Assessing control by elements of complex stimuli in delayed matching to sample.

A series of six experiments examined delayed identity matching-to-sample performances of subjects with mental retardation. The stimuli were either one or two simultaneously displayed forms. When the reinforcement contingencies required that only one form exert discriminative control, all subjects achieved high accuracy scores.

Conditional stimulus control of childrens' sequence production.

Normally capable children were first taught to touch in sequence each of a set of five physically dissimilar stimuli (Sequence A). Another set of stimuli was then used to train sequence B. Next, direct training established conditional control of the production of the A sequence and its reversal: in the presence of one printed word, touching the stimuli in the order A1----A2----A3----A4----A5 was reinforced; in the presence of another word, touching the stimuli in the order A5----A4----A3----A2----A1 was reinforced.

Spelling and emergent picture-printed word relations established with delayed identity matching to complex samples.

Students with academic deficits learned delayed matching-to-sample tasks that used complex sample stimuli, each consisting of a picture and a printed word. A touch to the sample complex removed it from the computer display and produced either picture comparisons or a choice pool of letters. If the comparisons were pictures, selecting the picture identical to the preceding sample was reinforced.

Generalized oddity performance in preschool children: a bimodal training procedure.

Oddity performance requires relational discriminative responding, which typically is difficult to establish in children with MAs below five. In Experiment 1, a combination intrasubject reversal and multiple baseline across subjects design was used to establish the internal validity of a bimodal intervention in establishing generalized oddity performance. Six of seven children demonstrated oddity responding when presented with stimuli that instantiated the oddity relation in the visual and auditory modalities simultaneously.

Constructed-response matching to sample and spelling instruction.

The development of interactive programmed instruction using a microcomputer as a teaching machine is described. The program applied a constructed-response matching-to-sample procedure to computer-assisted spelling instruction and review. On each trial, subjects were presented with a sample stimulus and a choice pool consisting of 10 individual letters.

Position-numeral equivalences and delayed position recognition span.

The role of equivalence class formation in delayed position recognition span performance was examined. Initially, the 3 subjects, adults with mental retardation, could not name the nine positions on the span test board. Thus, mnemonic facilitation of span performance based on position naming was not possible.

Ectopic pregnancy concurrent with induced abortion: incidence and mortality.

From 1972 through 1985, 24 women who underwent an induced abortion died as a result of a concurrent ectopic pregnancy. We analyzed data from the Joint Program for the Study of Abortion, National Hospital Discharge Survey, and the Centers for Disease Control Ectopic Pregnancy and Abortion Surveillance Systems to determine the incidence and mortality of ectopic pregnancy concurrent with induced abortion. During the period 1971 through 1985, the incidence of ectopic pregnancy concurrent with induced abortions was 1.

The CEO hits the road (and other sales tales).

Kenneth Macke, CEO of Dayton-Hudson, the soft goods and discount store chain, often spends weekends prowling his own and competitors' stores, observing. Edwin Artzt, CEO of Procter & Gamble, once interrupted a global marketing jaunt to work with a division on its promotion plans. These are CEOs in the trenches, a place where they ought to spend a certain amount of their time so that they can learn how the business is going.

Progressive decline of picture naming in an aging Down syndrome man with dementia.

This study was conducted to monitor picture naming longitudinally in a 59-yr.-old Down syndrome man with diagnosed dementia. On the test, the subject was shown a series of 40 pictures, and his task was to speak their names.

Stimulus class formation and stimulus-reinforcer relations.

This study examined stimulus class membership established via stimulus-reinforcer relations. Mentally retarded subjects learned conditional discriminations with four two-member sets of visual stimuli (A, B, C, and D). On arbitrary-matching trials, they selected comparison stimuli B1 and B2 conditionally upon samples A1 and A2, respectively, and C1 and C2 conditionally upon B1 and B2, respectively.

Legal abortion mortality in the United States: 1972 to 1982.

Between 1972 and 1982, 186 women died as a result of legal abortion in the United States. The overall death rate resulting from legal abortion dropped nearly fivefold, from 4.1 per 100,000 abortions in 1972 to 0.

Stimulus class membership established via stimulus-reinforcer relations.

In an arbitrary matching-to-sample procedure, two mentally retarded subjects learned conditional discriminations with two sets of stimuli. Each set included a spoken name (N1 or N2), an object (O1 or O2), and a printed symbol (S1 or S2). One subject selected conditionally (a) O1 upon N1, and O2 upon N2, and (b) S1 upon O1, and S2 upon O2.

Safety of local versus general anesthesia for second-trimester dilatation and evacuation abortion.

In 1980, approximately 100,000 women underwent abortion by dilatation and evacuation between 13 and 24 weeks' gestation; an estimated 500 women experienced serious complications. The comparative safety of local versus general anesthesia for second-trimester dilatation and evacuation is unknown. To compare the serious complications (hemorrhage requiring transfusion, unintended major surgery, and a temperature of greater than or equal to 38 C for greater than three days), 4147 women who received general anesthesia and 5389 women who received local anesthesia at 13 centers in the United States from 1975 to 1978 were studied.

Deaths from spontaneous abortion in the United States.

Little is known about maternal deaths after spontaneous abortion. We studied 122 such deaths reported to the Centers for Disease Control from 1972 through 1980; 21 were intrauterine (contraceptive) device related. The number of non-IUD-related deaths decreased from 15 in 1972 to six in 1980; the mortality ratio (deaths per million live births) decreased from 4.

A double-blind study of trimipramine in the treatment of active duodenal ulceration.

Thirty-six patients with endoscopically proven active duodenal ulcers entered a randomized double-blind trial. Five patients were excluded or lost to follow-up. Fifteen patients received 50 mg trimipramine at night and 16 patients received placebo.

The effect of trimipramine (Surmontil) on the gastric secretion of acid and pepsin in patients with duodenal ulceration.

Twenty-three patients with endoscopically proven, symptomatic duodenal ulceration were randomized to receive trimipramine 50 mg daily or placebo. Maximal acid output studies and estimations of pepsin levels were performed before treatment, for 4 weeks while on drug or placebo and for 4 weeks after cessation of treatment. Gastric acid secretion was significantly reduced after 3 weeks treatment with trimipramine and this reduction was maintained for the duration of the study.