A case study of mediated learning, delayed auditory feedback, and motor repatterning to reduce stuttering

A case study of DW, an 11-yr. old monolingual, English-speaking boy who exhibits stuttering, language delay, and ADHD is presented. DW experienced only limited improvement during stuttering therapy received in public schools, according to parents and the public school clinician. The purpose of this case study was to assess whether fluency treatment which incorporated Mediated Learning, Delayed Auditory Feedback, and Speech Motor Repatterning would enhance progress. Therapy was delivered in two treatments, with each treatment being 5 wk. of intense therapy, separated by one year. Treatment 1 of combined Mediated Learning and Delayed Auditory Feedback yielded improvement in fluency, judged by parents and the teacher to be clinically significant. The improved fluency was maintained for one year when DW was pretested for participation in Treatment 2, which combined Mediated Learning, Delayed Auditory Feedback, and Speech Motor Repatterning Exercises. As no conclusions are possible, further study is needed.     

Working memory and intelligence: the same or different constructs?

Several investigators have claimed over the past decade that working memory (WM) and general intelligence (g) are identical, or nearly identical, constructs, from an individual-differences perspective. Although memory measures are commonly included in intelligence tests, and memory abilities are included in theories of intelligence, the identity between WM and intelligence has not been evaluated comprehensively. The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 86 samples that relate WM to intelligence. The average correlation between true-score estimates of WM and g is substantially less than unity (p=.479). The authors also focus on the distinction between short-term memory and WM with respect to intelligence with a supplemental meta-analysis. The authors discuss how consideration of psychometric and theoretical perspectives better informs the discussion of WM-intelligence relations.     

Meaning through syntax is insufficient to explain comprehension of sentences with reduced relative clauses: comment on McKoon and Ratcliff (2003)

The authors argue that the meaning through syntax (MTS) model proposed by G. McKoon and R. Ratcliff fails to account for the comprehension of sentences with reduced relative clauses. First, the theory's core assumptions regarding verb-based event representations and how they link to constructions are incompatible with well-established analyses from the lexical semantics literature. Second, the MTS theory provides neither a principled nor a consistent account for why some reduced relatives are hard whereas others are easy. Finally, McKoon and Ratcliff's critique of constraint-based models is flawed in that sometimes they tested a nonexistent theory and sometimes they provided evidence for the constraint-based models against which they were arguing.     

The locus of semantic priming in RSVP target search

At what stage does semantic priming affect accuracy in target search? In two experiments, participants viewed two streams of stimuli, each including a target word among distractors. Stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) between the targets (T1 and T2) ranged from 53 to 213 msec. A word semantically related to one or neither of the targets preceded each trial. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to report both targets. Although more primed than unprimed targets were reported, there was no cost for unprimed words. A strong interaction between SOA and T1 versus T2 was found, but priming did not interact with either variable. In Experiment 2, only related targets were reported. Performance was similar to that for primed targets in Experiment 1. Semantic priming does not seem to modulate how attentional resources are initially allocated between targets, but instead affects a later stage of processing, the point at which a target word reaches lexical identification.     

Final part-word repetitions in school-age children: two case studies

In contrast to the many published accounts of the disfluent repetition of sounds at the beginnings of words, cases where it is predominantly the final parts of words that are repeated have been reported relatively rarely. With few exceptions, those studies that have been published have described either pre-school children or neurologically impaired subjects. The purpose of this case report was to describe final part-word repetitions in the speech of two school-age boys of normal intelligence with no known neurological lesions. Their speech was recorded during spontaneous conversation, reading, and sentence repetition. The repetitions occurred in all three speaking conditions, although the majority of instances were observed in spontaneous speech, and on both content words and function words. The participants exhibited no apparent awareness of the disfluencies, no abnormal muscle tension, and no accessory behaviours. Each child produced word-final repeated fragments whose phonological structure was highly predictable according to his individual set of rules. The results are discussed in terms of possible motor and cognitive explanations for the disfluencies. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to: (1) summarize prior research into final part-word repetition; (2) describe the detailed characteristics of final part-word repetitions as displayed by two children of normal intelligence; and (3) discuss ways in which the behaviour might be explained as part of a model of speech production.     

Achieving “Narrative Flow”: Pre-Medical Education as an Essential Chapter of a Physician’s Story

This article explores the disconnection between what pre-professional students expect from college and what their undergraduate education might foster, between the focus on "getting into medical school" and the development of humanistic physicians. It reviews the longstanding challenge inherent in helping pre-meds acquire not only sufficient scientific background but also well-developed interpersonal skills to help them understand patients' experience of illness and their own interactions with other members of the health care team. Clinical experiences from the NEH Institute are interpreted from the perspective of a pre-med advisor who also teaches literature; they are also incorporated into an undergraduate course on literature about illness.     

An investigation of organic factors in the neuropsychological functioning of patients with borderline personality disorder

The hypothesis to be tested in this study was that the cognitive deficits that have been documented in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are largely the consequence of organic insult, either developmental or acquired. Using a cross-sectional design, 80 subjects (males and females) who met the criteria for BPD participated in the study. They completed a battery of neuropsychological tests and a comprehensive interview assessing organic status as well as measures of the potentially confounding factors of current levels of depression and anxiety. It was expected that BPD-patients with a probable history of organic insult would perform significantly worse than would BPD patients without such a history. Analyses of the results provided partial support for the hypothesis. Subjects with both BPD and a history of organic insult were significantly more impaired on several measures including measures of attention than were BPD only subjects. The results suggested that the impaired cognitive performance of persons diagnosed with BPD may, in part, be attributed to organic factors.     

Perspective-taking judgments among young adults, middle-aged, and elderly people

Perspective-taking judgments among young adults, middle-aged, and elderly people were examined. In 1 condition, participants were instructed to judge the likelihood of acceptance of a painkiller as a function of 3 cues: severity of the condition, potential side effects, and level of trust in the health care provider. In the other condition, participants were instructed to judge the likelihood of purchasing pieces of clothing. Judgments were given from 2 viewpoints: the viewpoint of another person known to place no importance on one of the 3 cues, and the viewpoint of another person known to place very great importance on this cue. The hypotheses were that elderly people would not, to the same extent as young adults, be likely to discount the impact of the "no-importance" cue, and to magnify the impact of the "very important" cue. In both judgment situations, the results support these hypotheses.     

Epidemiological Measurement of Children's and Adolescents' Exposure to Community Violence: Working with the Current State of the Science

A number of measures have been used in epidemiological studies of children's exposure to community violence, yet the quality of these instruments is not uniformly good. This paper undertakes a systematic review of the most commonly used (or most promising) self-report or interview-administered instruments, with regard to their conceptual bases and psychometric properties. Based on the review, recommendations are made for working with the current state of the science in order to move the field forward. A key recommendation is for sounder conceptualization of work in the field and greater transparency in the reporting of research, in order to facilitate the comparability of studies.