DISCREPANCY IN FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS RESULTS ACROSS TWO SETTINGS: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION DESIGN

Functional analyses that were conducted in two settings (playground and classroom) indicated that problem behavior was sensitive to adult attention on the playground and tangible items in the classroom. Attention‐ and tangible‐based interventions were designed based on the results from each of the assessment environments and were compared. The attention‐based intervention was more effective on the playground, and the tangible‐based intervention was more effective in the classroom. Findings are discussed in regards to the generality of functional analysis results across environments.     

话语共识:后形而上学社会的实质正义标准

在后形而上学社会中,正义标准因传统形而上学基础的丧失而困境重重。哈贝马斯提出的话语理论的正义观只关注正义的形式,而不涉及到正义的实质内容,更不涉及实质正义的标准。正义是形式与内容的统一,在话语形式中达成的共识,就是内容,也是后形而上学社会的实质正义标准。     

A new formulation of the Principle of Indifference

The idea of a probabilistic logic of inductive inference based on some form of the principle of indifference has always retained a powerful appeal. However, up to now all modifications of the principle failed. In this paper, a new formulation of such a principle is provided that avoids generating paradoxes and inconsistencies. Because of these results, the thesis that probabilities cannot be logical quantities, determined in an objective way through some form of the principle of indifference, is no longer supportable. Later, the paper investigates some implications of the new principle of indifference. To conclude, a re-examination of the foundations of the so-called objective Bayesian inference is called for.     

Newton Algorithms for Analytic Rotation: an Implicit Function Approach

In this paper implicit function-based parameterizations for orthogonal and oblique rotation matrices are proposed. The parameterizations are used to construct Newton algorithms for minimizing differentiable rotation criteria applied to m factors and p variables. The speed of the new algorithms is compared to that of existing algorithms and to that of Newton algorithms based on alternative parameterizations. Several rotation criteria were examined and the algorithms were evaluated over a range of values for m. Initial guesses for Newton algorithms were improved by subconvergence iterations of the gradient projection algorithm. Simulation results suggest that no one algorithm is fastest for minimizing all criteria for all values of m. Among competing algorithms, the gradient projection algorithm alone was faster than the implicit function algorithm for minimizing a quartic criterion over oblique rotation matrices when m is large. In all other conditions, however, the implicit function algorithms were competitive with or faster than the fastest existing algorithms. The new algorithms showed the greatest advantage over other algorithms when minimizing a nonquartic component loss criterion.     

Comparison of decision learning models using the generalization criterion method

It is a hallmark of a good model to make accurate a priori predictions to new conditions ( Busemeyer & Wang, 2000 ). This study compared 8 decision learning models with respect to their generalizability. Participants performed 2 tasks (the Iowa Gambling Task and the Soochow Gambling Task), and each model made a priori predictions by estimating the parameters for each participant from 1 task and using those same parameters to predict on the other task. Three methods were used to evaluate the models at the individual level of analysis. The first method used a post hoc fit criterion, the second method used a generalization criterion for short-term predictions, and the third method again used a generalization criterion for long-term predictions. The results suggest that the models with the prospect utility function can make generalizable predictions to new conditions, and different learning models are needed for making short-versus long-term predictions on simple gambling tasks.     

A further refinement of procedures addressing food selectivity

Individuals with autism and/or developmental disabilities are more likely than their typically developing peers to be food selective. Evidence‐based treatment packages for food refusal and selectivity include the use of reinforcement, escape extinction, and manipulation of antecedent events . In the current study, the variety of foods consumed by two adolescent males with food selectivity were systematically increased to include a variety of foods across all of the food groups. A changing criterion design was used to systematically increase the expectation of the amount and variety of foods that were consumed.     

Applying mixed‐effects modeling to single‐subject designs: An introduction

Behavior analysis and statistical inference have shared a conflicted relationship for over fifty years. However, a significant portion of this conflict is directed toward statistical tests (e.g., t‐tests, ANOVA) that aggregate group and/or temporal variability into means and standard deviations and as a result remove much of the data important to behavior analysts. Mixed‐effects modeling, a more recently developed statistical test, addresses many of the limitations of more basic tests by incorporating random effects. Random effects quantify individual subject variability without eliminating it from the model, hence producing a model that can predict both group and individual behavior. We present the results of a generalized linear mixed‐effects model applied to single‐subject data taken from Ackerlund Brandt, Dozier, Juanico, Laudont, & Mick, 2015, in which children chose from one of three reinforcers for completing a task. Results of the mixed‐effects modeling are consistent with visual analyses and importantly provide a statistical framework to predict individual behavior without requiring aggregation. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results and provide recommendations for further integration of mixed‐effects models in the analyses of single‐subject designs.     

ERP Evidence for the Rapid Assignment of an (Appropriate) Antecedent to PRO

Event-related brain potentials were recorded while subjects listened to sentences containing a controlled infinitival complement. Subject and object control items were used, both with 2 potential antecedents in the upper clause. Half of the sentences had a gender agreement violation between the null subject of the infinitival complement and an adjective predicated of it. The rapid detection of this anomaly would indicate that the parser had established the coreference relation between the null subject and an antecedent, and that the processor had rapidly consulted verb control information to select the proper antecedent of the null subject. The results showed that for both subject and object control items ungrammatical adjectives elicited a P600 effect. These data imply that the processor has coindexed the null subject with an antecedent, and that the antecedent has been selected on the basis of control information. These results are compatible with parsing models that emphasize the rapid influence of verb-specific information on sentence processing.     

年轻医生如何搞好临床科研

面对目前年轻医生对科研束手无策的状况,提出了科研的重要性。从科研选题要紧密结合临床实际、医学科研选题强调创新与实用的原则、医学科研需要的科研素质、培养独立从事临床科学研究的能力、充分利用优势科研资源,加强科研合作能力的培养五方面进行阐述如何进行临床科研工作,以便更好地促进临床医学事业的发展。     

非球面人工晶状体临床应用的启示

非球面人工晶状体是波前像差技术与现代白内障手术完美结合的产物,也是多学科联合发展的结果。非球面人工晶状体较传统球面人工晶状体可明显改善白内障患者的视功能。倘若能实现个体化设计,非球面人工晶状体有望取代球面人工晶状体成为人工晶状体的主流。