The use of mixed modeling to evaluate the impact of treatment integrity on learning

Treatment integrity, or the degree to which an intervention is implemented as intended, is a critical feature of skill acquisition tasks. Single‐case design consistently demonstrates that low treatment integrity slows or inhibits learning, but the relative impact of different types of instructional errors, or the presence of multiple errors, is less clear. The present study utilized a multilevel modeling approach to evaluate the impact of type of error (omission versus omission and commission) and error component (reinforcer delivery versus feedback) on learning. Findings revealed that learning outcomes worsened based on the type of error and as the complexity of errors increased; more specifically, participants performed better when only a single type of error occurred and when only a single error component was manipulated. Additionally, individual characteristics contributed to learning outcomes, highlighting the use of multilevel modeling as a helpful tool to supplement single‐case design. The differential impact of integrity errors on learning may be due to timing of errors (i.e., commission errors more likely to occur early in learning) or how errors affect reinforcement schedule versus discriminative control.     

The haptic Müller-Lyer illusion in sighted and blind people

We examined the effect of visual experience on the haptic Müller-Lyer illusion. Subjects made size estimates of raised lines by using a sliding haptic ruler. Independent groups of blind-folded-sighted, late-blind, congenitally blind, and low-vision subjects judged the sizes of wings-in and wings-out stimuli, plain lines, and lines with short vertical ends. An illusion was found, since the wings-in stimuli were judged as shorter than the wings-out patterns and all of the other stimuli. Subjects generally underestimated the lengths of lines. In a second experiment we found a nonsignificant difference between length judgments of raised lines as opposed to smooth wooden dowels. The strength of the haptic illusion depends upon the angles of the wings, with a much stronger illusion for more acute angles. The effect of visual status was nonsignificant, suggesting that spatial distortion in the haptic Müller-Lyer illusion does not depend upon visual imagery or visual experience.     

Playing the game: when group success is more important than downgrading deviants

Partisan respondents evaluated a potential party leader (Study 1) or an ingroup political candidate (Study 2) who expressed normative or deviant opinions against a backdrop of public opinion that was either supportive of, or hostile toward, the ingroup's traditional beliefs (Study 1) or the normative ingroup position on a specific issue (Study 2). Across both studies, high identifiers gave stronger support to a normative candidate over a deviant candidate when public opinion was with the group, but not when public opinion was against the group. Under the latter conditions, high identifiers instead upgraded the deviant candidate. Additional analyses revealed this pattern of differential support for normative and deviant candidates among high identifiers appeared to be related to strategic considerations—specifically, the candidate's perceived chances of gaining public support and being elected. Among low identifiers, support for normative and deviant candidates was less affected by the broader context of public opinion, and was not related to such strategic considerations. These results demonstrate that responses to deviance depend on the broader context in which deviance occurs. Deviance can, at times, be a way through which groups achieve important goals. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The level and nature of autistic intelligence

Autistics are presumed to be characterized by cognitive impairment, and their cognitive strengths (e.g., in Block Design performance) are frequently interpreted as low-level by-products of high-level deficits, not as direct manifestations of intelligence. Recent attempts to identify the neuroanatomical and neurofunctional signature of autism have been positioned on this universal, but untested, assumption. We therefore assessed a broad sample of 38 autistic children on the preeminent test of fluid intelligence, Raven's Progressive Matrices. Their scores were, on average, 30 percentile points, and in some cases more than 70 percentile points, higher than their scores on the Wechsler scales of intelligence. Typically developing control children showed no such discrepancy, and a similar contrast was observed when a sample of autistic adults was compared with a sample of nonautistic adults. We conclude that intelligence has been underestimated in autistics.     

Psychological characteristics of people with Parkinson's disease who prematurely drop out of professionally led Internet chat support groups.

Researchers of Internet health interventions have begun to address the problems of high attrition rates. Attrition has been a problem for psychosocial interventions for nearly 50 years. It is ubiquitous no matter what the type of intervention or the modality of delivery. Consistent are the repeated findings that demographic characteristics are the most robust variables. We tested the hypothesis that the greater the fear and apprehension experienced in professionally led Internet support groups, the more likely the participants would not complete the 25-week intervention. The sample consisted of 66 people with Parkinson's disease; each participant was assigned to one of six chat groups. To assess psychological states, we used PCAD, a text analysis program analyzing each person's postings during each chat room session. There was a statistically significant difference between those who terminated the group early and those who completed the intervention on the Anxiety-Fear dimension, F=2.35, (6,63), p=0.03. People who dropped out demonstrated higher death and shame anxiety. A number of possible designs for online groups that may reduce premature attrition are discussed.     

Rebuilding the tower of Babel: a revised nomenclature for the study of suicide and suicidal behaviors. Part 2: Suicide-related ideations, communications, and behaviors

A revised and refined version of the O'Carroll et al. (1996) nomenclature for suicidology is presented, with a focus on suicide‐related ideations, communications, and behaviors. The hope is that this refinement will result in the development of operational definitions and field testing of this nomenclature in clinical and research settings. This revision would not have been possible without the international collaboration and dialogue addressing the nomenclature of suicidology since the O'Carroll et al. nomenclature appeared in 1996. Although it is doubtful that we will ever be able to construct universally unambiguous criteria to comprehensively characterize suicidal behaviors (and, overall, firmly establish the intention behind them), for scientific clarity it would be highly desirable that the set of definitions and the associated terminology be explicit and generalizable. De Leo, Burgis, Bertolote, Kerkhof, & Bille‐Brahe, 2006 , p. 5)     

Evidence-based practices project for suicide prevention

Suicide continues to be a serious public health problem. In response to this problem, a myriad of suicide prevention programs have been developed and employed across the United States. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of many of these programs is unknown because they have not been evaluated using rigorous methods. The Evidence-Based Practices Project (EBPP) for suicide prevention was created in 2002 to identify and promote evidence-based suicide prevention programs. In this paper the process and outcomes of the initial EBPP project within the context of the broader evidence-based movement are described, and the EBPPs creation of a best practice registry for suicide prevention is previewed.     

Beyond the Tower of Babel: A Nomenclature for Suicidology

Suicidology finds itself confused and stagnated for lack of a standard nomenclature. This paper proposes a nomenclature for suicide-related behavior in the hope of improving the clarity and precision of communications, advancing suicidological research and knowledge, and improving the efficacy of clinical interventions.