Observer agreement for event sequences: Methods and software for sequence alignment and reliability estimates

When sequences of discrete events, or other units, are independently coded by two coders using a set of mutually exclusive and exhaustive codes, but the onset times for the codes are not preserved, it is often unclear how pairs of protocols should be aligned. Yet such alignment is required before Cohen’s kappa, a common agreement statistic, can be computed. Here we describe a method—based on the Needleman and Wunsch (1970) algorithm originally devised for aligning nucleotide sequences—for optimally aligning such sequences; we also offer the results of a simulation study of the behavior of alignment kappa with a number of variables, including number of codes, varying degrees of observer accuracy, sequence length, code variability, and parameters governing the alignment algorithm. We conclude that (1) under most reasonable circumstances, observer accuracies of 90% or better result in alignment kappas of .60 or better; (2) generally, alignment kappas are not strongly affected by sequence length, the number of codes, or the variability in the codes’ probability; (3) alignment kappas are adversely affected when missed events and false alarms are possible; and (4) cost matrices and priority orders used in the algorithm should favor substitutions (i.e., disagreements) over insertions and deletions (i.e., missed events and false alarms). Two computer programs were developed: Global Sequence Alignment, or GSA, for carrying out the simulation study, and Event Alignment, or ELign, a user-oriented program that computes alignment kappa and provides the optimal alignment given a pair of event sequences.     

A model of the go/no-go task

In this article, the first explicit, theory-based comparison of 2-choice and go/no-go variants of 3 experimental tasks is presented. Prior research has questioned whether the underlying core-information processing is different for the 2 variants of a task or whether they differ mostly in response demands. The authors examined 4 different diffusion models for the go/no-go variant of each task along with a standard diffusion model for the 2-choice variant (R. Ratcliff, 1978). The 2-choice and the go/no-go models were fit to data from 4 lexical decision experiments, 1 numerosity discrimination experiment, and 1 recognition memory experiment, each with 2-choice and go/no-go variants. The models that assumed an implicit decision criterion for no-go responses produced better fits than models that did not. The best model was one in which only response criteria and the nondecisional components of processing changed between the 2 variants, supporting the view that the core information on which decisions are based is not different between them.     

Building information systems as universalized locals

We report on our experiences in a participatory design project to develop ICTs in a hospital ward working with deliberate self-harm patients. This project involves the creation and constant re-creation of socio-technical ensembles that satisfy the various, changing and often contradictory and conflicting needs in this context. Such systems are shaped in locally meaningful ways but nevertheless reach beyond their immediate context to gain wider importance and to be integrated with the larger environment. currently working on a participatory design project developing IT systems for psychiatrists working in a toxicology ward of a large general hospital. His research focuses on the local co-production of technologies which he currently explores in a production management context. His research interests lie in the field of human factors and interactive systems design, particularly approaches to IT systems design and development, the relationships between work and technology, and inter-disciplinary approaches to the design of dependable computing systems. carrying out a number of ethnomethodologically informed studies in a variety of applications. He holds a Ph.D. in ethnomethodology from the University of Manchester and is currently involved in research on computer-aided prompting systems for radiological work. He has interests in ethnomethodology, CSCW, SSK and the philosophy of social sciences. where he convenes an interdisciplinary research programme on ‘the social shaping of technology’.     

The institutionalization of sociological paradigms: Three examples from early French sociology

Utilizing a model of sociological paradigms which encompasses the cogency of sociological theories, their congruence with their cultural milieu and their reinforcement through institutionalization, this paper examines three interpretations of sociology which competed for recognition in France at the end of the nineteenth century. René Worms created institutions for the new field of new field of sociology, but did not possess a viable sociological theory with which to make these institutions effective in advancing the discipline. Gabriel Tarde possessed a sociological theory and opportunities to institutionalize it, but failed to do so because of a pre-modern attitude toward science. Only Emile Durkheim was able to successfully institutionalize his conception of sociology through his teaching career and his journal, L'Année sociologique.     

Perceptual comparisons of adolescent stutterers' and nonstutterers' fluent speech

Numerous investigators have reported that listeners are able to perceptually differentiate adult stutterers' and nonstutterers' fluent speech productions. However, findings from similar studies with children ranging in age from 3 to 9 yr have indicated that perceptual discrimination of child stutterers is difficult. A logical extension of this line of investigation would be to determine when during maturation from childhood to adulthood stutterers' fluent speech becomes perceptibly different than nonstutterers'. Therefore, in this study similar fluent speech samples from seven 12–16-yr-old adolescent male stutterers and seven matched nonstutterers were analyzed perceptually in a paired stimulus paradigm by 15 sophisticated listeners. Individual subject analyses using signal detection theory revealed that five of the seven stutterers were discriminated. When averaged for subject group comparison, these findings indicated that listeners successfully discriminated between the fluent speech of the two groups. Therefore, the perceptual difference in fluent speech production reported previously for adults appears to be present by adolescence.     

A Taxonomy of Part-Whole Relations

A taxonomy of part-whole or meronymic relations is developed to explain the ordinary English-speaker's use of the term “part of” and its cognates. The resulting classification yields six types of meronymic relations: 1. component-integral object (pedal-bike), 2. member-collection (ship-fleet), 3. portion-mass (slice-pie), 4. stuff-object (steel-car), 5. feature-activity (paying-shopping), and 6. place-area (Everglades-Florida). Meronymic relations ore further distinguished from other inclusion relations, such as spatial inclusion, and class inclusion, and from several other semantic relations: attribution, attachment, and ownership. This taxonomy is then used to explain cases of apparent intransitivity in merological syllogisms, and standard form syllogisms whose premises express different inclusion relations. The data suggest that intransitivities arise due to equivocations between different types of semantic relations. These results are then explained by means of the relation element theory which accounts for the character and behavior of semantic relations in terms of more primitive relational elements. The inferential phenomena observed are then explained by means of a single principle of element matching.     

Metacognitive Therapy in Major Depression: An Open Trial of Comorbid Cases

This open trial investigated the transdiagnostic effects of metacognitive therapy (MCT) in patients with severe major depressive disorder and comorbid psychiatric disorder. Ten patients were treated with MCT over 10 sessions and were assessed with measures of depression, anxiety, rumination, and metacognitions at pre- and posttreatment and at 6 months follow-up. None of the patients were diagnosed as depressed at posttreatment, and of the initial 21 total diagnoses at pretreatment only 3 diagnoses remained at postintervention. The effect sizes were large for symptoms of depression, rumination, and worry. At 6 months follow-up standardized recovery criteria on the BDI showed that 70% were recovered, 20% improved, and 10% unchanged. The results indicate that MCT was associated with high rates of transdiagnostic improvement.