Education-Stratified Base-Rate Information on Discrepancy Scores Within and Between the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition.

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Third Edition (WAIS-III; D. Wechsler, 1997a) and the Wechsler Memory Scale--Third Edition (WMS-III; D. Wechsler, 1997b) are 2 of the most frequently used measures in psychology and neuropsychology. To facilitate the diagnostic use of these measures in the clinical decision-making process, this article provides information on education-stratified, directional prevalence rates (i.e., base rates) of discrepancy scores between the major index scores for the WAIS-III, the WMS-III, and between the WAIS-III and WMS-III. To illustrate how such base-rate data can be clinically used, this article reviews the relative risk (i.e., odds ratio) of empirically defined "rare" cognitive deficits in 2 of the clinical samples presented in the WAIS-III--WMS-III Technical Manual (The Psychological Corporation, 1997). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral Neuroscience in the Era of Genomics: Tools and Lessons for Analyzing High-Dimensional Datasets

Behavioral neuroscience underwent a technology-driven revolution with the emergence of machine-vision and machine-learning technologies. These technological advances facilitated the generation of high-resolution, high-throughput capture and analysis of complex behaviors. Therefore, behavioral neuroscience is becoming a data-rich field. While behavioral researchers use advanced computational tools to analyze the resulting datasets, the search for robust and standardized analysis tools is still ongoing. At the same time, the field of genomics exploded with a plethora of technologies which enabled the generation of massive datasets. This growth of genomics data drove the emergence of powerful computational approaches to analyze these data. Here, we discuss the composition of a large behavioral dataset, and the differences and similarities between behavioral and genomics data. We then give examples of genomics-related tools that might be of use for behavioral analysis and discuss concepts that might emerge when considering the two fields together.     

Hemispheric asymmetries for global and local visual perception: Effects of stimulus and task factors.

Although neurological and physiological studies indicate a right hemisphere superiority in global processing and a left hemisphere superiority in local processing of Navon-type hierarchical letters (D. Navon, 1977), most investigations of lateralized perception in healthy participants report neither asymmetry. In 6 experiments the authors examined the influence of attentional demands, stimulus properties, and mode of response on perceptual asymmetries for global and local perception. Consistent with their theoretical predictions, asymmetries were more robust on divided- than focused-attention tasks and in response to stimuli in which local and global levels were equally salient compared with those with greater global than local saliency. Contrary to their prediction, perceptual asymmetries were not influenced by the complexity of the motor response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Review of major theories of personality disorder.

Reviews the book, Review of major theories of personality disorder edited by J. Clarkin and M. Lenzenweger (see record 1996-97764-000). This book provides a comprehensive review of several major theories of personality disorder that exist today. With most studies examining specific aspects of the assessment and diagnosis of personality disorders, the editors hope to fill a void in contemporary work by presenting several broad theoretical frameworks. Some of the approaches to personality disorders discussed include the cognitive model, psychoanalytic approach, interpersonal theory, evolutionary theory, and a neurobiological framework. The reviewers note that although this variety provides a broad spectrum of approaches, it fails to integrate the different models. However, overall, the reviewers believe that this is a solid text that provides new information and divergent views. This book may be useful to academic psychologists who are interested in learning the theoretical underpinnings of different approaches to personality disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In vivo performances of pure Zn and Zn–Fe alloy as biodegradable implants

The disadvantage of current biodegradable metals such as Mg and Fe is the release of hydrogen gas in vivo that can cause gas embolism and the production of voluminous iron oxide that can cause inflammation, respectively. Such considerations have turned focus towards Zn as an alternative. This is based on the fact that Zn plays a crucial role in many physiological processes, as well as potentially being biocompatible and capable of with biodegradation. As such, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the in vivo performance of pure Zinc and Zn–2%Fe implants. The use of iron as an alloying element was aimed at accelerating the corrosion rate of pure zinc by a micro-galvanic effect so as to maintain the post-implantation biodegradation characteristics of the implant. In vivo assessment was carried out using cylindrical disks implanted in the back midline of 16 male Wistar rats for up to 24 weeks. Post-implantation evaluation included monitoring the well-being of rats, weekly examination of hematological parameters: serum Zn levels, red and white blood cell counts and hemoglobin levels, X-ray radiography, histological analysis and corrosion rate assessment. The results obtained in terms of well-being, hematological tests and histological analysis of the rats indicate that the in vivo behavior of pure Zn and Zn–2%Fe implants was adequate and in line with the results obtained by the control group containing inert Ti–6Al–4V alloy implants. The corrosion rate of Zn–2%Fe alloy in in vivo conditions was relatively increased compared to pure Zn due to micro-galvanic corrosion.

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Analyzing Behavioral Big Data: Methodological,practical, ethical,and moral issues

ABSTRACT

The term “big data” evokes emotions ranging from excitement to exasperation in the statistics community. Looking beyond these emotions reveals several important changes that affect us as statisticians and as humans. I focus on Behavioral Big Data (BBD), or very large and rich multidimensional datasets on human behaviors, actions, and interactions, which have become available to companies, governments, and researchers. This article describes the BBD landscape and examines opportunities and critical issues that arise when applying statistical and data mining approaches to Behavioral Big Data, including the move from macro- to micro-decisioning and its implications.     

It's all in your head: Why is the body inversion effect abolished for headless bodies?

It has been recently argued that human bodies are processed by a specialized processing mechanism. Central evidence was that body inversion reduces recognition abilities (body inversion effect; BIE) as much as it does for faces, but more than for other objects. Here we showed that the BIE is markedly reduced for headless bodies and examined the reason for this unexpected finding. Two alternative hypotheses were examined. Either the BIE is reduced for any type of incomplete body, or the head plays a special role in discrimination of body posture. Results show that omission of other body parts (leg or arms) did not influence the magnitude of the BIE relative to complete bodies. Analogous manipulations with faces did not influence the magnitude of the face inversion effect. Importantly, similar to effects we found for headless bodies, discrimination abilities for upright bodies and the BIE were markedly reduced for complete bodies that did not differ in head posture. We conclude that intact discrimination of body posture relies heavily on the head position. Our findings also imply that the BIE and the face inversion effect may be generated by different mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Run-Related Probability Functions Applied to Sampling Inspection

Run-related distributions are frequently encountered in sampling inspection in the application of stopping rules for different phases of sampling. In many cases the generating function of these distributions is known; nevertheless, it is too complicated to derive the pdf using the ordinary method, and only the expectation and variance are obtained. We present an approach, based on partial fraction expansion, to derive the exact pdf of several run-related variables from their generating function. Using efficient algorithms for finding roots of polynomials and simple recursive formulas, we complete the method presented by Feller. We derive and present exact probability functions of some run-related variables. An application to sampling inspection of attribute data in batches and for continuous production is suggested.