bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Urinary Cytology Screening
Authors: Ellwein Leon B. , Farrow George M.
Published: March 2007

Voided-urine cytology as a screen for the early detection of urinary bladder cancer is analyzed to determine its potential in an asymptomatic population. Previous cost-effectiveness as sessments predict that screening will extend life-span at a cost-per-detected-case that is comparable to those of other cancer screening efforts. The focus here is on investigating screening from the perspective of the individual contemplating the screening decision. The analysis is based on a computerized model of bladder cancer which integrates a Markov representation of the induction and progression of the disease with algorithms representing diagnostic and therapeutic intervention strategies, intervention effectiveness, and cost. It is shown that the utilities, as well as the probabilities, of true-positive, false-positive, and false- negative screening outcomes are affected by the particular testing regimen employed and the age at which screening takes place. Screening at age 55 or age 65 was analyzed for individuals of normal risk. Analyses predict that the predisposition of cytology screening to identify the high-grade, aggressive form of the disease will result in gains in life expectancy of more than three years for the asymptomatic true-positive case. Results support the decision to screen, and by requiring a repeatedly positive test result, the probability of a false-positive outcome will not exceed that of a true-positive outcome at age 65. Except for the risk of a false-positive outcome, cytology screening compares favorably with what could theoretically be obtained if a 100% accurate screening test were available. Key words: cytology screening; decision analysis; disease modeling; bladder cancer. (Med Decis Making 8:110-119,1988)
Citation Analysis of the Field of Medical Decision Making
Authors: Pyle Kathryn I. , Lobel Robert W. , Beck J. Robert
Published: March 2007

This article updates a prior citation analysis of medical decision making, published in this journal in 1984. Building on the original core list, decision making papers were added based on any of three criteria: citation of three papers already on the list, identification by a MEDLINE search (CATLINE for books) as relevant to the topic, or mention in a recent review article on decision analysis. The revised core list contains 105 articles and five books. The changes in the field of medical decision making from 1978 to 1981 are reviewed, and key areas of development are identified by co-citation clustering. Key words: citation analysis; decision making; clinical decision analysis; diagnosis, computer-assisted; decision making, computer- assisted. (Med Decis Making 8:155-164, 1988)
Physicians' Diagnoses Compared with Aiaorithmic Differentiation of Causes of Jaundice
Authors: Boom R. , Chavez-Oest J. , Gonzalez C. , Cantu M.A. , Rivero F. , Reyes A. , Aguilar E. , Santamaria J.
Published: March 2007

Clinical data were collected in 194 cases of jaundiced patients treated at the "Adolfo Lopez Mateos" ISSSTE Hospital in Mexico City from July 1985 to July 1986. A copy of the clinical history of each patient was given to each of four physicians—one recently graduated from medical school, another in his first year of gastroenterology, and two others who were experienced gastroenterologists. The same clinical data were processed by a computer set up to use a modified Danish COMIC algorithm. All physicians and the computer technician were blinded to the "gold standard" pathologic diagnoses, with which their diagnoses were compared. Accuracy rates of the physicians in distinguishing intrahepatic (medical) from extrahepatic (surgical) jaundice were 78%, 86%, 86%, and 91 %, and the accuracy of com puter-assisted diagnoses was 96%. Chi-squared analysis of the diagnoses of three of the physicians and those of the computer showed significant differences (p between 0.1 and 0.01). For the diagnoses of the remaining physician, however, no significant difference was found after chi-squared continuity correction. Key words: diagnosis, computer-assisted; jaun dice ; algorithms. (Med Decis Making 8:177-181, 1988)
Medical Decision Making Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process
Authors: Dolan James G.
Published: March 2007

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to determine which of seven recommended antibiotic regimens represented optimal initial therapy for a young woman hospitalized for treat ment of acute pyelonephritis. The model included the following criteria: maximize cure, minimize adverse effects (broken down into very serious, serious, and limited), minimize antibiotic resis tance, and minimize cost (divided into total cost and patient cost). The criteria were weighted according to judgments made by 61 practicing clinicians. Alternatives were compared relative to the criteria using published information on the expected frequencies of urinary pathogens and drug toxicity, local antibiotic sensitivities and antibiotic charges, and expert opinion regarding their propensities for inducing antimicrobial resistance. The analysis identified ampicillin com bined with gentamicin as the optimal regimen. This study illustrates several features of the AHP that make it promising for use in medical decision making: its ability to incorporate multiple criteria into a formal decision model, its procedural simplicity, and its similarity to current patient management guidelines. Further studies to establish the role of the AHP in medical decision making are warranted.
How Well Can Physicians Estimate Mortality in a Medical Intensive Care Unit?
Authors: McClish Donna Katzman , Powell Stephen H.
Published: March 2007

The accuracies of physicians' predictions of mortality for 523 patients in a medical intensive care unit were compared with estimates derived from a logistic model. The model utilized a popular severity-of-illness measure, the APACHE II. Accuracy was assessed through its components resolution (discrimination) and calibration. Physicians could better discriminate survivors from nonsurvivors, as measured by the area under the receiver operating char acteristic curve (0.89 for physicians vs 0.83 for APACHE II model, p <0.001) and by resolution (0.103 for physicians vs 0.130 for APACHE II model, p <0.001). Overall, the APACHE 11 model was better calibrated (0.003 for APACHE II vs 0.021 for physicians, p <0.001). While the APACHE II model was better calibrated in the central probability ranges, physicians could more accurately identify those most likely to die. Decisions on withholding or with drawing treatment are being made daily in intensive care units based on physicians' sub jective prognostic estimates. At least for experienced physicians at a major medical center, these estimates are comparable in accuracy to quantitative models. Key words: intensive care unit; prognosis; severity of illness; quantitative models; decision making. (Med Decis Making 1989;9:125-132)
Medical Students' and Residents' Estimates of Cardiac Risk
Authors: Tape Thomas G. , Wigton Robert S.
Published: March 2007

Resident physicians' and medical students' perceptions of atherosclerotic heart disease (ASHD) risks and their understanding of risk appraisal concepts were studied. Subjects estimated the average risks of death from ASHD, from motor vehicle accidents, and from all causes for men in three age groups. Given a patient with severe hypertension, they then estimated relative risk and used their estimates to calculate individual patient risks. Risk estimates varied widely. Only 36% of the subjects were consistently accurate estimators of ASHD and all-causes risks. Subjects who had family histories of heart disease performed significantly better than others. Only about half the subjects were able to compute the hypertensive patient's risk correctly. Thus, residents and students were not adept at esti mating the average risks of death from various causes or using the estimates to assess a patient's risk. Better physician understanding of these concepts might lead to improved patient counseling in risk factor reduction.
Automated Critiquing of Medical Decision Trees
Authors: Wellman Michael P. , Eckman Mark H. , Fleming Craig , Marshall Sharon L. , Sonnenberg Frank A. , Pauker Stephen G.
Published: March 2007

The authors developed a decision tree-critiquing program (called BUNYAN) that identifies potential modeling errors in medical decision trees. The program's critiques are based on the structure of a decision problem, obtained from an abstract description specifying only the basic semantic categories of the model's components. A taxonomy of node and branch types supplies the primitive building blocks for representing decision trees. BUNYAN detects potential problems in a model by matching general pattern expressions that refer to these primitives. A small set of general principles justifies critiquing rules that detect four categories of potential structural problems: impossible strategies, dominated strategies, unaccountable violations of symmetry, and omission of apparently reasonable strategies. Although critiquing based on structure alone has clear limitations, principled structural analysis constitutes the core of a methodology for reasoning about decision models. Key words: decision trees; computer-assisted critiquing. (Med Decis Making 1989;9:272-284)
Combining and Comparing Area Estimates across Studies or Strata
Authors: McClish Donna Katzman
Published: March 2007

A method for combining and comparing medical tests across studies or strata is presented. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is the parameter of interest to be used for comparison. The combined area is a weighted average of the areas under the curve in each study or stratum. A chi-square test for equality of areas across strata can be used to compare the areas. The power of the test is also explored. The methods presented are simple and require only knowledge of estimates of area and their standard errors. Either parametric or nonparametric estimates of the area can be used. Key words: ROC curve; area under the curve; stratification; power. (Med Decis Making 1992;12:274-279)
Diagnostic Reasoning of High - and Low - domain-knowledge Clinicians
Authors: Elstein Arthur S. , Kleinmuntz Benjamin , Rabinowitz Mitchell , McAuley Robert , Murakami James , Heckerling Paul S. , Dod James M.
Published: March 2007

Thinking-aloud protocols provided by Joseph and Patel were reanalyzed to determine the extent to which their conclusions could be replicated by independently developed coding schemes. The data set consisted of protocols from four cardiologists (low domain knowledge = LDK) and four endocrinologists (high domain knowledge = HDK), individually working on a diagnostic problem in endocrinology. The two analyses agree that the HDK physicians related data to potential diagnoses more than did the LDK group and were more focused on the correct diagnostic components. However, the reanalysis found no meaningful differ ence between the groups in diagnostic accuracy, speed of diagnosis, or the breadth of the search space used to seek a solution. In the reanalysis, the HDK physicians employed more single-cue inference and less multiple-cue inference. The generalizability of results of pro tocol-analysis studies can be assessed by using several complementary coding schemes. Key words: domain knowledge; protocol analysis; cognition; reasoning; diagnostic process. (Med Decis Making 1993;13:21-29)
A Measure of Mortality Risk for Elderly Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Van Ruiswyk Jerome , Hartz Arthur , Kuhn Evelyn , Krakauer Henry , Young Mark , Rimm Alfred
Published: March 2007

The objective of this study was to derive and validate a simple scoring system that predicts risk of short-term mortality in elderly patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to compare this derived score with the MedisGroups admission severity score. A myocardial infarction severity score (MISS) was derived from a database of clinical infor mation abstracted using MedisGroups and follow-up information on 30-day mortality status. The MISS was validated and compared with the MedisGroups Admission Severity Groups (ASGs) in a separate database. The derivation set included 2,037 Medicare patients 65 years old or older with confirmed AMI who were randomly selected from patients discharged from hospitals in seven states during 1985. The validation set consisted of 6,323 patients from the 1988 MedisGroups comparative database who were at least 65 years of age and had confirmed AMI. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found a set of nine abnormal patient characteristics that independently predict 30-day mortality. There was good agree ment between mortality rates predicted by the logistic model and observed mortality rates in the validation population. This regression model was then simplified to an additive score where eight of the characteristics were weighted as one point and one characteristic was weighted as two points. The MISS is the sum of the points for each patient. In the validation dataset, the 1,373 patients with the lowest MISS scores had a mortality rate of 4.6% and the 400 patients with the highest MISS scores had a mortality rate of 64%. In the same sample, using many more items of information, mortality rates were 3.5% for the 202 patients in the two lowest ASGs and 68% for the 154 patients in the highest ASGs. The authors conclude that the statistically derived MISS has better predictive power than MedisGroups ASG scores derived by expert opinion. MISS greatly simplifies the stratification into mortality- risk groups of elderly AMI patients. Key words: myocardial infarction severity score; predic tion ; mortality risk. (Med Decis Making 1993;13:152-160)
Graphic Representation of Numerically Calculated Predictive Values
Authors: Daniel Bruce L. , Daniel Thomas M.
Published: March 2007

The authors present a brief BASIC-language computer program that calculates positive and negative predictive values from the known sensitivity and specificity of a test over a range of disease prevalences and produces easily comprehended graphs of these relationships using commonly employed graphics software. These graphs permit rapid appreciation of the effect of prior probability on predictive values. They may facilitate selection of the appropriate test for the anticipated setting and avoidance of the unexpected inaccuracies that often result when tests are chosen on the basis of sensitivity and specificity alone. Key words: diagnostic tests; predictive values; positive predictive value; negative predictive value; Bayes' theorem. (Med Decis Making 1993;13:355-358)
A Note on QALYs, Time Tradeoff, and Discounting
Authors: Johannesson Magnus , Pliskin Joseph S. , Weinstein Milton C.
Published: March 2007

The theoretical model of QALYs is based on risk neutrality with respect to life years or constant proportional risk posture with respect to life years. It is shown that discounting of QALYs is inconsistent with these assumptions. For discounting to be consistent with individual preferences in a QALY model, individuals have to be risk-neutral with respect to discounted life years or exhibit constant proportional risk posture with respect to discounted life years. For the time-tradeoff method to be consistent with these assumptions, the QALY weights have to be derived by dividing the number of discounted life years in full health by the number of discounted life years in the assessed health states. Key words: quality-adjusted life years; discounting; time tradeoff; standard gamble; individual preferences. (Med Decis Making 1994;14:188-193)
Assessing Disease Prevalence from Inaccurate Test Results
Authors: Taragin Mark I. , Wildman Daniel , Trout Richard
Published: March 2007

Estimates of disease prevalence are needed for the interpretation of test results as well as for public health decisions. Assessing prevalence may be difficult if a definitive test is un available, impractical, or expensive. A formula derived from Bayes' theorem can calculate the prevalence of disease in a population by incorporating test results with a knowledge of the sensitivity and specificity of a test. This paper reviews this formula and provides examples evaluating the prevalence of HIV disease, the usefulness of ventilation-perfusion scans in diagnosing pulmonary embolism, and settings where screening tests should not be applied. These examples demonstrate that precise yet inexpensive estimates of disease prevalence are possible by enhancing the usefulness of an inaccurate test. Key words: Bayes' theorem; prevalence; statistics. (Med Decis Making 1994;14:369-373)
Choice Criteria Model for Selecting Live-case Marketing Research Class Projects
Authors: McCain Gary , Lincoln Douglas J.
Published: March 2007

This article provides a two-stage model for selecting clients for live-case marketing research class projects. After research design requirements have been met, the impor tance and probability of benefit to students, clients, instructors and the institution can be calculated to derive a weighted expected value score for potential projects. Ex amples are evaluated.
A response to Pnina Werbner
Authors: Simeran Man Singh Gell
Published: March 2007

... one has the impression that the legalistic tradition within Islam is so strong that Muslims are much less awe-struck by the British legal system, which they see as less moral and no more rational than their own, whereas the Sikhs lack their own law tradition to rival either English law or the Sharia. Pakistani Muslims are therefore inclined to treat the registration of marriages as a tiresome formality, to be carried out at their convenience. (Gell, 1994: 384-5)
Performing Culture in the Global Village
Authors: Tilley Christopher
Published: March 2007

■ This paper discusses the revival and performance of cultural traditions and 'ethnic lives' for a tourist audience in the third and fourth worlds using the example of a newly emergent development on Wala island, Malekula, Vanuatu. It examines issues of the commodification and objectification of culture, in the light of debates about the 'invention of tradition', in relation to a global tourist industry. A major concern is with the politics and values involved in an active appropriation on the part of indigenous populations of their past and how this might relate to a notion of authenticity in the context of a Melanesian culture.
Against the Odds
Authors: Peters Pauline E.
Published: March 2007

■ The people of the Shire Highlands in southern Malawi (with origins in Nyanja, Mang'anja, Yao, and Lomwe-speaking groups) practise a form of matriliny, including matrilineal descent and inheritance and uxorilocal mar riage, that has proven remarkably resilient in the face of direct and indirect chal lenges. These include misperceptions and prejudices about matriliny by Christian missions and European travellers; the promotion of a patriarchal nuclear family by Christian and Islamic missions, by government policies, and by estate tenancy; the attack on matriliny by the agricultural development policies of the 1940s and 1950s; and the privileging of men in extension of agricultural and other services by colonial and post-colonial governments. Today, the con tinued predominance of matriliny in village life provides considerable range for women's authority, especially with respect to land inheritance, and continues to provide the necessary matrix within which 'household' or elementary family based on marriage operates.
The Greek "Amphictyony" - Could it Be a Prototype for the Israelite Society in the Period of the Judges ?
Authors: Lemche N.P.
Published: March 2007

Several recent studies have tried to invalidate M.Noth's thesis of an Israelite amphictyony in the period of the judges. However, most of them have passed over Noth's treatment of the Greek amphictyonies and their impact on a supposed Israelite league of twelve tribes in silence. The purpose of the present study is to make good this omission. A closer examination of the Greek amphictyony shows in the first place that there was only one amphic tyony, that of Delphi, and secondly that the technical term was only used at a later date by the Greek and Roman authors to denote other leagues. After all, the Delphic amphictyony did not come into existence until the 8th century B.C. and thus cannot be taken into account for the study of Israel's organization in the 12th or 11th century B.C.
To Nurse the Young: Breastfeeding and Infant Feeding in Late Imperial China
Authors: Hsiung Ping-Chen
Published: March 2007

The article concerns breastfeeding and infant feeding in late imperial China, as described in medical texts and family records. Special instructions on nursing appeared in Chinese medical writings from the tenth century on as pediatrics became a medical profession. Instructions changed over time, as did the notion of human milk itself. Advice dealt with how best to select a wetnurse and with how and when to provide solid foods as a complementary and supplementary infant diet. Practical examples from medical case records, and biographical and family documents, reveal people's real experience with breastfeeding and infant feeding.
Nuclear Versus Quasi-Stem Families: the New Chinese Family Model
Authors: Cartier Michel
Published: March 2007

Recent evolution of the Chinese family as revealed through the returns of the last censuses shows a diminution in size coupled with a stability of the structures, with approximately one-quarter of the population living in the frame of three-generation households. Fluctuations in size have been mainly induced by variations in the age distribution following the process of the demographic transition. The article discusses the impact of various demographic parameters and attempts to demonstrate that family structures correspond to a life course characterized, first, by the integration of many young couples, even after child-bearing, within the home of the groom's family; and, second, by the necessity to care for the elderly. In conclusion, this evolution is evaluated in the light of the current demographic as well as anthropological literature. Does it correspond to the revival of old customs, especially in the countryside, or are we confronted by the emergence of a new model, the so-called "feed-back" model?
Marriage, Family, and the Faith: Women's Conversion To Islam
Authors: Shatzmiller Maya
Published: March 2007

This article studies what conversion to Islam meant in legal terms for women and how it affected their marriage, conjugal rights, children, and property rights in two circumstances: one, when conversion was of their own volition, and the other, when it was not their own decision, but that of their husbands or fathers. A cluster offive conversion documents-three for Christian, Jewish, and pagan males, and two for Christian and pagan females—from a notarial manual composed in tenth century Cordoba is used here to place the results of the investigation within the analytical framework of the study of Muslim women's legal status, and beyond, into the emotional and psychosocial environment of women's conversion and its significance as a life event.
Popular Classes and Cohabitation in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Paris
Authors: Ratcliffe Barrie M.
Published: March 2007

This article aims to show that we do not know what we believe we do about the extent and meaning of recourse to cohabitation among popular classes in Paris in the first half of the nineteenth century. Discourse on cohabitation and illegitimacy is deconstructed, revealing that analyses of popular behavior are based on problematic data and flawed methods. If cohabitation was widespread, this was because of the legal and economic constraints imposed on workers, particularly migrants, rather than a symptom of cultural breakdown or the emergence of a counterculture. The article interrogates serial data, and especially marriage records, as well as the archives of charity organizations, to argue that Parisian workers were anxious to marry, to marry in church, and to marry respectably. It suggests that we should dedramatize cohabitation and recognize that popular-class attitudes and behavior were more conformist and traditional than we have been led to think.
The Unique Decline of Mortality in Revolutionary France
Authors: Spagnoll Paul G.
Published: March 2007

This article seeks to draw historians'attention to a neglected reconstruction of the French population and its mortality rates developed by the Institut National d'Études Démographiques in the 1970s. The reconstruction shows a sharp decline in French mortality rates, beginning in the 1790s and continuing through the 1820s. This conflicts with recent historiography stressing the negative effects of the Revolution. This article contends that the reconstruction is plausible and that the French mortality decline was unique in Europe in this period. In turn, this suggests that the Revolution had a much more favorable impact than many historians would have us believe.
The Social Construction of the North American Honeymoon, 1880-1995
Authors: Bulcroff Kris , Bulcroff Richard , Smeins Linda , Cranage Helen
Published: March 2007

This article examines the social narratives of the American honeymoon from 1880 to 1995. Using a constructionist perspective, the cultural and historical develop ment of the honeymoon is presented, with particular attention given to the ways in which the development of shared cultural narratives has influenced contempo rary honeymoon expectations. Data were obtained from popular press magazine articles, and content analysis was conducted on these articles using Ethnograph, a computer-based content analysis program. The honeymoon "narrative" over time is explored through examining the setting, activities, actors, and scripts as depicted in popular press literature. The feminization of the honeymoon over time is discussed, and the sociological implications regarding the routinization and standardization of romance in the contemporary honeymoon are presented.
Between Paternal Right and the Dangerous Mother: Reading Parental Responsibility in Nineteenth-Century French Civil Justice
Authors: Schafer Sylvia
Published: March 2007

With the enactment of the law of 25 July 1889 on the divestiture of paternal authority, French civil courts were for the first time allowed to divest parents they deemed "morally dangerous" of all rights over their children. These rights were widely perceived as belonging to fathers alone, in accordance with the provisions of Napoleonic civil law. Although the masculine foundation of parental rights appeared indisputable, the law's definition of moral danger was extremely am biguous. This ambiguity was most apparent in the instance of poor single women. In making cases about morally dangerous mothers, authorities constructed nar ratives that reconfigured gendered conventions defining the distribution of author ity and responsibility in the family. Only through these narrative reworkings could magistrates transform legislation centered on the codified authority of the male head of household into an effective means of regulating a feminine parental power that had no recognized status in nineteenth-century civil law .
The Primacy of Politics in Post-Revolutionary Societies
Authors: Altvater Elmar , Altvater Elmar
Published: March 2007

The "actual socialist" societies are characterized by the "primacy of politics" rather than the "primacy of economics" of bourgeois societies. Ac tual socialist societies cannot be analyzed with the concept of "state capital ism, " since, even though the mode of production, built on the "old division of labor," may be capitalist, the mode of domination, the way in which political authority is exercised, legitimated, and reproduced, is not. Therefore, the actual socialist social formation is not reducible to a capitalist one. Domination in ac tual socialism is embodied in the bureaucracy, whose principle of subordina tion and pursuit of its own particular interests at the expense of the whole of so ciety's interests structure the social formation. The legitimation of this mode of domination is based upon its economic achievements. But the bureaucracy seeks to secure its own interests, which prevents economic success, even as the bureaucracy itself defines it. So, actual socialist societies are caught in a constant cycle of decentralizing (market) and recentralizing (plan) reforms. The workers need only to realize that this form of society does not satisfy their real needs, which are for liberation from subordination to hierarchy and particular interests, in order for them to change actual socialism.
Intelligence as an Economic Concept: A Critique of Gonzalez's History
Authors: Eckberg Douglas Lee , Eckberg Douglas Lee
Published: March 2007

In the recent IQ controversy, most commentators have failed to question the concept of intelligence, of "its" nature. In a recent issue of this journal, Gonzalez correctly indi cates the anti-democratic nature of the idea of intelligence. However, Gonzalez is incorrect in stating that the concept of in telligence is tied to the growth of monopoly capitalism. Instead, the idea of "intelligence," little changed from the vague concept which exists today, can be shown to pre-date the development of capitalism by centuries.
Adorno in Postmodern Perspective
Authors: Nicholsen Shierry Weber , Jameson Fredric , Marxism Late
Published: March 2007

Adorno's rehearsal of the modernist problematic of representation is be lated enough to include a matter of crucial interest for us today ... and this is a reflection on and a thematization of the passing of the modern itself, the reasons for its obliteration, and some dawning apprehension of an intellectual landscape in which the negative, or "critical theory", will have definitely become a thing of the past.
A Psychological, and Physiological of Three Groups of Older Adults As Related to Housing Needs and Norms1
Authors: Boles William
Published: March 2007

A pre-occupancy survey was conducted of elderly persons whose names appeared on the waiting lists of two under-construction, independent living facilities for the aged. In addition to these two groups, a third group of elderly defined for the study was comprised of rural, isolated persons living in substandard housing. Assessments were made of: (a) housing quality, (b) physiological and health attributes, (c) group affiliation and social attitudes, (d) daily activity patterns, (e) dietary patterns, and (f) levels of morale, independent care, and self-maintenance. Results indicate widely differing housing norms, levels of housing quality (objective and self-rated), daily activity patterns, tenure patterns, and size of households across the three groups (WESLEY, EASE, and RURAL). Comparisons of health and physiological measures and dietary patterns indicate nonsignificant differences. A research sum mary provides insights into the administrative policy decisions that could act to ease the transition/relocation of new residents. In addition, recommendations are made regarding the cability of alternate housing developments to reach out to the rural elderly who so often reside in the poorest housing and in the most difficult locations.
The Validity of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students for the Identification of Gifted Students
Authors: Gridley Betty E. , Treloar James H.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (SRBCSS) for the identification of gifted students. Subjects were 130 third-and fourth-grade students who had been identified as candidates for inclusion in a gifted and talented program. Group ability and achievement tests were administered as part of the regular testing program of the school system, and classroom teachers completed the SRBCSS for each student. The SRBCSS scales were correlated to a low degree with the traditional cognitive tests but highly interrelated among themselves. Subsequent factor analysis yielded two factors, with the SRBCSS loading on a single Teacher Judgment Factor and the other measures loading on a Scholastic Aptitude Factor. Interpretation of the results suggest that the validity of the SRBCSS subscales for measuring separate sets of characteristics is questionable. However, the scales appear to make teacher ratings more objective.
Normative-Based Guides for Subtest Profile Interpretation of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability
Authors: McGrew Kevin S.
Published: March 2007

The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJTCA) are a relatively new collection of cognitive subtests employed in psychoeducational assessment. To allow a sounder foundation for individual subtest interpretation, the current research investigated certain critical psychometric properties of these subtests. Subtest g factor loadings and specificity (based on the WJTCA standardization data) are presented, as well as a procedure for systematic profile interpretation. Comparisons with similar WISC-R data are also presented.
A Multivariate Investigation of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision with Learning-Disabled Children
Authors: Snow Jeffrey H. , Hynd George W.
Published: March 2007

This exploratory study examined the validity of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision with a group of 100 previously diagnosed learning-disabled children. All children were administered the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), and Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT). A Q-technique factor analysis using the subtests of the Luria-Nebraska-Children's Revision as dependent measures yielded three distinct sub-groups. Follow-up MANOVAs between the three subgroups using the WISC-R IQ scores and WRAT subtest scores revealed that only two groups differed on one variable (WRAT Spelling). It was concluded that the subgroups identified by the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision appear to be very similar and that the failure of this neuropsychological test battery to differentiate meaningful subgroups may relate to its poor construct validity.
Predicting Academic Achievement with Models Based on Eye Movement Data
Authors: Dillon Ronna F.
Published: March 2007

This project was designed to test the premise that, because common elementary information processing operations underlie performance on both IQ-test-type tasks and academic tasks, such measures of information processing are potent predictors of academic success. The proposed predictive superiority of measures of information processing over test score data is believed to result because test scores reflect only the product of performance and thus are most closely tied to particular knowledge stores and procedural rules specific to given test items. Two studies are reported in which eye movements are recorded during solution of a set of 3 x 3 figural analogies. Multiple regression analyses indicate that models based on eye movement data account for significant amounts of variation in overall academic achievement, with these information processing models outstripping the model based on test score data. High achieving individuals can be characterized as processing information in large units with a correspondingly small amount of redundancy and as devoting a relatively small percentage of their processing resources to rule application activities. Implications for diagnosis and prescription are discussed.
The Effect of Accented Speech on the Scoring of Ambiguous WISC-R Responses by Prejudiced and Nonprejudiced Raters
Authors: Rappaport Neil B. , McAnulty David P.
Published: March 2007

Though the issue of test bias has gained wide-spread publicity, the results of studies investigating the effects of the examiner's race on the scoring of responses from minority children remain equivocal. The present study was intended to investigate the effects of white examiners' prejudice levels on their scoring of ambiguous WISC-R responses from both white and Hispanic children. Participants, previously screened for prejudice level, were trained to score three sub-tests of the WISC-R. From these subtests, 55 ambiguous responses were recorded twice on audiotape in a mock assessment; in one condition, the responses were made by a Caucasian voice, in the other, by a Hispanic voice. The results showed that white “examiners” do not score Hispanic and white children's responses differently. This demonstrates, for the first time, that examiner prejudice levels in combination with examinee racial background account for little, if any, of the variance of scores obtained with the WISC-R.
Is the Fourth Edition Stanford-Binet a Four-Factor Test? Confirmatory Factor Analyses of Alternative Models for Ages 2 Through 23
Authors: Kline Rex B.
Published: March 2007

The Fourth Edition Stanford-Binet is based upon a four-factor hierarchical model of intelligence, and its 15 subtests are partitioned into Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract/Visual Reasoning, and Short-Term Memory Scales. Results of recent factor analyses indicate, however, that the factor structure of the new Stanford-Binet does not correspond to the four-factor model proposed by the test authors. Sattler (1988) recently proposed alternative two- and three-factor models for children of different ages and contructed a related scoring system for the Stanford-Binet. The purpose of this study was to determine with confirmatory factor analyses the relative “fit” of the original four-factor model and the alternative factor models proposed by Sattler to data from each age group of the Stanford-Binet standardization sample. Implications of these results with regard to the scoring and interpretation of the new Stanford-Binet are discussed.
Preschoolers' Social Behavior: Teachers' and Parents' Assessments
Authors: Elliott Stephen N. , Barnard James , Gresham Frank M.
Published: March 2007

This study explored the use of a multi-rater social behavior scale with a diverse sample of preschoolers to test the influence of demographic, family status, and language ability variables on the rated frequency and functional importance of prosocial and problem behaviors. Major results from the teachers' ratings of behavior indicated (a) significant differences between boys and girls in that the average girl exhibited more prosocial behaviors and the average boy more problem behaviors; (b) significant differences for language ability; those preschoolers with excellent language ability showed more prosocial skills and fewer problem behaviors than did children with average or poor language; and (c) differences among families depending on the work status of mothers and fathers. The results of the parents' ratings indicated similar patterns as teachers and also suggested differences in social behavior between White and Black preschoolers. Although the overall perceptions of preschoolers' social behavior were similar as rated by parents and teachers, the correlation between their frequency and importance ratings on specific behavior items were moderately low at best. These data were interpreted to reinforce the practice of acquiring cross-informant ratings of preschoolers and to support the validity of the Social Skills Rating System.
The Home Situations Questionnaire (HSQ) and the School Situations Questionnaire (SSQ): Normative Data and an Evaluation of Psychometric Properties
Authors: Altepeter Thomas S. , Breen Michael J.
Published: March 2007

This article presents results from several studies designed to collect normative data and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Home Situations Questionnaire (HSQ) and the School Situations Questionnaire (SSQ). Reliability studies were conducted with both normal and learning-disabled students. Strong internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities were documented for both the HSQ and the SSQ. In addition, good interrater agreement (between mothers and fathers) was found for the HSQ. Comparison of the HSQ with the Conners Parent Rating Scale-Revised produced moderate, but significant correlations between HSQ summary scores and CPRS-R Conduct Problems and Impulsivity-hyperactivity factors, and the Hyperactivity Index. Results offer strong preliminary support for the reliability of the HSQ and SSQ and for the criterion validity of the HSQ.
Validity of Benton's Judgement of Line Orientation Test
Authors: Riccio Cynthia A. , Hynd George W.
Published: March 2007

Although frequently used in neuropsychological assessment, validity studies of Benton's Judgement of Line Orientation (JLO) test have been few. This study addressed validity of the JLO in terms of construct and criterion-related validity with 73 children. The sample included normal controls and clinically diagnosed children with psychiatric disorders and/or learning disabilities. The ability of the JLO to discriminate among these groups of children is explored. The correlations between the JLO and more frequently used measures, specifically the WISC-R Performance subtests, confirm that the JLO assesses some component of visual spatial ability assessed by these other measures. The JLO also was found to correlate significantly with math ability as measured by the BASIS and the WRAT-R and, to a lesser degree, with reading ability as measured by the WRMT-R. The results indicate that although there is evidence of construct and criterion-related validity, the JLO did not discriminate among normal controls, clinic-referred children with psychiatric disorders, and clinic-referred children with learning disabilities.
Grades and Motivational Orientation among High School Students
Authors: Hagborg Winston J.
Published: March 2007

Motivational orientation among high school students was examined with student grades used as a marker of school success. Based on student reported grade-point averages, students were placed into three groups (High, Medium, and Low) and compared on school motivation, scholastic competence, and intrinsic motivation (Harter's Intrinsic-Extrinsic Scale of Classroom Orientation). While the groups differed significantly on all collected variables, planned multiple comparisons revealed that the groups differed from each other on school motivation and the Cognitive-Informational Processes component of the Harter I-E Scale. However, on Harter's measures of Scholastic Competence and Motivational Orientation the High Group differed from both the Medium and Low Groups, while these latter two Groups did not differ from each other. These findings are interpreted as consistent with prior research that has shown that among secondary school students there are diminishing numbers of students with a high level of scholastic competence and intrinsic motivational orientation.
Standardized Assessments of Verbal Intelligence in 3-Year-Old Children: A Comparison of Biomedical and Psychoeducational Data in a Longitudinal Sample
Authors: Molfese Victoria J. , Helwig Susan , Holcomb Linda
Published: March 2007

The present study examined three measures of verbal intelligence obtained from the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-4th Edition, the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and measures of biomedical and social characteristics of 129 3-year-old children. Particular attention was paid to how the verbal scores were influenced by the biomedical and social characteristics of the subjects. Results showed that the verbal scores obtained from the three tests were similar in some respects, but also reflected some unique scale characteristics. Further, the social characteristics of the subjects influenced the scores more than biological measures.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive (PASS) Cognitive Processing Model for a Kindergarten Sample
Authors: Naglieri Jack A. , Braden Jeffrey P. , Gottling Suzanne H.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the relationships among experimental tasks developed by Das and Naglieri (1988) to measure Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) cognitive processing and other tests that theoretically fit within the model of intelligence. Luria's theoretical model was examined by Lisrel confirmatory factor analysis to examine the congruence between the variables and the PASS model for kindergarten-aged normal males and females. The results demonstrated that the PASS model is a sound conceptualization of the relationships that underlie the tasks in this study. These results support other confirmatory factorial studies that have found the PASS model to be a viable alternative model of cognitive functioning.
Potential Effects of Curriculum Bias in Individual Norm-Referenced Reading and Spelling Achievement Tests
Authors: Hultquist Alan M. , Metzke Linda K.
Published: March 2007

Standardized achievement tests are one type of instrument used to determine whether students are eligible for special education. One threat to valid eligibility decisions is a poor match between tests and curricula. The contents of word identification and spelling subtests from the PIAT-R, WJ-R, K-TEA, DAB-2, and TWS-2 were compared with three reading and three spelling basal series. All reading tests showed increasingly negative bias from grades 1 to 6. The pattern for spelling was not consistent. None of the spelling tests adequately measured high frequency words. Implications of these findings for the special education process are discussed.
The Third and Fourth Factors of the WISC-III: What they Don't Measure
Authors: Riccio Cynthia A. , Cohen Morris J. , Hall Josh , Ross Carl M.
Published: March 2007

Factor analysis of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) continues to demonstrate support for the Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs, as well as for the Verbal Comprehension (VC) and Perceptual Organization (PO) factors. With the addition of the Symbol Search subtest, however, the factor analysis reported in the examiner's manual yielded two additional factors rather than just one. There is, however, no early evidence that the third and fourth factors are clinically interpretable. This study examined the relationship between the WISC-III third and four factors and other neuropsychological and behavioral measures. Results indicated that although Freedom From Distractibility (EFD) and Processing Speed (PS) correlated significantly with VC and PO factors, the FD and PS factors did not correlate significantly with any of the other measures of attention. The most robust correlations were between measures of immediate/working memory and FFD and PS. When comparing clinical groups (LD/no ADHD, ADHD Predominantly Inattentive, and ADHD Combined Type), no differences emerged on the FFD or PS factors. The clinical validity of these factors remains questionable. The significant relationship between WISC-III factors and measures of immediate/working memory is promising, but in need of additional research.