Minimizing subject loss in a longitudinal study of deviant behavior

A number of techniques are described to prevent attrition of four different categories of subjects in a longitudinal study of deviant behavior.Difficult to schedule subjects required persistence, empathy and flexibility to ensure their continued participation.Reluctant subjects were persuaded to participate by taking special care to build rapport with that family.Subjects who initially refused were turned around by assuming that a subject's refusal one year was circumstantial, and approaching that subject the following year with personalized correspondence that emphasized the importance of their contribution to the research. Persistence was an important factor in successfully locating and recruitingtransient subjects.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF SEPARATE TOPOGRAPHIES OF ABERRANT BEHAVIOR

We conducted a functional analysis of distinct topographies of aberrant behavior displayed by 4 clients. We first analyzed the behaviors in an aggregate fashion and then separated the behaviors to formulate hypotheses about the maintaining variables for each behavior. The procedures were used in a two-phase experiment. During Phase 1, two extended functional analyses were completed, one in an inpatient unit and one in a special education classroom. During Phase 2, two brief functional analyses were completed in an outpatient clinic. Results indicated that hypotheses of separate functions for distinct behaviors can be generated using both extended and brief functional analyses when the results are graphed in the aggregate and are separated by response topography. The results also suggest that these methods can improve the accuracy of data interpretation and treatment selection.     

Adaptive Dynamics of the Leg Movement Patterns of Human Infants: II. Treadmill stepping in Infants and Adults

Infant treadmill steps have many temporal and kinematic similarities to adult walking. Kinematic similarities can result from different patterns of underlying torque, however. In this study, we used inverse dynamics to compare the patterns and contributions of active (muscle) and passive (gravity and motion-dependent) torques in the swing phase of treadmill stepping in 7-month-old infants and adults. Results indicated that adults consistently used muscle torque to initiate and terminate swing, but that passive torques accounted for leg motion during most of the swing phase. Infants, in contrast, displayed multiple patterns of torque contributions during swing. In the most frequently occurring infant pattern, muscle torque remained flexor throughout swing and joint reversals were due to the dominant passive gravitational torque. The kinetic data suggest that the temporally and kinematically similar treadmill steps produced by adults and infants do not emanate from a unique set of neural commands to the muscles, but from a flexible interplay between multiple internal as well as external elements. These data suggest that the intrinsic dynamics of the human system provide a medium out of which, given a supportive context, stable patterns can emerge spontaneously. During development, voluntary controlled movement patterns must build on these intrinsic dynamics.     

Neuropsychology in Denmark

The origins and development of neuropsychology in Denmark are briefly overviewed, as are the education and training opportunities for Danish neuropsychologists. Areas of application and research are presented, and the role of the rehabilitation of brain injury is emphasized, with specific reference being made to the Center for the Rehabilitation of Brain Injury at Copenhagen University, wherein the rehabilitation program and pertinent research ensuing from the center is presented. Future trends in Danish neuropsychology are also considered.     

AN ANALYSIS OF THE REINFORCING PROPERTIES OF HAND MOUTHING

Hand mouthing often has been described as a stereotypic response that is maintained by non-social (automatic) reinforcement; however, data supporting this conclusion can be found in relatively few studies. This series of studies presents an experimental analysis of conditions associated with the maintenance of hand mouthing. In Experiment 1, a functional analysis was conducted for 12 individuals who engaged in chronic hand mouthing to determine whether the behavior is usually maintained independent of social contingencies. Results obtained for 10 subjects were consistent with an automatic reinforcement hypothesis; the remaining 2 subjects' hand mouthing was maintained by social-positive reinforcement. Based on these results, Experiment 2 was designed to identify the specific reinforcing properties of hand mouthing. Each of 4 subjects was provided with a toy that substituted for hand mouthing, and preference for a specific topography of toy manipulation (hand-toy contact or mouth-toy contact) was measured. Results indicated that hand stimulation was the predominant reinforcer for all subjects. Experiment 3 provided an extension of Experiment 2 in that the same responses were measured across a variety of toys presented to each of 5 subjects. Results again indicated that hand stimulation was the predominant reinforcer for all subjects. Implications of these results are discussed with relevance to treatment.     

Adaptive Dynamics of the Leg Movement Patterns of Human Infants: III. Age-Related Differences in Limb Control

In this article, the development of the increasingly differentiated control of the joints necessary to transform the spontaneous leg movements of early infancy into adaptive and functional actions is described. The hypothesis-that increasing joint control requires the capability for disassociation of joint action, the active modulation of joint stiffness, and a transition from proximal to distal control of the joints-is proposed. Kinematic and kinetic analyses of the vertical kicks of infants 2 weeks, 3 months, and 7 months of age (as well as a comparative group of adults) indicated increasing joint independence as well as phase-dependent and joint-dependent control modifications. The kicks of the younger infants were dominated by a proximal control strategy and minimal adjustments of the limb energetics during the flexion and extension phases of the kick. By 7 months of age, much larger modulations of the kick phases were observed as well as increasing evidence of distal control. These results revealed kinematic and kinetic patterns of emerging limb control between 2 weeks and 7 months of age.     

THE CONSTRUCTION OF SITUATION MODELS IN NARRATIVE COMPREHENSION:

Abstract— In this article, we propose and test a model of how readers construct representations of the situations described in simple narratives the event-indexing model. According to the event-indexing model, events are the focal points of situations conveyed in narratives and are connected in memory along five dimensions time, space, protagonist, causality, and intentionality. The results of a verb-clustering task provide strong support for the event-indexing model.     

Effects of Perceptual Fluency on Affective Judgments

According to a two-step account of the mere-exposure effect, repeated exposure leads to the subjective feeling of perceptual fluency, which in turn influences liking. If so, perceptual fluency manipulated by means other than repetition should influence liking. In three experiments, effects of perceptual fluency on affective judgments were examined. In Experiment 1, higher perceptual fluency was achieved by presenting a matching rather than nonmatching prime before showing a target picture. Participants judged targets as prettier if preceded by a matching rather than nonmatching prime. In Experiment 2, perceptual fluency was manipulated by figure-ground contrast. Stimuli were judged as more pretty, and less ugly, the higher the contrast. In Experiment 3, perceptual fluency was manipulated by presentation duration. Stimuli shown for a longer duration were liked more, and disliked less. We concluded (a) that perceptual fluency increases liking and (b) that the experience of fluency is affectively positive, and hence attributed to positive but not to negative features, as reflected in a different impact on positive and negative judgments.