Information theory measures of grammatical goodness-of-fit

Reasons for the declining use of information-theory-based statistics were reviewed, and were found to reflect overly grandiose or overly constrained interpretations of distributional uncertainty measures. The range of definitions of H as a characterization of dispersion was extended to cases in which the scope, mode or specification, and unit of count were not limited to single terminal units. Information statistics may be generally described as reflecting the fit between a given grammar and a given language sample.Preparation of the article was partially supported by a grant from the U.S. Office of Education to the Early Education Research Center, University of Chicago.This article is based on papers given by the senior author at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Spring 1969, and at the University of Iowa Conference on Language, October, 1970.     

The most frequently used words of spoken English

In 1963 a method was published for the analysis of word frequencies in spontaneous (story-telling) spoken language. The immediate purpose was to provide a means for computer analysis of part-of-speech usage in a study of linguistically impaired aphasic patients. A dictionary of most frequently used words in response to a 20-card administration of the Thematic Apperception Test based on the verbal output of 12 subjects was compiled. The present paper is a revision of the dictionary based on 54 adults. An alphabetical listing of the words in the new directory with part-of-speech identification of each word is included.The research or work reported herein was performed pursuant to a contract with the Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare through the Chicago Early Education Research Center, a component of the National Laboratory on Early Childhood Education. Contractors undertaking such work under Government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment in the conduct of the work. Points of view or opinions stated do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Office of Education position or policy.     

Social desirability in personality inventories: Symptoms,diagnosis and prescribed cure

An analysis of social desirability in personality assessment is presented. Starting with the symptoms, Study 1 showed that mean ratings of graded personality items are moderately to strongly linearly related to social desirability (Self Deception, Impression formation, and the first Principal Component), suggesting that item popularity may be a useful heuristic tool for identifying items which elicit socially desirable responding. We diagnose the cause of socially desirable responding as an interaction between the evaluative content of the item and enhancement motivation in the rater. Study 2 introduced a possible cure; evaluative neutralization of items. To test the feasibility of the method lay psychometricians (undergraduates) reformulated existing personality test items according to written instructions. The new items were indeed lower in social desirability while essentially retaining the five factor structure and reliability of the inventory. We conclude that although neutralization is no miracle cure, it is simple and has beneficial effects.     

Community implementation of PMTO™: Impacts on referrals to specialist services and schools

Sigmarsdóttir, M. & Björnsdóttir, A. (2012). Community implementation of PMTO?: Impacts on referrals to specialist services and schools. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 506–511. In 2000, the city of Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, implemented Parent Management Training – Oregon Model (PMTO^?) to prevent and treat behavioral problems among children. This paper describes the implementation and findings regarding impacts in the community. As hypothesized, findings showed that the number of referrals to specialist services decreased in Hafnarfjörður following PMTO implementation and increased in two comparison communities not implementing the method. Within the Hafnarfjörður community, recorded instances of behavior problems reduced in elementary schools working in line with PMTO. The results presented are the first such findings in Iceland and suggest the kinds of systematic changes communities may experience following the implementation of an evidence‐based program.