Subsyllabic units in computerized reading instruction: onset-rime vs. postvowel segmentation

Previous studies suggest that adults and children divide spoken syllables into subsyllabic onset-rime units more readily than into any other kind of subsyllabic unit. We asked whether this same onset-rime segmentation might also be beneficial in teaching children to read. That is, can children learn more words segmented at the onset-rime boundary (e.g., CL-AP, D-ISH) than words segmented after the vowel (CLA-P, DI-SH)? In three experiments, first-grade students studied single words presented by a computer connected to a high-quality speech synthesizer. Experiment 1 used words of four letters but only three phonemes apiece (e.g., WHIP, DISH). In some of these words the onset-rime segmentation corresponded to the initial bigram (e.g., WH-IP); in some it did not (e.g., D-ISH). Experiments 2 and 3 used words of four letters and four phonemes (e.g., CLAP, CORN). In all three experiments, onset-rime segmentation proved more helpful than postvowel segmentation in short-term learning of the words.     

A call for a pluralist epistemological understanding in the assessment and evaluation of counselling

The authors outline and posit the futility of the 'paradigm war' between reductionistic/positivistic and phenomenological/naturalistic philosophies within counselling evaluation, pointing out that the notion of such competition is itself based on positivist thinking. They trace attempts at creating a 'truce' in the war based on strict demarcation of territory. They conclude that in the longer term more might be gained by accepting the veracity of both philosophies and creating a pluralist model which will be more fully equipped to evaluate the human process of counselling.     

Personality disorder correspondence between the million behavioral health inventory (MBHI) and the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI)

The MBHI and MMPI personality disorder scales were analyzed for convergent and discriminant validity. Correlational data demonstrated that six of the eight scales were significantly related, while the remaining two scales approached significance. Further analyses of these data, however, demonstrated that none of the scales correlated significantly better with its convergent scale compared to nonconvergent scales. The MBHI classified significantly more of the sample as personality disordered (93%) compared to the MMPI personality disorder scales (17%). Furthermore, the MBHI tended to describe the sample as falling within the Anxious cluster of personality disorders, whereas the MMPI described them within the Dramatic cluster. Single scale codetype correspondence was found to be 15%, while two-point concordance was 12.5%, indicating very low congruence between personality style codetypes. These two measures do not appear to be measuring the same personality style constructs.     

Driving assessment with computer-video scenarios: More is sometimes better

Several factors are critical in designing effective simulator systems for driving research and driver assessment. First, there is cost, in terms of which, less is better. Costly systems are sometimes fine for specific research purposes, but they are impractical for most other purposes. Second, there is realism; in this case, more may be better, but we don’t know how much realism is really necessary for good prediction of actual driving behaviors. Recent evidence suggests that real-world clutter may enhance prediction, but it also makes interpreting research more difficult. More realism may increase cost, but this is not necessarily the case. Third, there is user-friendliness, in terms of which, again, more is better. Systems that are easier to operate require less-highly trained personnel; hence, increasing user-friendliness also decreases cost, especially for assessment. We demonstrated a highly user-friendly, low-cost, moderately realistic, and partly interactive computer-video driving research and assessment system. In recent research, we obtained multipleR values ofA7 for older drivers with only three to four scenarios predicting a real-world crash index.     

Sensitizing Medical Residents to Fantasies and Alignments in the Family: Mastering Psychosocial Skills in the Medical Encounter

In this paper, it is proposed that a) psychosocial medicine is best taught in a setting that provides technical and emotional support, while seizing for teaching only those moments when the learner is most receptive; and b) that the setting should avoid the development of a separate psychosocial skills curriculum, but should take the student where he or she is and integrate the psychosocial skills into his or her everyday biomedical practice. The paper gives specific case examples in which family based psychosocial issues were preeminent in the clinical problem-solving medical residents faced.     

Diagnosing posttraumatic stress disorder with the MMPI clinical scales: A review of the literature

A review of the literature resulted in 21 published studies that reported mean MMPI profile patterns for PTSD patients. Of these, six (29%) reported that the mean 8-2 profile pattern significantly differentiated PTSD patients from non-PTSD patients. The majority of studies found additional PTSD profile patterns reflecting nearly all of the MMPI clinical scales. The data indicate some common group profile patterns for inpatient veterans, prisoner's of war, and inpatient veteran substance abusers. The results also support the hypothesis that there is a continuum from inpatient to outpatient and veteran to civilian populations that corresponds with both symptom and stressor severity. It is concluded that although there is some typicality in similar populations, clinicians should expect heterogeneous MMPI profiles from PTSD patients representing a diversity of clinical symptoms and styles.     

Validity of teacher nominations of child behavior problems

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of teachers' identification of problem children. Ninety-five third-grade children served as subjects. Teachers nominated children as a conduct problem, withdrawal problem, or normal, resulting in 16, 14, and 65 children being assigned to the three groups. Behavioral observations, peer sociometric ratings, and academic achievement scores were collected. The results indicated that conduct problem children differed from normal children on behavioral, sociometric, and academic measures, whereas withdrawn children differed from normals on the latter two measures. Conduct problem and withdrawal problem children did not differ on any of the dependent measures. The results suggest that teachers can identify children who are having difficulties in class but may be less accurate in differentiating between different types of problem children.This research was supported in part by NIMH grant MH-28859-01. Data reported in this article are part of a larger project assessing the social skills of children.     

Imposed latencies,interruptions and dyadic interaction: Physiological response and interpersonal attraction

This study explored the impact of paralinguistic phenomena on interpersonal attraction and physiological measures during dyadic interaction. Conversations between undergraduate subjects and same-sex experimenters were either synchronous or asynchronous, with half the asynchronous conversations including imposed long latencies and the remainder frequent interruptions. Results showed that imposed latencies were associated with decreased positive attributions and greater physiological arousal, but interruptions had a moderately positive effect. The findings were discussed in terms of Chapple's theory of interaction, and their implications for psychotherapy and other interviews.     

Portable delayed auditory feedback device: A preliminary report

This writing is a preliminary report describing a prototype of a portable delayed auditory feedback device called the DYSTECH 1000. This writing and our observations are presented to stimulate review and feedback by our colleagues of the DYSTECH 1000 as a clinical and generalization tool.