Earwitness Testimony: Never Mind the Variety,Hear the Length

Three aspects of voice recognition were investigated in the study reported here: memory for familiar voices, memory for the words spoken, and the relative effects of length and variation in a voice extract on long- and short-term memory. In Experiment 1, recognition memory for the briefly heard voice of a stranger was superior with longer extracts (p<0.01), but increasing vowel variety did not improve performance. This pattern was repeated for short-term memory (p<0.01) in Experiment 2. Scores for the above task correlated significantly (p<0.05) with scores for recognizing well-known voices. In a further test of well-known voice memory in Experiment 3, a weak and non-significant positive correlation (r=0.29) was found between memory for well-known voices and memory for a once-heard voice. Memory for the words spoken did not correlate significantly with memory for the unknown voice itself. The possibilities of a memory-for-voices general ability, and forensic applications of the findings are discussed. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analyticity,Balance and Non-admissibility of $$\varvec{Cut}$$ Cut in Stoic Logic

Studia Logica - This paper shows that, for the Hertz–Gentzen Systems of 1933 (without Thinning), extended by a classical rule T1 (from the Stoics) and using certain axioms (also from the...     

Spirituality and religion in psychiatry: the impact of policy

ABSTRACT

Research and debate on the importance of spirituality and religion in psychiatry has led to a number of national and international policy initiatives, intended to clarify the boundaries of good practice and improve the way in which such matters are managed for the benefit of patients. Significant amongst these is the 2015 position statement of the World Psychiatric Association, the only such policy statement to date which has been internationally agreed. Preliminary evidence available suggests that this is having good effect in generating professional debate and further national policy initiatives in different countries. There is a need for further research on such policy initiatives to confirm whether or not they have the intended impact upon clinical practice and whether or not this in turn is beneficial for patients.     

A simple intervention for stereotypical engagement with an augmentative alternative communicative device

Although electronic devices may enhance the effectiveness of some behavioral interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders, such devices may also give rise to problem behavior such as repetitious button pressing (i.e., object stereotypy). Results of this study showed that a child with autism spectrum disorder only displayed high levels of object stereotypy on an iPad? when presses generated auditory output. Subsequently, results showed that when the participant used the iPad? without auditory output, his stereotypical behavior decreased and his manding for various items simultaneously increased.     

Meta‐analysis of behavioral self‐management techniques used by students with disabilities in inclusive settings

This comprehensive review synthesizes findings from 29 studies in which students with disabilities utilized behavioral self‐management techniques in inclusive settings. Findings suggest that consistent with 2 earlier reviews of these types of studies, most behavioral self‐management techniques continue to be adaptable in inclusive settings with moderate to strong efficacy. This review identifies strengths as well common limitations of the studies, provides recommendations for future research and practice, and includes behavioral self‐management resources.     

AGSuite: Software to conduct feature analysis of artificial grammar learning performance

To simplify the problem of studying how people learn natural language, researchers use the artificial grammar learning (AGL) task. In this task, participants study letter strings constructed according to the rules of an artificial grammar and subsequently attempt to discriminate grammatical from ungrammatical test strings. Although the data from these experiments are usually analyzed by comparing the mean discrimination performance between experimental conditions, this practice discards information about the individual items and participants that could otherwise help uncover the particular features of strings associated with grammaticality judgments. However, feature analysis is tedious to compute, often complicated, and ill-defined in the literature. Moreover, the data violate the assumption of independence underlying standard linear regression models, leading to Type I error inflation. To solve these problems, we present AGSuite, a free Shiny application for researchers studying AGL. The suite’s intuitive Web-based user interface allows researchers to generate strings from a database of published grammars, compute feature measures (e.g., Levenshtein distance) for each letter string, and conduct a feature analysis on the strings using linear mixed effects (LME) analyses. The LME analysis solves the inflation of Type I errors that afflicts more common methods of repeated measures regression analysis. Finally, the software can generate a number of graphical representations of the data to support an accurate interpretation of results. We hope the ease and availability of these tools will encourage researchers to take full advantage of item-level variance in their datasets in the study of AGL. We moreover discuss the broader applicability of the tools for researchers looking to conduct feature analysis in any field.     

Complexity of online gender confirmation resources surpass patient literacy

Background: Increasing transgender health care coverage has resulted in easier access to gender confirmation surgery. Patients considering surgery consistently access medical information online to improve knowledge regarding surgical options, complications, recovery, and life after transitioning. As a result, national health institutes recommend that patient educational materials be written at a sixth-grade–reading level. The purpose of this study is to assess the complexity of online gender confirmation surgery information.

Methods: An Internet search was performed using the key phrase “transgender surgery”. Health care and non–health care websites were evaluated for pertinent articles regarding gender confirmation surgery. Readability analyses were conducted using Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Index, Coleman-Liau Index, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook Index, and Automated Readability Index. A two-tailed z test was used to compare means; significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.

Results: A total of 108 articles from 87 websites were analyzed. The average readability for all online gender confirmation-surgery information was at an 11th-grade reading level. Materials written by health care entities were written at a 12th-grade–reading level compared to non–health care articles, which were written at a 10th-grade level (p < 0.001). Male-to-female surgery materials were written at a 12th-grade level, significantly higher than the 11th-grade reading level of female-to-male surgery materials (p = 0.04).

Conclusion: Online information regarding gender confirmation surgery is written at a level that is too complex for patients to understand. Informational materials should be written at lower grade levels to improve patient education, informed consent, and outcomes.     

Gender and the Transition to Parenthood: Introduction to the Special Issue

The transition to parenthood is a rite of passage for most adults; however, given the dynamic state of gender roles in society, the parameters surrounding the ease or difficulty with this transition are evolving. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the work included in the special issue, Gender and the Transition to Parenthood. Academic literature has been filled with articles on how women cope with the transition to parenthood from a variety of perspectives, including a feminist perspective. However, much of this literature is dated and cannot account for how today’s gender roles in society (particularly those of fathers) may influence the transition to parenthood. We argue that, with the rapidly changing gender roles in society, it is crucial to consider three perspectives in parenting: hers, his, and theirs. The ten works included in this special issue represent these three perspectives and seek to understand the transition to parenthood and its intersection with today’s gender roles. Based on these works, the authors encourage researchers interested in the transition to parenthood to incorporate both male and female perspectives, as well as the interplay between the genders in making the transition smooth or difficult. Following a brief overview of the existing literature, we introduce the articles in the special issue. All papers in this special issue are based on U.S. samples.