Strategies used to combine seriated cups by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus), and capuchins (Cebus apella).

The authors investigated strategies used to combine seriated cups by apes (Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus) and monkeys (Cebus apella) using a protocol reported in P. M. Greenfield, K. Nelson, and E. Saltzman's (1972) study with children. It was hypothesized that apes would exhibit more hierarchical combinations of cups than monkeys, given apes' language capacity, and that apes would seriate the cups more efficiently than monkeys. As predicted, apes made many structures with the cups using a variety of strategies, and monkeys rarely combined the cups. After a training phase to orient monkeys to the task, the 2 genera did not differ in the strategies used to combine the cups or in efficiency in seriating the cups. Success in this task suggests that sensorimotor versions of hierarchically organized combinatorial activity are well within apes' and monkeys' abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training and transfer in combinatorial problem solving: The development of formal reasoning during early adolescence.

Studied training and transfer effects in combinatorial problem solving to explore the emergence of combinatorial competence as an aspect of the development of formal reasoning and to examine the effectiveness of a training procedure based on principles of "programmed discovery." 80 12-14 yr olds participated in a pretest, 2 training or placebo sessions, an immediate posttest, and a delayed posttest 2 mo later. Significant increases in combinatorial skill with age were shown, and the expression of this skill was significantly facilitated if problems involved "concrete" material of low complexity. With the oldest Ss, training produced significant improvements in performance on combinatorial tasks that were markedly different from the training items in both content and modality. Significant improvements over time and with practice were also evident with the older Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of the multiple seriation operation.

Data from 60 1st-3rd graders support the existence of a stage in the development of multiple seriation during which elements are seriated on one dimension and classified on the other. Results suggest the potential utility of fine-grained stage analyses in elucidating (a) mechanisms of progression through a stage sequence and (b) more generally, mechanisms of information processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's (Homo sapiens) understanding of knowledge formation in themselves and others.

Three- and 4-yr-old children were tested for comprehension of knowledge formation. In Exp 1, 34 Ss watched as a surprise was hidden under 1 of 4 obscured cups. The experimenter then pointed to the cup. All children searched under the correct cup, but no 3-yr-olds (in contrast to most 4-yr-olds) could explain how they knew where to look. Ss then discriminated between simultaneous pointing by 2 adults, one who had hidden a surprise and one who had left the room before the surprise was hidden. Most 4-yr-olds (but no 3-yr-olds) showed clear discrimination between the adults. In Exp 2, 16 Ss were tested with procedures designed to make the source of their own knowledge more obvious, but this had no effect on performance. It is concluded that studies using very similar procedures with chimpanzees and rhesus macaques were measuring an ability (or inability) to understand how knowledge states form. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence for developmental differences in spontaneous seriation and its implications for past research on long-term memory improvement.

One possible explanation of the long-term memory improvement for seriated stimuli reported by Piaget and B. Inhelder (1973) is that there is a developmental increase in the tendency to seriate any drawing spontaneously. Results of an earlier study by R. Altemeyer et al (see record 1970-02150-001) do not support this explanation. In the present study, a total of 377 kindergarten, 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-grade children were tested to determine whether other developmental changes in drawings might have obscured an underlying change in the tendency to seriate. Using Altemeyer's procedure, which required children to draw pictures from a relatively vague hint, no developmental change in seriation was found. However, a significant developmental increase in the production of representational drawings did occur. This latter age difference was eliminated by using a more informative hint, and with this modification, a developmental increase in the tendency to seriate was revealed. Results are discussed in relation to previous Piagetian memory research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing model nesting and equivalence.

When using existing technology, it can be hard or impossible to determine whether two structural equation models that are being considered may be nested. There is also no routine technology for evaluating whether two very different structural models may be equivalent. A simple nesting and equivalence testing (NET) procedure is proposed that uses random sample and model-reproduced moment matrices to evaluate both model nesting and equivalence. The analysis is “local” rather than “global” in nature, but its use with simulation or bootstrapping can imply global conclusions. Two standard applications of NET are to verify whether or not two proposed models are equivalent and whether a baseline model used in an incremental fit index is appropriately nested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the economic utility of generalized validity coefficients in personnel selection.

This study compared economic utility estimates that were based on noninteractive, interactive, independent multiplicative, and Taylor Series Approximation (TSA) 1 and 2 validity generalization results for clerical selection procedures at a large international manufacturing company. On the basis of estimates of the mean true validity and lower bound 90% credibility value, magnitude and percentage differences in resulting utility estimates across validity generalization procedures were relatively small for almost all comparisons. Regardless of the specific validity generalization parameter estimate used in estimating a utility value, the change in economic utility, going from the organization's current selection procedure (i.e., a verbal ability test) to an alternative procedure, was sizable in most cases. These results clearly demonstrate the practical similarity in utility terms of alternative validity generalization procedure results as well as the sizable economic value of minimum-level generalized validity coefficients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Failure of the Mecring screw-ring acetabular component in total hip arthroplasty. A three to seven-year follow-up study

We prospectively studied the results of 411 consecutive total hip arthroplasties with a Mecring screw-ring acetabular component inserted without cement combined with a Stanmore femoral stem inserted with cement. The duration of follow-up ranged from three to seven years (mean, four years and six months). Three hundred and thirty-one patients (378 hips) were available for physical examination and had a complete set of radiographs. The clinical result was good or excellent for 82 per cent (309) of the 378 hips. However, the rate of radiographic loosening of the acetabular component, as evidenced by migration at the most recent follow-up examination, was alarmingly high: 25 per cent (ninety-five) of the 378 hips. In general, these patients did not have serious clinical symptoms. The cups in women migrated significantly more often (p = 0.003) than those in men. Migration was also more frequent in patients who were less than fifty-one years old and in patients in whom the index procedure was a revision arthroplasty, but these differences were not significant. Twenty-one (6 per cent) of the acetabular cups were revised for aseptic loosening. The high rate of radiographic loosening has led us to abandon the use of the Mecring screw-ring acetabular component.     

Impact of intake procedures upon client attrition in a community mental health center.

Assessed 2 evaluation procedures in terms of their impact upon client attrition in a community mental health center. 228 Ss received an intake evaluation and a referral for services at the center during 5 consecutive mo. The behavioral analysis report, an innovative evaluation procedure, led to more treatment contacts than a traditional evaluation method. The most significant differences between the evaluation methods were the manner of defining problems and determining treatment goals. In addition, a comparison of long-term effects of the 2 intake procedures indicated that the behavioral analysis report was associated with remaining in individual therapy more than the traditional method. The professional training of the interviewer had no effect upon client attrition. Possible effective elements within the behavioral analysis report are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial transpositions and the early development of search.

Examined early developments toward mastering spatial-transposition problems in 60 20-, 30-, and 42-mo-old children. Ss received 2 kinds of transpositions: (a) relevant transpositions, involving switching a cup containing an object with 1 of 2 other empty cups, and (b) irrelevant transpositions, involving switching 2 empty cups while leaving in place a 3rd cup containing the object. Ss performed well on irrelevant transpositions but had more trouble with relevant transpositions: Although they localized their searches to the transposed cups on those problems, they did not select the correct cup until 42 mo. The youngest Ss searched primarily at the initial hiding location. They also showed some sensitivity to movement information but did not coordinate that with the initial hiding information as the problems required. By 30 mo, Ss did coordinate the 2 kinds of information but still showed a strong tendency to go to the initial location. By 42 mo, that tendency had been brought sufficiently under control to permit correct responding. The general picture of the early development of search is one in which children initially acquire search patterns on an experimental basis and only gradually come to a more principled understanding of their logical significance. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of enteral feeding on lipid subfractions in children with chronic renal failure

Both the US FDA and EU guidelines recommend fundamental procedures for bioavailability and bioequivalence studies. The use of unacceptable procedures in conducting these studies can in fact complicate drug development at NDA or ANDA levels. The most common unacceptable procedures are as follows: the use of compartmental analysis in calculating Cmax, tmax and AUC, which must be evaluated with the non-compartmental approach in pivotal studies; the need to use only homogeneous concentrations in pharmacokinetic analysis, and to avoid using the sum of various individual concentrations, e.g. parent drug plus metabolite(s); the need to consider plasma clearance in evaluating absolute bioavailability with dose-dependent kinetics; the need to use the simultaneous fitting procedure when drugs and metabolite(s) are considered; the unacceptable procedure of either disregarding some experimental data or adding simulated data in pharmacokinetic and statistical analysis; and the use of the additive model rather than the multiplicative procedure in assessing bioequivalence with Cmax and AUC. This paper describes in detail acceptable and unacceptable procedures in bioavailability and bioequivalence studies, covering operating guidelines and principles of pharmacokinetics. (c) 1998 The Italian Pharmacological Society.     

Interpreting higher order interactions in log-linear analysis.

In the present article, I call for a change in focus in the log-linear analysis of multiway contingency tables. Up to this point, researchers have concentrated largely on procedures for finding the model that most adequately fits the observed data. In many cases, the best fitting model contains one or more complex, higher order interactions involving several variables. It is often desirable to understand the pattern of these interactions. In this article, I present a procedure for substantively interpreting such higher order interactions. This procedure is based on the analogy between log-linear analysis and the general linear model. An example taken from the occupational aspirations literature illustrates the application of the procedure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of closed testing procedures for pairwise testing of means.

A Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to compare 9 pairwise multiple comparison procedures. Procedures were evaluated on the basis of any-pair power and all-pairs power. No procedure was found to be uniformly most powerful. A modification due to A. J. Hayter (1986) of Fisher's least significant difference was found to provide the best combination of ease of use and moderately high any-pair power in most cases. Pilot or exploratory studies can expect good power results with this relatively simple procedure. The greatest all-pairs power was usually provided by 1 of 2 partition-based versions of E. Peritz's (1970) procedure. Confirmatory studies will require such complex methods but may also need larger sample sizes than have been customary in psychological research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An index of daily intensive care unit activity

OBJECTIVE: To set up an index for the evaluation of type of interventions and procedures applied a prerequisite for the evaluation of appropriateness of ICU's activity. DESIGN: Observation prospective study. PATIENTS: 2507 patients out of the 5030 enrolled in the cohort study. MEASUREMENTS: A cross-sectional assessment of the volume and intensity of treatment--level of care--delivered to patients was performed at a preidentified index day. A check list of procedures was utilized. Intensive high level treatment was demonstrated by the application of procedures suggesting one or more organs or vital functions intensively supported. Sub-intensive treatment was defined by the application of procedures indicating monitoring or treatments not exclusively performed in intensive environment. RESULTS: 3955 samples were collected over 9 index days; 2707 (68.3%) resulted in intensive, 1227 (30.7%) subintensive or intermediate and 41 (1%) ward treatments. Out of the intensive samples, 63.4% received only one intensive procedure, while 27.9% two. Ventilatory support was the most frequently (90.4%) utilized intensive procedure. Overall 99% of the samples were characterized by treatments/procedures too invasive for normal ward. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method gives the opportunity to easily evaluate the level of care and then the appropriateness of ICU care.     

Testing multiple outcomes in repeated measures designs.

This study investigates procedures for controlling the familywise error rate (FWR) when testing hypotheses about multiple, correlated outcome variables in repeated measures (RM) designs. A content analysis of RM research articles published in 4 psychology journals revealed that 3 quarters of studies tested hypotheses about 2 or more outcome variables. Several procedures originally proposed for testing multiple outcomes in 2-group designs are extended to 2-group RM designs. The investigated procedures include 2 modified Bonferroni procedures that adjust the level of significance, α, for the effective number of outcomes and a permutation step-down (PSD) procedure. The FWR, any-variable power, and all-variable power are investigated in a Monte Carlo study. One modified Bonferroni procedure frequently resulted in inflated FWRs, whereas the PSD procedure controlled the FWR. The PSD procedure could be substantially more powerful than the conventional Bonferroni procedure, which does not account for dependencies among the outcome variables. However, the difference in power between the PSD procedure, which does account for these dependencies, and Hochberg's step-up procedure, which does not, were negligible. A numeric example illustrates implementation of these multiple-testing procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visiting the dentist: a behavioral community analysis of participation in a dental health screening and referral program

One-hundred and twenty-five families in the Medicaid Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Program were assigned to one of five treatments to encourage parents to obtain health care service following the dental screening of their children: (a) a control procedure, in which parents were given a dentist's name; (b) a multiple contact procedure, in which parents received a postcard and two telephone call reminders; (c) a problem-solve procedure, in which a social worker aide conducted a brief session with the parent; (d) an incentive procedure, in which parents selected among four gifts that were contingent on seeking care; (e) an incentive + problem-solve procedure, in which the latter two treatments were combined. The multiple contact, incentive, and incentive + problem-solve techniques were significantly more effective in initiating dental visits than the control procedures. Families assigned to the intensive strategies were most likely to complete treatment. A cost-efficiency analysis showed the multiple contact technique to be a low-cost and highly effective procedure.     

Free-operant comparisons of wild and domestic Norway rats.

Compared 16 wild and 16 domestic hooded rats on nondifferential appetitive VI responding, discrimination, and discrimination reversal procedures. The effects of strain, sex, deprivation, preexperimental handling, and sessions on response rate were examined. Performances during the 60 days of VI training showed prolonged increases over that period for all strain-sex groupings, with domestic Ss responding at higher rates than wild. Males also tended to respond at higher rates than females. During the discrimination procedure wild Ss showed more resistance to extinction, although these differences generally diminished after the 30 days of training. During the discrimination reversal procedure domestic Ss reversed their responding pattern more readily, and domestic females reached criterion significantly sooner than domestic males. The effects of deprivation and handling were not significant during the experimental procedures.(20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dependent Effect Sizes in Meta-Analysis: Incorporating the Degree of Interdependence.

In the present article, a commonly used meta-analytic procedure for handling dependent effect sizes from a single sample was examined, and 2 revised procedures that estimate and incorporate the degree of interdependence were proposed. The authors' simulation results reveal that the commonly used procedure that averages the effect sizes from a single sample (denoted as the samplewise procedure) underestimates the degree of heterogeneity. The proposed variations are less biased than the samplewise procedure in estimating the degree of heterogeneity in most of the situations that we examined. Future directions to further improve the procedures for handling dependent effect sizes from a single sample are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inherited predisposition to alcoholism: Characteristics of sons of male alcoholics.

Sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) are at markedly heightened genetic risk for the development of alcohol abuse. Study of SOMAs could therefore conceivably increase the efficiency of research aimed at uncovering those heritable factors that predispose to alcoholism. SOMAs manifest observable behavioral, cognitive, and psychophysiological abnormalities while sober and react idiosyncratically to alcohol intoxication. They are most commonly described as conduct disordered and hyperactive, appear heir to a variety of deficits in verbal and abstract cognition, and perform more poorly in the academic environment. SOMAs are characterized by abnormal patterns of cued psychophysiological response, and appear more sensitive to the putatively reinforcing aspects of alcohol intoxication. Various methodological weaknesses permeate the relevant literature. Some straightforward improvements are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)