Referral Source Differences in Functional Impairment Levels for Children Served in the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program

We report one of the first multi-site investigations into referral source variation in functional impairment for children with serious emotional disturbance served in systems of care settings. Baseline data collected as part of the national evaluation for the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program was used to assess the comparability of functional status for children referred from traditional mental health versus non-mental health agencies. Results indicate that children referred from child welfare and family groups have significantly lower levels of overall dysfunction than those referred from mental health, while children referred from school and juvenile justice agencies have comparable levels. Clinical and research implications are discussed.     

Fusion of auditory components: effects of the frequency of amplitude modulation

The fusion of two amplitude-modulated (AM) tones presented simultaneously was studied. Subjects were presented with an AM tone (A) followed by a copy of itself (B) which was accompanied by another AM tone (C). In different experiments, the subjects were asked either to rate how clearly they could hear Tone B in the BC mixture or whether Tone B was present or not. The stronger the fusion of Tones B and C, the harder it was to "hear out" Tone B. It was found that fusion was strongest when Tones B and C were modulated at the same rate; segregation curves were obtained for the degree of mismatch of modulation frequency.     

Applying the expectancy disconfirmation and regret theories to online consumer behavior

This study synthesizes the expectancy disconfirmation theory with empirical theories pertaining to customer regret in an e-commerce environment. The study begins by examining the roles that information quality (IQ), system quality (SYQ), and service quality (SEQ) play in determining customer regret and satisfaction. Then the consequences of regret and satisfaction on reuse intention are examined. Survey data collected from 445 respondents are analyzed using structural equation modeling with partial least squares (PLS-Graph 3.0) to provide support for the hypothesized links. Results show that IQ disconfirmation, SYQ disconfirmation and SEQ disconfirmation are related to regret and satisfaction. Both regret and satisfaction are related to reuse intention. In addition, satisfaction mediates the effect of regret on reuse intention. Based on these results, implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Doing business: an obscure notion of the ethics of public associations in ordinary Chinese

Along with the notion of being a person (zero run 做人), the notion of doing business (zuo shi 做事) in ordinary Chinese is basically an over-all notion of the norms in the practical and associative activities, carrying typically obscure meanings on practice and association affairs in some external world. Ordinary Chinese not only distinguishes these two notions but also defines a dictionary order of them, with the affairs of the internal world prior to those of the external. The fact that the notion of doing business refers to business (shi 事) rather than person (ren 人) makes this order clear at a deeper level. It shows that this notion regards the practical affairs of the external world less important to the person itself than those of the internal. Except for these qualities, the notion of doing business holds some normative meanings, although contains no definite rules. These meanings indirectly relate to the notion of person that people form in their private associations and emerge as some mixture with a tactical attitude out of the need of earning a life. The notion of person gives birth to some obscure requirements, for instance, the requirement of ‘doing business in accordance with your conscience’ and that of ‘doing business seriously’. The core world of family is marginalized in the public transition of associations. There are reasons to anticipate that in this process the notion of doing business will undergo more radical changes than that of being a person. __________ Translated from Zhexue Yanjiu 哲学研究 (Philosophical Studies), 2005 (7)     

亚里士多德的技艺概念:图景与问题

一技艺、技术、艺术与同时代的许多其他希腊哲学家一样,亚里士多德理解的同技术有关的概念是技艺(t′εχνη),这个概念包含着技术与艺术,两者在其中未加分别。他的这种理解方式来自柏拉图。柏拉图把工匠的制作活动和诗文、绘画的创作活动都作为运用技艺的活动来谈论。对柏拉图来说,理解技艺的重要之点在于,它是一种善,一种能力,但不是自然给予人的装备,而是人通过经验的学习获得的能力;因此也不是人人均享的,而是只为一部分人具有的;同时,运用这种能力的活动同理论的活动和实践的活动都不同。亚里士多德的讨论在这个基础上特别加深了对运…     

Investigating behavior inhibition in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Evidence from eye movements

We investigated the role of inhibition failure in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) through an eye tracking experiment. Twenty-five subjects with OCD were recruited, as well as 25 with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and 25 healthy controls. A 3 (group: OCD group, GAD group and control group) × 2 (target eccentricity: far and near) × 2 (saccade task: prosaccade and antisaccade) mixed design was used, with all participants completing two sets of tasks involving both prosaccade (eye movement towards a target) and antisaccade (eye movement away from a target). The main outcome was the eye movement index, including the saccade latency (the time interval from the onset of the target screen to the first saccade) and the error rate of saccade direction. The antisaccade latency and antisaccade error rates for OCDs were much higher than those for GADs and healthy controls. OCDs had longer latency and error rates for antisaccades than for prosaccades, and for far-eccentricity rather than near-eccentricity stimuli. These results suggest that OCDs experience difficulty with behavior inhibition, and that they have higher visual sensitivity to peripheral stimuli. In particular, they show greatest difficulty in inhibiting behavior directed towards peripheral stimuli.     

The Relationship Between the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) and Indicators of Functioning

We investigated the relationship between scores on the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) and several indicators of functioning assessed in the national evaluation of the demonstration grants funded by the Center for Mental Health Services System of Care Initiative. The sample included 3187 youths, ranging in age from 4 to 23, with serious emotional disturbance (SED) who were evaluated at intake. At 6 month post-intake, 873 of these youths were re-evaluated. As predicted, higher CAFAS scores were associated with previous psychiatric hospitalization, more serious psychiatric diagnoses, and more restrictive living arrangements. Youths in residential inpatient settings were significantly more impaired than youths living in their own home or in regular foster care. Below average school performance, poor attendance, and contact with law enforcement personnel were also associated with greater impairment. Youth's total CAFAS scores decreased significantly from intake to 6 months. These results indicate that the CAFAS is a measure of functioning which has both statistical and clinical significance.     

Principles for Designing Randomized Preventive Trials in Mental Health: An Emerging Developmental Epidemiology Paradigm

An emerging population-based paradigm is now being used to guide the design of preventive trials used to test developmental models. We discuss elements of the designs of several ongoing randomized preventive trials involving reduction of risk for children of divorce, for children who exhibit behavioral or learning problems, and for children whose parents are being treated for depression. To test developmental models using this paradigm, we introduce three classes of design issues: design for prerandomization, design for intervention, and design for postintervention. For each of these areas, we present quantitative results from power calculations. Both scientific and cost implications of these power calculations are discussed in terms of variation among subjects on preintervention measures, unit of intervention, assignment, balancing, number of pretest and posttest measures, and the examination of moderation effects.     

Rescuing human embryonic stem cell research: the Blastocyst Transfer Method

Despite the therapeutic potential of human embryonic stem (HES) cells, many people believe that HES cell research should be banned. The reason is that the present method of extracting HES cells involves the destruction of the embryo, which for many is the beginning of a person. This paper examines a number of compromise solutions such as parthenogenesis, the use of defective embryos, genetically creating a "pseudo embryo" that can never form a placenta, and determining embryo death, and argues that none of these proposals are likely to satisfy embryoists, that is, those who regard the embryo as a person. This paper then proposes a method of extracting HES cells, what might be called the Blastocyst Transfer Method, that meets the ethical requirements of embryoists, and it considers some possible concerns regarding this method. It concludes by encouraging future HES cell research to investigate this method.     

Assessing the effect of cognitive styles with different learning modes on learning outcome

In this study, similarities and differences in learning outcome associated with individual differences in cognitive styles are examined using the traditional (face-to-face) and web-based learning modes. 140 undergraduate students were categorized as having analytic or holistic cognitive styles by their scores on the Style of Learning and Thinking questionnaire. Four different conditions were studies; students with analytic cognitive style in a traditional learning mode, analytic cognitive style in a web-based learning mode, holistic cognitive style in a traditional learning mode, and holistic cognitive style in a web-based learning mode. Analysis of the data show that analytic style in traditional mode lead to significantly higher performance and perceived satisfaction than in other conditions. Satisfaction did not differ significantly between students with analytic style in web-based learning and those with holistic style in traditional learning. This suggest that integrating different learning modes into the learning environment may be insufficient to improve learners' satisfaction.