Variability in practice: facilitation in retention and transfer through schema formation or context effects?

The main purpose of the study was to examine whether the effects of variability in practice within a class of movements, that is, enhanced retention and transfer performance relative to constant practice, are due to the formation of motor schemata (Schmidt, 1975) or to contextual interference effects, as suggested by Lee, Magill, and Weeks (1985). Forty-eight subjects were tested on a sequential timing task. One group of subjects (Schema) received variable practice within one movement class, practicing the same phasing pattern with different absolute durations. Practice conditions of another group (Context) involved the same absolute movement durations, as well as a different phasing pattern for each task version. Thus, contextual interference was about the same for both groups but only one group experienced different movement variations of the same class. On a retention test performed on a task version that had been practiced by both groups before as well as on a transfer test with the same phasing pattern but a longer absolute duration, the Schema group performed more effectively than the Context group, thus supporting schema theory. On a transfer task with new phasing requirements, however, the Context group demonstrated performance superior to that of the Schema group. In this case, the Context practice condition seemed to be more transfer-appropriate.     

Etiologic and pathogenetic aspects of the demyelinating process in multiple sclerosis

In our opinion there is no specific germ for multiple sclerosis. The pathogenic process is developed after a clinically "silent" period and results in a demyelinization process. Partially genetical aspects have to take into account for certain disease processes. Up to now both, the theory of infection as well as the neuroallergetic theory are of importance.     

Augmented Kinematic Feedback for Motor Learning

Although the study of feedback about goal achievement (knowledge of results, KR) has been important for the development principles of augmented information feedback in simple skills, there is reason to question the generalizability of these findings to many common learning situations. A more appropriate type of information for skill learning appears to be augmented kinematic (or kinetic) feedback regarding the movement pattern. The experiments presented here extend recent findings about KR to a paradigm involving kinematic feedback. In Experiment 1, we examined how several kinds of temporal and spatial kinematic information supplement KR in learning. Spatial kinematic variables were more effective than temporal variables, as indicated by performance in a retention test without kinematic feedback. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the schedule of augmented kinematic feedback in a method that paralleled previous KR work. We contrasted averaged schedules of augmented feedback, in which information was given either after every trial or as averaged information after every set of five trials. On retention tests without kinematic feedback given 1 day and 1 week after acquisition, averaged schedules led to enhanced performance over an every-trial format. Together, these results begin to define the variables important in kinematic feedback, and suggest that this feedback may influence learning in ways parallel to KR.     

Out-patient treatment of psychoses using depot-fluphenazin]

43 courses of treatment in various psychoses are reported. Peculiarities of dosage and application, and the position of Depot-Fluphenazin as compared to other Depot-neuroliptics are considered in detail.     

Frequency pattern of alpha waves in the early stages of cerebrovascular circulation disorders]

In this study 201 EEG curves are interpreted belonging to patients suffering from incipient disturbances of the cerebral circulation. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to age (group I, 30-40 years; group II, 40-50 years; group III, 50 years and over). In group I there prevailed a rate of 11-12 alpha waves per sec., and a slower rate was hardly ever found; in group III the frequency pattern was quite different. This decreased frequency of the waves could be confirmed by statistics. We believe a direct link can be assumed to exist between a decrease in frequency and the beginning of disturbed cerebral circulation.     

Stabilized images: Functional relationships among populations of orientation-specific mechanisms in the human visual system

Two experiments are presented in which fading rates of stabilized line stimuli were measured following prolonged adaptation to nonstabilized grating patterns in various orientations. Results indicated that some orientation-specific effects are sensitive to small variations of orientation around an optimal orientation, as well as to stimuli rotated 90 deg from the optimal orientation. These data were interpreted in terms of interactions among populations of orientation-specific mechanisms in the human visual system.     

Event-related potential studies of cerebral specialization during reading : II. Studies of congenitally deaf adults

A number of methodological features were incorporated in a paradigm designed to maximize the likelihood of finding reliable event-related potential (ERP) signs of functional specializations between and within the cerebral hemispheres. Every subject was more accurate in identifying words presented to the right than to the left visual field. The morphology of the ERPs elicited by these words varied considerably as a function of electrode position both within and between the hemispheres. Amplitude asymmetries of ERP components recorded from occipital regions of the two hemispheres varied systematically with the position of the word in the visual field. On the other hand, ERPs from more anterior (temporal and frontal) regions displayed large asymmetries which were in the same direction regardless of the visual field of word presentation. The most prominent such asymmetry was in the negativity in the region 300–500 msec (N410) which was larger in the left than the right hemisphere in every subject. These results demonstrate that in this paradigm which demands specialized language processing ERPs are sensitive to aspects of cerebral organization both within and between the two hemispheres.     

A meta-analytic comparison of the effectiveness of smoking cessation methods.

Meta-analysis was used to cumulate the results from 633 studies of smoking cessation, involving 71,806 subjects, that reported the proportion of successful quits. Self-care methods do not appear to be as effective as formal intervention methods. Instructional programs involving physicians were not more effective than other instructional programs. Conditioning-based techniques such as aversive methods had success rates similar to those of instructional methods, and among the instructional methods, those incorporating social norms and values were more successful than those relying solely on didactic approaches. Cumulation of quit rates from all available control groups indicated that, on average, 6.4% of the smokers could be expected to quit smoking without any intervention. This figure must be subtracted from the raw success rate to obtain the net success rate for each program. Directions for future research are discussed.