory courses dealing with sex, gender and sexuality often assign excerpts from Thomas Aquinas as an exemplar of the naturalist view. Given that most novice students tend to side against such naturalism uncritically, they need to be exposed to a more charitable account of the biological considerations motivating a stance like Aquinas.’ With that in mind, this article presents accessible arguments aimed at restoring deliberative balance in the classroom.     

Being Happy and Seeing 'Happy' ': Emotional State Mediates Visual Word Recognition

Lexical decision and word-naming experiments were conducted to examine influences of emotions in visual word recognition. Emotional states of happiness and sadness were induced with classical music. In the first two experiments, happy and sad participants (and neutral-emotion participants in Experiment 2) made lexical decisions about letter-strings, some of which were words with meanings strongly associated with the emotions happiness, love, sadness, and anger. Emotional state of the perceiver was associated with facilitation of response to words categorically related to that emotion (i.e. happy and sad words). However, such facilitation was not observed for words that were related by valence, but not category, to the induced emotions (i.e. love and anger words). Evidence for categorical influences of emotional state in word recognition was also observed in a third experiment that employed a word-naming task. Together the results support a categorical emotions model of the influences of emotion in information processing (Niedenthal, Setterlund, & Jones, 1994). Moreover, the result of the wordnaming experiment suggests that the effects of emotion are evident at very early stages in cognitive processing.     

Book reviews

Campbell, B. A., Hayne, H., & Richardson, R. (Eds.) (1992). Attention and information processing in infants and adults. Perspectives from human and animal research. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Pp. viii + 360. ISBN 0-8058-0782-9. £54.95 (Hbk).

McFarland, D. (1993). Animal behaviour: Psychobiology, ethology and evolution (2nd ed.). Harlow: Longrnan Scientific and Technical. Pp. xiv + 585. ISBN 0-582-06721-9. £23.99 (Pbk).

Ward, J. P., & Hopkins, W.D. (Eds.) (1993). Primate laterality: Current behavioral evidence of primate asymmetries. New York/Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Pp. xii + 356. ISBN 0-387-97961-1 13-540-97961-1. £34.50 (Pbk).

Zentall, T. R. (Ed.). (1993). Animal cognition. A tribute to Donafd A. Riley. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pp. xiv + 369. ISBN 0-8058-1 184-2. £22.95 (Pbk); ISBN 0-8058-1 183-4. £53.50 (Hbk).

Roitblatt, H. L., Herman, L. M., & Nachtigall, P.E. (Eds.) (1993). Language and communication. Comparative perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pp. xvi + 502. ISBN 0-8058-0947-3. £26.95 (Pbk); ISBN 0-8058-0946-5. £59.95 (Hbk).

Bradshaw, J. L, & Rogers, L.J. (1993). The evolution of lateral asymmetries, language, roo1 use, and intellect. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Pp. xiii + 463. ISBN 0-12-124560-8. £58.00 (Hbk).

Ten Cate, C., Slater, P. J. B., & Kruijt, J. P. (Eds.) (1993). Song learning and imprinting. An inquiry into mechanisms of behavioural development. Amsterdam: Netherlands Zoology Society. Pp. 234. £13.00 (Pbk).     

Psychometric Properties of the Family Support Scale with Head Start Families

Social support systems can have either a beneficial or adverse effect when a family faces stress. Hence, support perceived by family members is an important construct. We studied the psychometric properties of the Family Support Scale (FSS) with a sample of 244 low-income families of children in a Head Start program, and we conducted an exploratory factor analysis with the scale. We obtained a 5-factor solution for the FSS when assessing the family support of low-income families. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were moderately high for the 5 proposed subscales. The factor structure obtained may prove more valid for Head Start families than structures from previous studies, although there is still a need for further psychometric study of the FSS.