Teaching Partial-Interval Recording of Problem Behavior with Virtual Reality

Journal of Behavioral Education - Virtual reality (VR) places individuals within a simulated experience using an array of visual, auditory, and tactile interfaces. Research suggests VR, which...     

Autobiographical narratives of deaf and hearing adults: An examination of narrative coherence and the use of internal states

To examine the impact of early linguistic experiences on later verbal report of autobiographical memory, 13 hearing adults and 13 deaf adults born to hearing parents described events that occurred before and after the age of 10 years. The contextual, temporal, and thematic coherence of the narratives was rated. The use of emotional, perceptual, mental, and physiological states was also recorded. There were differences in the coherence of the narratives and use of internal states according to the age at which the events occurred. There were no group differences in coherence, but hearing adults provided longer narratives than deaf adults. When narrative length was controlled, deaf adults included more emotional states than hearing adults. Results suggest that early unavailability of language does not impact the coherence of adults’ narratives, although certain features of linguistic expression specific to ASL may result in greater saturation of emotional states references in autobiographical narratives of deaf adults.     

Young Children's Memory for the Times of Personal Past Events

Remembering the temporal information associated with personal past events is critical for autobiographical memory, yet we know relatively little about the development of this capacity. In the present research, we investigated temporal memory for naturally occurring personal events in 4-, 6-, and 8-year-old children. Parents recorded unique events in which their children participated during a 4-month period. At test, children made relative recency judgments and estimated the time of each event using conventional time scales (time of day, day of week, month of year, and season). Children also were asked to provide justifications for their time-scale judgments. Six- and 8-year-olds, but not 4-year-olds, accurately judged the order of two distinct events. There were age-related improvements in children's estimation of the time of events using conventional time scales. Older children provided more justifications for their time-scale judgments compared with younger children. Relations between correct responding on the time-scale judgments and provision of meaningful justifications suggest that children may use that information to reconstruct the times associated with past events. The findings can be used to chart a developmental trajectory of performance in temporal memory for personal past events and have implications for our understanding of autobiographical memory development.     

Why elementary propositions cannot be negative

Philosophical Studies -     

Helium pressure effects on avoidance behavior in rats breathing high nitrogen pressures.

3 rats given avoidance training and then exposed to 7, 13, and 19 ATA breathing nitrogen, then to 25, 31, and 37 ATA breathing helium, showed increased avoidance response rates above established baselines to 19 ATA followed by a decline. Narcotic effects of nitrogen were not reduced differentially by addition of helium.     

Game-theoretical semantics for Peirce's existential graphs

In this paper, a game-theoretical semantics is developed for the so-called alpha part of Charles S. Peirce's System of Existential Graphs of 1896. This alpha part is that portion of Peirce's graphs that corresponds to propositional logic. The paper both expounds a game-theoretical semantics for the graphs that seems close to Peirce's own intentions and proves for the alpha part of the graphs that this semantics is adequate.     

The use of digital rheoplethysmography for the study of psychogenic and neurogenic factors in man

The use of the RPG in the qualitative and quantitative study of the state of the intact digital vasculature of intact man is illustrated and emphasized. Rheoplethysmography is the only method for quantitatively recording continuously and simultaneously the volumes and rates of inflow, outflow and the differences between inflow and outflow and the rate of basal blood flow in the digits of intact man or in any organ or tissue that can be isolated in a plethysmographic cup. The effects of psychogenic and neurogenic factors on the peripheral circulation of man were studied with the RPG, and the results demonstrate how useful this method is for such studies of the fingertip.     

Using cue words to investigate the distribution of autobiographical memories in childhood

The cue-word technique is frequently used with adults to examine the distribution of autobiographical memories across the life span. Such studies demonstrate childhood amnesia: a paucity of memories of events from the first 3(1/2) years of life, and a gradually increasing number of memories from age 3 to age 7. The pattern is remarkable in light of findings of autobiographical competence among children in the period of life eventually obscured by this amnesia. In the present study, we modified the cue-word task for use with school-age children. Seven- to 10-year-olds successfully generated and dated memories of past events. Girls provided more complete narratives than boys. Across the sample, the resulting distribution of memories was better fit by an exponential than by a power function, implying that early memories may not consolidate and instead remain vulnerable to interference. Implications for explanations of childhood amnesia are discussed.