Cortney S. Warren: Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award.

Provides the biography of Cortney S. Warren and announces that she has received the APA Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award (2004) for an outstanding research paper whose findings examine the potential for ethnicity to protect against body image disturbance by moderating the relationships between awareness and internalization of a thin physical ideal and body dissatisfaction. A selected bibliography is also provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Global Perspectives on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Assessing Practices, Policies, and Campaigns in Four English-Speaking Countries.

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy places the fetus at risk for a number of neurological abnormalities and functional impairments. These deficits are 100% preventable by abstaining from alcohol use during pregnancy. Nevertheless, the worldwide prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), the most severe outcome of prenatal alcohol consumption, is estimated at 0.97 cases per 1,000 live births (see May & Gossage, 2001). This paper examines awareness of the problem in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia along three dimensions: 1) the relationship between alcohol consumption rates and the incidence of FAS; 2) government action and policy creation; and 3) prevention/intervention initiatives and educational efforts. The extent of knowledge within each country affects, and is affected by, the level of research activity, the emphasis on policy creation, and the initiatives that drive educational efforts. At present, Canada and the U.S. have the highest levels of activity and a clear recognition of the problem. Activity in the U.K. and Australia is at the grass-roots level, although some promising movements toward greater public and professional awareness have begun. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the dynamic nature of response criterion in recognition memory: Effects of base rate, awareness, and feedback.

The authors examined whether participants can shift their criterion for recognition decisions in response to the probability that an item was previously studied. Participants in 3 experiments were given recognition tests in which the probability that an item was studied was correlated with its location during the test. Results from all 3 experiments indicated that participants' response criteria were sensitive to the probability that an item was previously studied and that shifts in criterion were robust. In addition, awareness of the bases for criterion shifts and feedback on performance were key factors contributing to the observed shifts in decision criteria. These data suggest that decision processes can operate in a dynamic fashion, shifting from item to item. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Becoming psychotherapists: Experiences of novice trainees in a beginning graduate class.

The authors investigated the experiences related to becoming psychotherapists for 5 counseling psychology doctoral trainees in their first prepracticum course. Qualitative analyses of weekly journals indicated that trainees discussed challenges related to becoming psychotherapists (e.g., being self-critical, having troubling reactions to clients, learning to use helping skills), gains made during the semester related to becoming psychotherapists (e.g., using helping skills more effectively, becoming less self-critical, being able to connect with clients), as well as experiences in supervision and activities that helped them cope with their anxieties. Results are discussed in 5 broad areas: feelings about self in role of psychotherapist, awareness of reactions to clients, learning and using helping skills, reactions to supervision, and experiences that fostered growth. Implications for training and research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhanced battlefield visualization for situation awareness

We present tools to visualize density, clustering, and lethality assessment that help a military commander achieve situation awareness on the battlefield. For the density computation, we provide a geometry-based, image-based, and hybrid approach to tackle the problem. We choose proximity-based clustering as a suitable definition for our application. Based on this clustering definition, we show an efficient computational method based on the Delaunay triangulation. Finally, we present a probabilistic model for the lethality assessment and an efficient way to compute it using hardware support where available. We also explain how to deliver visual information to the human visual system effectively. The principles of human visual perception, such as preattentive and Gestalt perceptual processing, play an important role in this work.     

Developmental changes in the manifestation of a phonological deficit in dyslexic children learning to read a regular orthography.

In a longitudinal study, the development of phonological processing abilities was studied in 19 dyslexic, 17 weak, and 19 normal readers learning to read in Dutch. Among other abilities, phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming were assessed in kindergarten, in 1st grade, and in 6th grade. Dyslexic and weak readers had impairments in rapid naming from kindergarten through 6th grade. Their impairments in phonological awareness at the level of phonemes became manifest in 1st grade and tended to disappear at the end of primary school. However, in a second cross-sectional study, including 13 dyslexic and 25 normal readers, dyslexic children's awareness of phonemes was hampered when task demands increased. The various manifestations of a phonological deficit follow distinct developmental pathways. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Age and Awareness on Eyeblink Conditional Discrimination Learning.

The present study aimed to assess the effects of aging and awareness on conditional discrimination learning within an eyeblink conditioning procedure by using a consecutive age-groups design (20-35 years, 36-50 years, 51-65 years, 66-80 years). Increasing age was associated with a decline in overall eyeblink conditioned response (CR) frequency and a deficit in conditional discrimination learning in the 2 older groups. Awareness of stimulus contingencies affected discrimination performance but not overall CR rates in younger subjects. Older subjects did not achieve eyeblink conditional discrimination learning, regardless of awareness. Discrimination performance correlated with measures of declarative memory. The pattern of results is discussed with respect to the involvement of hippocampal-cerebellar interactions and awareness in the mediation of age-related conditioning changes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Provision of awareness of learners’ emotions through visualizations in a computer interaction-based environment

One of the challenges of intelligent systems for education is to use low-level data collected in computer environments in the form of events or interactions to infer information with high-level significance using artificial intelligence techniques, and present it through visualizations in a meaningful and effective way. Among this information, emotional data is gaining track in by instructors in their educational activities. Many benefits can be obtained if an intelligent systems can bring teachers with knowledge about their learner’s emotions, learning causes, and learning relationships with emotions. In this paper, we propose and justify a set of visualizations for an intelligent system to provide awareness about the emotions of the learners to the instructor based on the learners’ interactions in their computers. We apply these learner’s affective visualizations in a programming course at University level with more than 300 students, and analyze and interpret the student’s emotional results in connection with the learning process.     

面向普适计算的动态自适应中间件模型

为了提高普适计算系统的开发效率, 设计了一个基于OSGi框架的动态普适计算中间件模型. 该中间件模型以OSGi框架为基础, 建立移动管理器管理用户和服务的移动, 利用上下文管理器来管理上下文, 动态调整自己的行为, 支持上下文感知应用. 通过标准的接口实现各种异构普适设备间的互操作性. 实验结果表明该中间件能够满足通用普适计算环境的要求, 对于普适计算系统的开发具有一定的借鉴意义.     

自律计算系统及其关键技术研究

自律计算系统是目前的一个热点研究方向,其目的是采用技术管理技术来降低用户使用系统的复杂性。目前,自律计算理论已广泛应用于网络安全、自动控制等多个领域并取得初步成功。基于学术界已有的研究成果,对自律计算概念、框架结构以及自律计算系统实现的关键技术进行了综述,以为自律计算领域研究人员后续研究提供指导。