Adaptability and cohesion of dyadic relationships in families with developmentally disabled children.

In 93 families with developmentally disabled children, mothers, fathers, and 1 nondisabled sibling rated the cohesion and adaptability of family dyads using D. A. Cole and A. E. Jordan's (1989) modified version of Olson's Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (D. H. Olson et al, 1985). With these multiple perspectives of multiple relationships, multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of dyadic adaptability and cohesion. Three distinct cohesion traits representing the mother–father, father–child, and mother–child relationships were confirmed. In contrast, mother–child and father–child adaptability traits were highly correlated, suggesting a 2-trait model: parent–child adaptability and mother–father adaptability. The importance of this methodology for research on families with developmentally disabled children is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers and fathers of young developmentally disabled and nondisabled boys: Adaptation and spousal support.

Assessed the extent to which the presence of a young developmentally disabled or nondisabled male child affected adaptation and family roles for both parents. Developmental child assessments, in-home ratings of parenting, and maternal and paternal self-assessments and interviews were included. Marital adjustment, disruptions in family life, and observed parenting of the child (but not depression) varied with disability status of child. Mothers in both groups reported more depressive symptoms and family disruptions than fathers. Fathers of disabled children assumed less responsibility than comparison fathers for child care, even in mother-employed families. Decreased father involvement in child care was specific to the disabled child, not to siblings, and was related to severity of the child's atypical behaviors. Expressive support from one's spouse was the best predictor of quality of parenting for both mothers and fathers of disabled and nondisabled sons. Disharmony between current and "appropriate" spousal support was a significant negative predictor of perceived and observed parental adaptation. The concept of harmonic responsiveness was proposed to explain how proffered support must be tuned to the perceived needs and expectations of one's spouse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of subtle mid-frequency auditory dysfunction upon speech discrimination in noise

Earlier studies have indicated mid-frequency auditory dysfunction and depressed ability to discriminate speech in noise among noise-exposed listeners with high-frequency hearing loss. The present study was designed to determine whether mid-frequency dysfunction contributed to the depressed speech discrimination performance. Normal listeners, and noise-exposed and older listeners with high-frequency hearing loss listened to word lists presented in competing 'cocktail party' noise under unfiltered and low-pass filter conditions. In the low-pass filter condition the performance of the noise-exposed listeners was superior to that normal listeners, indicating that mid-frequency auditory dysfunction on the part of noise-exposed listeners does not contribute to their difficulties discriminating unfiltered speech in noise. The performance of the older listeners was below that of the two other groups in both filtered and unfiltered conditions, indicating greater difficulty discriminating speech than would be predicted only on the basis of high-frequency hearing loss.     

Using sensory extinction procedures in the treatment of compulsivelike behavior of developmentally disabled children.

Investigated the possible role of sensory reinforcement in the motivation of certain rituals. The authors introduced a treatment procedure, sensory extinction, in which certain sensory consequences are masked or removed to examine whether some rituals are operant behaviors maintained by sensory reinforcement. The effect of sensory extinction was assessed using a within-S reversal design for each of 2 8-yr-olds. Results show the following: (a) Light-switching rituals decreased substantially when a certain sensory consequence was removed, then increased when that consequence was reintroduced. This effect was replicable within and across children. (b) Different sensory consequences were found to be functional for the 2 Ss, despite the topographical similarity of the target behaviors. This analysis suggests that one must assess the motivational determinants of ritualistic behavior in each individual case to diagnose properly whether it is compulsive (avoidance) or operant behavior and to determine what should be the treatment of choice (anxiety reduction or sensory extinction). The possible usefulness of sensory extinction in assessing and treating behavior disorders is discussed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The problem of state in infant speech discrimination studies.

Argues that, because of the complexity of the relation between stimulus and state, and present gaps in understanding the questionable similarities between infant and adult states, current state selection procedures in infant speech discrimination studies seem unwarranted, or at least premature. Researchers should be required to justify their use of state criteria in future studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of methamphetanine on duration discrimination.

Experiments 1 and 2 address the controversy regarding the reliability of methamphetamine effects on interval timing. A temporal discrimination procedure was used, in which the rats were reinforced for pressing the left or the right levers after short and long signals, respectively. Methamphetamine (0.5 mg/kg sc) severely disrupted operant performance at 20-100 min after injection, which disabled the measurement of drug effects on temporal perception (Experiment 1). The same dose of methamphetamine shifted the psychometric function to the left at 100-180 min after injection, indicating an increase in subjective durations (Experiment 2). Although these results confirm the role of dopamine in interval timing, that a change in the speed of a neural clock mediates the methamphetamine-induced change in temporal perception is still a working hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Families of the developmentally disabled: A guide to behavioral intervention.

Reviews the book, Families of the developmentally disabled: A guide to behavioral intervention by Sandra L. Harris (1983). Harris states that Families of the developmentally disabled is intended for clinicians who have a basic knowledge of behavior modification, but who may not have experience in applying behavior modification procedures to families with developmentally disabled children. The primary focus of the book is on providing practicing clinicians with a conceptual framework for incorporating behavioral interventions into family treatment situations and parent training programs. The book is divided into five chapters. Each chapter begins with a case study that highlights the issues to be addressed within the chapter, and generally provides the perspective of the author regarding the topic to be addressed. The remainder of each chapter is then devoted to providing a rationale for the perspective, usually containing a liberal number of references to support the author's viewpoint. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of syntactic expectations on speech segmentation.

Although the effect of acoustic cues on speech segmentation has been extensively investigated, the role of higher order information (e.g., syntax) has received less attention. Here, the authors examined whether syntactic expectations based on subject-verb agreement have an effect on segmentation and whether they do so despite conflicting acoustic cues. Although participants detected target words faster in phrases containing adequate acoustic cues ("spins" in take spins and "pins" in takes pins), this acoustic effect was suppressed when the phrases were appended to a plural context (those women take spins/*takes pins [with the asterisk indicating a syntactically unacceptable parse]). The syntactically congruent target ("spins") was detected faster regardless of the acoustics. However, a singular context (that woman *take spins/takes pins) had no effect on segmentation, and the results resembled those of the neutral phrases. Subsequent experiments showed that the discrepancy was due to the relative time course of syntactic expectations and acoustics cues. Taken together, the data suggest that syntactic knowledge can facilitate segmentation but that its effect is substantially attenuated if conflicting acoustic cues are encountered before full realization of the syntactic constraint. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of pitch and speech rate on personal attributions.

In 3 experiments, 61 undergraduates listened to recordings of male speakers answering 2 interview questions and rated the speakers on a variety of semantic differential scales. The recordings had been altered so that the pitch of the speakers' voices was raised or lowered by 20% or left at its normal level, and speech rate was expanded or compressed by 30% or left at its normal rate. The results provide clear evidence that listeners use these acoustic properties in making personal attributions to speakers. Speakers with high-pitched voices were judged less truthful, less emphatic, less "potent" (smaller, thinner, faster), and more nervous. Slow-talking speakers were judged less truthful, less fluent, and less persuasive and were seen as more "passive" (slower, colder, passive, weaker) but more "potent." However, the effects of the acoustic manipulations on personal attributions also depended on the particular question that elicited the response. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of item format on item discrimination and difficulty.

Studied the effects of item stem orientation (positive-negative), structure (open-closed), and inclusive alternatives on item difficulty and discrimination. Data were obtained from 1,124 undergraduates taking a regularly scheduled test. Results indicate that item difficulty was critically affected by all 3 independent variables with no interactions and that item discrimination was affected by the use of an inclusive alternative with a significant interaction between orientation and stem structure. Suggestions are made with respect to effective item-writing strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluations by staff, residents, and community seniors of patronizing speech in the nursing home: Impact of passive, assertive, or humorous responses.

Two studies tested the impact of alternative communication in accommodation strategies. Nursing home staff and residents (and community-residing seniors in Study 2) rated nurse–resident conversational scenarios in which a resident responded passively, directly assertively, or humorously (indirectly assertively) to a patronizing nurse. The nurse then either maintained a patronizing manner or accommodated with a more respectful speech style. Even though all groups devalued the nurse who maintained a patronizing speech style, nursing home residents predictably showed the most acceptance. The directly assertive response by the resident elicited more devaluation of the nonaccommodating nurse than did either passive or humorous responses, but also the least favorable ratings of the resident. Ratings of the humorous response in Study 2 suggested that humor could be a good compromise response style for allowing the receiver of patronizing speech to express opposition to a request, yet still maintain an appearance of competence and politeness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nursing-home staff perception of behavior disturbance and management of confused residents

An exploratory study was conducted to identify nursing-home staff's perceptions of confused residents' behavior problems and what they did to intervene. Six focus groups were conducted at two nursing homes. A convenience sample of 58 health care providers participated: registered nurses and licensed practical nurses; certified nursing assistants; social workers; clinical nurse specialists; therapeutic recreation therapists; and physical, speech, and occupational therapists. Four categories of behavior disturbances emerged: verbal, fear-related, wandering, and level of awareness-related. Four categories emerged from intervention data analysis: interpreting reality, maintaining normalcy, meeting basic needs, and managing behavior disturbances.     

Effects of verbal interaction conditions on self-concept discrimination and anxiety.

Randomly assigned 40 male and 40 female undergraduates equally by sex to self-positive or self-negative discussion topic groups in which they either received or did not receive verbal comment from the interviewer. While no sex differences appeared, a silent interviewer produced less discrimination of the self as a concept and, depending upon the positive or negative direction of S verbalization, interviewer nonparticipation resulted in less or greater anxiety about the self. It is concluded that the interview behavior of a counselor interacts with discussion content in specific and potent ways. The dyadic interaction may affect both the definitional (denotative) and feeling (connotative-affective) aspects of concept meaning. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of perceived disability on persuasiveness of computer-synthesized speech.

Are perceptions of computer-synthesized speech altered by the belief that the person using this technology is disabled? In a 2x2 factorial design, participants completed an attitude pretest and were randomly assigned to watch an actor deliver a persuasive appeal under 1 of the following 4 conditions: disabled or nondisabled using normal speech and disabled or nondisabled using computer-synthesized speech. Participants then completed a posttest survey and a series of questionnaires assessing perceptions of voice, speaker, and message. Natural speech was perceived more favorably and was more persuasive than computer-synthesized speech. When the speaker was perceived to be speech-disabled, however, this difference diminished. This finding suggests that negatively viewed assistive technologies will be perceived more favorably when used by people with disabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of weight intensity on discrimination thresholds of normals and schizophrenics.

20 male chronic schizophrenics, 12 chronic disturbed schizophrenics, and 20 normal controls were tested for upper difference limens from both a 40-gm (light) and 400-gm (heavy) standard weight. Weight discrimination thresholds were found to be significantly elevated as a function of severity of pathology in the schizophrenic groups and also at the lighter weight intensity. Both groups of schizophrenics showed significantly greater improvement than normals with the heavy weights. The less disturbed chronic schizophrenics were not significantly different from normals at the heavy intensity. The results support the hypothesis of a schizophrenic deficit in proprioceptive acuity and suggest that this deficit is the result of insufficient proprioceptive feedback. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of speech style and sex of speaker on person perception.

R. T. Lakoff (1975) has suggested that men and women use different speech styles, with women's speech more polite but less assertive than men's. The assumption that 3 of Lakoff's linguistic variables (tag questions, qualifiers, and compound requests) affect person perception in these ways was tested. Sex of speaker was also varied. In Exp I, 80 undergraduates rated the assertiveness, warmth, and politeness of 2 male and 2 female speakers who used or did not use the 3 linguistic forms. All 3 "female" linguistic forms were rated less assertive than corresponding "male" forms; qualified speech and compound requests were rated warmer and compound requests more polite. Sex of speaker was a significant factor in only one possible comparison. These results were substantially replicated in Exp II, in which older and/or less educated women (32 18–58 yr olds) acted as judges. Findings suggest that Lakoff's intuitions concerning effects of speech styles on person perception are largely correct and that modification of speech styles could allow men and women to affect how they are perceived. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of labels on the perception and discrimination learning of retardates.

Assessed the role of labels in perception in 54 familial retardates and 48 normal IQ children at 2 matched MA levels. 3 experimental manipulations were employed at each level in a factorial design. 1 group learned to associate a common label to random visual forms; a 2nd group learned distinctive labels to the same forms; finally, a 3rd group viewed the forms without labels. Following verbal training, all Ss received perceptual judgment and discrimination-learning tasks. No significant differences emerged between the retarded and normal Ss on paired-associate learning, discrimination learning, or perceptual accuracy without labels. In contrast to the normal children, however, the retardates' perceptual and learning processes were relatively unaffected by the learning of verbal levels. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cognitive effort and word distinctiveness on learning disabled and nondisabled readers' recall.

Explored the notion that differences in word recall between skilled and learning disabled (LD) readers are related to cognitive effort in 3 experiments. Ss were 12 skilled readers (mean age 13.6 yrs) and 12 LD readers (mean age 13.5 yrs) in Exp I, 12 skilled readers (mean age 12.20 yrs) and 12 LD readers (mean age 11.63 yrs) in Exp II, and 24 skilled readers (mean age 8.75 yrs) and 24 LD readers (mean age 8.55 yrs) in Exp III. Cognitive effort represents the mental input to which a limited-capacity attentional system expands to produce a response. Manipulation of primary task difficulty (anagram solutions) and subsequent performance on a secondary task (word recall of correctly solved anagrams) was used to infer cognitive effort. The primary task included manipulations of word list organization and task orientation instructions. In general, after a difficult primary task, secondary task performance was higher for skilled readers than it was for LD readers. Ability group interactions occurred for word list organization and task orientation instructions. It is suggested that the amount of cognitive effort that can be effectively expended to produce a distinctive memory trace is related to individual differences in attentional capacity. Specifically, skilled readers' encoded memory traces under high-effort conditions contained more distinct semantic information than did the traces of LD readers. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)