Fourth graders' sensitivity to morphological context in spelling.

An important aspect of spelling development in English involves the child's ability to use morphological context to deal with one-to-many sound-spelling mappings for word endings. One case involves /z/ endings that follow long vowels, where an “s” spelling is required in the case of inflected noun and verb contexts, but an “se” or “ze” spelling is required in the case of noninflected nouns and verbs. The present study examined the ability of good and poor spellers in Grade 4 to capture these morphological distinctions in a pseudoword spelling task. Overall, the good spellers outperformed the poor spellers, and both groups were more sensitive to the inflected–noninflected noun distinction than the inflected–noninflected verb distinction. These findings underscore the importance of linguistic factors in spelling development as well as the necessity of providing due consideration to these factors in spelling instruction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Randomised trial of home-based psychosocial nursing intervention for patients recovering from myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: Increases in life stress have been linked to poor prognosis, after myocardial infarction (MI). Previous research suggested that a programme of monthly screening for psychological distress, combined with supportive and educational home nursing interventions for distressed patients, may improve post-MI survival among men. Our study assessed this approach for both men and women. We aimed to find out whether the programme would reduce 1-year cardiac mortality for women and men. METHODS: We carried out a randomised, controlled trial of 1376 post-MI patients (903 men, 473 women) assigned to the intervention programme (n = 692) or usual care (n = 684) for 1 year. All patients completed a baseline interview that included assessment of depression and anxiety. Survivors were also interviewed at 1 year. FINDINGS: The programme had no overall survival impact. Preplanned analyses showed higher cardiac (9.4 vs 5.0%, p = 0.064) and all-cause mortality (10.3 vs 5.4%, p = 0.051) among women in the intervention group. There was no evidence of either benefit or harm among men (cardiac mortality 2.4 vs 2.5%, p = 0.94; all-cause mortality 3.1 vs 3.1%, p = 0.93). The programme's impact on depression and anxiety among survivors was small. INTERPRETATION: Our results do not warrant the routine implementation of programmes that involve psychological-distress screening and home nursing intervention for patients recovering from MI. The poorer overall outcome for women, and the possible harmful impact of the intervention on women, underline the need for further research and the inclusion of adequate numbers of women in future post-MI trials.     

Binocular brightness: A suppression-summation trade off.

Two experiments with 22 undergraduates estimated binocular brightness of targets of large visual extent. On each trial one eye was presented with a fairly intense luminance of 800 cd/m–2, and the other eye with 1 of 12 luminances ranging from zero to 800 cd/m–2. Exp 1, using ganzfeld stimuli, produced a large amount of binocular brightness summation and very little Fechner's paradox, a decrease in binocular brightness that occurs when the luminances to the 2 eyes differ greatly. Exp 2, using a smaller target with very low spatial frequencies, produced greater Fechner's paradox than the ganzfelder, but more binocular summation and less Fechner's paradox than what is usually reported for small targets with abrupt contours. Results suggest a trade-off between suppressive and summative mechanisms involving binocular cells that are spatially tuned. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of receiver operating curves derived from the same population: a bootstrapping approach

The receiver operating curve (ROC) gives a representation of sensitivity and specificity of a prediction model when varying the cutpoint of a decision rule on a whole spectrum. Evaluation of two models established (or tested) in the same population of patients warrants a valid statistical comparison of their ROC curves. Hanley et al. recently provided a method for overall comparison of ROC curves (J. A. Hanley and B. J. McNeil, Radiology 148, 839-843, 1983). Often ROC curves cross, or differ in only a part of their courses. Bootstrapping of ROC curves is proposed as a graphical check for the statistical significance of differences confined to a part of the curve. An example comparing two models of prediction of coronary artery disease progression is given to illustrate this new approach.     

Behavioral detection of subcortical stimuli: Comparison of somatosensory and "motor" circuits.

Five cats were trained to press a lever for food reinforcement in response to stimulation of the ventral lateral (VL) nucleus of the thalamus and the deep cerebellar nuclei. By scaling stimulus intensities relative to the appearance of a minimal amplitude evoked response in precruciate cortex, it was possible to measure behavioral detection thresholds and correlate behavior with electrocortical activity. With stimulus rates of 25 Hz or greater, VL was the least effective stimulus site for producing detection. At stimulus rates less than 25 Hz, stimulation of the lateral or interpositus nuclei was even less effective in eliciting behavior, but at rates of 25 Hz or more, detection thresholds decreased below those for VL stimulation; cerebellar stimulation produced detection as readily as had stimulation of the ventrobasal complex in other experiments. Findings suggest that the cerebellum may modulate sensory experiences and that some portions of cerebral cortex, the pericruciate and suprasylvian regions, do not appear to be directly involved in mediating sensory detection. It is postulated that the neural detection circuits are more likely to be found in subcortical than in cerebrocortical structures. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantics at a glance: Is the right hemisphere special?

32 undergraduate Ss made an odd/even judgment to a single lateralized logograph, an Arabic numeral. All Ss were right-handed and had normal or corrected-to-normal vision. Stimuli were computer generated; Ss were shown the 8 Arabic numerals used by D. Besner et al (1986). Each S was tested with 1 block for each response hand. Data suggest that the left and right hemispheres are equally efficient at extracting meaning from at least some simple, highly familiar logographs. Particularly notable are the consistent reaction time (RT) differences between the left visual field and right visual field conditions for each response hand condition. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of landscape aesthetics

Philosophers of aesthetics have tended to limit their subject to include only objects of art. In contrast to art objects, landscape include elements of both art and nature. In this article, I expand the scope of aesthetics to embrace landscapes. This is accomplished by linking pragmatic and humanistic aesthetic theories in a framework suggested by Jungian psychology. The framework has two interrelated components called the cultural theory and the biological theory. Diverse empirical observations are presented in support of the cultural and biological theories and implications for landscape planning are explored.     

Coronary revascularization in diabetic patients: a comparison of the randomized and observational components of the Aypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI)

BACKGROUND: Patients with treated diabetes in the randomized-trial segment of the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI) who were randomized to initial revascularization with PTCA had significantly worse 5-year survival than patients assigned to CABG. This treatment difference was not seen among diabetic patients eligible for BARI who opted to select their mode of revascularization. We hypothesized that differences in patient characteristics, assessed and unmeasured, together with the treatment selection in the registry, at least partially account for this discrepancy. METHODS AND RESULTS: Among diabetics taking insulin or oral hypoglycemic drugs at entry, angiographic and clinical presentations were comparable between randomized and registry patients. However, more registry patients were white, and registry diabetics tended to be more educated and more physically active and to report better quality of life. Procedural characteristics and in-hospital complications were comparable. The 5-year all-cause mortality rate was 34.5% in randomized diabetic patients assigned to PTCA versus 19.4% in CABG patients (P=0.0024; relative risk [RR]=1.87); corresponding cardiac mortality rates were 23.4% and 8.2%, respectively (P=0.0002; RR=3.10). The CABG benefit was more apparent among patients requiring insulin. In the registry, all-cause mortality was 14.4% for PTCA versus 14.9% for CABG (P=0.86, RR=1.10), with corresponding cardiac mortality rates of 7.5% and 6. 0%, respectively (P=0.73; RR=1.07). These RRs in the registry increased to 1.29 and 1.41, respectively, after adjustment for all known differences between treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: BARI registry results are not inconsistent with the finding in the randomized trial that initial CABG is associated with better long-term survival than PTCA in treated diabetic patients with multivessel coronary disease suitable for either surgical or catheter-based revascularization.