bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Markov Process in Medical Prognosis
Authors: Beck J.Robert , Pauker Stephen G.
Published: March 2007

The physician's estimate of prognosis under alternative treatment plans is a principal factor in therapeutic decision making. Current methods of reporting prognosis, which include five-year survivals, survival curves, and quality-adjusted life expec tancy, are crude estimates of natural history. In this paper we describe a general- purpose model of medical prognosis based on the Markov process and show how this simple mathematical tool may be used to generate detailed and accurate assessments of life expectancy and health status. (Med Decis Making 3:419-458, 1983)
Transferability of Medical Decision Support Systems Based on Bayesian Classification
Authors: Zagoria Ronald J. , Reggia James A.
Published: March 2007

This study tested the hypothesis that probabilities derived from a large, geograph ically distant data base of stroke patients could form the basis of an accurate Baye sian decision support system for locally predicting the etiology of strokes. Perform ance of this "extrainstitutional" system on 100 cases was assessed retrospectively, both by error rate and using a new linear accuracy coefficient. This approach to patient classification was found to be surprisingly accurate when compared to classi fication by physicians and to Bayesian classification based on "low cost" local and subjective probabilities. We conclude that for some medical problems Bayesian clas sification systems may be significantly more transferable to new sites than is gener ally believed. Furthermore, this study provides strong support for the utility of clin ical databases in building, transferring, and testing Bayesian classification systems in general. (Med Decis Making 3:501-509, 1983)
A Deep Model of the Incidence of Dental Caries on Proximal Surfaces
Authors: Shwartz Michael , Pliskin Joseph S. , Grondahl Hans-Göran , Boffa Joseph
Published: March 2007

As a component of an analysis of the benefits of alternative frequencies of bitewing radi ographs to detect dental caries, the authors developed and validated a model to generate an individual's probability distribution for new carious lesions in a year. The model postulates two sources of variability in caries incidence-differences in individuals' underlying caries susceptibilities and a random component. The model is used to examine the nature of caries risk over time. The large random fluctuations in an individual's caries susceptibility from year to year, combined with the random nature of caries attack, makes it difficult to predict future caries experience from the individual's caries experience in the recent past. By modeling the process giving rise to observed incidence data rather than focusing directly on the observed data, i.e., by developing a deep rather than a surface model, the authors have elucidated underlying disease dynamics and provided a basis for generalizing from the particular data used to develop the model. Key words: mathematical model; disease inci dence ; negative binomial distribution. (Med Decis Making 6:42-48, 1986)
Sequential Analysis for Diagnosing Diabetes
Authors: Golhar Damodar Y. , Pollock Stephen M.
Published: March 2007

The authors use a truncated sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) to diagnose diabetes. It is hypothesized that, for a given oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), the differences between successive observations are more diagnostic than the observations alone. Using such differences in a SPRT, OGTT test data for 950 subjects are analyzed and thresholds for classifying diabetes and normal values are established. This sequential approach provides the same diagnosticity as that obtained by using the National Diabetic Data Group criteria, but it is more efficient. In particular, the procedure significantly reduces the sampling cost and average patient waiting time. Key words: sequential probability ratio test; diabetes; oral glucose tolerance test. (Med Decis Making 7:47-51, 1987)
Optimal Selection of a Battery of Tests
Authors: Shaolin Hu  , Haimes Yacov Y. , Galen Robert S.
Published: March 2007

The general problem of selecting a battery of tests for diagnostic purposes is discussed and multiobjective optimization methodology is applied to solve it, with battery selection being based on performance indices such as sensitivity, specificity, and the cost of testing. For a battery of tests, the extended majority rule is developed and used to interpret the compound test results. The major advantage of the model developed in this paper is that it can generate a set of noninferior batteries without requiring the calculation of all possible combinations of tests. An example in which the method is applied to a real problem—the selection of short- term tests to detect the carcinogenicity of chemicals—is discussed. Key words: test battery selection; optimization. (Med Decis Making 8:19-32, 1988)
Test Selection Measures
Authors: Glasziou Paul , Hilden Jørgen
Published: March 2007

Usually, when a patient is being investigated, only a small subset of all available tests is performed. Most selection methods for making this choice fail to account for the risk and cost of the test. By attempting to approximate a decision-analytic ideal, via the concept of quasi-utility, the authors developed the information-to-cost ratio and related measures, which balance the utility of the information gained against the price paid. Measurement of the relative importances of diseases is used to further refine the method. Key words: test se lection; diagnosis; decision analysis. (Med Decis Making 1989;9:133-141)
Potential Effectiueness of Quality Assurance Screening Using Large but Imperfect Databases
Authors: Pine Michael B. , Rogers David F. , Morgan David , Beller Robert H.
Published: March 2007

To examine the effect of imprecise classification of patient risk (severity of illness) on an otherwise highly accurate quality assurance screening technique, data on clinical outcomes were generated for a simulated hospital system consisting of 108 facilities treating approx imately 565,000 patients a year. In these simulations, marked differences in facility size, casemix distribution, and quality of care were combined with random variations in outcome. Pooled data for all 108 facilities were used to create algorithms that combined 468 discrete patient risk classifications into either ten or three groups with broad, overlapping ranges of patient-specific risks of unfavorable clinical results. When derived algorithms were applied to independently generated facility-specific data, the ability to identify hospital systems with and without quality of care problems was maintained with ten, but not with three, risk groups. However, even three moderately heterogeneous risk groups were sufficient to preserve a high degree of sensitivity and specificity in screening for potential quality of care problems within individual facilities. Thus, outcome-based quality assurance screening can be highly accurate in actual health care situations in which only imprecise estimations of patient-specific risk can be achieved. Key words: quality assurance; simulation; health care outcomes; casemix correction; risk adjustment; indirect standardization; clinical indicators; provider comparisons; database development; healthcare monitoring. (Med Decis Making 1990;10:126- 134)
Prognosis for Recovery from Multiple Organ system failure
Authors: Rauss Alain , Knaus William A. , Patois Elizabeth , Le Gall Jean-Roger , Loirat Philippe
Published: March 2007

This study evaluated the accuracy and reliability of predictions for recovery from multiple organ system failure (OSF). A previous analysis had provided estimates of the probabilities of recovery from various combinations of OSF for 2,843 intensive care unit (ICU) patients treated in 13 U.S. hospitals. These estimates were applied prospectively to 2,405 ICU admissions in 27 French hospitals. Despite variations in the incidences of underlying disease and the distributions of OSF between the two countries, clinical outcomes were similar for the 5,248 total patients. In both countries, two OSFs persisting for more than one day resulted in a hospital death rate of 60%. Hospital mortality rates for patients with three or more OSFs persisting after one day consistently exceeded 90%. Isolated neurologic failure had the poorest overall prognosis, but various other combinations of OSFs did not result in signifi cantly different outcomes. The stability of the prognostic estimates in the two countries suggests that, despite pathogenetic variations, persistent multiple OSF results in consistent clinical outcomes. These mortality projections provide firm reference data for assessing efficacy of new treatments within institutions with similar standards of care. The narrow confidence intervals associated with these estimates also provide objectively defined op portunities to review future treatment plans for individual patients. Key words: prediction; mortality; outcome; prognosis; organ system failure. (Med Decis Making 1990;10:155-162)
Comparing and Optimizing Diagnostic Tests
Authors: Somoza Eugene , Mossman Douglas
Published: March 2007

An ideal method for assessing performance of non-binary diagnostic tests would specify each test's optimal operating point and would tell a diagnostician which of many tests was the best one to use in a particular clinical situation. This article shows how information theory and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis can be combined to evaluate and compare diagnostic tests at their optimum cutoffs once disease prevalence and test properties are specified. Though it is not appropriate for all clinical situations, the method can be used for most diagnostic tests whenever information is desired for its own sake or when reducing uncertainty is the goal of testing. The method also is appropriate in those situations where benefits and costs cannot be specified precisely enough to permit test optimization based on a balancing of anticipated goods and evils. Key words: non-binary diagnostic tests; information theory; receiver operating characteristic curves. (Med Decis Making 1992;12:179- 188)
Isoniazid Prophylaxis
Authors: Dolan James G. , Bordley Donald R.
Published: March 2007

To provide insight into the decision whether to use isoniazid prophylaxis in uncomplicated cases of positive tuberculin tests, the authors conducted a multicriteria decision analysis using the analytic hierarchy process. If reducing the chance of developing active tuberculosis is considered at least slightly more important than avoiding isoniazid-related side effects, isoniazid prophylaxis is the better strategy for all patients. If avoiding isoniazid-related side effects is considered at least slightly more important, no prophylaxis is the better strategy for all patients. If these two considerations are judged equally important, the better strategy depends on patient age, the anticipated effectiveness of isoniazid prophylaxis, and whether or not the patient is a recent tuberculin convertor. The tradeoff between avoiding active tuberculosis and avoiding isoniazid-related side effects is the most important factor in the decision regarding the proper management of patients with positive tuberculin tests. These results emphasize the importance of taking an individualized approach to the management of these patients. Key words: decision analysis; isoniazid; tuberculosis; decision mak ing; multicriteria decision analysis; analytic hierarchy process. (Med Decis Making 1994; 14:1-8)
Global Judgments versus Decision-model-facilitated Judgments
Authors: Oddone Eugene Z. , Samsa Gregory , Matchar David B.
Published: March 2007

A widely used method for evaluating the appropriateness of medical procedures and practices is the "modified Delphi" approach using expert panelists' global ratings. However, several difficulties in the assignment of global ratings have led to a search for alternative methods, including the use of decision models. To examine the potential impact of using decision models with an expert panel, the authors compared a panel's global ratings for the appro priateness of carotid endarterectomy with the results of a decision-analytic model in which expert panelists estimated probabilities and utilities that were used as inputs for the model. For 17 different patient scenarios, the nine expert panelists showed variability in "calibration" between the two methods, with their expected utilities calculated from the model generally being higher than their global ratings. However, the correlation between the two methods was excellent. When the panel's median global utility was compared with the panel's median expected utility calculated from the model, the Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.88. This study demonstrated that an expert panel's appropriateness ratings and their expected utilities were highly correlated. In addition, the panelists appeared to be internally consistent in that their judgments about individual probabilities and utilities were correlated with their global judgments. These results should encourage additional efforts to incorporate decision models into the process of clinical guideline development. The authors believe that decision models can help improve a panel's capacity to understand and reconcile discordance, and increase their satisfaction that the process reflects the best possible judgments. Key words: practice guidelines; decision analysis; carotid endarterectomy; stroke. (Med Decis Making 1994;14:19-26)
An Architecture for Knowledge-based Construction of Decision Models
Authors: Sonnenberg Frank A. , Hagerty C. Greg , Kulikowski Casimir A.
Published: March 2007

Clinical application of decision analysis has been limited by unfamiliarity of clinicians with the technique, large data requirements, and the length of time needed to construct models. In order to make decision modeling more accessible to clinicians, the authors developed a computer program to construct decision models automatically. The system contains two separate knowledge bases. One contains frames encoding knowledge of the medical domain, the evaluation of pulmonary disease in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The other contains rules of correct decision model construction that guide the selection of items from the domain knowledge base and their insertion into the decision model. The system can create either a tree or an influence diagram that satisfies previously published critiquing rules. The system has the potential to enable novices to construct useful decision models and to provide individualized decision-analytic advice to clinicians in real time. Key words: intelligent decision system; knowledge-based model construction; decision trees; influence diagrams; Bayesian belief nets. (Med Decis Making 1994;14:27-39)
Business Ethics of Future Marketing Managers
Authors: Fritzsche David J. , Becker Helmut
Published: March 2007

This paper presents the findings of a study which examined the business ethics of college students. The study utilized a series of ten vignettes which posed five dif ferent types of ethical problems. The responses were analyzed to determine student values.
Designing Chamfers
Authors: Whitney Daniel E. , Gustavson Richard E. , Hennessey Michael P.
Published: March 2007

This paper discusses design criteria and procedures for straight and curved chambers to aid the assembly of parts. The chamfer is assumed rigid and the mating part compliant. Various criteria concerning the insertion force are used to derive chamfer shapes and slopes, both analytically and synthetically. The theory is verified by experiments.
Toward a Theory of Geometric Tolerancing
Authors: Requicha Aristides A. G.
Published: March 2007

Manual drafting is rapidly being replaced by modern, computerized systems for defining the geometry of mechanical parts and assemblies, and a new generation of powerful systems, called geometric (solid) modeling systems (GMSs), is entering industrial use. Solid models are beginning to play an important role in off-line robot programming, model- driven vision, and other industrial robotic applications.

A major deficiency of current GMSs is their lack of facilities for specifying tolerancing information, which is essential for design analysis, process planning, assembly planning for tightly toleranced components, and other applications of solid modeling. This paper proposes a mathe matical theory of tolerancing that formalizes and generalizes current practices and is a suitable basis for incorporating tolerances into GMSs.

A tolerance specification in the proposed theory is a collection ofgeometric constraints on an object's surface features, which are two-dimensional subsets of the object's boundary. An object is in tolerance if its surface features lie within tolerance zones, which are regions of space constructed by offsetting (expanding or shrinking) the object's nominal boundaries.
What Makes Hari Run ?
Authors: Goddard Michael
Published: March 2007

■ The substance of this article is a narrative about a man considered mad in a highland Papua New Guinea society, and about his interaction with his com munity and with an anthropologist who tried unsuccessfully to change the com munity's negative attitude towards him. It is argued that his madness was socially constructed, and cannot be adequately explained using a psychiatric paradigm, even if the psychiatric approach were modified to accommodate cultural differ ence or notions of culture-bound syndromes. It is further argued that the social construction, a dialectic of group and individual praxis, can be analytically con textualized in a moral imperative grounded in the community's kin-ordered mode of production, and can be interpreted as a communal exercise in moral iconography.
"Beyond One's Control": Life Course and the Tragedy of Class, Boston, 1800 to 1900
Authors: Srole Carole
Published: March 2007

Although historians suspect that life course and class are equally important in influencing single women's need for employment, they have been unable to prove the importance ofclass. By examining the relationship between class and those variables that influence life course (a woman's age at marriage, her father's age at marriage, her family size, and her father's age at death), this article demonstrates the hidden relationships between class and life course and shows that a majority of working-class women were likely to lose their fathers before marriage and were hence more in need of employment.
Family Security or Social Security? The Family and the Elderly in New York State During the 1920s
Authors: Weiler N. Sue
Published: March 2007

The debate on old-age pensions in New York during the 1920s raised questions about traditional poor-law concepts concerning family responsibilityfor the aged and about the impact of industrialization and immigration on family security. The article examines these questions by analyzing a sample of families which included persons 65 years or older, in New York in 1925. The evidence consists of information on households collected from a state-wide sample of 1815 persons from the New York manuscript census of 1925. Low income among the employed may have forced the creation ofcro wded households among the new immigrants living in cities. But cultural expectations also contributed to different types of household structure. A west- European marriage pattern meant that American- and west-European-born elderly had fewer children to rely upon in old age, regardless of economic status. The immigrants from eastern and southern Europe stressed the value of children as insurance in old age. Family norms varied between cultural groups before industrial ization and continued even in post-industrial societies.
Family Economy and the Black American Fertility Transition
Authors: Tolnay Stewart E.
Published: March 2007

Residential patterns in the economic roles of black children and married women are described for the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Black children were much less likely to report a gainful occupation in cities than in the countryside. And, within rural areas, farm children were somewhat more likely to work, and began working at a younger age, than their nonfarm counterparts. On the other hand, urban children were more likely to attend school, and did so for more months during the year. While black women in all settings reported relatively high levels of gainful employment, urban and rural nonfarm residents were far more likely to work outside the home. It is suggested that this residential variation in women's and children's roles can help explain corresponding residential differences in fertility levels, and the timing offertility transition.
The Sickness Experience of the Josselins' Children
Authors: Riley James C.
Published: March 2007

For some forty years the seventeenth-century clergyman and farmer Ralph Josselin kept a diary. Among the events that he recorded regularly were the occasions when one or another of his ten children fell ill. Combining the experience of the ten children—136 disease and injury episodes within 148.3 years at risk—shows a distinctive pattern of morbidity risk from birth to age twenty. Josselin's diary allows consideration of some other issues in childhood health, including maladies linked to immune system damage and the weanling crisis. The health experience of the Josselins' children is also compared on some points to that of children living in Third-World areas in recent decades.
The Private Life of an Early Modern Teenager: a Nuremberg Lutheran Visits Catholic Louvain (1577)
Authors: Ozment Steven
Published: March 2007

Sebald Welser (1557-1589), the Lutheran son of a Nuremberg patrician, visited the Catholic University of Louvain in 1577 for a semester in pursuit of his legal studies. While there, he became caught up in the spectacular Catholic culture of the southern Netherlands and the fast-breaking political events surrounding the collapse of the Spanish occupation. During the year, he kept a diary in which his experiences are recorded, not the least of which were his kissing a monstrance at the annual procession of the Eucharist in Brussels and his buying an indulgence at St. Michael's Church in Louvain. Thanks to the survival of his diary, that seemingly contradictory behavior can be explained and the mental world of a sixteenth-century teenager illuminated.
The Royal Family and Family Values in Late Eighteenth-Century England
Authors: Morris Marilyn
Published: March 2007

The idea of a royal family developed in England during the latter half of George III's reign. The increased press coverage of the royal family's activities that began during the Regency Crisis of 1788-1789 coincided with a court that featured stunning displays of both bourgeois family values and aristocratic libertinism. An examination of the discourse on the royal family in the London daily press in the era of the French Revolution reveals different marital models in conflict as well as considerable anxieties regarding the preservation of the social hierarchy and women's role in the domestic sphere. The British royal family was placed in an impossible situation when they attempted to embody a conjugal ideal that transcended both class difference and the ongoing tensions between the sexes.
The Stem Family in the French Basque Country: Sare in the Nineteenth Century
Authors: Arrizabalaga Marie-Pierre
Published: March 2007

Land-owners in Sare continued to practice impartible inheritance in the nine teenth century in order to protect the family house and the eco-demographic equilibrium of the community. But these practices, which in the Ancien Régime prescribed the selection of the first-born male or female child (aînesse intégrale), evolved in the nineteenth century as a great number of household heads opted for the selection of any male or female child to inherit the family house and property. These new practices perpetuated a stem-family system in which two conjugal units, with or without unmarried siblings, coresided in the earlier and later stages of the life cycle of their households, and sometimes changed into conjugal units halfway through the cycle. Stem-family households thus continued to evolve in three phases, from stem to conjugal to stem—the stem-family phases being longer among the wealthier households that could afford to support one or several unmarried siblings, and shorter among the poorer households whose farmstead was too small to feed more than two conjugal units.
Image and Representation of the Other: North America Views South America
Authors: Larochelle Gilbert
Published: March 2007

Between 1648 and 1652, Cyrano de Bergerac wrote a small satirical work entitled The Other World, a fictional account of his imaginary epic voyage to the Moon.* The story not only describes “The States and Empires of the Moon,” (its subtitle in the original edition), it provides a critical view of his own civilization as well. The narrator's position in his depiction of the radically different, “other” entity allows him to maintain opinions which, however whimsical, still include elements of social and philosophical examination. In the early stages of world migration, Europe was beginning to see the Other as a place for the expression, if not the transposition, of its ancient dreams; Cyrano, however, takes a different approach. He looks at ways the Other might be used to gain perspective on the Self. Looking down at Earth from above, he proclaims: “People, I declare that this moon is not a moon, but a world, and that world over there is not a world, but a moon.”
The Philosopher and His Mask
Authors: Schlanger Jacques
Published: March 2007

“Larvatus prodeo,” “I go forth masked”: with these words does the young René Descartes - the year is 1619 and he is twenty-three years old - mark his entrance into philosophy. In an early text found among his papers and published under the title Praeambula, he writes the following: “Before going on stage, an actor dons a mask (persona) so as not to reveal the redness of his face. Likewise, as I make my appearance in the theater of the world, where I have so far been only a spectator, I also go forth masked.”

Here Descartes describes a practice that is far from his alone. When a philosopher appears upon the stage – whether in speech or in writing – he alters his tone and projects his voice. He no longer merely speaks; he declaims, and sometimes even takes an oracular stance. He uses the mask to hide his face and body and above all to transform his voice. What we hear is the voice of René Descartes, but it is transformed, amplified, deformed by the mask behind which he hides, by the persona of the philosopher he wants to be. These few lines of the Praeambula may be considered as a beginning, a very personal preface to his philosophical oeuvre as a whole, as the moment when he leaves behind his person to become a persona. Until now, Descartes has been a private person, answerable to no one, able to express himself just as he is, just as he thinks he is, without having to use a mask. Once he openly, officially chooses the life of the mind, a new “I'” is expressed through his mouth; from now on what he says will no longer be private but public. His role now is to speak the truth, even if it turns out in the end to be his truth alone.
Patterns of Aging in Retirement Communities: Typology of Residents
Authors: Osgood Nancy J.
Published: March 2007

Community studies were conducted in three retirement communities: a mobile home community in Florida peopled mostly by retired blue-collar workers; a condomimium of all-Jewish upper middle-class retirees in Florida; and a self-sufficient community of detached dwelling units in Arizona comprised primarily of retired residents from the West and Midwest. In-depth interviews with residents, staff, and local service providers, participant observation, and document collection yielded a rich body of ethnographic data on the everyday lives of older residents in age-segregated com munities. Based upon data collected, a typology of residents was developed, which reflects their various kinds of social role involvements. Six major types of residents lived in the communities: Organizers, Joiners, Socializers, Humanitarians, Recrea tionalists, and Retirees. The typology is a heuristic device which can increase our theorizing potential. Results from the present study have several practical implica tions for planners and community service providers hoping to improve the lot of our nation's elderly.of
Interaction and Loneliness: A Dimensional Analysis of the Social Isolation of a Sample of Older Southern Adults
Authors: Kaufman Allan V. , Adams James P.
Published: March 2007

This study, using data drawn from a sample of 1,879 older Mississippians, demonstrates that social isolation is both complex and multidimensional in nature. Interaction with relatives, feelings of loneliness, and interaction with friends and neighbors composed the three primary dimensions underlying the varying patterns of social isolation found among study respondents. Study findings suggest that certain groups of older people are at greater risk than others of experiencing the potentially harmful effects of social isolation and that human service practitioners must consider the various dimensions of social isolation when designing interven tive strategies that attempt to combat the causes or consequences of this psychosocial phenomenon.
Participation in Multipurpose Senior Centers
Authors: Ferraro Kenneth F. , Cobb Catherine
Published: March 2007

Studies of participation in senior centers frequently compare attenders and nonattenders on a number of social psychological, demographic, and socioeco nomic indicators. The result of these studies is a growing set of generalizations that help to differentiate those who attend from those who do not. This article is based on the premise that the classification ofattenders and nonattenders is a helpful but rather crude classification and examines variation in participation among users of senior centers. The analysis is based on observational methods during a ten-month period in a senior center and interview data collected from a sample of senior center participants (N = 48). Several of the variables used to predict variations in duration and frequency ofsenior centerparticipation are based on multiple indicators (e.g., age identity, anxiety, and life satisfaction). The results suggest that frequent attendance is more likely among elderly adults who use the center primarily as a social agency, but long-time attendance and greater participation in activities are more likely among those who use the center primarily as a voluntary organization. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the recruitment and development of potential senior leaders in center activities and programming of service for specific types of senior participants.
Preparing Grandparents for a New Role
Authors: Strom Robert , Strom Shirley
Published: March 2007

Intergenerational programs are well established, but there is a void of educational support for grandparents. A series of discussions were held with 400 grandparents to identify learning needs associated with their changing family role. Outcomes were used to formulate a curriculum for helping grandparents become more influential and respected family members. Elements of the described curriculum include sharing feelings and ideas, listening to child perspective, studying life-span development, encouraging mutual storytelling, developing questioning skills, and focusing self-evaluation. When all aspects of the program are judged to be suitable, an experimental study is planned to determine whether grandparents can benefit from family-oriented education.
Models for Predicting Elementary Students' Pronunciation of Vowel Digraphs
Authors: Ryder Randall James
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the relationship between type, token frequencies, and graphemic context effects in predicting elementary students' pronunciations of vowel digraphs commonly used in reading tests. Three models were constructed to predict pronunciation responses: a final consonant model, a type-token model, and an invariant principal response model. For each of six selected vowel digraphs, six synthetic words were constructed according to orthographical constraints of English. Students of high and low reading ability in grades two, four, and six pronounced each of the 24 synthetic words. Results indicated the final consonant and principal response models to be superior.
Simultaneous-Successive Processing among College Students
Authors: McCallum R. Steve , Merritt Frank M.
Published: March 2007

The Raven's Progressive Matrices and tasks measuring memory for design, figure copying, free recall, serial recall, and digit span were ad ministered to 67 college students. Factor analytic results indicated that the first three measures loaded on a factor termed simultaneous processing while the latter three measures loaded on a successive processing factor. These results were consistent with previous research with young children indicating that these cognitive processing styles are employed by college students as well as younger students. A self-report measure of preference for simultaneous or successive cognitive processing was found to be unrelated to measured processing styles.
A Validity Study of the WISC-R Coding B Subtest
Authors: Baron Marc B. , Kaye Daniel B.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to determine empirically the factors contributing to performance on the Coding B subtest of the WISC-R. A memory task derived from the Coding B subtest, an aural memory task, and a motor speed task were administered to 205 elementary school children. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that the derived memory task and the motor speed task independently accounted for 9% and 10%, respectively, of the Coding B subtest variance. In addition, the derived memory measure and the aural memory measure both related independently to performance on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. It was concluded that performance on the Coding B subtest cannot be accounted for uniquely by a derived memory task or a motor speed task.
Item Bias on the 1981 Revision of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Using a New Method of Detecting Bias
Authors: Reynolds Cecil R. , Willson Victor L. , Chatman Steven R.
Published: March 2007

This study reports an analysis of item bias on Form L and Form M of the 1981 revision of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test for 2100 black and white children using a newly developed method of detection employing partial correlations. Few occasions of bias occurred for either form under this method, and none occurred under an ANOVA method also employed. The partial correlation index of bias was concluded to be a computationally simpler, more convenient, and generally superior index of item bias.
An Analysis of the Construct Validity of two Measures of Adaptive Behavior
Authors: Macmann Gregg M. , Barnett David W.
Published: March 2007

Although the measurement of adaptive behavior has been proposed as a means of reducing diagnostic error, concerns regarding the construct validity of adaptive behavior measures have only been partly addressed. A multitrait-multimethod analysis was used to examine evidence of construct validity for the Developmental Profile and the condensed Learning Accomplishment Profile with a sample of preschool children referred for psychological evaluation. The relationship between these two measures and the Stanford-Binet was also examined. Overall, the results indicated substantial mean-score differences across instruments, a low degree of convergent and discriminant validity across adaptive behavior domains, and a high degree of within-scale intercorrelations that would disallow meaningful profile interpretation. The Developmental Profile seemed to be excessively correlated with the Binet.
A Comparison of the WAIS-R and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability with Learning-Disabled College Students
Authors: Gregg Noel , Hoy Cheri
Published: March 2007

The present study compares the performance of learning-disabled college students on the WAIS-R and the Tests of Cognitive Abilities from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery. It was found that there was no significant difference between the performance of learning-disabled college students on both instruments. Results of this study are different from those of similar studies comparing the WISC-R and the Tests of Cognitive Abilities.
Learning Disability Subgroups Using Cluster Analysis of the WISC-R
Authors: Snow Jeffrey H. , Cohen Morris , Holliman W. Bruce
Published: March 2007

The WISC-R was administered to a group of learning-disabled (LD) children and the results factor-analyzed. Factor scores were derived, and these variables were clustered using the hierarchical group procedure. The results indicated six distinct subgroups. The data are discussed in terms of cognitive patterns of subgroups of LD children.
Factor Composition of the Search Scanning Instrument in Kindergarten
Authors: Hinshaw Stephen P. , Morrison Delmont C. , Carte Estol T. , Cornsweet Carol
Published: March 2007

The factorial composition of SEARCH, an individually administered screening instrument resigned to predict subsequent learning failure, was investigated in two suburban kindergarten cohorts. Results of principal components analyses supported a two-factor solution, with orthogonal factors entitled Verbal/Language and Visual Perception. The four discrete perceptual areas thought to underlie the test were not validated. Preliminary analyses of follow-up achievement data revealed superior criterion-related validity for the Verbal-Language factor. Continuing longitudinal assessment should allow more complete evaluation of the construct and predictive validity of this two-factor model.
Factor Structure of the Woodcock-Johnson Cognitive Subtests from Preschool to Adulthood
Authors: Kaufman Alan S. , O'Neal Marcia R.
Published: March 2007

The Woodcock-Johnson Cognitive Battery was factor analyzed from the preschool ages through adulthood to extend the work of McGrew, who studied a variety of solutions for grades 1 through 12. Using data from the Woodcock-Johnson stanardization sample, results of empirical and subjective criteria indicated that there is only one meaningful factor at the preschool ages, but that there are three significant factors from grades 1 through 12 and ages 20-65 +: Verbal Ability, Perceptual Speed, and Reasoning. Loadings on the general (g) factor tended to increase through adulthood. Some developmental trends emerged, and clinical implications of the findings are stressed.
A Study of Psychological Referrals for Learning-Disabled Children
Authors: D'Amato Rik Carl , Dean Raymond S. , Rattan Gurmal , Nickell Kathleen A.
Published: March 2007

This investigation examined the grade levels and gender of 1,332 learning-disabled students referred over a 17-year period. A significant difference was shown in referral trends both before and after passage of Public Law 94-142 and Indiana Rule S-1. The data indicated that 80% of the total referrals occurred at the elementary school level and 45.5% of the referrals occurred between grades 3 and 4. Gender differences were also apparent; males were referred far more frequently than females across all grades. The ratio was about 3.5:1, with 1,040 males to 292 females referred. The psychological and educational services implications of these grade clusters were discussed.
WAIS-R Reliability and Standard Errors for Persons 75 to 79, 80 to 84, and 85 and Older
Authors: Ryan Joseph J. , Paolo Anthony M. , Brungardt Terry M.
Published: March 2007

Reliability of the WAIS-R for a sample of 226 normal elderly volunteers was determined. Subjects were divided into three age groups: 75 to 79, 80 to 84, and 85 and older. For each group, internal consistency estimates and standard errors of measurement (Sem1), estimation (Sem2), and prediction (Sem3) were calculated for the IQs and subtests. Vocabulary (.96 to .92) was consistently the most reliable subtest, while Picture Arrangement (.71 to .54) and Object Assembly (.74 to .56) were the least reliable. The summary scores were highly reliable, with coefficients for the Verbal Scale that ranged from .97 to .95, for the Performance Scale from .92 to .89, and for the Full Scale from .97 to. 96. It was concluded that the WAIS-R is a reliable instrument for evaluating elderly subjects.
Investigation of a Mental Rotation Task with School-Age Children
Authors: Snow Jeffrey H.
Published: March 2007

Mental rotation skills were investigated with a number of pediatric populations. The measure utilized was developed by Thurstone and involves mental rotation of letters/words, objects, and figures. The first study investigated the construct validity of the mental rotation task. The results indicated that the test assessed a distinct construct, which focused on visual integrative functions. The second study examined differences on the mental rotation test between academically average and academically dysfunctional children. The results yielded significant differences on the overall measure. The third study investigated differences among normal, attention deficit disorder, and neurological dysfunction children. Significant results again were obtained; the normals showed higher performance than the attention deficit and neurological dysfunctional children. The overall results of these investigations support the clinical utility of the mental rotation task. Differential patterns within the measure also were noted across the pediatric groups.
Identification of Learning Disabilities: Accuracy of Aptitudeachievement Discrepancy Criteria vs. The Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery
Authors: Lewis Richard D. , Garland Barbara , Hutchens Teresa A.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the diagnostic accuracy of current LD criteria (using the simple difference method) as well as the accuracy of a neuropsychological battery for a group of 31 LD adolescents and a matched group of 31 low-average to average achieving non-LD students. Measures included the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB), WISC-R, TOWL, and selected subtests from the PIAT, WRAT-R, and TOAL. The simple difference method of quantifying a severe discrepancy failed to differentiate between groups and generated a high rate of misclassification in the false positive direction (97%). The LNNB was found to be highly accurate for the LD diagnosis. Overall rates of accuracy were high using a rule for interpreting test profile data (95%) or discriminant function analysis (87.1%). Additionally, the LNNB generated relatively low false positive rates by either method (9.7% and 12.9%, respectively). The adjunctive diagnosticutility of the LNNB and implications of findings for LD diagnosis are discussed.
Changes in Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence Across the 20- to 90-Year Age Range on the K-Bit
Authors: Wang Jing-Jen , Kaufman Alan S.
Published: March 2007

Changes in ability across the adult life span were investigated for the adult portion of the K-BIT standardization sample (500 individuals aged 20 to 90 years) to permit comparisons with the results of similar investigations conducted with the WAIS and WAIS-R. These changes were explored for separate measures of crystallized intelligence (Vocabulary) and fluid intelligence (Matrices). Two two-way ANCOVAs (age and gender) were conducted, in which raw scores on Vocabulary and Matrices served as dependent variables and educational attainment as the covariate. Results agreed with previous findings on the Wechsler scales: Crystallized intelligence basically was maintained across the age range, while fluid intelligence peaked early and declined steadily despite the control for education. Age x gender interactions were nonsignificant. This study showed that fluid intelligence seems to decline with increasing age, even when the test is untimated and does not rely on visual-motor coordination.
Linguistic, Intellectual, and Adaptive Behavior Skills in a Sample of Children with Communication Disorders
Authors: Powell Thomas W. , Germani Mary Jo
Published: March 2007

The relationship among norm-referenced measures of language, nonverbal intelligence, and adaptive behavior was examined in a sample of 53 school-aged children (aged 8 to 12 years) with previously diagnosed communication disorders. On average, these children earned scores that were in the “below average” to “well below average” range on all tests. Composite scores within test batteries designed to assess language and adaptive behavior were intercorrelated moderately to highly. Correlations among these batteries, and with a measure of nonverbal intelligence, were in the moderate range. Substantial individual variability was apparent as assessed using profile analysis procedures.
Factor Analysis of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children with a Sample of Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Students
Authors: Cross Richard W. , Huberty Thomas J.
Published: March 2007

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC; Spielberger, 1973) was administered to 541 seventh- and eighth-grade students in regular classes in urban and suburban schools in a mid-western state. The STAIC was administered to the children prior to their completing a novel nonverbal task. The items were scored according to the directions in the manual and subjected to a principal components factor analysis with oblique and varimax rotation. Using the scree test, the oblique rotation produced the best simple structure of three factors, and there were no significant differences in factor structure by sex. The results were consistent with prior research and indicated a stable trait factor that closely matched the original A-Trait scale and two state factors. These factors were identified as “state unhappiness” and “state distress” and were compared to previous research that labeled the two factors as “anxiety-present” and “anxiety-absent.” There was a nonlinear relationship between these two factors, indicating that once state happiness increases beyond the minimum scores, state distress increases at a more rapid rate than the simple correlation (r = .52) would suggest. The authors concluded that the dichotomy of “anxiety-present” or “anxiety-absent” may not reflect completely the relationship between the two derived factors.
Differences between WISC-III and WISC-R IQs: A Preliminary Investigation
Authors: Slate John R. , Saarnio David A.
Published: March 2007

Differences between WISC-III and WISC-R IQs of 257 children (1 18 with Specific Learning Disability, 79 with Mental Retardation, and 60 who were not classified as disabled) were examined. As anticipated, the WISC-III and WISC-R IQs were highly correlated, ranging from .84 for the Full Scale IQs to .80 for the Performance IQs. The WISC-III Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance IQs were 7.2, 5.8, and 7.5 points lower than corresponding WISC-R values. The size of the difference between WISC-III and WISC-R IQs was correlated significantly with WISC-R (r = .34) and WISC-III (r = -.23) IQs. Differences in the size of the IQ drop were in part a function of disability group membership: Students with learning disabilities differed in the likelihood of increases and decreases in IQs in comparison to students with mental retardation. Sex was unrelated to the size of the IQ drop. Amount and direction of change were predicted by subtest scores. Importantly, high Object Assembly and Coding scores were primary factors in predicting increases in IQ, and higher Vocabulary scores predicted decreases in IQ.