Effects of Self-Monitoring Intervention on Independent Completion of a Daily Living Skill for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders in China

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a self-monitoring intervention on the independent completion of dishwashing for three boys with autism (ages 6, 7, and 8) in China. The self-monitoring intervention included visual task analysis, in vivo modeling, self-recording, video self-feedback, and reinforcement. A multiple probe across subjects design was used. Prior to the study, the children had limited or no dishwashing skills, nor did they receive any training on self-monitoring. All three children acquired dishwashing and performed the task independently without supervision one week after the intervention. Their parents were very satisfied with this intervention.     

Depression and pain in night time and daytime functioning of individuals with lupus

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of pain and depression in night time and daytime functioning of individuals with lupus. A cross-sectional research design was used. Participants were recruited via a mail-out to members of the Lupus Australia Foundation and the Lupus Association of New South Wales. One hundred and fifty-four participants completed a questionnaire package consisting of a Lupus Medical and Symptoms Questionnaire designed by the researchers, the Cardiac Depression Scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that pain principally predicted levels of sleep disturbance, whilst depression and pain (to a lesser extent) together predicted daytime dysfunction. The present results suggested the need for more adequate pain management, particularly at night and psychological interventions to decrease levels of depression that interfere with daily functioning in individuals with lupus.     

Women's daily physical health symptoms and stressful experiences across adulthood

This study investigated the extent to which the experience of daily stressors was related to women's age and daily health symptomology, such as flu and cold symptoms. Respondents were 562 women (aged 25–74) who were a part of the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE), a telephone diary study examining daily stressful events. The respondents were interviewed by telephone on eight consecutive nights, which resulted in a total of 3978 days of information analysed. Overall, women had at least one physical symptom on 59% of the study days and at least one daily stressor on 40% of the study days. Results from a series of ANOVAs showed that young and middle-aged women reported more frequent physical symptoms than did the older women. This age pattern was similar to the incidence of daily stressful experiences. Furthermore, daily stressors, specifically interpersonal tensions, were shown to significantly mediate the age–symptom relationship. These findings suggest that women who are exposed to events that threaten their interpersonal relationships are at a greater risk for symptoms of ill-health.     

Evaluating Check-In Check-Out With Peer Tutors for Children With Attention Maintained Problem Behaviors

School Wide Positive Behavior Support provides schools with three tiers of support to address both academic and behavior challenges. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of peer tutors with three elementary students when applied to a Tier 2 intervention known as Check-In Check-Out (CICO). Peer tutors performed the morning check-in with the tutees by setting the expectations for the day and giving the tutees their Daily Progress Report (DPR) form. Throughout the day, the tutees took the DPR form to each class where they received a score from the teacher. At the end of the class period, the peer tutors provided the tutees with feedback on the scores received on the DPR form. Once the school day finished, the peer tutees checked-out with the tutors and received a reward if they met their percentage goal. The results of this study showed that CICO implemented by peers improved classroom behavior for all three participants.     

Recognizing upper limb movements with wrist worn inertial sensors using k-means clustering classification

In this paper we present a methodology for recognizing three fundamental movements of the human forearm (extension, flexion and rotation) using pattern recognition applied to the data from a single wrist-worn, inertial sensor. We propose that this technique could be used as a clinical tool to assess rehabilitation progress in neurodegenerative pathologies such as stroke or cerebral palsy by tracking the number of times a patient performs specific arm movements (e.g. prescribed exercises) with their paretic arm throughout the day. We demonstrate this with healthy subjects and stroke patients in a simple proof of concept study in which these arm movements are detected during an archetypal activity of daily-living (ADL) – ‘making-a-cup-of-tea’. Data is collected from a tri-axial accelerometer and a tri-axial gyroscope located proximal to the wrist. In a training phase, movements are initially performed in a controlled environment which are represented by a ranked set of 30 time-domain features. Using a sequential forward selection technique, for each set of feature combinations three clusters are formed using k-means clustering followed by 10 runs of 10-fold cross validation on the training data to determine the best feature combinations. For the testing phase, movements performed during the ADL are associated with each cluster label using a minimum distance classifier in a multi-dimensional feature space, comprised of the best ranked features, using Euclidean or Mahalanobis distance as the metric. Experiments were performed with four healthy subjects and four stroke survivors and our results show that the proposed methodology can detect the three movements performed during the ADL with an overall average accuracy of 88% using the accelerometer data and 83% using the gyroscope data across all healthy subjects and arm movement types. The average accuracy across all stroke survivors was 70% using accelerometer data and 66% using gyroscope data. We also use a Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) classifier and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier in association with the same set of features to detect the three arm movements and compare the results to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed methodology.     

无聊感的自陈测量方式

自陈测量方式是无聊感研究中最早、最广泛使用的研究方法。文章中介绍了具有高信度、效度的BPS、BS、BC、JBS、LJBS、LBS、FTB和SBS等无聊感测量工具,分析了这几种自陈测量方法的优势及劣势,并对无聊感测量工具的应用和发展提出展望。     

Daily dynamics of personal identity and self‐concept clarity

We examined the daily dynamics among self‐concept clarity and identity processes, and their effects on distress, among a sample of 580 Dutch adolescents. Participants completed measures of identity, self‐concept clarity, anxiety and depression at annual intervals; and daily single‐item measures of self‐concept clarity, identity commitments and reconsideration across three 5‐day weeks. We examined (a) cross‐lagged associations of self‐concept clarity to identity commitment and reconsideration and (b) associations of daily fluctuations in self and identity processes to later anxiety and depression. Results indicated that self‐concept clarity and identity commitments influence one another reciprocally across days, and that day‐to‐day fluctuations in identity predicted later anxiety and depression. Results are discussed in terms of self and identity processes and their effects on distress. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

日常生活事件时间关系推理的初步研究

对时间推理的研究主要有两种范式,习俗周期性时间推理和时间关系推理。以往大多数研究集中在习俗周期性时间推理上,而时间关系推理研究则相对薄弱。本研究在以往研究的基础上,对日常生活事件的时间关系推理进行了研究。实验设计考虑了推理任务的模型数量、前提数量、无关前提以及有无肯定答案等因素,形成了六类推理任务。研究发现:推理任务的模型数量、前提数量、无关前提、是否有肯定答案以及推理者时间维度上的人格特征等都会影响个体的时间关系推理;被试一般是以呈现的前提顺序来表征推理任务的。但是,当被试意识到无关信息时,可以从整体上表征问题。     

儿童对有关心理特质的自我报告信息的评价

本研究通过对63名儿童的访谈来调查儿童对他人有关心理特质的自我报告信息的评价。研究发现,10、11岁儿童比6、7岁儿童对高评价性特质“诚实”、“聪明”、“善良”、“友善”自我报告的信息抱有更大的怀疑;但是在中性特质“忧虑”、“喜欢热闹”、“喜欢红色”、“喜欢咸食”上没有显著差异。结果表明,把自我报告作为有关高评价性特质的信息来源时,高年龄组比低年龄组表现出更大的怀疑,而且这种变化是与儿童自我表现能力的提高有关。