The impact of rheologically controlled materials on the identification of airway compromise on the clinical and videofluoroscopic swallowing examinations.

Numerous studies have suggested that the clinical evaluation of swallowing fails to adequately identify those patients who aspirate or do not aspirate on a videofluoroscopic swallowing examination. These conclusions, however, are based on comparisons between swallowed materials that were not rheologically matched. The present study used a battery of rheologically matched test materials, involving thin and thick liquids and cohesive and adhesive semisolids.

Humans' folk physics is not enough to explain variations in their tool-using behavior.

Two experiments examined adult humans' folk physics (i.e., their naturally occurring and spontaneous understanding of the physical world) using variations of trap-table problems used to study chimpanzees' folk physics.

Simulations of photomodulated solute transport in doubly illuminated liquid membranes containing photoactive carriers.

A steady-state model describing photofacilitated transport in liquid membranes under double illumination is presented. The model allows for the exploration of the effects of a wide range of thermodynamic and kinetic carrier properties on the control of photoinduced transport rates of solutes, called photomodulation. Most previous experimental and theoretical studies have explored the illumination of only the feed or sweep side of the membrane, while this study examines the effects of illuminating both sides simultaneously.

Global-local precedence in the perception of facial age and emotional expression by children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Global information processing and perception of facial age and emotional expression was studied in children with autism, language disorders, mental retardation, and a clinical control group. Children were given a global-local task and asked to recognize age and emotion in human and canine faces. Children with autism made fewer global responses and more errors when recognizing human and canine emotions and canine age than children without autism.

A behavior systems view of the organization of multiple responses during a partially or continuously reinforced interfood clock.

We examined how a 50% Pavlovian partial reinforcement (PRF) schedule, versus a 100% continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule, altered the asymptotic amount and distribution of focal and general search behavior in rats during 48-sec trials with and without a four-segment interfood clock (S1-S2-S3-S4-US). Under CRF, but not PRF, average asymptotic focal search (nosing in the feeder) increased across the last two clock segments (S3 and S4), and more for the clock group than the no-clock group. Locomotor general search peaked in the second clock segment (S2) for the CRF-clock and CRF-no-clock groups and in S3 for the PRF-clock groups.

Methodological-conceptual problems in the study of chimpanzees' folk physics: how studies with adult humans can help.

In three experiments, we examined humans' folk physics (i.e., a naturally occurring and spontaneous understanding of the physical world), using variations of problems used to study chimpanzees' folk physics.

The rich get richer: students' discounting of hypothetical delayed rewards and real effortful extra credit.

The present research compared choices among students with higher or lower grades for rewards that were devalued by imposing a delay to their receipt (Study 1) or by requiring more work for a larger reward (Study 2). In Study 1, students chose between hypothetical and noncontingent smaller immediate or larger delayed monetary rewards. In Study 2, students chose from among different amounts of real, response-contingent academic rewards (extra credit) that required different amounts of work.

The perception of four basic emotions in human and nonhuman faces by children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Children who experienced autism, mental retardation, and language disorders; and, children in a clinical control group were shown photographs of human female, orangutan, and canine (boxer) faces expressing happiness, sadness, anger, surprise and a neutral expression. For each species of faces, children were asked to identify the happy, sad, angry, or surprised expressions. In Experiment 1, error patterns suggested that children who experienced autism were attending to features of the lower face when making judgements about emotional expressions.

Education of the deaf in nicaragua.

Nicaragua now ranks as the third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (Interamerican Development Bank [IDB], 1995). Occasionally educational improvement has been a national priority (Arrien & Matus, 1989). Usually, however, education rests at the lower end of a long list of national needs.

Children's perceptions of and beliefs about facial maturity.

The author studied children's and young adult's perceptions of facial age and beliefs about the sociability, cognitive ability, and physical fitness of adult faces. From pairs of photographs of adult faces, participants (4-6 years old, 8-10 years old, 13-16 years old, and 19-23 years old) selected the one face that appeared younger, older, better at remembering, smarter, more caring, friendlier, healthier, or stronger. Pairings consisted of faces at different adult age levels (young adults, middle-age adults, older adults, and very old adults.

Perception of human and nonhuman facial age by developmentally disabled children.

Human and nonhuman faces were shown to clinical controls, autistic, mentally retarded, and language-disordered children to assess their ability to detect and draw inferences about facial age. Children were asked to select from sets of three faces the one that appeared youthful or to select faces that would be associated with some age-related characteristic. In two studies, it was found that, relative to other children, autistic children had more difficulty perceiving youthfulness in nonhuman faces compared with human faces.

Limitations in ethnic research on the MMPI-A.

This article describes two common limitations in research on responses of ethnic groups on the MMPI-A, lack of external correlates and combining scale scores for males and females.

Beyond the "hot-and-cold" game: a demonstration of computer-controlled shaping.

Shaping, or the method of successive approximations, is widely taught in introductory psychology and the psychology of learning as a procedure for establishing new behavior. This article illustrates a computer-controlled shaping demonstration that allows the user to specify several critical parameters of the shaping process and that then shapes the user's mouse movements toward an arbitrary virtual (invisible) target on the computer screen. The relative effectiveness of different shaping parameters can be assessed by examining several dependent measures, such as the distance of the cursor from the target across time and the rate at which reinforcers were earned.

Effects of risk factors on adolescents' resiliency and coping.

The relationships among five factors characterized as placing adolescents at risk for behavioral problems such as dropping out of school or drug and alcohol use, and resiliency and coping were evaluated for a sample of 392 students in Grades 7 to 12. Students self-reported to be at-risk differed in scores on resiliency but not in coping from those with no self-reported risk factors.

Children's perception of faces of varied immaturity.

This research examined the relationship between facial immaturity and the perception of youthfulness, helplessness, and cuteness. In the first study, college students rated 16 faces for youthfulness. Faces varied within four dimensions (eye position, eye size, nose length, and shape of chin) representing either a mature or immature feature.

A preliminary resolution of the retention of distributed vs massed response prevention in rats.

This study consisted of two experiments conducted to investigate the difference in efficacy and retention of distributed response prevention when compared to massed response prevention using an animal model of avoidance learning. The purpose was to obtain an estimate of the over-all treatment time for response prevention that begins to be affected by the treatment, either distributed or massed. In Exp.

Projection of the Mexican national labor force, 1980-2005.

Mexico has a large and rapidly growing labor force. This paper projects the Mexican national labor force from 1980 to 2005, with varying assumptions of vital rates, economic activity, and international migration. Projections are also made for the urban and rural components of the Mexican population, assuming inter-component migration flows.

Retention of massed vs distributed response-prevention treatments in rats and a revised training procedure.

Two experiments were conducted to estimate the retention of response-prevention effects using massed vs distributed treatments in a model of animal avoidance-learning. In Exp. I, 120 rats were trained to avoid shock in a one-way platform avoidance apparatus.

Articulation testing versus conversational speech sampling.

Detailed speech analyses were performed on data from 61 speech-delayed children assessed by both a standard articulation test and a conversational speech sample. Statistically significant differences between the articulation accuracy profiles obtained from the two sampling modes were observed at all linguistic levels examined, including overall accuracy, phonological processes, individual phonemes, manner features, error-type, word position, and allophones. Established sounds were often produced more accurately in conversational speech, whereas emerging sounds were often produced more accurately in response to articulation test stimuli.

Institutional animal care and use committees: a new set of clothes for the emperor?

According to some proponents and critics of research using animals, the greatest hope for improved conditions for laboratory animals is to be found in the system of self-regulation called for by recent legislation and the NIH's revised policy. This article explores advantages and disadvantages of relying on "Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees" to subject research proposals to ethical scrutiny. Among the advantages discussed are: institutional dialogue concerning the ethics of research; inclusion of perspectives of non-scientists in such dialogues; and the possibility of improved research proposals.

Perception of syllable stress in esophageal speech.

This study is part of a larger investigation designed to assess the ability of esophageal speakers to effect systematic changes in listener perceptions of syllable stress. Ten male functional esophageal speakers and ten normal speakers were instructed to produce 25 repetitions of the disyllable/mama/ using five different conditions of syllable stress, ranging from strong first syllable stress through strong second syllable stress. Nine normal listeners judged both relative and absolute syllable stress of the disyllables, using a nine-point scale for each syllable.