Reflection on metacognition in real life situations: the truth is out there

This article was prepared to extend the traditional view of metacognition to include the orientation of thematic and common features analyses of events in daily-life interactions. A brief historical development of metacognition was presented and discussed to pave the way for this new orientation. This heuristic conceptualization and direction of metacognition was realized and materialized due to research in deaf education. Metacognition, as presented in this article, dispelled misconceptions about the cognitive ability of individuals who live with deafness. It was viewed impetus for continued research.     

A comparison of multiple reinforcer assessments to identify the function of maladaptive behavior

Functional analysis results indicated that maladaptive behaviors displayed by a 25-year-old man with profound mental retardation were maintained by attention from caregivers and possibly, to a lesser degree, by access to tangible items. A concurrent-schedules procedure was then used to study the relative reinforcing value for maladaptive behavior of attention versus tangible items. Results of the concurrent-schedules assessment and subsequent functional communication training indicated that preference for attention versus access to a tangible object varied.     

Evaluating the function of applied behavior analysis a bibliometric analysis

Analysis of scholarly citations involving behavioral journals reveals that, consistent with its mission, applied behavior analysis research frequently references the basic behavioral literature but, as some have suspected, exerts narrow scholarly influence.     

Concise formulas for the standard errors of component loading estimates

Concise formulas for the asymptotic standard errors of component loading estimates were derived. The formulas cover the cases of principal component analysis for unstandardized and standardized variables with orthogonal and oblique rotations. The formulas can be used under any distributions for observed variables as long as the asymptotic covariance matrix for sample covariances/correlations is available. The estimated standard errors in numerical examples were shown to be equivalent to those by the methods using information matrices.The author is indebted to anonymous reviewers for the corrections and suggestions on this study, which have led to improvements of earlier versions of this article.     

Meaning and Circular Definitions

Gupta"s and Belnap"s Revision Theory of Truth defends the legitimacy of circular definitions. Circularity, however, forces us to reconsider our conception of meaning. A readjustment of some standard theses about meaning is here proposed, by relying on a novel version of the sense–reference distinction.     

Semantic Shifts in Argumentative Processes: A Step Beyond the ‘Fallacy of Equivocation’

In naturally occuring argumentation, words which play a crucial role in the argument often acquire different meanings on subsequent occasions of use. Traditionally, such semantic shifts have been dealt with by the fallacy of equivocation. In my paper, I would like to show that there is considerably more to semantic shifts during arguments than their potentially being fallacious. Based on an analysis of a debate on environmental policy, I will argue that shifts in meaning are produced by a principle I call local semantic elaboration. I will go on to show that semantic shifts in the meaning of a word, the position advocated by a party, and the questions that the parties raise during an argumentative process are neatly tailored to one another, but can be incommensurable to the opponent's views. Semantic shifts thus may have a dissociative impact on a critical discussion. By linking the structure of argumentation to its pragmatics, however, it may be revealed that there are two practices that account for a higher order of coherence of the debate. The first practice is a general preference for disagreeing with the opponent, the second practice is the interpretation of local speech acts in terms of an overall ideological stance that is attributed to the speaker. Because of these practices, parties do not criticize divergent semantic conceptions as disruptive, but they treat them as characteristic and sometimes even metonymic reflections of the parties' positions.     

多层线性模型在纵向研究中的运用

纵向研究中传统统计技术主要是重复测量的方差分析和多元回归分析，但是这两种技术存在一些局限性，不能合理而充分地解释纵向研究资料。近年来出现的多层线性模型能够更有效地利用纵向数据。为促进多层线性模型在纵向研究中的运用，简要论述了传统统计技术的局限，介绍了多层线性模型的原理及其在纵向研究中的作用，以一组模拟数据为例对多层线性模型中各种参数在纵向研究中的含义进行了详细讨论，对于纵向研究中运用多层线性模型时须注意的问题提出了建议。     

A psychometric evaluation of the social skills rating system in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The social skills rating system (SSRS) was developed to assess social skills of children, as observed by multiple raters (teacher, parent, child). Studies of the SSRS have been conducted with handicapped, mentally retarded and learning disabled children. No studies have reported the psychometric properties of the SSRS in a clinical ADHD sample. This is important, because deficient social functioning is associated with ADHD. The present study assesses the psychometric properties of the teacher, parent and child versions of the SSRS in children with ADHD (n = 123), and normal controls (n = 239). Also, the social skills of children with ADHD, as rated on the SSRS were examined. Results support the factor structure and internal consistency of the original SSRS-teacher version. Moreover, support was found for 3 out of 4 scales of the SSRS-parent version. The factor structure of the SSRS-child version could not be replicated. An explanatory factor analysis on the SSRS-child version yielded two factors. Evidence was found for discriminative ability of the SSRS between normal controls and children with ADHD. Finally, informant agreement between raters was found to be poor.     

The effects of reinforcement magnitude on functional analysis outcomes

The duration or magnitude of reinforcement has varied and often appears to have been selected arbitrarily in functional analysis research. Few studies have evaluated the effects of reinforcement magnitude on problem behavior, even though basic findings indicate that this parameter may affect response rates during functional analyses. In the current study, 6 children with autism or developmental disabilities who engaged in severe problem behavior were exposed to three separate functional analyses, each of which varied in reinforcement magnitude. Results of these functional analyses were compared to determine if a particular reinforcement magnitude was associated with the most conclusive outcomes. In most cases, the same conclusion about the functions of problem behavior was drawn regardless of the reinforcement magnitude.