THE FRED S. KELLER SCHOOL

The Fred S. Keller School is located in Yonkers, New York, and is one of several schools operating as a Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS®) program. CABAS® schools are self-correcting and self-sustaining, and incorporate the science of teaching into every aspect of schooling. The Keller School functions as a cybernetic system of education in which the individualized instruction of each student influences the behavior of the entire education community. Student opportunities to learn are continuously measured, graphed, evaluated, and, as necessary, modified. Staff training occurs as a function of the programmatic needs of each student and the repertoire of the individual staff member. Supervisors are master teachers whose behavior is directly tied to the learning of the students and other staff. Parents are also taught principles of behavior as they relate to the education of their child, and parenting behaviors are changed based upon the needs and progress of the child. The behavior of the entire school (including efficacy and efficiency measures, the development of repertoires) is influenced by the performance of each individual within it.     

Temporal restriction in apparent motion of two objects by presenting multipartite subframes

Two experiments tested whether proper perception of motion can be realized with a multipartite subframe stimulus. In order to elucidate the constructive processes of visual motion, two motion stimuli were used which differed according to their hierarchical levels of reference. It was found that: (a) stable motion was perceived so long as the temporal interval between the neighboring frames comprising several subframes was held between 30 and 120 ms; (b) visual unification of subframes was properly achieved independently of the number of subframes insofar as the temporal constraint mentioned above was satisfied; (c) when stimuli consisted of two motions of different hierarchical level of reference, perception of the higher-level motion required the prior perception of the lower-level motion.     

Archetypal defenses in the clinical situation: a vignette

Critical moments along the path of an analysis are presented in order to illustrate how dreams portray archaic and typical (archetypal) defenses against the re-experience of unbearable affect as it emerges. Inner defensive 'objects' functioning as a 'self-care system' threaten to uproot, kill or destroy the connections between the dream ego and various images of vulnerability as these emerge in response to healing life events or transference feelings. Over a series of dreams, transformations within this self-care system are observed, ending in a final healing dream which marks the patient's achievement of a 'depressive position' in relation to her otherwise persecutory anxieties.     

A Focus on Neglect: Comparing the Characteristics of Children and Parents in Cases of Neglect,Abuse, and Non-CAN (Child Abuse and Neglect) in Israeli Rulings on Termination of Parental Rights

This study attempts to expand the knowledge base about neglect by comparing the characteristics of children and parents involved in termination of parental rights proceedings in the Israeli legal system. Cases were classified as neglect (72.7%), abuse (19%) or non-child abuse or neglect (non-CAN; 8%) and were compared on a range of variables. The results show that neglected children have the most developmental problems, and generally come from single-parent families, compared to abused children, who suffer the most mental health problems and come from 2-parent families. Finally, neglect is associated with the mother’s history of drug abuse, and abuse is associated with the father’s drug abuse and criminal record. In non-CAN cases, the courts criticize the Child Protective Service more than in neglect and abuse cases. Implications of the findings for social work practice as well as future research directions are discussed.     

Logic programming,probability, and two-system accounts of reasoning: a rejoinder to Oaksford and Chater (2014)

This reply to Oaksford and Chater’s (O&C)’s critical discussion of our use of logic programming (LP) to model and predict patterns of conditional reasoning will frame the dispute in terms of the semantics of the conditional. We begin by outlining some common features of LP and probabilistic conditionals in knowledge-rich reasoning over long-term memory knowledge bases. For both, context determines causal strength; there are inferences from the absence of certain evidence; and both have analogues of the Ramsey test. Some current work shows how a combination of counting defeaters and statistics from network monitoring can provide the information for graded responses from LP reasoning. With this much introduction, we then respond to O&C’s specific criticisms and misunderstandings.     

Identifying factors for traffic safety support in older drivers

The present study aimed at identifying factors for traffic safety support in older drivers. This was achieved by studying the co-operation between older drivers and their ordinary front seat passenger (co-driver). The knowledge emerging from such study can enhance the understanding of what kind of support an older driver needs and also help facilitate proper design of in-vehicle support systems and intervention training programs for older drivers. A within group field study was carried out, using a mixed-methods evaluation design. Four elderly couples participated in the study. The drivers included in the study requested and received on-going directional support, traffic -and driving strategic help, help with look-out and reminding of current speed limit. It was evident from comparisons between interview data and field data that how the participants themselves described their need of support differed from what support they requested (drivers) and gave (co-drivers) in real driving. Furthermore, data revealed that three out of four drivers were given a score of 2 in the Useful Field Of View test (UFOV). It was evident that there are areas in which older drivers need and request support. The results from the present study could be used in the design process, and in evaluation of, in-vehicle support systems as well as in developing intervention training programs customised for older drivers.     

Multilayer cognitive architecture for UAV control

Extensive use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in recent years has induced the rapid growth of research areas related to UAV production. Among these, the design of control systems capable of automating a wide range of UAV activities is one of the most actively explored and evolving. Currently, researchers and developers are interested in designing control systems that can be referred to as intelligent, e.g. the systems which are suited to solve such tasks as planning, goal prioritization, coalition formation, etc. and thus guarantee high levels of UAV autonomy. One of the principal problems in intelligent control system design is tying together various methods and models traditionally used in robotics and aimed at solving such tasks as dynamics modeling, control signal generation, location and mapping, path planning, etc. with the methods of behavior modeling and planning which are thoroughly studied in cognitive science. Our work is aimed at solving this problem. We propose layered architecture—STRL (strategic, tactical, reactive, layered)—of the control system that automates the behavior generation using a cognitive approach while taking into account complex dynamics and kinematics of the control object (UAV). We use a special type of knowledge representation—sign world model—that is based on the psychological activity theory to describe individual behavior planning and coalition formation processes. We also propose path planning methodology which serves as the mediator between the high-level cognitive activities and the reactive control signals generation. To generate these signals we use a state-dependent Riccati equation and specific method for solving it. We believe that utilization of the proposed architecture will broaden the spectrum of tasks which can be solved by the UAV’s coalition automatically, as well as raise the autonomy level of each individual member of that coalition.     

ONE BRAIN,TWO MINDS: AN ESSAY ON PRIMORDIAL AND ADVANCED MENTAL ACTIVITY

The Primordial Mind in Health and Illness: A Cross‐Cultural Perspective. By Michael Robbins. London/New York: Routledge, 2011. 240 pp.     

WOMEN: A MORE BALANCED BRAIN?

Abstract. On the basis of knowledge prior to 1988, Ashbrook pointed out that whereas most men are primarily dependent on the left cerebral hemisphere (“dominant hemisphere”) for verbally related functions, women show a greater hemispheric balance in this respect. For men, he argues, their possession of a “speaking” and a “non-speaking hemisphere” results in a positive-negative, bipolar way of thinking that may be characterized as dualistic and dialectically hierarchical. In contrast, the greater balance of hemispheric function in women appears to promote greater generalization and synthesis in their thinking. In this article I cite more recent neuroanatomical and brain imaging studies that provide further evidence of disparities in structure and function of the brains of men and women. As background for an attempt to explain these differences, I give a brief review of the triune evolution of the mammalian brain leading up to the human cerebrum. It is of major significance that the female has played a central role in mammalian evolution for more than 180 million years and that the evolutionary transition from reptilian therapsids to mammals is characterized by the develoment of (1) nursing conjoined with maternal care; (2) audiovocal communication or aiding mother-offspring contact; and (3) play. In human beings, the infant-carrying hypothesis suggests one means by which, over generations, certain parts of a woman's right hemisphere could undergo functional and eventual anatomical expansion. The mother-infant communication of basic mammalian sounds with vowel and consonant components suggests a basis for the origination of speech. Finally, in an expansion of Ashbrook's original thesis, we arrive at the rovocative consideration that, unlike men, with their dialectical reasoning, women, with their more balanced brain, are provided with a trialectial ladder for climbing to achieve knowledge. In terms of quantum mechanics, the particle and wave would correspond to the substance and strength of the sides of the ladder, and the derived psychic information (which is neither matter nor energy) would compare to the rungs in between.