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Assessing Minority Students: The Role of Adaptive Behavior Scales.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cervantes, Hermes; Baca, Leonard M.
Adaptive behavior scales can be very helpful in the overall assessment of minority children. In some states they are mandatory. Their weaknesses, particularly with the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale, are sampling bias and appropriateness in the areas of culture, language, and socioeconomic status. (Author)
Contextual Influences on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale and Implications for Its Cross-cultural Use.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
deVries, Marten; Super, Charles M.
Argues that using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale outside the standard hospital setting introduces variations in the physical and social context that influence scores on some of the behavioral items. (Author/BH)
Assessment of adolescents' victimization, aggression, and problem behaviors: Evaluation of the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale.
Farrell, Albert D; Sullivan, Terri N; Goncy, Elizabeth A; Le, Anh-Thuy H
This study evaluated the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale (PBFS), a self-report measure designed to assess adolescents' frequency of victimization, aggression, and other problem behaviors. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 5,532 adolescents from 37 schools at 4 sites. About half (49%) of participants were male; 48% self-identified as Black non-Hispanic; 21% as Hispanic, 18% as White non-Hispanic. Adolescents completed the PBFS and measures of beliefs and values related to aggression, and delinquent peer associations at the start of the 6th grade and over 2 years later. Ratings of participants' behavior were also obtained from teachers on the Behavioral Assessment System for Children. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a 7-factor model that differentiated among 3 forms of aggression (physical, verbal, and relational), 2 forms of victimization (overt and relational), drug use, and other delinquent behavior. Support was found for strong measurement invariance across gender, sites, and time. The PBFS factors generally showed the expected pattern of correlations with teacher ratings of adolescents' behavior and self-report measures of relevant constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record PMID:26372261
Functional Behavior Assessment in Classroom Settings: Scaling Down to Scale Up
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scott, Terrance M.; Alter, Peter J.; McQuillan, Kathleen
Functional behavior assessment (FBA), although mandated by federal law in situations involving students with emotional and behavioral disorders, is not well defined in the literature in terms of how it should best be undertaken in widespread practice in schools. Functional behavior assessment can be defined as a process for determining the reason…
The Assessment of Minority Students: Are Adaptive Behavior Scales the Answer?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baca, Leonard; Cervantes, Hermes
The use of adaptive behavior scales in the assessment of minority children was discussed. Positive and negative characteristics of the scales developed by Mercer and Lambert were identified and discussed. Recommendations included cautions for the use of such scales in the evaluation of culturally different minority children. (Author)
Psychometric Comparison of the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions about Behavioral Function (QABF)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koritsas, S.; Iacono, T.
Background: The Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) are frequently used to assess the learned function of challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disability (ID). The aim was to explore and compare the psychometric properties of the MAS and the QABF. Method: Seventy adults with ID and…
Retrospective Assessment of Childhood Sexual and Physical Abuse: A Comparison of Scaled and Behaviorally Specific Approaches
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
DiLillo, David; Fortier, Michelle A.; Hayes, Sarah A.; Trask, Emily; Perry, Andrea R.; Messman-Moore, Terri; Fauchier, Angele; Nash, Cindy
This study compared retrospective reports of childhood sexual and physical abuse as assessed by two measures: the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which uses a Likert-type scaling approach, and the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI), which employs a behaviorally specific means of assessment. Participants included 1,195…
Basing Performance Assessment on Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales in Collegiate Organizations.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lyons, Paul R.
The use of behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) as the basis of an assessment system that was designed to improve academic department chairpersons in a college of arts and sciences is described. Twenty-eight faculty members, two from each department, were asked to identify evaluative dimensions for assessing chairperson performance and to…
Neonatal behavioral assessment scale as a biomarker of the effects of environmental agents on the newborn
Tronick, E.Z.
The organization of the newborn's brain and the nature of the effects of toxins and pollutants conspire to produce complex and difficult problems for the assessment of the behavioral effects of environmental agents. The newborn's brain can be characterized as relatively undifferentiated, and more vulnerable to, but potentially more capable of recovery from, the effects of environmental agents specific to this time period than it will be later in development. Environmental agents tend to have nonspecific, possibly subtle, effects that invade many areas of newborn functioning. These characteristics of the newborn and the behavioral effects of teratogens make assessment at this point in development difficult. Further exacerbating this difficulty is the nature of development. Development is critically dependent on the care the newborn receives. Distortions of a newborn's behavior can produce disturbances in the caretaking environment, and these caretaking disturbances can amplify the original behavioral distortion and produce other distortions. Attention to these types of effects must be built into an assessment. These considerations lead to the conclusion that an apical assessment of newborn behavior is required. The most standardized, valid, and reliable instrument currently available is the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale developed by Brazelton. It assesses the integrated actions of the infant that function to regulate simultaneously the infant's internal state and exchanges with the animate (caretaking) and inanimate environment. The scale uses a set of reflex and behavioral items to assess the critical domains of infant functioning (e.g., the infant's ability to control his states of consciousness). 52 references.
The Exploratory Behavior Scale: Assessing Young Visitors' Hands-On Behavior in Science Museums
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Schijndel, Tessa J. P.; Franse, Rooske K.; Raijmakers, Maartje E. J.
In this paper, we introduce the Exploratory Behavior Scale (EBS), a quantitative measure of young children's interactivity. More specifically, the EBS is developed from the psychological literature on exploration and play and measures the extent to which preschoolers explore their physical environment. A practical application of the EBS in a…
Assessment of Disruptive Behaviors in Preschoolers: Psychometric Properties of the Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale and School Situations Questionnaire
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pelletier, Julie; Collett, Brent; Gimpel, Gretchen; Crowley, Susan
Disruptive behavior disorders (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder) are increasingly being diagnosed in preschool children. However, the assessment and differential diagnosis of these disorders presents several challenges to clinicians. For example, most rating scales used to help diagnose such problems…
Assessing culturally different students for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder using behavior rating scales.
Reid, R; DuPaul, G J; Power, T J; Anastopoulos, A D; Rogers-Adkinson, D; Noll, M B; Riccio, C
Behavior rating scales are commonly used in the assessment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, there is little information available concerning the extent to which scales are valid with culturally different students. This study explored the use of the ADHD-IV Rating Scale School Version with male Caucasian (CA) and African American (AA) students from ages 5 to 18 years. Teachers rated AA students higher on all symptoms across all age groups. LISREL analysis indicated that scale does not perform identically across groups. This was supported by the results of multidimensional scaling with suggested that there is a different relation between items across groups. Implications for research and practice are discussed. PMID:9650625
Hypothesis testing on the fractal structure of behavioral sequences: the Bayesian assessment of scaling methodology.
Moscoso del Prado Martín, Fermín
I introduce the Bayesian assessment of scaling (BAS), a simple but powerful Bayesian hypothesis contrast methodology that can be used to test hypotheses on the scaling regime exhibited by a sequence of behavioral data. Rather than comparing parametric models, as typically done in previous approaches, the BAS offers a direct, nonparametric way to test whether a time series exhibits fractal scaling. The BAS provides a simpler and faster test than do previous methods, and the code for making the required computations is provided. The method also enables testing of finely specified hypotheses on the scaling indices, something that was not possible with the previously available methods. I then present 4 simulation studies showing that the BAS methodology outperforms the other methods used in the psychological literature. I conclude with a discussion of methodological issues on fractal analyses in experimental psychology. PMID:24417750
Detecting Parental Deception Using a Behavior Rating Scale during Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An Experimental Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Norfolk, Philip A.; Floyd, Randy G.
It is often assumed that parents completing behavior rating scales during the assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can deliberately manipulate the outcomes of the assessment. To detect these actions, items designed to detect over-reporting or under-reporting of results are sometimes embedded in such rating scales. This…
Development of preterm infants: feeding behaviors and brazelton neonatal behavioral assessment scale at 40 and 44 weeks' postconceptional age.
Medoff-Cooper, Barbara; Ratcliffe, Sarah J
The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to explore potential changes in the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (BNBAS) from 40 to 44 weeks postconceptional age (PCA) and (2) to determine the relationship between the BNBAS scores and feeding behaviors in preterm infants at 40 and 44 weeks PCA. The BNBAS and sucking behavior measurements were completed on 104 preterm infants at 40 and 44 weeks PCA. The Orientation (p = .001), Motor (p = .001), Range of State (p = .001), Autonomic Regulation (p = .01), and Reflexes (p = .00) clusters were significantly more mature at 44 weeks PCA than at 40 weeks. Infants that were extremely early born (n = 24) had a significantly larger change in BNBAS scores over time as compared to the more mature preterm infants (n = 77), largely catching up with their more mature preterm counterparts. At 40 and 44 weeks PCA, the BNBAS cluster scores for orientation (p = .02), motor (p = .048), range of state (p = .048), and regulation of state (p < .001) were significantly related to the average maximum pressure, adjusted for gestational age and weeks PCA. Significant neurobehavioral maturation takes place between 40 and 44 weeks PCA in preterm infants, with the greatest changes occurring in the most preterm infants. These findings highlight the relationship between neurobehavioral maturation and feeding behaviors. PMID:16292021
The Glenwood Assessment of Behavior of the Mentally Retarded: A Well-Factored Scale of Adaptive Behavior.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Larsen, Gary Y.
The paper describes the reasons for developing a new instrument to measure adaptive behavior of mentally retarded residents at Glenwood State Hospital-School and recounts the processes involved in constructing the new scale. Among complaints about the American Association on Mental Deficiency Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) are its inappropriateness…
Measurement of Mealtime Behaviors in Rural Overweight Children: An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale
Davis, Ann M.; Stough, Cathleen Odar; Gillette, Meredith Dreyer; Patton, Susana
Objective The current study presents results of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) in a sample of rural children with overweight and obesity. Relationships between mealtime behavior and health outcomes are also explored. Methods EFA was used to assess the fit of the BPFAS in a group of 160 treatment-seeking children (Mage = 9.11, SD = 1.77) living in rural Midwest communities. Correlations were also computed between factor scores and select health variables (child body mass index z-score and diet variables). Results The EFA identified a 5-factor solution as the best fitting model (Tucker–Lewis Index = .96, root mean square error of approximation = .05), although several items (i.e., 7 of 25) did not load on any factor. 2 factors were correlated with health variables of interest. Conclusion Study results suggest that certain items on the BPFAS may not be appropriate for use with rural children with pediatric overweight or obesity. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. PMID:24326908
Development of scales for assessment of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD).
Lam, Siu-Ping; Li, Shirley Xin; Zhang, Jihui; Wing, Yun-Kwok
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is characterized by an absence of normal skeletal muscle atonia during REM sleep and clinical features of disturbing dreams and dream enacting behaviors. Hence, the common sequelae are sleep-related injury and violence to both patients and bed-partners. Although polysomnographic evidence of REM sleep without atonia, is regarded as a gold standard for the confirmation of RBD diagnosis, polysomnography is both time and resource consuming. In order to facilitate early detection and clinical management, developing a convenient and suitable screening tool to identify individuals at risk of RBD would enable physicians to prioritize those who may require timely assessment and clinical intervention. In addition, the longitudinal course of RBD and its prognostic implication in predicting neurodegenerative disorders may suggest a potential therapeutic window for early preventive management of underlying progress of neurodegeneration. The availability of suitable RBD scales may facilitate timely assessment, accurate diagnosis and monitoring of disease progress of RBD. The present paper summarized recent research on the development of screening tools of RBD, their psychometric properties, and the applications of these questionnaires. PMID:23146747
The Motivation of Stereotypic and Repetitive Behavior: Examination of Construct Validity of the Motivation Assessment Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Joosten, Annette V.; Bundy, Anita C.
Construct validity of the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) (Durand, Crimmins, The Motivation Assessment Scale 1988) was studied using Rasch analysis data from 67 children (246 MASs), with dual diagnosis of autism and intellectual disability or with intellectual disability only. Results failed to support the proposed unidimensional construct or…
Intervention Validity of Social Behavior Rating Scales: Features of Assessments that Link Results to Treatment Plans
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Elliott, Stephen N.; Gresham, Frank M.; Frank, Jennifer L.; Beddow, Peter A., III
The term "intervention validity" refers to the extent to which assessment results can be used to guide the selection of interventions and evaluation of outcomes. In this article, the authors review the defining attributes of rating scales that distinguish them from other assessment tools, assumptions regarding the use of rating scales to measure…
Development and Standardization of the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale: Application of Item Response Theory to the Assessment of Adaptive Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tassé, Marc J.; Schalock, Robert L.; Thissen, David; Balboni, Giulia; Bersani, Henry, Jr.; Borthwick-Duffy, Sharon A.; Spreat, Scott; Widaman, Keith F.; Zhang, Dalun; Navas, Patricia
The Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale (DABS) was developed using item response theory (IRT) methods and was constructed to provide the most precise and valid adaptive behavior information at or near the cutoff point of making a decision regarding a diagnosis of intellectual disability. The DABS initial item pool consisted of 260 items. Using IRT…
The Behavioral Expectations Scale: Assessment of Expectations for Interaction with the Mentally Ill
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Golding, Stephan L.; And Others
The process by which expectations influence social interaction can be investigated, according to the authors. Hence, the Behavioral Expectations Scale (BES) was developed. Preliminary data indicate the BES may be useful in further investigation of the role of expectation in influencing the behavior toward those labeled "mentally ill." (Author/HMV)
The Working Memory Rating Scale: A Classroom-Based Behavioral Assessment of Working Memory
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alloway, Tracy Packiam; Gathercole, Susan Elizabeth; Kirkwood, Hannah; Elliott, Julian
The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of the Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS), an observer-based rating scale that reflects behavioral difficulties of children with poor working memory. The findings indicate good internal reliability and adequate psychometric properties for use as a screening tool by teachers. Higher…
Development of a Brief Rating Scale for the Formative Assessment of Positive Behaviors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cressey, James M.
In order to provide effective social, emotional, and behavioral supports to all students, there is a need for formative assessment tools that can help determine the responsiveness of students to intervention. Schoolwide positive behavior support (SWPBS) is one framework that can provide evidence-based intervention within a 3-tiered model to reach…
A Rapid Murine Coma and Behavior Scale for Quantitative Assessment of Murine Cerebral Malaria
Carroll, Ryan W.; Wainwright, Mark S.; Kim, Kwang-Youn; Kidambi, Trilokesh; Gómez, Noé D.; Taylor, Terrie; Haldar, Kasturi
Background Cerebral malaria (CM) is a neurological syndrome that includes coma and seizures following malaria parasite infection. The pathophysiology is not fully understood and cannot be accounted for by infection alone: patients still succumb to CM, even if the underlying parasite infection has resolved. To that effect, there is no known adjuvant therapy for CM. Current murine CM (MCM) models do not allow for rapid clinical identification of affected animals following infection. An animal model that more closely mimics the clinical features of human CM would be helpful in elucidating potential mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and evaluating new adjuvant therapies. Methodology/Principal Findings A quantitative, rapid murine coma and behavior scale (RMCBS) comprised of 10 parameters was developed to assess MCM manifested in C57BL/6 mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA). Using this method a single mouse can be completely assessed within 3 minutes. The RMCBS enables the operator to follow the evolution of the clinical syndrome, validated here by correlations with intracerebral hemorrhages. It provides a tool by which subjects can be identified as symptomatic prior to the initiation of trial treatment. Conclusions/Significance Since the RMCBS enables an operator to rapidly follow the course of disease, label a subject as affected or not, and correlate the level of illness with neuropathologic injury, it can ultimately be used to guide the initiation of treatment after the onset of cerebral disease (thus emulating the situation in the field). The RMCBS is a tool by which an adjuvant therapy can be objectively assessed. PMID:20957049
Validity and Reliability of the "Behavior Problems Inventory," the "Aberrant Behavior Checklist," and the "Repetitive Behavior Scale--Revised" among Infants and Toddlers at Risk for Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities: A Multi-Method Assessment Approach
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rojahn, Johannes; Schroeder, Stephen R.; Mayo-Ortega, Liliana; Oyama-Ganiko, Rosao; LeBlanc, Judith; Marquis, Janet; Berke, Elizabeth
Reliable and valid assessment of aberrant behaviors is essential in empirically verifying prevention and intervention for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). Few instruments exist which assess behavior problems in infants. The current longitudinal study examined the performance of three behavior-rating scales for…
Assessing Social Competence and Behavior Problems in a Sample of Italian Preschoolers Using the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sette, Stefania; Baumgartner, Emma; MacKinnon, David P.
Research Findings: The main goals of this study were to examine the factor validity of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE-30) scale using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis and to test factor invariance across gender in a sample of Italian preschool-age children (241 boys, 252 girls). The concurrent…
The Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale (KIPS): A Practical Observational Assessment of Parenting Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Comfort, Marilee; Gordon, Philip R.
Because of the well-documented role caregiving plays in child development and socialization, family service programs commonly aim to improve parenting. Despite the common emphasis on parenting behavior, few programs regularly assess it, because existing observational tools, designed primarily for research purposes, prove too cumbersome for use in…
Prenatal predictors of performance on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale.
Oyemade, U J; Cole, O J; Johnson, A A; Knight, E M; Westney, O E; Laryea, H; Hill, G; Cannon, E; Fomufod, A; Westney, L S
The present study presents a prospective analysis of the interrelationships among prenatal medical, nutritional (dietary and biochemical) and behavioral determinants of Brazelton performance. Previous researchers (Scanlon 1984, Lester and Brazelton 1984) have raised questions regarding the relative roles of medical factors, nutrition, ponderal index and other behavioral factors in neonatal performance on the BNBAS. Four hundred sixty-seven predominantly Black nulliparous women and their neonates in Washington, D.C. who were enrolled in the study by the 20th week of gestation were subjects. Results of univariate tests of significant (P < 0.01) association between independent variables and Brazelton clusters from scores measured on day 2 are presented. The 26 behavioral items were summarized into 6 clusters as done in similar studies by linearizing measures made on a curvilinear scale and taking the mean. The 6 behavioral clusters are habituation, motor, orientation, range of states, regulation of states, and autonomic. Results of 16 reflex tests are used to define a seventh reflex cluster. Independent variables included demographic, lifestyle, nutritional, medical, ponderal index, and psychosocial measures. Several psychosocial variables, including stress, anxiety and partner interaction were associated with the behavioral clusters. Nutritional variables were associated with BNBAS habituation, motor, orientation, reflex score and autonomic responses. An analysis of co-variance was performed to determine the joint effect of the above variables on the variation in the Brazelton performance on the seven cluster scores. Five of the seven models (orientation, motor, range of states, autonomic, and reflex scores) were significant predictors of the outcome variables. PMID:8201439
[Assessment of usefulness of visual analogue scale (VAS) for measuring adolescent attitude toward unhealthy behaviors].
Supranowicz, Piotr
In the last two decades the visual analogue scale has been more frequently used for measuring the psychosocial determinants of health, its disorders and unhealthy behaviours. In 1999 in Health Promotion Department of the National Institute of Hygiene multidimensional investigations on self-assessment of health and life style of adolescents were undertaken and evaluation of visual analogue scale usefulness for health promotion research was one of the aims of these investigations. The data were obtained from randomly selected sample of 682 schoolchildren aged 14-15 years attending to public and private schools of Warsaw. The questionnaire contained the questions about frequency of alcohol drinking, cigarette smoking, drug using and manifestation of aggression. Simultaneously, respondents were asked, how much these behaviours are usefully for coping with everyday events. The answers of usefulness of unhealthy behaviours were measured on tenth centimetre line from "not at all" to "completely". The study shows that adolescents who presented unhealthy behaviours more often are more likely to give higher value to these behaviours in coping with their problems. Moreover, adolescents' attitude toward unhealthy behaviours varies according to gender, kind of alcohol, frequency of being drunk, proposals to buy the drugs, carrying the weapon and frequency of injures from violence. The analyses confirm the usefulness of visual analogue scale for study on psychosocial and life style determinants of health. PMID:14682174
Assessing Bystander Behavior Intentions Toward Friends to Prevent Dating Violence: Development of the Bystander Behavior Intentions-Friends Scale Through Concept Mapping and Exploratory Factor Analysis.
Borsky, Amanda E; McDonnell, Karen; Rimal, Rajiv N; Turner, Monique
Bystander behavior interventions aim to reduce violence by encouraging individuals to intervene in a safe and effective manner when they hear or see circumstances that could lead to violence. This study used a participatory-based approach to develop a 9-item scale to measure bystander behaviors to prevent dating violence among friends. Predominantly, female students (N = 37) on a college campus in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States were asked to define bystander behaviors. Responses were thematically sorted and ranked according to importance in preventing dating violence and feasibility by 12 participants. Psychometric testing of intentions to perform the behavior was done based on responses from an additional 288 respondents. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine whether bystander behaviors directed at friends to prevent dating violence was a uni- or multidimensional construct, which has not been done to date in the available literature. Results demonstrated a unidimensional factor structure with strong factor loadings (above .71) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha .92); items focused on primary and secondary prevention behaviors toward friends. These findings provide a reliable and single construct scale to assess college-age women's response to witnessing the victimization of a friend. These findings can facilitate future program evaluations. PMID:26822267
Assessing Psychopathic Traits and Criminal Behavior in a Young Adult Female Community Sample Using the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale.
Declercq, Frédéric; Carter, Rachel; Neumann, Craig S
This study assessed psychopathic traits in a nonforensic female population (N = 343). Respondents completed the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-4: Short Form (SRP-SF) and also reported on their Criminal Behavior. The results revealed relatively higher scale elevations for the Interpersonal and Lifestyle SRP-SF facets, compared to the Affective and Antisocial facets. Also, those with a history of Criminal Behavior had significantly higher SRP-SF facet scores on all four psychopathy domains, compared to those without such history. Consistent with a number of previous studies, the structural equation modeling results revealed good fit for the four-factor SRP-SF model. In addition, a super-ordinate SRP-SF factor, which accounted for the majority variance of all four SRP-SF first-order factors, also accounted for 50% of the variance in a latent Criminal Behavior factor. Taken together, findings support use of the SRP-SF to assess psychopathic features in a moderately large sample of Belgium women. PMID:25899444
Using Direct Behavior Rating--Single Item Scales to Assess Student Behavior within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miller, Faith G.; Patwa, Shamim S.; Chafouleas, Sandra M.
An increased emphasis on collecting and using data in schools has occurred, in part, because of the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). Commonly referred to as response to intervention in the academic domain and school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports in the behavioral domain, these initiatives have a…
Validity and Reliability of the Behavior Problems Inventory, the Aberrant Behavior Checklist, and the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised among Infants and Toddlers at Risk for Developmental Disabilities: A Multi-Method Assessment Approach
Rojahn, Johannes; Schroeder, Stephen R.; Mayo-Ortega, Liliana; Oyama-Ganiko, Rosao; LeBlanc, Judith; Marquis, Janet; Berke, Elizabeth
Individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) are at a heightened risk of developing aberrant behaviors during the course of their lives. Reliable and valid assessment of such behaviors is an important element in empirically verifying successful prevention and intervention. Only a few instruments exist which were developed for behavior problems in children of a young age. The purpose of the current longitudinal study was to examine the performance of three behavior-rating instruments for individuals with developmental disabilities that have been proven useful and psychometrically sound in older populations: the Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI-01), the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), the Repetitive Behavior Scale – Revised (RBS-R). Data were analyzed for 180 children at risk for a developmental disability in Lima, Peru who were involved in active behavioral treatment for behavior problems. Cronbach's alpha of all three measures showed variable internal consistency across the subscales of the three instruments. BPI-01 test-retest reliability for its three subscales over three times of measurement within approximately a 12 months period showed ICC coefficients ranging between .68 to .77 for frequency ratings and .65 to .80 for severity ratings. Using a multitrait-multimethod matrix approach for the constructs self-injurious behavior (SIB), stereotyped behavior, and aggressive/destructive behavior, we found high levels of convergent and discriminant validity across the three instruments. Sensitivity of the SIB and the Stereotyped Behavior subscales of the BPI-01, the RBS-R, and the ABC showed that while there was some overlap between the three instruments, each scale contributed unique information. This was especially true for stereotyped behavior. In addition, since each one of the three instruments contains subscales that are not represented by the others, it merits to consider using all three scales together. PMID:23511345
Predictive Value of Baseline Electronic Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale (eC–SSRS) Assessments for Identifying Risk of Prospective Reports of Suicidal Behavior During Research Participation
Mundt, James C.; Gwaltney, Chad J.; Jefferson, James W.; Posner, Kelly
Objective: Examine the ability of baseline electronic Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale lifetime suicidal ideation and behavior categories to predict prospective reports of suicidal behavior in psychiatric and non-psychiatric research participants. Design: Meta-analysis of 74,406 eC-SSRS assessments completed between September 2009 and December 2012. Setting: Thirty-three clinical research studies that used the electronic Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale to assess suicidal ideation and behavior at baseline and prospectively during follow-up visits. Participants: Records from 6,760 patients with psychiatric disorders (opioid dependence, generalized anxiety, major depressive, and posttraumatic stress disorders) and 2,077 nonpsychiatric disorder patients (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, human immunodeficiency virus, insomnia, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, pain/back pain, Parkinson's disease, restless leg syndrome) were analyzed. Measurements: Electronic Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale assessment of lifetime suicidal ideation (5 severity levels) and suicidal behavior (4 types) at baseline and prospectively reported suicidal behavior during study participation. Results: Increasingly more severe lifetime suicidal ideation at baseline was associated with a progressively greater likelihood of prospectively reported suicidal behavior during study participation. Intent to act on suicidal ideation was most predictive of reports of suicidal behavior. Reports of lifetime suicidal behaviors at baseline also predicted subsequent suicidal behavior, and multiple lifetime behaviors monotonically increased prospective risk of suicidal behavior. Baseline suicidal ideation and behavior predicted future suicidal behavior in both psychiatric and non-psychiatric trials. Conclusions: Lifetime reports of suicidal ideation and/or behavior at baseline significantly increased risk of prospectively reporting suicidal behavior during
The Life Attitudes Schedule: A Theoretically Derived Scale To Assess Adolescent Life-Enhancing, Life-Compromising, and Suicidal Behaviors.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lewinsohn, Peter; And Others
Adolescent engagement in risk-taking and life-compromising behaviors has become a public health concern. This paper describes the development of three alternate forms of a new scale to measure suicidal and risk-taking behavior, the Life Attitudes Schedule (LAS). The LAS, which was developed and piloted on 1,539 high-school students and young…
Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Psychometrics and Associations With Child and Parent Variables
Allen, Stephanie L.; Duku, Eric; Vaillancourt, Tracy; Szatmari, Peter; Bryson, Susan; Fombonne, Eric; Volden, Joanne; Waddell, Charlotte; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie; Roberts, Wendy; Mirenda, Pat; Bennett, Teresa; Elsabbagh, Mayada; Georgiades, Stelios
Objective The factor structure and validity of the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS; Crist & Napier-Phillips, 2001) were examined in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the original BPFAS five-factor model, the fit of each latent variable, and a rival one-factor model. None of the models was adequate, thus a categorical exploratory factor analysis (CEFA) was conducted. Correlations were used to examine relations between the BPFAS and concurrent variables of interest. Results The CEFA identified an acceptable three-factor model. Correlational analyses indicated that feeding problems were positively related to parent-reported autism symptoms, behavior problems, sleep problems, and parenting stress, but largely unrelated to performance-based indices of autism symptom severity, language, and cognitive abilities, as well as child age. Conclusion These results provide evidence supporting the use of the identified BPFAS three-factor model for samples of young children with ASD. PMID:25725217
Psychometric Properties of the Lithuanian Adlerian Parental Assessment of Child Behavior Scale (LAPACBS) in Parents of 6- to 12-Year-Olds
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kern, Roy M.; Jonyniene, Jolita
The structure-related validity and internal consistency reliability of the translated version of the Adlerian Parental Assessment of the Child Behavior Scale (APACBS) which would be referred to as the Lithuanian APACBS (LAPACBS) was the focus of the research study. A factor analysis was performed using a sample of 246 Lithuanian parents. It…
Validity of the OSU Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale and the Behavior Assessment System for Children Self-Report of Personality with Child Tornado Survivors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Evans, Linda Garner; Oehler-Stinnett, Judy
Tornadoes and other natural disasters can lead to anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children. This study provides further validity for the Oklahoma State University Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale-Child Form (OSU PTSDS-CF) by comparing it to the Behavior Assessment System for Children Self-Report of Personality (BASC-SRP).…
Discriminative Validity of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Parent Rating Scales in Children with Recurrent Abdominal Pain and Matched Controls
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Robins, Paul M.; Schoff, Kristin M.; Glutting, Joseph J.; Abelkop, A. Shayne
Examined discriminative validity of the Parent Rating Scale (PRS) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992, Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services). Two groups were compared: a cohort with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) (n = 49) and children from the BASC-PRS standardization sample (n = 49) matched on…
Assessment of Grade-Level Differences in Coping Behavior among Adolescents Using Multidimensional Scaling Single-Ideal-Point Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ding, Cody; Yang, Dong
The purpose of the study was to examine grade-level differences in coping behaviors among adolescents using a probabilistic multidimensional scaling (MDS) single-ideal-point model. Using data from students in middle school and at college, this article illustrated the MDS single-ideal-point model as an alternative to examine students' typical…
Expectations of Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jacobs, Rick; And Others
Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) are no better or worse than other methods when assessed on a quantitative basis but have greater potential when assessed on use and qualitative criteria. Suggestions are offered for extending BARS research to process questions and domains other than performance appraisal. (Author)
The Adaptive Behavior Rating Scale.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Meyer, William J.
A scale to identify important behaviors in preschool children was developed, and ratings were related to more traditional indices of development and academic readiness. Teacher interviews were used to identify 62 specific behaviors related to maximally adapted and maximally maladapted kindergarten children. These were incorporated into a…
Evaluation of Behavioral Expectation Scales.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zedeck, Sheldon; Baker, Henry T.
Behavioral Expectation Scales developed by Smith and Kendall were evaluated. Results indicated slight interrater reliability between Head Nurses and Supervisors, moderate dependence among five performance dimensions, and correlation between two scales and tenure. Results are discussed in terms of procedural problems, critical incident problems,…
Casado Verdejo, Inés; Postigo Mota, Salvador; Muñoz Bermejo, Laura; Vallejo Villalobos, José Ramón; Arrabal Léon, Nazaret; Pinto Montealegre, Jose Eduardo
The process of comprehensive geriatric assessment is one of the key elements of geriatric care management aimed at the population. it includes evaluating the clinical, functional, mental and social aspects of aging result and/or pathological processes that appear at this stage of the life cycle. For their achievement, as well as other tools, professionals have a large number of validated rating scales specifically designed in the assessment of the different areas or fields. Its use can be very useful, especially for the objectification of evaluation results. The future of research in this area goes through deepening the adequacy of the scales to the characteristics and needs of older people in each care level or place of care. PMID:26996044
Using fine-scale fuel measurements to assess wildland fuels, potential fire behavior and hazard mitigation treatments in the southeastern USA.
Ottmar, Roger, D.; Blake, John, I.; Crolly, William, T.
The inherent spatial and temporal heterogeneity of fuelbeds in forests of the southeastern United States may require fine scale fuel measurements for providing reliable fire hazard and fuel treatment effectiveness estimates. In a series of five papers, an intensive, fine scale fuel inventory from the Savanna River Site in the southeastern United States is used for building fuelbeds and mapping fire behavior potential, evaluating fuel treatment options for effectiveness, and providing a comparative analysis of landscape modeled fire behavior using three different data sources including the Fuel Characteristic Classification System, LANDFIRE, and the Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment. The research demonstrates that fine scale fuel measurements associated with fuel inventories repeated over time can be used to assess broad scale wildland fire potential and hazard mitigation treatment effectiveness in the southeastern USA and similar fire prone regions. Additional investigations will be needed to modify and improve these processes and capture the true potential of these fine scale data sets for fire and fuel management planning.
Interrater Agreement of the Individualized Behavior Rating Scale Tool
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Iovannone, Rose; Greenbaum, Paul E.; Wang, Wei; Dunlap, Glen; Kincaid, Don
Data assessment is critical for determining student behavior change in response to individualized behavior interventions in schools. This study examined the interrater agreement of the Individualized Behavior Rating Scale Tool (IBRST), a perceptual direct behavior rating tool that was used by typical school personnel to record behavior occurrence…
The Practicality of Behavioral Observation Scales, Behavioral Expectation Scales, and Trait Scales.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wiersma, Uco; Latham, Gary P.
The practicality of three appraisal instruments was measured in terms of user preference, namely, behavioral observation scales (BOS), behavioral expectation scales (BES), and trait scales. In all instances, BOS were preferred to BES, and in all but two instances, BOS were viewed as superior to trait scales. (Author/ABB)
Adapting the McMaster-Ottawa scale and developing behavioral anchors for assessing performance in an interprofessional Team Observed Structured Clinical Encounter
Lie, Désirée; May, Win; Richter-Lagha, Regina; Forest, Christopher; Banzali, Yvonne; Lohenry, Kevin
Background Current scales for interprofessional team performance do not provide adequate behavioral anchors for performance evaluation. The Team Observed Structured Clinical Encounter (TOSCE) provides an opportunity to adapt and develop an existing scale for this purpose. We aimed to test the feasibility of using a retooled scale to rate performance in a standardized patient encounter and to assess faculty ability to accurately rate both individual students and teams. Methods The 9-point McMaster-Ottawa Scale developed for a TOSCE was converted to a 3-point scale with behavioral anchors. Students from four professions were trained a priori to perform in teams of four at three different levels as individuals and teams. Blinded faculty raters were trained to use the scale to evaluate individual and team performances. G-theory was used to analyze ability of faculty to accurately rate individual students and teams using the retooled scale. Results Sixteen faculty, in groups of four, rated four student teams, each participating in the same TOSCE station. Faculty expressed comfort rating up to four students in a team within a 35-min timeframe. Accuracy of faculty raters varied (38–81% individuals, 50–100% teams), with errors in the direction of over-rating individual, but not team performance. There was no consistent pattern of error for raters. Conclusion The TOSCE can be administered as an evaluation method for interprofessional teams. However, faculty demonstrate a 'leniency error' in rating students, even with prior training using behavioral anchors. To improve consistency, we recommend two trained faculty raters per station. PMID:26004993
Testing Students with Special Educational Needs in Large-Scale Assessments – Psychometric Properties of Test Scores and Associations with Test Taking Behavior
Pohl, Steffi; Südkamp, Anna; Hardt, Katinka; Carstensen, Claus H.; Weinert, Sabine
Assessing competencies of students with special educational needs in learning (SEN-L) poses a challenge for large-scale assessments (LSAs). For students with SEN-L, the available competence tests may fail to yield test scores of high psychometric quality, which are—at the same time—measurement invariant to test scores of general education students. We investigated whether we can identify a subgroup of students with SEN-L, for which measurement invariant competence measures of adequate psychometric quality may be obtained with tests available in LSAs. We furthermore investigated whether differences in test-taking behavior may explain dissatisfying psychometric properties and measurement non-invariance of test scores within LSAs. We relied on person fit indices and mixture distribution models to identify students with SEN-L for whom test scores with satisfactory psychometric properties and measurement invariance may be obtained. We also captured differences in test-taking behavior related to guessing and missing responses. As a result we identified a subgroup of students with SEN-L for whom competence scores of adequate psychometric quality that are measurement invariant to those of general education students were obtained. Concerning test taking behavior, there was a small number of students who unsystematically picked response options. Removing these students from the sample slightly improved item fit. Furthermore, two different patterns of missing responses were identified that explain to some extent problems in the assessments of students with SEN-L. PMID:26941665
Testing Students with Special Educational Needs in Large-Scale Assessments - Psychometric Properties of Test Scores and Associations with Test Taking Behavior.
Pohl, Steffi; Südkamp, Anna; Hardt, Katinka; Carstensen, Claus H; Weinert, Sabine
Assessing competencies of students with special educational needs in learning (SEN-L) poses a challenge for large-scale assessments (LSAs). For students with SEN-L, the available competence tests may fail to yield test scores of high psychometric quality, which are-at the same time-measurement invariant to test scores of general education students. We investigated whether we can identify a subgroup of students with SEN-L, for which measurement invariant competence measures of adequate psychometric quality may be obtained with tests available in LSAs. We furthermore investigated whether differences in test-taking behavior may explain dissatisfying psychometric properties and measurement non-invariance of test scores within LSAs. We relied on person fit indices and mixture distribution models to identify students with SEN-L for whom test scores with satisfactory psychometric properties and measurement invariance may be obtained. We also captured differences in test-taking behavior related to guessing and missing responses. As a result we identified a subgroup of students with SEN-L for whom competence scores of adequate psychometric quality that are measurement invariant to those of general education students were obtained. Concerning test taking behavior, there was a small number of students who unsystematically picked response options. Removing these students from the sample slightly improved item fit. Furthermore, two different patterns of missing responses were identified that explain to some extent problems in the assessments of students with SEN-L. PMID:26941665
Development and Validation of Children's Responsible Environmental Behavior Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Erdogan, Mehmet; Ok, Ahmet; Marcinkowski, Thomas Joseph
Though environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) has been a focus of many studies in the field of environmental education, very few scales have been developed to assess children's ERB. In this regard, this article focuses on the development and validation of Children's Responsible Environmental Behavior Scale (CREBS) and also reports the…
Unobtrusive measures in behavioral assessment
Kazdin, Alan E.
A major distinguishing characteristic of behavioral assessment is the direct assessment of overt behavior. Direct assessment is assumed to provide a sample of behavior that reflects client performance in the situation in which behavior is assessed, even if the assessment procedures were not implemented. Yet, in the majority of investigations, behavioral assessment procedures are obtrusive, i.e., subjects are aware that their behavior is being assessed. The potential problem with obtrusive assessment is that it may be reactive, i.e., affect how subjects perform. Recent research has demonstrated that obtrusive observations often are reactive and that behaviors assessed under obtrusive and unobtrusive conditions bear little relation. From methodological and applied perspectives, additional attention needs to be given to unobtrusive measures of behavior change. The present paper illustrates unobtrusive measures in behavior modification including direct observations, archival records, and physical traces of performance. In addition, validation and assessment problems, questions about the obtrusiveness of the measures, and ethical issues are discussed. PMID:16795622
Scaling Behavior of Firm Growth
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Stanley, Michael H. R.; Nunes Amaral, Luis A.; Buldyrev, Sergey V.; Havlin, Shlomo; Leschhorn, Heiko; Maass, Philipp; Salinger, Michael A.; Stanley, H. Eugene
The theory of the firm is of considerable interest in economics. The standard microeconomic theory of the firm is largely a static model and has thus proved unsatisfactory for addressing inherently dynamic issues such as the growth of economies. In recent years, many have attempted to develop richer models that provide a more accurate representation of firm dynamics due to learning, innovative effort, and the development of organizational infrastructure. The validity of these new, inherently dynamic theories depends on their consistency with the statistical properties of firm growth, e.g. the relationship between growth rates and firm size. Using the Compustat database over the time period 1975-1991, we find: (i) the distribution of annual growth rates for firms with approximately the same sales displays an exponential form with the logarithm of growth rate, and (ii) the fluctuations in the growth rates --- measured by the width of this distribution --- scale as a power law with the firm sales. We place these findings of scaling behavior in the context of conventional economics by considering firm growth dynamics with temporal correlations and also, by considering a hierarchical organization of the departments of a firm.
Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) is an approach to regional-scale ecological risk assessment that is currently under development by EPA's Office of Research and Development. The pilot assessment will be done for the mid-Atlantic region and builds on data collected for th...
Thermodynamic scaling behavior in genechips
Ferrantini, Alessandro; Allemeersch, Joke; Van Hummelen, Paul; Carlon, Enrico
Background Affymetrix Genechips are characterized by probe pairs, a perfect match (PM) and a mismatch (MM) probe differing by a single nucleotide. Most of the data preprocessing algorithms neglect MM signals, as it was shown that MMs cannot be used as estimators of the non-specific hybridization as originally proposed by Affymetrix. The aim of this paper is to study in detail on a large number of experiments the behavior of the average PM/MM ratio. This is taken as an indicator of the quality of the hybridization and, when compared between different chip series, of the quality of the chip design. Results About 250 different GeneChip hybridizations performed at the VIB Microarray Facility for Homo sapiens, Drosophila melanogaster, and Arabidopsis thaliana were analyzed. The investigation of such a large set of data from the same source minimizes systematic experimental variations that may arise from differences in protocols or from different laboratories. The PM/MM ratios are derived theoretically from thermodynamic laws and a link is made with the sequence of PM and MM probe, more specifically with their central nucleotide triplets. Conclusion The PM/MM ratios subdivided according to the different central nucleotides triplets follow qualitatively those deduced from the hybridization free energies in solution. It is shown also that the PM and MM histograms are related by a simple scale transformation, in agreement with what is to be expected from hybridization thermodynamics. Different quantitative behavior is observed on the different chip organisms analyzed, suggesting that some organism chips have superior probe design compared to others. PMID:19123958
Development and Measurement through Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale (YASB): An Assessment of Relational Aggression in Adolescence and Young Adulthood
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Crothers, Laura M.; Schreiber, James B.; Field, Julaine E.; Kolbert, Jered B.
The Young Adult Social Behavior Scale was developed for the purpose of measuring self-reported relational and social aggression and behaviors of interpersonal maturity in adolescents and young adults (the sample included 629 university students; 66% female; 91.6% White). Despite previous research suggesting that relational and social aggression…
Conducting a Functional Assessment of Problem Behavior in Applied Settings.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lennox, David B.; Miltenberger, Raymond G.
Three methods used in applied behavioral analysis research and appropriate for conducting a functional assessment of problem behavior in persons with mental retardation are described. They are informant assessment (e.g., behavioral interviews, rating scales, and questionnaires), direct observation assessment, and experimental analysis. (Author/DB)
Scaling of prosocial behavior in cities
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Arbesman, Samuel; Christakis, Nicholas A.
Previous research has examined how various behaviors scale in cities in relation to their population sizes. Behavior related to innovation and productivity has been found to increase per capita as the size of the city increases, a phenomenon known as superlinear scaling. Criminal behavior has also been found to scale superlinearly. Here we examine a variety of prosocial behaviors (e.g., voting and organ donation), which also would be presumed to be categorized into a single class of scaling with population. We find that, unlike productivity and innovation, prosocial behaviors do not scale in a unified manner. We argue how this might be due to the nature of interactions that are distinct for different prosocial behaviors.
Evaluating Sensitivity to Behavioral Change Using Direct Behavior Rating Single-Item Scales
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chafouleas, Sandra M.; Sanetti, Lisa M. H.; Kilgus, Stephen P.; Maggin, Daniel M.
In this study, the researchers evaluated the sensitivity of Direct Behavior Rating Single-Item Scales (DBR-SIS) for assessing behavior change in response to an intervention. Included in the analyses were data from 20 completed behavioral consultation cases involving a diverse sample of elementary participants and contexts using a common…
[Self-assessment questionnaire of alcoholic craving (ECCA Questionnaire: Behavior and Cognition in Relation to Alcohol: French translation and validation of the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale].
Chignon, J M; Jacquesy, L; Mennad, M; Terki, A; Huttin, F; Martin, P; Chabannes, J P
Clinical, neurobiological and neuropsychological hypotheses suggest that the dimension of alcohol craving includes the concept of both obsessive thoughts about alcohol use and compulsive behaviors toward drinking. Anton et al. (1995) developed a 14 items self-rating scale, the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS) which includes items for assessing three dimensions: global, and the obsessive and the compulsive subdimensions. In this study, we included 156 patients, 105 men and 51 women, who met DSM IV diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence. The mean age of our population was 39.1 +/- 11.2 years without difference between sexes. We did not found any correlation between the CAGE score and the OCDS total score or the obsessive and compulsive subscores (respectively, r = .15, r = .10 et r = .18). Moreover, we did not found any correlation between OCDS scores and mean daily alcohol consumption (r = .18, r = .16, r = .19). This could indicate that the dimension measured by the scale was somewhat independent of actual drinking. As such, it might act as an independent measure of the "state of illness" for alcohol-dependent patients. The test-retest correlation for the OCDS total score was .95 and the obsessive and compulsive subscales test-retest correlations were .93 and .89 respectively. The internal consistency of the items of the OCDS was high (alpha = .89). Principal component analysis had identified in the french version of the OCDS, three factors accounting for 63.5% of the total variance. These results indicate that the french version of the OCDS seems to validly measure a dimension of alcohol dependence. The ease of administration, reliability, and concurrent validity of the OCDS makes it particularly useful as an outcome measurement tool for various clinical therapeutic protocols in alcoholism. PMID:9850816
Assessing the Strengths of Young Children at Risk: Examining Use of the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale with a Head Start Population
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Griffith, Annette K.; Hurley, Kristin Duppong; Trout, Alexandra L.; Synhorst, Lori; Epstein, Michael H.; Allen, Elizabeth
Over the past decade, there has been an increased need for the development and use of psychometrically acceptable measures to assess the behavioral and emotional strengths of young children served in statewide preschool and Head Start programs. One measure developed to address this need is the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale…
Evaluating the Chinese Revised Controlling Behaviors Scale.
Tiwari, Agnes; Fong, Daniel Yee Tak; Chan, Ko Ling; Yan, Elsie Chau Wai; Lam, Gloria Ling Lee; Tang, Debbie Hoi Ming; Graham-Kevan, Nicola
The present study evaluated the utility of the Chinese version of the Revised Controlling Behaviors Scale (C-CBS-R) as a measure of controlling behaviors in violent Chinese intimate relationships. Using a mixed-methods approach, in-depth, individual interviews were conducted with 200 Chinese women survivors to elicit qualitative data about their personal experiences of control in intimate relationships. The use of controlling behaviors was also assessed using the C-CBS-R. Interview accounts suggested that the experiences of 91 of the women were consistent with the description of coercive control according to Dutton and Goodman's conceptualization of coercion. Using the split-half validation procedure, a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was conducted with the first half of the sample. The area under the curve (AUC) for using the C-CBS-R to identify high control was .99, and the cutoff score of 1.145 maximized both sensitivity and specificity. Applying the cutoff score to the second half gave a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 95%. Overall, the C-CBS-R has demonstrated utility as a measure of controlling behaviors with a cutoff score for distinguishing high from low levels of control in violent Chinese intimate relationships. PMID:24860075
The Behavior Observation Scale for Autism (BOS): Frequency Analyses.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Freeman, B. J.; And Others
Frequency data are reported from a research project aimed at developing the Behavior Observation Scale (BOS), an objective assessment tool for establishing the diagnosis of autism. The goals of the BOS are to differentiate autistic, normal, and mentally retarded children (ages 30 to 60 months) along objective symptom axes involving 67 behaviors.…
Behavioral Observation Scales for Performance Appraisal Purposes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Latham, Gary P.; Wexley, Kenneth N.
This research attempts to determine whether Behavioral Observation Scales (BOS) could be improved by developing them through quantitative methods. The underlying assumption was that developing composite scales with greater internal consistency might improve their generalizability as evidenced by the cross-validation coefficients of scales based on…
Scaling behavior of gas permeability measurements in volcanic tuffs
Tidwell, V.C.
One of the critical issues facing the Yucca Mountain site characterization and performance assessment programs is the manner in which property scaling is addressed. Property scaling becomes an issue whenever heterogeneous media properties are measured at one scale but applied at another. A research program has been established to challenge current understanding of property scaling with the aim of developing and testing models that describe scaling behavior in a quantitative manner. Scaling of constitutive rock properties is investigated through physical experimentation involving the collection of suites of gas-permeability data measured over a range of discrete scales. The approach is to systematically isolate those factors believed to influence property scaling and investigate their relative contributions to overall scaling behavior. Two blocks of tuff, each exhibiting differing heterogeneity structure, have recently been examined. Results of the investigation show very different scaling behavior, as exhibited by changes in the distribution functions and variograms, for the two tuff samples. Even for the relatively narrow range of measurement scales employed significant changes in the distribution functions, variograms, and summary statistics occurred. Because such data descriptors will likely play an important role in calculating effective media properties, these results demonstrate both the need to understand and accurately model scaling behavior.
Direct Behavior Rating: An Evaluation of Alternate Definitions to Assess Classroom Behaviors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Christ, Theodore J.; Riley-Tillman, T. Chris; Chafouleas, Sandra; Jaffery, Rosemary
The method of Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) incorporates aspects of both systematic direct observation and behavior rating scales to provide an efficient means to collect time series data. This study extended the development and evaluation of DBR Single-Item Scales (DBR-SIS) as a behavior assessment tool. Eighty-eight undergraduate students used…
Factor Analysis of the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale for Children in Head Start Programs
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cress, Cynthia; Lambert, Matthew C.; Epstein, Michael H.
Strength-based assessment of behaviors in preschool children provides evidence of emotional and behavioral skills in children, rather than focusing primarily on weaknesses identified by deficit-based assessments. The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scales (PreBERS) is a normative assessment of emotional and behavioral strengths in…
Scaling Climate Change Communication for Behavior Change
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rodriguez, V. C.; Lappé, M.; Flora, J. A.; Ardoin, N. M.; Robinson, T. N.
Ultimately, effective climate change communication results in a change in behavior, whether the change is individual, household or collective actions within communities. We describe two efforts to promote climate-friendly behavior via climate communication and behavior change theory. Importantly these efforts are designed to scale climate communication principles focused on behavior change rather than soley emphasizing climate knowledge or attitudes. Both cases are embedded in rigorous evaluations (randomized controlled trial and quasi-experimental) of primary and secondary outcomes as well as supplementary analyses that have implications for program refinement and program scaling. In the first case, the Girl Scouts "Girls Learning Environment and Energy" (GLEE) trial is scaling the program via a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Troop Leaders to teach the effective home electricity and food and transportation energy reduction programs. The second case, the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) Assembly Program, is advancing the already-scaled assembly program by using communication principles to further engage youth and their families and communities (school and local communities) in individual and collective actions. Scaling of each program uses online learning platforms, social media and "behavior practice" videos, mastery practice exercises, virtual feedback and virtual social engagement to advance climate-friendly behavior change. All of these communication practices aim to simulate and advance in-person train-the-trainers technologies.As part of this presentation we outline scaling principles derived from these two climate change communication and behavior change programs.
Multi-Scale Infrastructure Assessment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) multi-scale infrastructure assessment project supports both water resource adaptation to climate change and the rehabilitation of the nation's aging water infrastructure by providing tools, scientific data and information to progra...
Scaling behavior of online human activity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhao, Zhi-Dan; Cai, Shi-Min; Huang, Junming; Fu, Yan; Zhou, Tao
The rapid development of the Internet technology enables humans to explore the web and record the traces of online activities. From the analysis of these large-scale data sets (i.e., traces), we can get insights about the dynamic behavior of human activity. In this letter, the scaling behavior and complexity of human activity in the e-commerce, such as music, books, and movies rating, are comprehensively investigated by using the detrended fluctuation analysis technique and the multiscale entropy method. Firstly, the interevent time series of rating behaviors of these three types of media show similar scaling properties with exponents ranging from 0.53 to 0.58, which implies that the collective behaviors of rating media follow a process embodying self-similarity and long-range correlation. Meanwhile, by dividing the users into three groups based on their activities (i.e., rating per unit time), we find that the scaling exponents of the interevent time series in the three groups are different. Hence, these results suggest that a stronger long-range correlations exist in these collective behaviors. Furthermore, their information complexities vary in the three groups. To explain the differences of the collective behaviors restricted to the three groups, we study the dynamic behavior of human activity at the individual level, and find that the dynamic behaviors of a few users have extremely small scaling exponents associated with long-range anticorrelations. By comparing the interevent time distributions of four representative users, we can find that the bimodal distributions may bring forth the extraordinary scaling behaviors. These results of the analysis of the online human activity in the e-commerce may not only provide insight into its dynamic behaviors but may also be applied to acquire potential economic interest.
Promoting Advance Care Planning as Health Behavior Change: Development of Scales to Assess Decisional Balance, Medical and Religious Beliefs, and Processes of Change
Fried, Terri R.; Redding, Colleen A.; Robbins, Mark L.; Paiva, Andrea; O'Leary, John R.; Iannone, Lynne
Objectives To develop measures representing key constructs of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change as applied to advance care planning (ACP) and to examine whether associations between these measures replicate the relationships posited by the TTM. Methods Sequential scale development techniques were used to develop measures for Decisional Balance (Pros and Cons of behavior change), ACP Values/Beliefs (religious beliefs and medical misconceptions serving as barriers to participation), Processes of Change (behavioral and cognitive processes used to foster participation) based on responses of 304 persons age ≥ 65 years. Results Items for each scale/subscale demonstrated high factor loading (> .5) and good to excellent internal consistency (Cronbach α .76–.93). Results of MANOVA examining scores on the Pros, Cons, ACP Values/Beliefs, and POC subscales by stage of change for each of the six behaviors were significant, Wilks' λ= .555–.809, η2=.068–.178, p ≤ .001 for all models. Conclusion Core constructs of the TTM as applied to ACP can be measured with high reliability and validity. Practice Implications Cross-sectional relationships between these constructs and stage of behavior change support the use of TTM-tailored interventions to change perceptions of the pros and cons of participation in ACP and promote the use of certain processes of change in order to promote older persons' engagement in ACP. PMID:21741194
Scaling behavior of fragment shapes.
Kun, F; Wittel, F K; Herrmann, H J; Kröplin, B H; Måløy, K J
We present an experimental and theoretical study of the shape of fragments generated by explosive and impact loading of closed shells. Based on high speed imaging, we have determined the fragmentation mechanism of shells. Experiments have shown that the fragments vary from completely isotropic to highly anisotropic elongated shapes, depending on the microscopic cracking mechanism of the shell. Anisotropic fragments proved to have a self-affine character described by a scaling exponent. The distribution of fragment shapes exhibits a power-law decay. The robustness of the scaling laws is illustrated by a stochastic hierarchical model of fragmentation. Our results provide a possible improvement of the representation of fragment shapes in models of space debris. PMID:16486594
The Incremental Utility of Behavioral Rating Scales and a Structured Diagnostic Interview in the Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Vaughn, Aaron J.; Hoza, Betsy
The current study examined the incremental utility of rating scales, a structured diagnostic interview, and multiple informants in a comprehensive assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The sample included 185 children with ADHD (M[subscript age] = 9.22, SD = 0.95) and 82 children without ADHD (M[subscript age] = 9.24, SD =…
Assessing Social Validity of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Plans: Evidence for the Reliability and Structure of the Primary Intervention Rating Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lane, Kathleen Lynne; Kalberg, Jemma Robertson; Bruhn, Allison Leigh; Driscoll, Steven A.; Wehby, Joseph H.; Elliott, Stephen N.
This study provides initial evidence for the reliability and structural validity of scores from the Primary Intervention Rating Scale (Lane, Robertson, & Wehby, 2002), an adapted version of the Intervention Rating Profile-15 (Witt & Elliott, 1985) designed to assess faculty's perceptions of social validity of primary prevention plans prior to…
Scaling behavior in interference lithography
Agayan, R.R.; Banyai, W.C.; Fernandez, A.
Interference lithography is an emerging, technology that provides a means for achieving high resolution over large exposure areas (approximately 1 m{sup 2}) with virtually unlimited depth of field. One- and two-dimensional arrays of deep submicron structures can be created using near i-line wavelengths and standard resist processing. In this paper, we report on recent advances in the development of this technology, focusing, in particular, on how exposure latitude and resist profile scale with interference period We present structure width vs dose curves for periods ranging from 200 nm to 1 um, demonstrating that deep submicron structures can be generated with exposure latitudes exceeding 30%. Our experimental results are compared to simulations based on PROLITIV2.
Same Constructs, Different Results: Examining the Consistency of Two Behavior-Rating Scales with Referred Preschoolers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Myers, Carl L.; Bour, Jennifer L.; Sidebottom, Kristina J.; Murphy, Sara B.; Hakman, Melissa
Broad-band or multidimensional behavior-rating scales are common tools for evaluating children. Two popular behavior-rating scales, the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000), have undergone downward extensions so that the…
Behavioral assessment of a hydranencephalic neonate.
Francis, P L; Self, P A; McCaffree, M A
This study attempted to clarify the role of the cerebral cortex in neonatal behavior by administering the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale-Kansas revision to a hydranencephalic infant; particularly of interest were behaviors that are implicated in infant social responsiveness. The examination revealed extremely deviant responses on portions of the exam, including items that measure response decrement and orientation. However, this infant was observed to approximate normal neonatal responding on items relating to motor maturity and reactivity. Other findings included that some response decrement occurred in response to auditory and visual, but not tactile, stimulation. The discussion focuses on similarities and differences between this study and early research on both normal infants and infants with imperfectly formed nervous systems. Particular emphasis is placed on the response decrement results, as well as the utility of the NBAS-K in measuring infant behaviors in atypical infant samples. PMID:6705627
Behavioral Identification and Assessment of Gifted and Talented Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bracken, Bruce A.; Brown, E. F.
Forty-five gifted students and 45 regular education students without identified exceptionalities were rated by teachers and administrators on the Clinical Assessment of Behavior (CAB), a third-party behavior rating scale that rates students' adaptive and behavior problems. The gifted students in this study were rated significantly higher on three…
Broadband Behavior Rating Scales as Screeners for Autism?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Myers, Carl L.; Gross, Amber D.; McReynolds, Brandy M.
In order to start providing important early intervention services to preschoolers and toddlers with autism, those children first need to be identified. Despite the availability of specialized autism assessment instruments, there is a need for effective screeners at the early childhood level. Three broadband behavior rating scales were evaluated in…
Scaling Relative Incentive Value in Anticipatory Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pellegrini, Santiago; Papini, Mauricio R.
Papini and Pellegrini (Papini, M. R., & Pellegrini, S. "Scaling relative incentive value in consummatory behavior." "Learning and Motivation", in press) observed that, within limits, the level of consummatory responding of rats exposed to incentive downshifts in the concentration of sucrose solutions was similar when the ratio of test/training…
Development of Democratic Teacher Behavior Scale (DTBS)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Özcan, Gülsen
This study aims to develop an instrument that could be used to measure democratic teacher behavior in a valid and reliable manner. The research was carried out in fall semester 2014 to 2015 with a total of 500 high school students recruited from four different schools. Expert opinions were obtained to determine the scale's content validity and…
Behavior model for performance assessment.
Borwn-VanHoozer, S. A.
Every individual channels information differently based on their preference of the sensory modality or representational system (visual auditory or kinesthetic) we tend to favor most (our primary representational system (PRS)). Therefore, some of us access and store our information primarily visually first, some auditorily, and others kinesthetically (through feel and touch); which in turn establishes our information processing patterns and strategies and external to internal (and subsequently vice versa) experiential language representation. Because of the different ways we channel our information, each of us will respond differently to a task--the way we gather and process the external information (input), our response time (process), and the outcome (behavior). Traditional human models of decision making and response time focus on perception, cognitive and motor systems stimulated and influenced by the three sensory modalities, visual, auditory and kinesthetic. For us, these are the building blocks to knowing how someone is thinking. Being aware of what is taking place and how to ask questions is essential in assessing performance toward reducing human errors. Existing models give predications based on time values or response times for a particular event, and may be summed and averaged for a generalization of behavior(s). However, by our not establishing a basic understanding of the foundation of how the behavior was predicated through a decision making strategy process, predicative models are overall inefficient in their analysis of the means by which behavior was generated. What is seen is the end result.
Natural Tracers and Multi-Scale Assessment of Caprock Sealing Behavior: A Case Study of the Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin
Jason Heath; Brian McPherson; Thomas Dewers
The assessment of caprocks for geologic CO{sub 2} storage is a multi-scale endeavor. Investigation of a regional caprock - the Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin, USA - at the pore-network scale indicates high capillary sealing capacity and low permeabilities. Core and wellscale data, however, indicate a potential seal bypass system as evidenced by multiple mineralized fractures and methane gas saturations within the caprock. Our interpretation of {sup 4}He concentrations, measured at the top and bottom of the caprock, suggests low fluid fluxes through the caprock: (1) Of the total {sup 4}He produced in situ (i.e., at the locations of sampling) by uranium and thorium decay since deposition of the Kirtland Formation, a large portion still resides in the pore fluids. (2) Simple advection-only and advection-diffusion models, using the measured {sup 4}He concentrations, indicate low permeability ({approx}10-20 m{sup 2} or lower) for the thickness of the Kirtland Formation. These findings, however, do not guarantee the lack of a large-scale bypass system. The measured data, located near the boundary conditions of the models (i.e., the overlying and underlying aquifers), limit our testing of conceptual models and the sensitivity of model parameterization. Thus, we suggest approaches for future studies to better assess the presence or lack of a seal bypass system at this particular site and for other sites in general.
Scaling behaviors of precipitation over China
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jiang, Lei; Li, Nana; Zhao, Xia
Scaling behaviors in the precipitation time series derived from 1951 to 2009 over China are investigated by detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) method. The results show that there exists long-term memory for the precipitation time series in some stations, where the values of the scaling exponent α are less than 0.62, implying weak persistence characteristics. The values of scaling exponent in other stations indicate random behaviors. In addition, the scaling exponent α in precipitation records varies from station to station over China. A numerical test is made to verify the significance in DFA exponents by shuffling the data records many times. We think it is significant when the values of scaling exponent before shuffled precipitation records are larger than the interval threshold for 95 % confidence level after shuffling precipitation records many times. By comparison, the daily precipitation records exhibit weak positively long-range correlation in a power law fashion mainly at the stations taking on zonal distributions in south China, upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, northern part of northeast China. This may be related to the subtropical high. Furthermore, the values of scaling exponent which cannot pass the significance test do not show a clear distribution pattern. It seems that the stations are mainly distributed in coastal areas, southwest China, and southern part of north China. In fact, many complicated factors may affect the scaling behaviors of precipitation such as the system of the east and south Asian monsoon, the interaction between sea and land, and the big landform of the Tibetan Plateau. These results may provide a better prerequisite to long-term predictor of precipitation time series for different regions over China.
An International Assessment of the Emotional and Behavioral Strengths of Youth
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lappalainen, Kristiina; Savolainen, Hannu; Kuorelahti, Matti; Epstein, Michael H.
The assessment of emotional and behavioral strengths has been identified as an important part of the assessment process for children referred for specialized services. The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2; Epstein, Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: a strength-based approach to assessment. PRO-Ed, Austin, TX, 2004) was developed…
The Development of the Attitude Towards Computerized Assessment Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Brooke; Caputi, Peter
Test equivalence can be evaluated in terms of four aspects: psychometric, behavioral, experiential, and individual differences (i.e., relativity of equivalence) (Honaker, 1988). This study examined the psychometric properties of the Attitude Towards Computerized Assessment Scale (ATCAS) designed to assess one of these criteria, namely,…
Quantum critical scaling behavior of deconfined spinons
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nogueira, Flavio; Kragset, Steinar; Sudbo, Asle
The quantum scaling behavior of deconfined spinons for a class of field theoretic models of quantum antiferromagnets is considered. The competition between the hedgehogs and the Berry phases is discussed from a renormalization group perspective. An important result following from our analysis is the computation of the anomalous dimension for the decay of spin correlations. Our results confirm the expectation that the transition from a N'eel to a valence-bond solid state belongs to a completely new universality class.
Combining spatially resolved hydrochemical data with in-vitro nanoparticle stability testing: assessing environmental behavior of functionalized gold nanoparticles on a continental scale.
Liu, Junfeng; von der Kammer, Frank; Zhang, Boyu; Legros, Samuel; Hofmann, Thilo
Many engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are functionalized with different types of surface coatings to suit specific applications. The functionalization affects the fate and behavior of these ENPs in aquatic environments. In this study, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) coated with either citrate or 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) are used as examples of functionalized ENPs. A method has been developed to assess the colloidal stability of functionalized ENPs under complex hydrochemical conditions, using their aggregation rates as indicators. The spatial distributions of stream-water chemistry data from across Europe were combined with the results of in-vitro colloidal stability testing. Aggregation rates were extracted for each stream-water sample and stability maps for Europe were plotted. The tendency of the tested GNPs to be dispersed or aggregated is described for water bodies of the respective region. Natural organic matter was identified as the predominant factor controlling the stability of the GNPs tested. The properties of surface coatings also affect aggregation rates as a result of differences in their hydrochemical parameters. The developed method can be used as a template for a stability assessment, and the results of this study provide a basis for exposure modeling and precautionary decision making. PMID:23770771
Measurement Properties of Indirect Assessment Methods for Functional Behavioral Assessment: A Review of Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Floyd, Randy G.; Phaneuf, Robin L.; Wilczynski, Susan M.
Indirect assessment instruments used during functional behavioral assessment, such as rating scales, interviews, and self-report instruments, represent the least intrusive techniques for acquiring information about the function of problem behavior. This article provides criteria for examining the measurement properties of these instruments…
Assessing the Emotional and Behavioral Strengths of Children.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Epstein, Michael H.
Introduces the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS): a Strength-Based Approach to Assessment for use in schools, mental health clinics, and social service agencies. BERS is designed so that adults can accurately and efficiently identify children's behavioral and emotional strengths, rather than their deficits, problems, and pathologies.…
A Practical Guide to Functional Behavioral Assessment.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shippen, Margaret E.; Simpson, Robert G.; Crites, Steven A.
This article provides guidance on the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) techniques to identify the function of problem behaviors by recording antecedents and consequences of each behavior. It includes a case study illustrating application of FBA as well as a sample form for recording observations, developing a behavioral hypothesis,…
Comparing Results from the Clinical Assessment of Behavior and Child Behavior Checklist with Referred Preschoolers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Myers, Carl L.
Behavior rating scales are popular assessment tools but more research is needed on the preschool versions of the instruments, particularly with referred samples of preschoolers. This study examined the comparability of results from parent ratings on the preschool versions of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/1.5-5, Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) and…
Review of outcome measurement instruments in Alzheimer's disease drug trials: psychometric properties of behavior and mood scales.
Perrault, A; Oremus, M; Demers, L; Vida, S; Wolfson, C
This article reviews the reliability and validity of eight scales for behavior and mood problems that were identified in a comparative analysis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) drug trials. The scales are the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-noncognitive, the Relative's Assessment of Global Symptomatology, the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease-Behavior Rating Scale for Dementia, the Dementia Behavior Disturbance scale, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, and two scales for depressive symptoms, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia and the Dementia Mood Assessment Scale. This article also examines methodological limitations in the way the published literature has assessed the psychometric properties of these scales. The aim is to help clinicians and potential trial investigators select appropriate measurement instruments with which to assess behavior and mood problems in AD and to assist AD researchers in the evaluation of the psychometric properties of such scales. PMID:11128058
Multifaceted Functional Behavior Assessment for Students with Externalizing Behavior Disorders.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Olympia, Daniel E.; Heathfield, Lora Tuesday; Jenson, William R.; Clark, Elaine
This article describes specific components of a multifaceted approach to functional behavior assessment in the context of the widely accepted behavioral excess/deficit model for students with externalizing behavior disorders. Specific strategies to address academic skill and performance deficits as well as social skills deficiencies are also…
Scaling up: Assessing social impacts at the macro-scale
Schirmer, Jacki
Social impacts occur at various scales, from the micro-scale of the individual to the macro-scale of the community. Identifying the macro-scale social changes that results from an impacting event is a common goal of social impact assessment (SIA), but is challenging as multiple factors simultaneously influence social trends at any given time, and there are usually only a small number of cases available for examination. While some methods have been proposed for establishing the contribution of an impacting event to macro-scale social change, they remain relatively untested. This paper critically reviews methods recommended to assess macro-scale social impacts, and proposes and demonstrates a new approach. The 'scaling up' method involves developing a chain of logic linking change at the individual/site scale to the community scale. It enables a more problematised assessment of the likely contribution of an impacting event to macro-scale social change than previous approaches. The use of this approach in a recent study of change in dairy farming in south east Australia is described.
Adaptive Behavior Evaluation Scale: School Version Technical Manual. Revised.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McCarney, Stephen B.
This test manual provides information on the Adaptive Behavior Education Scale-Revised (ABES-R), a 25-minute behavior scale designed to evaluate adaptive skills in students with behavioral, learning, and intellectual disabilities, including educationally relevant behavior which may be identified as contributing to more appropriate diagnosis,…
Adaptive Behavior Evaluation Scale: Home Version Technical Manual. Revised.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McCarney, Stephen B.
This test manual provides information on the Adaptive Behavior Education Scale-Home Version (ABES), a 25-minute behavior scale designed to evaluate adaptive skills in students with behavioral, learning, and intellectual disabilities, including educationally relevant behavior which may be identified as contributing to more appropriate diagnosis,…
Use of Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II in Children with Autism--An Indian Experience
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Manohari, S. M.; Raman, Vijaya; Ashok, M. V.
The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II Edition 2005 (Vineland-II) is useful in assessing abilities in autism spectrum disorder, where an accurate assessment of intelligence using standardized tools is difficult both due to the unique social and communication difficulties that these children present with and the behavioral issues that occur as…
Laplacian scale-space behavior of planar curve corners.
Zhang, Xiaohong; Qu, Ying; Yang, Dan; Wang, Hongxing; Kymer, Jeff
Scale-space behavior of corners is important for developing an efficient corner detection algorithm. In this paper, we analyze the scale-space behavior with the Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) operator on a planar curve which constructs Laplacian Scale Space (LSS). The analytical expression of a Laplacian Scale-Space map (LSS map) is obtained, demonstrating the Laplacian Scale-Space behavior of the planar curve corners, based on a newly defined unified corner model. With this formula, some Laplacian Scale-Space behavior is summarized. Although LSS demonstrates some similarities to Curvature Scale Space (CSS), there are still some differences. First, no new extreme points are generated in the LSS. Second, the behavior of different cases of a corner model is consistent and simple. This makes it easy to trace the corner in a scale space. At last, the behavior of LSS is verified in an experiment on a digital curve. PMID:26440262
Functional Behavioral Assessments: Legal Requirements and Challenges.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Drasgow, Erik; Yell, Mitchell L.
This article presents the legal requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments regarding Individualized Education Programs (IEP), functional behavioral assessments, and behavior intervention plans for special education students with problem behavior; describes the initial policy letters and due process hearings that…
Factors and Clusters for the Brazelton Scale: An Investigation of the Dimensions of Neonatal Behavior.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jacobson, Joseph L.; And Others
Examines the psychometric properties of two procedures for reducing data from the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale: factor and cluster analysis. The sample consisted of 85 male and 77 female newborns. (RH)
Probabilistic Simulation of Multi-Scale Composite Behavior
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chamis, Christos C.
A methodology is developed to computationally assess the non-deterministic composite response at all composite scales (from micro to structural) due to the uncertainties in the constituent (fiber and matrix) properties, in the fabrication process and in structural variables (primitive variables). The methodology is computationally efficient for simulating the probability distributions of composite behavior, such as material properties, laminate and structural responses. Bi-products of the methodology are probabilistic sensitivities of the composite primitive variables. The methodology has been implemented into the computer codes PICAN (Probabilistic Integrated Composite ANalyzer) and IPACS (Integrated Probabilistic Assessment of Composite Structures). The accuracy and efficiency of this methodology are demonstrated by simulating the uncertainties in composite typical laminates and comparing the results with the Monte Carlo simulation method. Available experimental data of composite laminate behavior at all scales fall within the scatters predicted by PICAN. Multi-scaling is extended to simulate probabilistic thermo-mechanical fatigue and to simulate the probabilistic design of a composite redome in order to illustrate its versatility. Results show that probabilistic fatigue can be simulated for different temperature amplitudes and for different cyclic stress magnitudes. Results also show that laminate configurations can be selected to increase the redome reliability by several orders of magnitude without increasing the laminate thickness--a unique feature of structural composites. The old reference denotes that nothing fundamental has been done since that time.
Using Telemedicine to Conduct Behavioral Assessments
Barretto, Anjali; Wacker, David P; Harding, Jay; Lee, John; Berg, Wendy K
We describe the use of telemedicine by the Biobehavioral Service at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to conduct brief functional analyses for children with developmental and behavioral disorders who live in rural areas of Iowa. Instead of being served at our outpatient facility, participants received initial behavioral assessments in their local schools or social service agencies via videoconference. Case descriptions for 2 participants whose evaluations were conducted via telemedicine, and a brief summary of all outpatient assessments conducted over a 4-year period by the Biobehavioral Service, are provided. This report extends previous applications of functional analysis procedures by examining brief behavioral assessments conducted via telemedicine. PMID:17020213
Pain assessment scales in newborns: integrative review
de Melo, Gleicia Martins; Lélis, Ana Luíza Paula de Aguiar; de Moura, Alline Falconieri; Cardoso, Maria Vera Lúcia Moreira Leitão; da Silva, Viviane Martins
OBJECTIVE: To analyze studies on methods used to assess pain in newborns. DATA SOURCES: Integrative review study of articles published from 2001 to 2012, carried out in the following databases: Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, LILACS and Cochrane. The sample consisted of 13 articles with level of evidence 5. DATA SYNTHESIS: 29 pain assessment scales in newborns, including 13 one-dimensional and 16 multidimensional, that assess acute and prolonged pain in preterm and full-term infants were available in scientific publications. CONCLUSION: Based on the characteristics of scales, one cannot choose a single one as the most appropriate scale, as this choice will depend on gestational age, type of painful stimulus and the environment in which the infant is inserted. It is suggested the use of multidimensional or one-dimensional scales; however, they must be reliable and validated. PMID:25511005
Behavioral Assessment and Intervention in Pediatric Diabetes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wysocki, Tim
This article reviews the empirical research literature on behavioral assessment and intervention methods in the context of diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents. The review summarizes the pathophysiology, medical management, and monitoring of pediatric type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Next, the article describes common behavioral barriers to…
Using Telemedicine to Conduct Behavioral Assessments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barretto, Anjali; Wacker, David P.; Harding, Jay; Lee, John; Berg, Wendy K.
We describe the use of telemedicine by the Biobehavioral Service at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to conduct brief functional analyses for children with developmental and behavioral disorders who live in rural areas of Iowa. Instead of being served at our outpatient facility, participants received initial behavioral assessments in…
Trichotillomania: Behavioral Assessment and Treatment Interventions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kell, Brandy L.; Kress, Victoria E.
This article examines the behavioral treatment of Trichotillomania. A brief overview of the diagnosis and assessment of Trichotillomania is provided. Guidelines for a structured clinical evaluation when working with people diagnosed with Trichotillomania are supplied. The most effective behavioral interventions and treatments for working with…
Behavioral Assessment and Treatment of Pediatric Headache
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Andrasik, Frank; Schwartz, Mark S.
Headaches are quite common in children and adolescents, and they appear to persist into adulthood in a sizable number of individuals. Assessment approaches (interview, pain diaries, and general and specific questionnaires) and behavioral treatment interventions (contingency management, relaxation, biofeedback, and cognitive behavior therapy) are…
Measurement in Sensory Modulation: The Sensory Processing Scale Assessment
Miller, Lucy J.; Sullivan, Jillian C.
OBJECTIVE. Sensory modulation issues have a significant impact on participation in daily life. Moreover, understanding phenotypic variation in sensory modulation dysfunction is crucial for research related to defining homogeneous groups and for clinical work in guiding treatment planning. We thus evaluated the new Sensory Processing Scale (SPS) Assessment. METHOD. Research included item development, behavioral scoring system development, test administration, and item analyses to evaluate reliability and validity across sensory domains. RESULTS. Items with adequate reliability (internal reliability >.4) and discriminant validity (p < .01) were retained. Feedback from the expert panel also contributed to decisions about retaining items in the scale. CONCLUSION. The SPS Assessment appears to be a reliable and valid measure of sensory modulation (scale reliability >.90; discrimination between group effect sizes >1.00). This scale has the potential to aid in differential diagnosis of sensory modulation issues. PMID:25184464
The Maladaptive Behavior Record (MBR): A Scale for the Analysis and Prediction of Community Adjustment and Recidivism of Offenders.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barton, Marlin; Jenkins, W. O.
This report describes the Maladaptive Behavior Record (MBR), a behavioral assessment scale developed for use in a longitudinal follow-up study of released adult offenders. The scale focused upon the identification and specification of maladaptive behaviors that are associated with postrelease success or failure, and is valid for and predictive of…
Validation of the Elementary Social Behavior Assessment: A Measure of Student Prosocial School Behaviors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pennefather, Jordan T.; Smolkowski, Keith
We describe the psychometric evaluation of the "Elementary Social Behavior Assessment" (ESBA™), a 12-item scale measuring teacher-preferred, positive social skills. The ESBA was developed for use in elementary school classrooms to measure teacher perceptions of students using time-efficient, web-based data collection methods that allow…
Multiple site optical recording of transmembrane voltage (MSORTV) in patterned growth heart cell cultures: assessing electrical behavior, with microsecond resolution, on a cellular and subcellular scale.
Rohr, S; Salzberg, B M
We have applied multiple site optical recording of transmembrane voltage (MSORTV) to patterned growth cultures of heart cells to analyze the effect of geometry per se on impulse propagation in excitable tissue, with cellular and subcellular resolution. Extensive dye screening led to the choice of di-8-ANEPPS as the most suitable voltage-sensitive dye for this application; it is internalized slowly and permits optical recording with signal-to-noise ratios as high as 40:1 (measured peak-to-peak) and average fractional fluorescence changes of 15% per 100 mV. Using a x 100 objective and a fast data acquisition system, we could resolve impulse propagation on a microscopic scale (15 microns) with high temporal resolution (uncertainty of +/- 5 microseconds). We could observe the decrease in conduction velocity of an impulse propagating along a narrow cell strand as it enters a region of abrupt expansion, and we could explain this phenomenon in terms of the micro-architecture of the tissue. In contrast with the elongated and aligned cells forming the narrow strands, the cells forming the expansions were aligned at random and presented 2.5 times as many cell-to-cell appositions per unit length. If the decrease in conduction velocity results entirely from this increased number of cell-to-cell boundaries per unit length, the mean activation delay introduced by each boundary can be estimated to be 70 microseconds. Using this novel experimental system, we could also demonstrate the electrical coupling of fibroblasts and endotheloid cells to myocytes in culture. Images FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2 FIGURE 4 FIGURE 5 FIGURE 7 FIGURE 8 PMID:7811945
Assessment scales for delirium: A review
Grover, Sandeep; Kate, Natasha
Over the years many scales have been designed for screening, diagnosis and assessing the severity of delirium. In this paper we review the various instruments available to screen the patients for delirium, instruments available to diagnose delirium, assess the severity, cognitive functions, motoric subtypes, etiology and associated distress. Among the various screening instruments, NEECHAM confusion scale and delirium observation scale appear to be most suitable screening instrument for patients' in general medical and surgical wards, depending on the type of rater (physician or nurse). In general, the instruments which are used for diagnosis [i.e., confusion assessment method (CAM), CAM for intensive care unit (CAM-ICU), Delirium Rating Scale-revised version (DRS-R-98), memorial selirium assessment scale, etc.] are based on various Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria and have good to excellent reliability and fair to good validity. Among the various diagnostic instruments, CAM is considered to be most useful instrument because of its accuracy, brevity, and ease of use by clinicians and lay interviewers. In contrast, DRS-R-98 appears to be a comprehensive instrument useful for diagnosis, severity rating and is sensitive to change and hence can be used for monitoring patients over a period. In the ICU setting, evidence suggests that CAM-ICU and Nursing Delirium Screening Scale had comparable sensitivities, but CAM-ICU has higher specificity. With regard to assessment of delirium in pediatric age group, certain instruments like Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium scale and pediatric CAM-ICU has been designed and have been found to be useful. PMID:24175169
Technical Analysis of the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale--Second Edition--Teacher Version
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Erford, Bradley T.; Clark, Kelly
The reliability and validity of scores on the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale-second edition-teacher version (DBRS-II-T) was analyzed. The DBRS-II-T was designed to assess teacher observations of students referred for behavioral difficulties. The five-factor model fit the data poorly, but convergent and diagnostic validities were excellent.…
Item-Based Psychometrics of the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cress, Cynthia J.; Lambert, Matthew C.; Epstein, Michael H.
The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (PreBERS) is an assessment of emotional and behavioral strengths in preschoolers with well-established reliability and validity for educational and clinical application in children with and without disabilities. The present study provides further evidence of psychometric rigor for items and…
Validity and Reliability Analysis for the Teacher Determination for Democratic Behavior Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yesil, Rustu
The main aim of this study is to develop a scale to assess the extent to which teachers display democratic behaviors they are supposed to display in in-classroom teaching practices and the level of their determination in displaying such behaviors. The study group of this survey is composed of 446 second grade high school students, 243 girls and…
Scaling Relative Incentive Value in Consummatory Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Papini, Mauricio R.; Pellegrini, Santiago
Surprising downshifts from more preferred (training incentive) to less preferred incentives (test incentive) are usually accompanied by emotional activation and suppression of conditioned behavior in rats. Two experiments were designed to determine whether consummatory behavior is similarly affected by downshifts of equal proportions. Within…
A Systematic Review and Psychometric Evaluation of Adaptive Behavior Scales and Recommendations for Practice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Floyd, Randy G.; Shands, Elizabeth I.; Alfonso, Vincent C.; Phillips, Jessica F.; Autry, Beth K.; Mosteller, Jessica A.; Skinner, Mary; Irby, Sarah
Adaptive behavior scales are vital in assessing children and adolescents who experience a range of disabling conditions in school settings. This article presents the results of an evaluation of the design characteristics, norming, scale characteristics, reliability and validity evidence, and bias identification studies supporting 14…
A comparison of a regional (multi-state) and local (multi-county) scale assessment was done to evaluate similarities and differences in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of landscape data. The study areas included EP A Region 3 a11d a sub-region spanning North and Sout...
Psychometric Properties of the "Aberrant Behavior Checklist," the "Anxiety, Depression and Mood Scale," the "Assessment of Dual Diagnosis" and the "Social Performance Survey Schedule" in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rojahn, Johannes; Rowe, Ellen W.; Kasdan, Shana; Moore, Linda; van Ingen, Daniel J.
Progress in clinical research and in empirically supported interventions in the area of psychopathology in intellectual disabilities (ID) depends on high-quality assessment instruments. To this end, psychometric properties of four instruments were examined: the "Aberrant Behavior Checklist" (ABC), the "Assessment of Dual Diagnosis" (ADD), the…
Behavioral toxicology, risk assessment, and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Evangelista de Duffard, A M; Duffard, R
Behavioral end points are being used with greater frequency in neurotoxicology to detect and characterize the adverse effects of chemicals on the nervous system. Behavioral measures are particularly important for neurotoxicity risk assessment since many known neurotoxicants do not result in neuropathology. The chlorinated hydrocarbon class consists of a wide variety of chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls, clioquinol, trichloroethylene, hexachlorophene, organochlorine insecticides (DDT, dicofol, chlordecone,dieldrin, and lindane), and phenoxyherbicides. Each of these chemicals has effects on motor, sensory, or cognitive function that are detectable using functional measures such as behavior. Furthermore, there is evidence that if exposure occurs during critical periods of development, many of the chlorinated hydrocarbons are developmental neurotoxicants. Developmental neurotoxicity is frequently expressed as alterations in motor function or cognitive abilities or changes in the ontogeny of sensorimotor reflexes. Neurotoxicity risk assessment should include assessments of the full range of possible neurotoxicological effects, including both structural and functional indicators of neurotoxicity. PMID:9182042
International validation of a behavioral scale in Parkinson's disease without dementia.
Rieu, Isabelle; Martinez-Martin, Pablo; Pereira, Bruno; De Chazeron, Ingrid; Verhagen Metman, Leo; Jahanshahi, Marjan; Ardouin, Claire; Chéreau, Isabelle; Brefel-Courbon, Christine; Ory-Magne, Fabienne; Klinger, Helene; Peyrol, Fleur; Schupbach, Michael; Dujardin, Kathy; Tison, François; Houeto, Jean Luc; Krack, Paul; Durif, Franck
The "Ardouin Scale of Behavior in Parkinson's Disease" is a new instrument specifically designed for assessing mood and behavior with a view to quantifying changes related to Parkinson's disease, to dopaminergic medication, and to non-motor fluctuations. This study was aimed at analyzing the psychometric attributes of this scale in patients with Parkinson's disease without dementia. In addition to this scale, the following measures were applied: the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the Lille Apathy Rating Scale, the Bech and Rafaelsen Mania Scale, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the MacElroy Criteria, the Patrick Carnes criteria, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Patients (n=260) were recruited at 13 centers across four countries (France, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States). Cronbach's alpha coefficient for domains ranged from 0.69 to 0.78. Regarding test-retest reliability, the kappa coefficient for items was higher than 0.4. For inter-rater reliability, the kappa values were 0.29 to 0.81. Furthermore, most of the items from the Ardouin Scale of Behavior in Parkinson's Disease correlated with the corresponding items of the other scales, depressed mood with the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (ρ=0.82); anxiety with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-anxiety (ρ=0.56); apathy with the Lille Apathy Rating Scale (ρ=0.60). The Ardouin Scale of Behavior in Parkinson's disease is an acceptable, reproducible, valid, and precise assessment for evaluating changes in behavior in patients with Parkinson's disease without dementia. PMID:25809278
Validation of the Preschool and Primary School Form of a Questionnaire Assessing Parents' Childrearing Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Meunier, Jean-Christophe; Roskam, Isabelle
This study presents a validation of a scale that assesses parents' childrearing behavior toward young children. The scale was validated on 565 parents of 2- to 7-year-old children. The current results replicated the factor solution of the original scale designed for parents of school-aged children. The scale demonstrated good psychometric…
[A tool for assessing eating behaviors: ESSCA].
Carrard, Isabelle; Kruseman, Maaike; Chappuis, Mathilde; Schmutz, Noémi; Volery, Magali
Eating behaviors are key when considering overweight or obesity management. Many issues varying in severity can interfere with the treatment. This article provides a semi-structured interview to address the determinants of food intake--hunger food craving--problematic eating behaviors--snacking, emotional eating--and eating disorders particularly related to overweight. Convenient for healthcare practitioners, this instrument comes with an interview guide to standardize its use. The relatively complete picture of the patient's eating behavior resulting from this assessment contributes to the treatment proposal. PMID:27188052
Sensitivity to change of scales assessing symptoms of bulimia nervosa.
Pook, Martin; Tuschen-Caffier, Brunna
Measures employed in a therapy study with a pre-post design must be sensitive to the detection of treatment-related changes. In the present study, the treatment sensitivity of 12 internationally established scales that assess bulimia-relevant aspects of eating and body concern is analyzed. The scales can be sorted along three dimensions (Disturbed Eating, Restrictive Eating Behaviors and Body Dissatisfaction). Measures of the same dimension were compared in a sample of 45 women with the diagnosis of bulimia nervosa. Patients completed the scales before and 6 weeks after the end of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Significant differences between scales with respect to treatment sensitivity occurred in all three dimensions. Post hoc analysis revealed that scales are particularly sensitive to change if they include disorder-relevant aspects beyond the main dimension of a scale. Implications of the findings for meta-analytical treatment research, for designing effectiveness studies, and for future research on the treatment sensitivity of outcome measures are discussed. PMID:15450916
Addressing Student Problem Behavior: An IEP Team's Introduction to Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plans.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Quinn, Mary Magee; Gable, Robert A.; Rutherford, Robert B., Jr.; Nelson, C. Michael; Howell, Kenneth W.
This paper provides guidelines for conducting a functional behavioral assessment and developing positive behavior intervention plans with students who have behavior disorders or other disabilities in the context of requirements of the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). After an introduction, rights and…
Scaling behavior of regularized bosonic strings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ambjørn, J.; Makeenko, Y.
We implement a proper-time UV regularization of the Nambu-Goto string, introducing an independent metric tensor and the corresponding Lagrange multiplier, and treating them in the mean-field approximation justified for long strings and/or when the dimension of space-time is large. We compute the regularized determinant of the 2D Laplacian for the closed string winding around a compact dimension, obtaining in this way the effective action, whose minimization determines the energy of the string ground state in the mean-field approximation. We discuss the existence of two scaling limits when the cutoff is taken to infinity. One scaling limit reproduces the results obtained by the hypercubic regularization of the Nambu-Goto string as well as by the use of the dynamical triangulation regularization of the Polyakov string. The other scaling limit reproduces the results obtained by canonical quantization of the Nambu-Goto string.
Predicting Compliance Behavior from Moral Judgment Scales
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Froming, William J.; Cooper, Robert G., Jr.
Two experiments with college males examined the relationship between moral judgment and compliance in a modified Asch paradigm. Moral judgment was assessed using Kohlberg's dilemmas in one experiment and with Rest's Defining Issues in the second experiment. (Editor/RK)
Scale invariance in the dynamics of spontaneous behavior
Proekt, Alex; Banavar, Jayanth R.; Maritan, Amos; Pfaff, Donald W.
Typically one expects that the intervals between consecutive occurrences of a particular behavior will have a characteristic time scale around which most observations are centered. Surprisingly, the timing of many diverse behaviors from human communication to animal foraging form complex self-similar temporal patterns reproduced on multiple time scales. We present a general framework for understanding how such scale invariance may arise in nonequilibrium systems, including those that regulate mammalian behaviors. We then demonstrate that the predictions of this framework are in agreement with detailed analysis of spontaneous mouse behavior observed in a simple unchanging environment. Neural systems operate on a broad range of time scales, from milliseconds to hours. We analytically show that such a separation between time scales could lead to scale-invariant dynamics without any fine tuning of parameters or other model-specific constraints. Our analyses reveal that the specifics of the distribution of resources or competition among several tasks are not essential for the expression of scale-free dynamics. Rather, we show that scale invariance observed in the dynamics of behavior can arise from the dynamics intrinsic to the brain. PMID:22679281
A Diagnostician's Primer on Functional Behavioral Assessment.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sutton, Joe P.; Walker, Steven C.
This article synthesizes information from the special education literature about functional behavioral assessments (FBAs), including the law and FBA, working definitions, basic assumptions underlying FBA, the role of the diagnosticians, the role of special educators, the steps to conducting an FBA, the methods of FBA, and tools for the…
Scaling behavior of coarsening Faraday heaps
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
van Gerner, Henk Jan; van der Weele, Ko; van der Meer, Devaraj; van der Hoef, Martin A.
When a layer of sand is vertically shaken, the surface spontaneously breaks up in a landscape of small conical "Faraday heaps," which merge into larger ones on an ever increasing time scale. We propose a model for the heap dynamics and show analytically that the mean lifetime of the transient state with N heaps scales as N-2. When there is an abundance of sand, such that the vibrating plate always remains completely covered, this means that the average diameter of the heaps grows as t1 /2. Otherwise, when the sand is less plentiful and parts of the plate get depleted during the coarsening process, the average diameter of the heaps grows more slowly, namely as t1 /3. This result compares well with experimental observations.
Scaling behavior of coarsening Faraday heaps.
van Gerner, Henk Jan; van der Weele, Ko; van der Meer, Devaraj; van der Hoef, Martin A
When a layer of sand is vertically shaken, the surface spontaneously breaks up in a landscape of small conical "Faraday heaps," which merge into larger ones on an ever increasing time scale. We propose a model for the heap dynamics and show analytically that the mean lifetime of the transient state with N heaps scales as N(-2). When there is an abundance of sand, such that the vibrating plate always remains completely covered, this means that the average diameter of the heaps grows as t(1/2). Otherwise, when the sand is less plentiful and parts of the plate get depleted during the coarsening process, the average diameter of the heaps grows more slowly, namely as t(1/3). This result compares well with experimental observations. PMID:26565231
Common scaling behavior in finance and macroeconomics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Podobnik, B.; Horvatic, D.; Petersen, A. M.; Njavro, M.; Stanley, H. E.
In order to test whether scaling exists in finance at the world level, we test whether the average growth rates and volatility of market capitalization (MC) depend on the level of MC. We analyze the MC for 54 worldwide stock indices and 48 worldwide bond indices. We find that (i) the average growth rate
Alternate Forms Reliability of the Behavioral Relaxation Scale: Preliminary Results
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lundervold, Duane A.; Dunlap, Angel L.
Alternate forms reliability of the Behavioral Relaxation Scale (BRS; Poppen,1998), a direct observation measure of relaxed behavior, was examined. A single BRS score, based on long duration observation (5-minute), has been found to be a valid measure of relaxation and is correlated with self-report and some physiological measures. Recently,…
Complex scaling behavior in animal foraging patterns
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Premachandra, Prabhavi Kaushalya
This dissertation attempts to answer questions from two different areas of biology, ecology and neuroscience, using physics-based techniques. In Section 2, suitability of three competing random walk models is tested to describe the emergent movement patterns of two species of primates. The truncated power law (power law with exponential cut off) is the most suitable random walk model that characterizes the emergent movement patterns of these primates. In Section 3, an agent-based model is used to simulate search behavior in different environments (landscapes) to investigate the impact of the resource landscape on the optimal foraging movement patterns of deterministic foragers. It should be noted that this model goes beyond previous work in that it includes parameters such as spatial memory and satiation, which have received little consideration to date in the field of movement ecology. When the food availability is scarce in a tropical forest-like environment with feeding trees distributed in a clumped fashion and the size of those trees are distributed according to a lognormal distribution, the optimal foraging pattern of a generalist who can consume various and abundant food types indeed reaches the Levy range, and hence, show evidence for Levy-flight-like (power law distribution with exponent between 1 and 3) behavior. Section 4 of the dissertation presents an investigation of phase transition behavior in a network of locally coupled self-sustained oscillators as the system passes through various bursting states. The results suggest that a phase transition does not occur for this locally coupled neuronal network. The data analysis in the dissertation adopts a model selection approach and relies on methods based on information theory and maximum likelihood.
Validation of a novel behavior prediction scale: A two-center trial
Asokan, Sharath; Surendran, Sharmila; Punugoti, Dedeepya; Nuvvula, Sivakumar; Geetha Priya, P. R.
Context: Prediction of the child's behavior can adequately equip the dentist in rendering effective and efficient dental treatment. Aim: This study was planned to evaluate and validate a specially prepared questionnaire as a child behavior prediction scale. Design: A two-center cross-sectional study was done to validate the new scale. Materials and Methods: Children aged 3–12 years (n = 296), from two different centers participated in this study. The questionnaire used was a 10-point observational scale. Observations involved perceiving overt and subtle behavioral characteristics of a child, to assess the child's behavior in the dental office before treatment. An independent observer approached the children and their parents in the waiting room. The child's behavior was then evaluated by the dentist using Frankl behavior rating scale during and after treatment. The prediction of behavior compared to the Frankl scale was assessed and validated. Statistical Analysis: Sensitivity, specificity tests, and receiver operating curve analysis were used to validate the new scale and calculate the cut-off score for positive and negative behavior. All data were processed by SPSS software (16.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill, USA). Results: The best cut-off score to predict a positive Frankl rating was ≥ 8.0 in both the centers. The sensitivity and specificity scores were 93.4% and 62.5% in center 1; 83.1% and 59.6% in center 2 respectively. Conclusion: This novel prediction scale can be of great importance in predicting children's behavior in the dental environment. PMID:25395769
Child-focused behavioral assessment and modification.
Evans, I M
Argues that behavioral principles have been translated into practice with children too literally and that a more integrative framework is required to guide assessment and treatment. The framework advocated is Staats's (1996) psychological behaviorism. This is a consistently behavioristic, positivist paradigm, using multilevel theory to emphasize the integration of social learning, developmental, and personality principles. Psychological behaviorism thus allows for a much more expansive approach than has typically been the case within child behavior therapy. Given the complexity of this perspective, I selected four broad tenets of the theory and suggested their implications for clinical contexts. The further translation from clinical models to specific clinical practices is quite difficult but may yield more flexible and substitutable practices than do unidimensional treatment outcome studies. Of special importance, the principles demonstrate how children themselves can retain the central focus of child behavioral assessment and modification. Specific practices still need to be constructed according to an understanding of the multiple sources of influence on children as well as the culture of childhood itself. PMID:10587900
Development of Behaviorally-Anchored Rating Scales for Pharmacy Practice.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Grussing, Paul G.; And Others
Seventeen behaviorally-anchored rating scales were developed for a comprehensive measure of performance in pharmacy practice, including pharmacist selection, performance appraisal, and promotion activities. The scales (which are included) were also used to evaluate extern performance, and to serve as a criterion measure in studies of concurrent…
The Gender Communication Scale: A Scale Development of an Instrument to Measure Gender Role Behavior.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Neer, Michael R.; Hudson, David D.
To derive a descriptive profile of communication role patterns and to determine whether these patterns were gender dependent, a Gender Communication Scale was developed by selecting scale items from other instruments that best discriminated reports of role behavior. The scale was then administered to 91 male and 148 female undergraduate students.…
The Behavior Observation Scale for Autism (BOS): Relationship of Frequency of Behavior to IQ.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Freeman, B. J.; And Others
The Behavior Observation Scale (BOS) was administered to 53 autistic children, 35 mentally retarded children matched for MA, and 33 normal children (all 2 to 5 years old) in an attempt to quantify autistic behavior. Ss were observed 3 days for 3 minutes through a one way mirror in a playroom setting where occurrence of 67 behaviors on the BOS was…
Toward Oxide Scale Behavior Management At High Temperature
Deltombe, R.; Dubar, M.; Dubois, A.; Dubar, L.
Oxide scales grow freely on bare metallic surface under environmental conditions such as high temperature and oxygen. These act as thermal and mechanical shields, especially during high hot forming processes (>1000 deg. C). But product quality can be impacted by these oxide scales due to scale remaining on product or sticking on tools. Thus the TEMPO laboratory has created an original methodology in order to characterize oxide scale under high temperature, pressure and strain gradients. An experimental device has been developed. The final purpose of this work is to understand the scale behavior as a function of temperature, reduction ratio and steel composition.
Scaling behavior in a stochastic self-gravitating system.
Antonov, N V
A system of stochastic differential equations for the velocity and density of classical self-gravitating matter is investigated by means of the field theoretic renormalization group. The existence of two types of large-scale scaling behavior, associated with physically admissible fixed points of the renormalization-group equations, is established. Their regions of stability are identified and the corresponding scaling dimensions are calculated in the one-loop approximation (first order of the epsilon expansion). The velocity and density fields have independent scaling dimensions. Our analysis supports the importance of the rotational (nonpotential) components of the velocity field in the formation of those scaling laws. PMID:15169213
A Scale for Assessing the Severity of Arousal Disorders
Arnulf, Isabelle; Zhang, Bin; Uguccioni, Ginevra; Flamand, Mathilde; Noël de Fontréaux, Alix; Leu-Semenescu, Smaranda; Brion, Agnès
Background: Arousal disorders may have serious health consequences. Objective: To develop a scale assessing the severity of arousal disorders (Paris Arousal Disorders Severity Scale, PADSS). Setting: University hospital. Design: Controlled study. Participants: Consecutive patients (older than 15 y), with sleepwalking (SW) and/or sleep terrors (ST), subjects with previous SW/ST, normal controls and patients with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder. Intervention: The self-rated scale listed 17 parasomniac behaviors (PADSS-A), assessed their frequency from never to twice or more per night (PADSS-B) and evaluated the consequences (PADSS-C: disturbed sleep, injuries, fatigue, and psychological consequences). The clinimetric properties and face validity of the scale were tested. Results: Half of the 73 patients with SW/ST (more men than women) had injured themselves or others, whereas 15% had concomitant sexsomnia and 23% had amnestic eating behaviors. The total PADSS score (range: 0-50) was 19.4 ± 6.3 (range: 8-36) in this group, 11.7 ± 5.9 in 26 subjects with previous SW/ST, 8.8 ± 3.2 in 26 patients with RBD, and 2.0 ± 3.5 in 53 normal controls (P < 0.05). The PADSS demonstrated high sensitivity (83.6%), specificity (87.8%), internal consistency, and test-retest reliability (0.79). The best cutoff for the total score was at 13/14. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two components: wandering and violence/handling. The complexity of behaviors emerging from N3 sleep (scored on videopolysomnography) positively correlated with scores for the PADSS-total, PADSS-A, PADSS-C, and the "violence/handling" factor. Conclusion: This scale had reasonable psychometric properties and could be used for screening and stratifying patients and for evaluating the effects of treatments. Citation: Arnulf I; Zhang B; Uguccioni G; Flamand M; Noël de Fontréaux A; Leu-Semenescu S; Brion A. A scale for assessing the severity of arousal disorders. SLEEP 2014;37(1):127-136. PMID
Methodological Challenges in Research on Sexual Risk Behavior: I. Item Content, Scaling, and Data Analytical Options
Schroder, Kerstin E. E.; Carey, Michael P.; Vanable, Peter A.
Investigation of sexual behavior involves many challenges, including how to assess sexual behavior and how to analyze the resulting data. Sexual behavior can be assessed using absolute frequency measures (also known as "counts") or with relative frequency measures (e.g., rating scales ranging from "never" to "always"). We discuss these two assessment approaches in the context of research on HIV risk behavior. We conclude that these two approaches yield non-redundant information and, more importantly, that only data yielding information about the absolute frequency of risk behavior have the potential to serve as valid indicators of HIV contraction risk. However, analyses of count data may be challenging due to non-normal distributions with many outliers. Therefore, we identify new and powerful data analytical solutions that have been developed recently to analyze count data, and discuss limitations of a commonly applied method (viz., ANCOVA using baseline scores as covariates). PMID:14534027
Validating the Interpersonal Communication Assessment Scale.
Klakovich, Marilyn D; Dela Cruz, Felicitas A
Despite the centrality of interpersonal communication in nursing, there are few psychometrically sound instruments to measure the communication competencies of undergraduate and graduate nursing students. This article reports on the development and testing of the Interpersonal Communication Assessment Scale (ICAS), which was designed to assess the communication competencies of students in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. Retroductive triangulation, using both deductive and inductive methods, and the Model of Relational Competence guided the measure's conceptualization and development. We used responses from 531 (24%) undergraduate and graduate clinical faculty from 246 American Association of Colleges of Nursing member schools for the psychometric testing of the 54-item content-validated and pilot-tested ICAS. Exploratory-factor analysis resulted in a three-factor solution labeled as advocacy, therapeutic use of self, and validation. These factors accounted for 60% of the variance. Items that loaded .60 or higher were retained, resulting in a 23-item scale with a Cronbach's alpha of .96. The ICAS significantly differentiated the communication competencies of beginning and graduating students in both undergraduate and graduate programs. The ICAS was found to have construct validity and internal consistency, underscoring its potential as a formative and summative tool to assess the interpersonal communication competencies of nursing students. PMID:16459290
Characterizing the Scaling Behavior of Rainfall Using Imperfect Data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Prat, O. P.; Barros, A. P.; Sun, X.
Scaling analysis provides a generalized framework to describe the spatial and temporal variability of geophysical states with universal metrics. A key implication of scale invariance for applications in Hydrometeorology is that it is possible to infer the statistical properties of individual processes from observations over a limited range of scales. Besides the limited range of observational scales, one common difficulty in Hydrometeorology, especially in the case of remote sensing observations, is that very few data sets correspond to direct measurements of the processes of interest. Rather, such data sets correspond to estimates (retrievals) derived from related observable states, which implies the need for estimation (retrieval) models to describe the underlying physical and, or statistical relationships. Besides the errors and uncertainties intrinsic to measurement generally, there is therefore in the case of remote sensing an additional pathway to introduce errors, uncertainty and ambiguity. In this presentation we describe recent work focusing on downscaling of rainfall products and characterization of rainfall extremes. First, fractal downscaling was used to address the disparity between the spatial and temporal resolution of existing, and anticipated, satellite-based quantitative precipitation estimates and the need for high spatial resolution in hydrometeorological and hydrological applications using TRMM 3B42 V6 precipitation product (~ 25 km grid spacing) and NCEP Stage IV products (~ 4 km grid spacing). The results show that fractal interpolation performs well with regard to operational QPE skill scores, and does meet the additional requirement of generating structurally consistent fields. However, severe limitations were detected and identified that are specifically associated with the measurement system and retrieval algorithms. Second, a multifractal framework was applied to three distinct types of rainfall data to assess the statistical differences
The Development and Validation of the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oxhandler, Holly K.; Parrish, Danielle E.
Objective: This article describes the development and validation of the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale (RSIPAS). The RSIPAS is designed to assess social work practitioners' self-efficacy, attitudes, behaviors, and perceived feasibility concerning the assessment or integration of clients' religious and spiritual beliefs…
Atypical Behavior Identification in Large Scale Network Traffic
Best, Daniel M.; Hafen, Ryan P.; Olsen, Bryan K.; Pike, William A.
Cyber analysts are faced with the daunting challenge of identifying exploits and threats within potentially billions of daily records of network traffic. Enterprise-wide cyber traffic involves hundreds of millions of distinct IP addresses and results in data sets ranging from terabytes to petabytes of raw data. Creating behavioral models and identifying trends based on those models requires data intensive architectures and techniques that can scale as data volume increases. Analysts need scalable visualization methods that foster interactive exploration of data and enable identification of behavioral anomalies. Developers must carefully consider application design, storage, processing, and display to provide usability and interactivity with large-scale data. We present an application that highlights atypical behavior in enterprise network flow records. This is accomplished by utilizing data intensive architectures to store the data, aggregation techniques to optimize data access, statistical techniques to characterize behavior, and a visual analytic environment to render the behavioral trends, highlight atypical activity, and allow for exploration.
Toward Increasing Fairness in Score Scale Calibrations Employed in International Large-Scale Assessments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oliveri, Maria Elena; von Davier, Matthias
In this article, we investigate the creation of comparable score scales across countries in international assessments. We examine potential improvements to current score scale calibration procedures used in international large-scale assessments. Our approach seeks to improve fairness in scoring international large-scale assessments, which often…
Habitat Utilization Assessment - Building in Behaviors
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Whitmore, Mihriban; Blume, Jennifer
Habitability, and the associated architectural and design attributes of an environment, is a powerful performance shaping factor. By identifying how inhabitants use an area, we can draw conclusions about what design or architectural attributes cause what behaviors and systematically design in desired human performance. We are analyzing how a crew uses a long duration habitat and work environment during a four-day underwater mission and identifying certain architectural and design attributes that are related to, and potential enablers of, certain crew behaviors. By identifying how inhabitants use the habitat, we can draw conclusions about what habitability attributes cause what behaviors and systematically design in desired human performance (applicable to NASA's Bioastronautics Human Behavior and Performance Critical Path Roadmap question 6.12). This assessment replicates a methodology reported in a chapter titled "Sociokinetic Analysis as a Tool for Optimization of Environmental Design" by C. Adams.' That study collected video imagery of certain areas of a closed habitat during a 91 day test and from that data calculated time spent in different volumes during the mission, and characterized the behaviors occurring in certain habitat volumes thus concluding various rules for design of such habitats. This study assesses the utilization of the Aquarius Habitat, an underwater station, which will support six Aquanauts for a fourteen-day mission during which the crew will perform specific scientific and engineering studies. Video is recorded for long uninterrupted periods of time during the mission and from that data the time spent in each area is calculated. In addition, qualitative and descriptive analysis of the types of behaviors in each area is performed with the purpose of identifying any behaviors that are not typical of a certain area. If a participant uses an area in a way different from expected, a subsequent analysis of the features of that area may result in
Increasing the on-task homework behavior of youth with behavior disorders using functional behavioral assessment.
Hawkins, Renee O; Axelrod, Michael I
Research has shown a positive correlation between time spent on homework and learning. However, students often engage in off-task behaviors to escape the demands of homework. Youth with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) are especially likely to engage in off-task behaviors. Effective interventions to increase on-task behavior during homework are needed to increase students' academic success. Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures may be helpful for intervention planning; however, there has been limited research on use of FBA with youth with EBD experiencing poor academic performance or task completion problems. In the current study, FBA methods were used to identify the contingencies maintaining the off-task behavior of four youth with behavior problems. Effects of interventions based on functional hypotheses were compared to the effects of interventions not linked to such hypotheses. Discussion focuses on utility of FBA procedures for developing and implementing effective interventions for youth with EBD. PMID:18490267
Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: Two Studies of Convergent Validity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Trout, Alexandra L.; Ryan, Joseph B.; La Vigne, Steven P.; Epstein, Michael H.
As the field of mental health services shifts its focus to early intervention, the need to develop valid and reliable measures of young children's behavioral functioning is clear. Traditional assessment instruments have focused on deficits, problems, and pathologies to the exclusion of strengths and competencies. However, assessing child strengths…
Parent Report of ADHD Symptoms of Early Adolescents: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Disruptive Behavior Disorders Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Eck, Kathryn; Finney, Sara J.; Evans, Steven W.
The Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) scale includes the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed.) criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder. This study examined only the ADHD items of the DBD scale. This scale is frequently used for assessing parent-…
Assessing Specific Sexual Behavior: Instrument Development and Validation Techniques
Webb, Monica C.; Chaney, J. Don; Chen, W. William; Dodd, Virginia J.; Huang, I-Chan; Sanders, Sadie
Through the use of multi-modal methods, the purpose of this study was to develop and assess measurement properties of an instrument evaluating specific sexual behaviors of college students and the role alcohol intoxication plays in one's intention to participate in these behaviors. A modified version of N. Krause's instrument development process was applied to create a behavior-specific instrument assessing oral, vaginal, and anal sex behaviors. The process included a review by expert scholars in relevant fields, cognitive interviews with the target population using screen-capture program Camtasia, piloting to assess measurement scales, and a formal investigation. The applied instrument development process employed screen capture software and web-based surveying in a cost-effective format suitable for mixed-method measurement development. The development and application of the instrument provides a clearer understanding of the relationship between alcohol use and sexual activity and aids in the development of effective public health interventions and policies. PMID:27066593
Multidimensionality of Teachers' Graded Responses for Preschoolers' Stylistic Learning Behavior: The Learning-to-Learn Scales
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McDermott, Paul A.; Fantuzzo, John W.; Warley, Heather P.; Waterman, Clare; Angelo, Lauren E.; Gadsden, Vivian L.; Sekino, Yumiko
Assessment of preschool learning behavior has become very popular as a mechanism to inform cognitive development and promote successful interventions. The most widely used measures offer sound predictions but distinguish only a few types of stylistic learning and lack sensitive growth detection. The Learning-to-Learn Scales was designed to…
An Exploratory Investigation of the Counseling Competencies Scale: A Measure of Counseling Skills, Dispositions, and Behaviors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Swank, Jacqueline M.; Lambie, Glenn W.; Witta, E. Lea
The authors examined the psychometric properties of the Counseling Competencies Scale (CCS; University of Central Florida Counselor Education Faculty, 2009), an instrument designed to assess trainee competencies as measured in their counseling skills, dispositions, and behaviors. There was strong internal consistency for the 4-factor model for…
Evaluating Change in Behavioral Preferences: Multidimensional Scaling Single-Ideal Point Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ding, Cody
The purpose of the article is to propose a multidimensional scaling single-ideal point model as a method to evaluate changes in individuals' preferences under the explicit methodological framework of behavioral preference assessment. One example is used to illustrate the approach for a clear idea of what this approach can accomplish.
On the Scaling Behavior of Reliability-Resilience-Vulnerability Indices in Agricultural Watersheds
Risk indices such as reliability-resilience-vulnerability (R-R-V) have been proposed to assess watershed health. In this study, the spatial scaling behavior of R-R-V indices has been explored for five agricultural watersheds in the midwestern United States. The study was conduc...
Functional-Based Assessment of Social Behavior: Introduction and Overview.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lewis, Timothy J.; Sugai, George
This introduction to and overview of a special issue on social behavior assessment within schools discusses the impact of function-based methodologies on assessment and intervention practices in identification and remediation of challenging social behaviors. (JDD)
Acceptability of Functional Behavioral Assessment Procedures to Special Educators and School Psychologists
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
O'Neill, Robert E.; Bundock, Kaitlin; Kladis, Kristin; Hawken, Leanne S.
This survey study assessed the acceptability of a variety of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures (i.e., functional assessment interviews, rating scales/questionnaires, systematic direct observations, functional analysis manipulations) to a national sample of 123 special educators and a state sample of 140 school psychologists.…
Validity and Reliability of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (2nd Edition): Youth Rating Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Epstein, Michael H.; Mooney, Paul; Ryser, Gail; Pierce, Corey D.
Objective: This article reports findings of three studies addressing convergent validity and test-retest reliability of the Youth Rating Scale of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-Second Edition (BERS-2). Method: Pearson product-moment correlations were used in all three studies, the first two addressing convergent validity and the third…
Establishment and assessment of code scaling capability
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lim, Jaehyok
In this thesis, a method for using RELAP5/MOD3.3 (Patch03) code models is described to establish and assess the code scaling capability and to corroborate the scaling methodology that has been used in the design of the Purdue University Multi-Dimensional Integral Test Assembly for ESBWR applications (PUMA-E) facility. It was sponsored by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) under the program "PUMA ESBWR Tests". PUMA-E facility was built for the USNRC to obtain data on the performance of the passive safety systems of the General Electric (GE) Nuclear Energy Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR). Similarities between the prototype plant and the scaled-down test facility were investigated for a Gravity-Driven Cooling System (GDCS) Drain Line Break (GDLB). This thesis presents the results of the GDLB test, i.e., the GDLB test with one Isolation Condenser System (ICS) unit disabled. The test is a hypothetical multi-failure small break loss of coolant (SB LOCA) accident scenario in the ESBWR. The test results indicated that the blow-down phase, Automatic Depressurization System (ADS) actuation, and GDCS injection processes occurred as expected. The GDCS as an emergency core cooling system provided adequate supply of water to keep the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) coolant level well above the Top of Active Fuel (TAF) during the entire GDLB transient. The long-term cooling phase, which is governed by the Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) condensation, kept the reactor containment system that is composed of Drywell (DW) and Wetwell (WW) below the design pressure of 414 kPa (60 psia). In addition, the ICS continued participating in heat removal during the long-term cooling phase. A general Code Scaling, Applicability, and Uncertainty (CSAU) evaluation approach was discussed in detail relative to safety analyses of Light Water Reactor (LWR). The major components of the CSAU methodology that were highlighted particularly focused on the
Functional Behavior Assessment in Schools: Current Status and Future Directions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anderson, Cynthia M.; Rodriguez, Billie Jo; Campbell, Amy
Functional behavior assessment is becoming a commonly used practice in school settings. Accompanying this growth has been an increase in research on functional behavior assessment. We reviewed the extant literature on documenting indirect and direct methods of functional behavior assessment in school settings. To discern best practice guidelines…
Construct Validation of the Behavior and Instructional Management Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Martin, Nancy K.; Sass, Daniel A.
Beliefs related to classroom management vary among teachers and play an important role in classrooms. Despite the importance of this construct, valid measures have proven difficult to develop. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Behavior and Instructional Management Scale (BIMS), a short but valid measure of teachers'…
The Adaptive Behavior Scale: A Study of Criterion Validity.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Spreat, Scott
The validity of the Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) for placement purposes was estimated using as Ss 95 formerly institutionalized retarded persons, 97 institutional residents referred for discharge, and 178 institutional residents. Results suggest that knowledge of an individual's ABS scores would enable a test user to make valid estimates of group…
Behaviors and Corresponding Functions Addressed via Functional Assessment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Matson, Johnny L.; Sipes, Megan; Horovitz, Max; Worley, Julie A.; Shoemaker, Mary E.; Kozlowski, Alison M.
One-hundred seventy-three studies that employed functional assessment were evaluated with respect to types of challenging behaviors studied and the functions identified that maintained those behaviors. For most studies, two to three behaviors were targeted. Of the 38 different challenging behaviors identified, self-injurious behavior (SIB) and…
Lateralized Kinematics of Predation Behavior in a Lake Tanganyika Scale-Eating Cichlid Fish
Takeuchi, Yuichi; Hori, Michio; Oda, Yoichi
Behavioral lateralization has been documented in many vertebrates. The scale-eating cichlid fish Perissodus microlepis is well known for exhibiting lateral dimorphism in its mouth morphology and lateralized behavior in robbing scales from prey fish. A previous field study indicated that this mouth asymmetry closely correlates with the side on which prey is attacked, but details of this species' predation behavior have not been previously analyzed because of the rapidity of the movements. Here, we studied scale-eating behavior in cichlids in a tank through high-speed video monitoring and quantitative assessment of behavioral laterality and kinematics. The fish observed showed a clear bias toward striking on one side, which closely correlated with their asymmetric mouth morphologies. Furthermore, the maximum angular velocity and amplitude of body flexion were significantly larger during attacks on the preferred side compared to those on the nonpreferred side, permitting increased predation success. In contrast, no such lateral difference in movement elements was observed in acoustically evoked flexion during the escape response, which is similar to flexion during scale eating and suggests that they share a common motor control pathway. Thus the neuronal circuits controlling body flexion during scale eating may be functionally lateralized upstream of this common motor pathway. PMID:22238598
The Use of Structural Behavioral Assessment to Develop Interventions for Secondary Students Exhibiting Challenging Behaviors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Losinski, Mickey; Maag, John W.; Katsiyannis, Antonis; Ryan, Joseph B.
Structural behavioral assessment (SBA) involves a series of heuristic approaches similar to those used with functional behavioral assessment (FBA). It involves assessing contextual variables that precede the occurrence of a behavior. These variables have also been termed antecedents, setting events, or establishing operations. Once these variables…
Behavioral responses of wolves to roads: scale-dependent ambivalence.
Zimmermann, Barbara; Nelson, Lindsey; Wabakken, Petter; Sand, Håkan; Liberg, Olof
Throughout their recent recovery in several industrialized countries, large carnivores have had to cope with a changed landscape dominated by human infrastructure. Population growth depends on the ability of individuals to adapt to these changes by making use of new habitat features and at the same time to avoid increased risks of mortality associated with human infrastructure. We analyzed the summer movements of 19 GPS-collared resident wolves (Canis lupus L.) from 14 territories in Scandinavia in relation to roads. We used resource and step selection functions, including >12000 field-checked GPS-positions and 315 kill sites. Wolves displayed ambivalent responses to roads depending on the spatial scale, road type, time of day, behavioral state, and reproductive status. At the site scale (approximately 0.1 km(2)), they selected for roads when traveling, nearly doubling their travel speed. Breeding wolves moved the fastest. At the patch scale (10 km(2)), house density rather than road density was a significant negative predictor of wolf patch selection. At the home range scale (approximately 1000 km(2)), breeding wolves increased gravel road use with increasing road availability, although at a lower rate than expected. Wolves have adapted to use roads for ease of travel, but at the same time developed a cryptic behavior to avoid human encounters. This behavioral plasticity may have been important in allowing the successful recovery of wolf populations in industrialized countries. However, we emphasize the role of roads as a potential cause of increased human-caused mortality. PMID:25419085
Behavioral responses of wolves to roads: scale-dependent ambivalence
Nelson, Lindsey; Wabakken, Petter; Sand, Håkan; Liberg, Olof
Throughout their recent recovery in several industrialized countries, large carnivores have had to cope with a changed landscape dominated by human infrastructure. Population growth depends on the ability of individuals to adapt to these changes by making use of new habitat features and at the same time to avoid increased risks of mortality associated with human infrastructure. We analyzed the summer movements of 19 GPS-collared resident wolves (Canis lupus L.) from 14 territories in Scandinavia in relation to roads. We used resource and step selection functions, including >12000 field-checked GPS-positions and 315 kill sites. Wolves displayed ambivalent responses to roads depending on the spatial scale, road type, time of day, behavioral state, and reproductive status. At the site scale (approximately 0.1 km2), they selected for roads when traveling, nearly doubling their travel speed. Breeding wolves moved the fastest. At the patch scale (10 km2), house density rather than road density was a significant negative predictor of wolf patch selection. At the home range scale (approximately 1000 km2), breeding wolves increased gravel road use with increasing road availability, although at a lower rate than expected. Wolves have adapted to use roads for ease of travel, but at the same time developed a cryptic behavior to avoid human encounters. This behavioral plasticity may have been important in allowing the successful recovery of wolf populations in industrialized countries. However, we emphasize the role of roads as a potential cause of increased human-caused mortality. PMID:25419085
Scale invariant behavior in a large N matrix model
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Narayanan, Rajamani; Neuberger, Herbert
Eigenvalue distributions of properly regularized Wilson-loop operators are used to study the transition from UV behavior to IR behavior in gauge theories coupled to matter that potentially have an IR fixed point. We numerically demonstrate the emergence of scale invariance in a matrix model that describes S U (N ) gauge theory coupled to two flavors of massless adjoint fermions in the large N limit. The eigenvalue distribution of Wilson loops of varying sizes cannot be described by a universal lattice beta function connecting the UV to the IR.
Development and initial validation of the Drunkorexia Motives and Behaviors scales.
Ward, Rose Marie; Galante, Marina
Drunkorexia, or restricting calorie intake on days when alcohol consumption is planned, is a trend among college students. The purpose of the present study is to develop a measure of motivations for drunkorexia before, during, and after alcohol consumption. College students (n=349, Mage=20.71years) completed an online survey including the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised, the Eating Attitudes Test-26, and various drunkorexia items. A multidimensional measure of drunkorexia motives was developed through an iterative measurement development process. The first scale assesses drunkorexia motivations and behaviors through two subscales: Drunkorexia Motives and Drunkorexia Behaviors. The second scale assesses behaviors when drunkorexia is planned, but for various reasons, the individual did not restrict calories prior to alcohol consumption. The third measure examines restrictive drinking behaviors during an alcohol consumption event. The final scale measures compensatory behaviors after an alcohol consumption event. The newly developed measures relate to other established eating disorder and alcohol measures. Specifically, drunkorexia motives seem to be derived from conformity drinking motives. Male students report higher levels of drunkorexia motives and consuming alcohol when drunkorexia fails. The newly developed measures provide an additional perspective on the drunkorexia literature. PMID:25933110
Brief Sensation Seeking Scale for Chinese - Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Assessment.
Chen, Xinguang; Li, Fang; Nydegger, Liesl; Gong, Jie; Ren, Yuanjing; Dinaj-Koci, Veronica; Sun, Huiling; Stanton, Bonita
International behavioral research requires instruments that are not culturally-biased to assess sensation seeking. In this study we described a culturally adapted version of the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale for Chinese (BSSS-C) and its psychometric characteristics. The adapted scale was assessed using an adult sample (n=238) with diverse educational and residential backgrounds. The BSSS-C (Cronbach alpha=0.90) was correlated with the original Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (r = 0.85, p<0.01) and fitted the four-factor model well (CFI=0.98, SRMR=0.03). The scale scores significantly predicted intention to and actual engagement in a number of health risk behaviors, including alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and sexual risk behaviors. In conclusion, the BSSS-C has adequate reliability and validity, supporting its utility in China and potential in other developing countries. PMID:23316097
A Scale To Assess African American Acculturation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Snowden, Lonnie R.; Hines, Alice M.
Investigated an acculturation scale designed for use in the African-American population. Responses from more than 900 African Americans generally indicate an African-American orientation within the sample, although there are notable variations on all 10 scale items. Discusses evidence for scale reliability and validity. (SLD)
Roughness assessment and wetting behavior of fluorocarbon surfaces.
Terriza, Antonia; Álvarez, Rafael; Borrás, Ana; Cotrino, José; Yubero, Francisco; González-Elipe, Agustín R
The wetting behavior of fluorocarbon materials has been studied with the aim of assessing the influence of the surface chemical composition and surface roughness on the water advancing and receding contact angles. Diamond like carbon and two fluorocarbon materials with different fluorine content have been prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and characterized by X-ray photoemission, Raman and FT-IR spectroscopies. Very rough surfaces have been obtained by deposition of thin films of these materials on polymer substrates previously subjected to plasma etching to increase their roughness. A direct correlation has been found between roughness and water contact angles while a superhydrophobic behavior (i.e., water contact angles higher than 150° and relatively low adhesion energy) was found for the films with the highest fluorine content deposited on very rough substrates. A critical evaluation of the methods currently used to assess the roughness of these surfaces by atomic force microscopy (AFM) has evidenced that calculated RMS roughness values and actual surface areas are quite dependent on both the scale of observation and image resolution. A critical discussion is carried out about the application of the Wenzel model to account for the wetting behavior of this type of surfaces. PMID:22483335
Validation of the preschool and primary school form of a questionnaire assessing parents' childrearing behavior.
Meunier, Jean-Christophe; Roskam, Isabelle
This study presents a validation of a scale that assesses parents' childrearing behavior toward young children. The scale was validated on 565 parents of 2- to 7-year-old children. The current results replicated the factor solution of the original scale designed for parents of school-aged children. The scale demonstrated good psychometric properties: moderate to high internal consistency, the expected relations with criterion variables (parental self-efficacy beliefs, child's behavior and personality), and discriminative properties according to the parents' gender and educational level, the child's age and gender, and the difference between referred and nonreferred children. PMID:19130365
The Chinese version of the Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale (MIDAS): Mokken scaling
Background Hierarchical scales are very useful in clinical practice due to their ability to discriminate precisely between individuals, and the original English version of the Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale has been shown to contain a hierarchy of items. The purpose of this study was to analyse a Mandarin Chinese translation of the Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale for a hierarchy of items according to the criteria of Mokken scaling. Data from 180 Chinese participants who completed the Chinese translation of the Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale were analysed using the Mokken Scaling Procedure and the 'R' statistical programme using the diagnostics available in these programmes. Correlation between Mandarin Chinese items and a Chinese translation of the Short Form (36) Health Survey was also analysed. Findings Fifteen items from the Mandarin Chinese Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale were retained in a strong and reliable Mokken scale; invariant item ordering was not evident and the Mokken scaled items of the Chinese Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale correlated with the Short Form (36) Health Survey. Conclusions Items from the Mandarin Chinese Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale form a Mokken scale and this offers further insight into how the items of the Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale relate to the measurement of health-related quality of life people with a myocardial infarction. PMID:22221696
The combustion behavior of large scale lithium titanate battery
Huang, Peifeng; Wang, Qingsong; Li, Ke; Ping, Ping; Sun, Jinhua
Safety problem is always a big obstacle for lithium battery marching to large scale application. However, the knowledge on the battery combustion behavior is limited. To investigate the combustion behavior of large scale lithium battery, three 50 Ah Li(NixCoyMnz)O2/Li4Ti5O12 batteries under different state of charge (SOC) were heated to fire. The flame size variation is depicted to analyze the combustion behavior directly. The mass loss rate, temperature and heat release rate are used to analyze the combustion behavior in reaction way deeply. Based on the phenomenon, the combustion process is divided into three basic stages, even more complicated at higher SOC with sudden smoke flow ejected. The reason is that a phase change occurs in Li(NixCoyMnz)O2 material from layer structure to spinel structure. The critical temperatures of ignition are at 112–121°C on anode tab and 139 to 147°C on upper surface for all cells. But the heating time and combustion time become shorter with the ascending of SOC. The results indicate that the battery fire hazard increases with the SOC. It is analyzed that the internal short and the Li+ distribution are the main causes that lead to the difference. PMID:25586064
Experimental control of scaling behavior: what is not fractal?
Likens, Aaron D; Fine, Justin M; Amazeen, Eric L; Amazeen, Polemnia G
The list of psychological processes thought to exhibit fractal behavior is growing. Although some might argue that the seeming ubiquity of fractal patterns illustrates their significance, unchecked growth of that list jeopardizes their relevance. It is important to identify when a single behavior is and is not fractal in order to make meaningful conclusions about the processes underlying those patterns. The hypothesis tested in the present experiment is that fractal patterns reflect the enactment of control. Participants performed two steering tasks: steering on a straight track and steering on a circular track. Although each task could be accomplished by holding the steering wheel at a constant angle, steering around a curve may require more constant control, at least from a psychological standpoint. Results showed that evidence for fractal behavior was strongest for the circular track; straight tracks showed evidence of two scaling regions. We argue from those results that, going forward, the goal of the fractal literature should be to bring scaling behavior under experimental control. PMID:26070902
The combustion behavior of large scale lithium titanate battery
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huang, Peifeng; Wang, Qingsong; Li, Ke; Ping, Ping; Sun, Jinhua
Safety problem is always a big obstacle for lithium battery marching to large scale application. However, the knowledge on the battery combustion behavior is limited. To investigate the combustion behavior of large scale lithium battery, three 50 Ah Li(NixCoyMnz)O2/Li4Ti5O12 batteries under different state of charge (SOC) were heated to fire. The flame size variation is depicted to analyze the combustion behavior directly. The mass loss rate, temperature and heat release rate are used to analyze the combustion behavior in reaction way deeply. Based on the phenomenon, the combustion process is divided into three basic stages, even more complicated at higher SOC with sudden smoke flow ejected. The reason is that a phase change occurs in Li(NixCoyMnz)O2 material from layer structure to spinel structure. The critical temperatures of ignition are at 112-121°C on anode tab and 139 to 147°C on upper surface for all cells. But the heating time and combustion time become shorter with the ascending of SOC. The results indicate that the battery fire hazard increases with the SOC. It is analyzed that the internal short and the Li+ distribution are the main causes that lead to the difference.
Prospective Assessment of Suicidal Ideation and Behavior: An Internet Survey of Pharmaceutical Sponsor Practices
Mahableshwarkar, Atul R.; Alphs, Larry D.; Bangs, Mark E.; Butler, Adam; DuBrava, Sarah J.; Greist, John H.; Lenderking, William R.; Mundt, James C.; Stewart, Michelle
Objective: To survey the current approaches of clinical trial sponsors in prospective suicidal ideation and behavior assessments and challenges encountered. Design: An internet-based survey. Setting: Inclusion of prospective assessments of suicidal ideation and behavior in industry-sponsored clinical studies were required following the release of the September 2010 United States Federal Drug Administration draft guidance. The International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology Suicidal Ideation and Behavior Assessment Workgroup conducted an online survey to understand industry practices and experiences in implementing suicidal ideation and behavior assessments in clinical trials. Participants: The survey was sent to 1,447 industry employees at 178 pharmaceutical companies. A total of 89 evaluable responses, representing 39 companies, were obtained. Measurements: A 30-item internet survey was developed asking about potential challenges and issues in implementing prospective suicidal ideation and behavior assessments. Results: Common factors in deciding whether to include suicidal ideation and behavior assessments in a clinical trial were psychiatric or neurologic drug product (95%); central nervous system activity (78%); disease (74%) and patient population (71%); and regulatory announcements and policies (74%). The most common challenges in implementing suicidal ideation and behavior assessments included cross-cultural differences in acceptance of SIB assessments (40%); obtaining adequate baseline history (36.8%); obtaining translations (35%); investigator/rater discomfort with asking about suicidal ideation and behavior (32%); and inadequate training of raters to administer suicidal ideation and behavior ratings (30%). Conclusion: Among sponsors surveyed, the implementation rate of suicidal ideation and behavior assessment in central nervous systems studies is very high. Most have used the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale. Challenges regarding
2010 Thin Film & Small Scale Mechanical Behavior Gordon Research Conference
Dr. Thomas Balk
Over the past decades, it has been well established that the mechanical behavior of materials changes when they are confined geometrically at least in one dimension to small scale. It is the aim of the 2010 Gordon Conference on 'Thin Film and Small Scale Mechanical Behavior' to discuss cutting-edge research on elastic, plastic and time-dependent deformation as well as degradation mechanisms like fracture, fatigue and wear at small scales. As in the past, the conference will benefit from contributions from fundamental studies of physical mechanisms linked to material science and engineering reaching towards application in modern applications ranging from optical and microelectronic devices and nano- or micro-electrical mechanical systems to devices for energy production and storage. The conference will feature entirely new testing methodologies and in situ measurements as well as recent progress in atomistic and micromechanical modeling. Particularly, emerging topics in the area of energy conversion and storage, such as material for batteries will be highlighted. The study of small-scale mechanical phenomena in systems related to energy production, conversion or storage offer an enticing opportunity to materials scientists, who can provide new insight and investigate these phenomena with methods that have not previously been exploited.
Examining the scaling behavior of Delbrueck scattering in experimental data
Kunwar, B.; Bhadra, A; Sen Gupta, S. K.
The conventional perception is that the amplitudes of Delbrueck scattering calculated to all orders in the charge number Z of the target nucleus should exhibit a scaling behavior at high energies. To examine this hypothesis the available experimental data of differential cross sections of elastic scattering in the energy range between 140 MeV and 7.11 GeV are analyzed. It is found that the experimental data do not show scaling characteristics. Such a finding, though apparently against the standard notion, is not unexpected because at high energies Delbrueck scattering is in very forward direction and the theoretical arguments demand that to observe scaling, not only the energy itself but the product of scattering angles and energy also should be very large.
Probabilistic simulation of multi-scale composite behavior
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Liaw, D. G.; Shiao, M. C.; Singhal, S. N.; Chamis, Christos C.
A methodology is developed to computationally assess the probabilistic composite material properties at all composite scale levels due to the uncertainties in the constituent (fiber and matrix) properties and in the fabrication process variables. The methodology is computationally efficient for simulating the probability distributions of material properties. The sensitivity of the probabilistic composite material property to each random variable is determined. This information can be used to reduce undesirable uncertainties in material properties at the macro scale of the composite by reducing the uncertainties in the most influential random variables at the micro scale. This methodology was implemented into the computer code PICAN (Probabilistic Integrated Composite ANalyzer). The accuracy and efficiency of this methodology are demonstrated by simulating the uncertainties in the material properties of a typical laminate and comparing the results with the Monte Carlo simulation method. The experimental data of composite material properties at all scales fall within the scatters predicted by PICAN.
Do Plot Scale Studies Yield Useful Data When Assessing Field Scale Practices?
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Plot scale data has been used to develop models used to assess field and watershed scale nutrient losses. The objective of this study was to determine if phosphorus (P) loss results from plot scale rainfall simulation studies are "directionally correct" when compared to field scale P losses. Two fie...
Scaling behavior of an airplane-boarding model.
Brics, Martins; Kaupužs, Jevgenijs; Mahnke, Reinhard
An airplane-boarding model, introduced earlier by Frette and Hemmer [Phys. Rev. E 85, 011130 (2012)], is studied with the aim of determining precisely its asymptotic power-law scaling behavior for a large number of passengers N. Based on Monte Carlo simulation data for very large system sizes up to N=2(16)=65536, we have analyzed numerically the scaling behavior of the mean boarding time
Using Functional Behavior Assessment to Develop Behavior Interventions for Students in Head Start
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McLaren, Elizabeth M.; Nelson, C. Michael
A withdrawal design repeated across three children enrolled in two Head Start classrooms was used to investigate the effectiveness of functional assessment-based interventions to decrease inappropriate behavior. The two questions addressed in the study were (a) Will a behavior intervention plan based on functional behavior assessment conducted in…
Internal Consistency and Cross-Informant Agreement of the Lithuanian-Translated Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sointu, Erkko T.; Geležiniene, Renata; Lambert, Matthew C.; Nordness, Philip D.
Educational professionals need assessments that yield psychometrically sound scores to assess students' behavioral and emotional functioning in order to guide data-driven decision-making processes. Rating scales have been found to be effective and economical, and often multiple informant perspectives can be obtained. The agreement between multiple…
Scaling of flow and transport behavior in heterogeneous groundwater systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Scheibe, Timothy; Yabusaki, Steven
Three-dimensional numerical simulations using a detailed synthetic hydraulic conductivity field developed from geological considerations provide insight into the scaling of subsurface flow and transport processes. Flow and advective transport in the highly resolved heterogeneous field were modeled using massively parallel computers, providing a realistic baseline for evaluation of the impacts of parameter scaling. Upscaling of hydraulic conductivity was performed at a variety of scales using a flexible power law averaging technique. A series of tests were performed to determine the effects of varying the scaling exponent on a number of metrics of flow and transport behavior. Flow and transport simulation on high-performance computers and three-dimensional scientific visualization combine to form a powerful tool for gaining insight into the behavior of complex heterogeneous systems. Many quantitative groundwater models utilize upscaled hydraulic conductivity parameters, either implicitly or explicitly. These parameters are designed to reproduce the bulk flow characteristics at the grid or field scale while not requiring detailed quantification of local-scale conductivity variations. An example from applied groundwater modeling is the common practice of calibrating grid-scale model hydraulic conductivity or transmissivity parameters so as to approximate observed hydraulic head and boundary flux values. Such parameterizations, perhaps with a bulk dispersivity imposed, are then sometimes used to predict transport of reactive or non-reactive solutes. However, this work demonstrates that those parameters that lead to the best upscaling for hydraulic conductivity and head do not necessarily correspond to the best upscaling for prediction of a variety of transport behaviors. This result reflects the fact that transport is strongly impacted by the existence and connectedness of extreme-valued hydraulic conductivities, in contrast to bulk flow which depends more strongly on
A Survey of Functional Behavior Assessment Methods Used by Behavior Analysts in Practice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oliver, Anthony C.; Pratt, Leigh A.; Normand, Matthew P.
To gather information about the functional behavior assessment (FBA) methods behavior analysts use in practice, we sent a web-based survey to 12,431 behavior analysts certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Ultimately, 724 surveys were returned, with the results suggesting that most respondents regularly use FBA methods, especially…
Dynamic Assessment in Phonological Disorders: The Scaffolding Scale of Stimulability
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Glaspey, Amy M.; Stoel-Gammon, Carol
Dynamic assessment is applied to phonological disorders with the Scaffolding Scale of Stimulability (SSS). The SSS comprises a 21-point hierarchical scale of cues and linguistic environments. With the SSS, clinicians assess stimulability as a diagnostic indicator and use the measure to monitor progress across treatment. Unlike other phonological…
Using Large-Scale Assessment Scores to Determine Student Grades
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miller, Tess
Many Canadian provinces provide guidelines for teachers to determine students' final grades by combining a percentage of students' scores from provincial large-scale assessments with their term scores. This practice is thought to hold students accountable by motivating them to put effort into completing the large-scale assessment, thereby…
What interval characteristics make a good disease assessment category scale
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Plant pathologists most often obtain quantitative information on disease severity using visual assessments. Category scales have been used for assessing plant disease severity in field experiments, epidemiological studies, and for screening germplasm. The most widely used category scale is the Horsf...
Population-scale assessment endpoints in ecological risk assessment. Part 1: Reflections of stakeholder values.
Landis, Wayne G
The selection of appropriate assessment endpoints is a basic element of an ecological risk assessment, especially at regional or watershed scales. Because ecological services often are tied to specific species, the risk to populations is a critical endpoint and feature of ecological risk assessments. The first item is a discussion of the replacement of population-level risk assessment with the construct of a population-scale assessment endpoint. Next, the criteria that are currently used for assessment endpoints are reviewed and evaluated for utility in an ecological risk assessment. Following this examination, assessment endpoints from a number of regional-scale ecological risk assessments are compared. The outcome of this evaluation is that population-scale assessment endpoints are important expressions of the valued components of ecological structures. Finally, a few recommendations for the selection of assessment endpoints at a population scale are listed. PMID:16640323
Intrinsic Multi-Scale Dynamic Behaviors of Complex Financial Systems
Ouyang, Fang-Yan; Zheng, Bo; Jiang, Xiong-Fei
The empirical mode decomposition is applied to analyze the intrinsic multi-scale dynamic behaviors of complex financial systems. In this approach, the time series of the price returns of each stock is decomposed into a small number of intrinsic mode functions, which represent the price motion from high frequency to low frequency. These intrinsic mode functions are then grouped into three modes, i.e., the fast mode, medium mode and slow mode. The probability distribution of returns and auto-correlation of volatilities for the fast and medium modes exhibit similar behaviors as those of the full time series, i.e., these characteristics are rather robust in multi time scale. However, the cross-correlation between individual stocks and the return-volatility correlation are time scale dependent. The structure of business sectors is mainly governed by the fast mode when returns are sampled at a couple of days, while by the medium mode when returns are sampled at dozens of days. More importantly, the leverage and anti-leverage effects are dominated by the medium mode. PMID:26427063
Scaling behaviors of weighted food webs as energy transportation networks.
Zhang, Jiang; Guo, Liangpeng
Food webs can be regarded as energy transporting networks in which the weight of each edge denotes the energy flux between two species. By investigating 21 empirical weighted food webs as energy flow networks, we found several ubiquitous scaling behaviors. Two random variables A(i) and C(i) defined for each vertex i, representing the total flux (also called vertex intensity) and total indirect effect or energy store of i, were found to follow power law distributions with the exponents alpha approximately 1.32 and beta approximately 1.33, respectively. Another scaling behavior is the power law relationship, C(i) approximately A(i)(eta), where eta approximately 1.02. This is known as the allometric scaling power law relationship because A(i) can be treated as metabolism and C(i) as the body mass of the sub-network rooted from the vertex i, according to the algorithm presented in this paper. Finally, a simple relationship among these power law exponents, eta=(alpha-1)/(beta-1), was mathematically derived and tested by the empirical food webs. PMID:20303987
Intrinsic Multi-Scale Dynamic Behaviors of Complex Financial Systems.
Ouyang, Fang-Yan; Zheng, Bo; Jiang, Xiong-Fei
The empirical mode decomposition is applied to analyze the intrinsic multi-scale dynamic behaviors of complex financial systems. In this approach, the time series of the price returns of each stock is decomposed into a small number of intrinsic mode functions, which represent the price motion from high frequency to low frequency. These intrinsic mode functions are then grouped into three modes, i.e., the fast mode, medium mode and slow mode. The probability distribution of returns and auto-correlation of volatilities for the fast and medium modes exhibit similar behaviors as those of the full time series, i.e., these characteristics are rather robust in multi time scale. However, the cross-correlation between individual stocks and the return-volatility correlation are time scale dependent. The structure of business sectors is mainly governed by the fast mode when returns are sampled at a couple of days, while by the medium mode when returns are sampled at dozens of days. More importantly, the leverage and anti-leverage effects are dominated by the medium mode. PMID:26427063
Creation and validation of the Cognitive and Behavioral Response to Stress Scale in a depression trial.
Miner, Adam S; Schueller, Stephen M; Lattie, Emily G; Mohr, David C
The Cognitive and Behavioral Response to Stress Scale (CB-RSS) is a self-report measure of the use and helpfulness of several cognitive and behavioral skills. Unlike other measures that focus on language specific to terms used in therapy, the CB-RSS was intended to tap the strategies in ways that might be understandable to those who had not undergone therapy. The measure was included in a clinical trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression and completed by 325 participants at baseline and end of treatment (18 weeks). Psychometric properties of the scale were assessed through iterative exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. These analyses identified two subscales, cognitive and behavioral skills, each with high reliability. Validity was addressed by investigating relationships with depression symptoms, positive affect, perceived stress, and coping self-efficacy. End of treatment scores predicted changes in all outcomes, with the largest relationships between baseline CB-RSS scales and coping self-efficacy. These findings suggest that the CB-RSS is a useful tool to measure cognitive and behavioral skills both at baseline (prior to treatment) as well as during the course of treatment. PMID:26553147
Scale dependent behavioral responses to human development by a large predator, the puma.
Wilmers, Christopher C; Wang, Yiwei; Nickel, Barry; Houghtaling, Paul; Shakeri, Yasaman; Allen, Maximilian L; Kermish-Wells, Joe; Yovovich, Veronica; Williams, Terrie
The spatial scale at which organisms respond to human activity can affect both ecological function and conservation planning. Yet little is known regarding the spatial scale at which distinct behaviors related to reproduction and survival are impacted by human interference. Here we provide a novel approach to estimating the spatial scale at which a top predator, the puma (Puma concolor), responds to human development when it is moving, feeding, communicating, and denning. We find that reproductive behaviors (communication and denning) require at least a 4× larger buffer from human development than non-reproductive behaviors (movement and feeding). In addition, pumas give a wider berth to types of human development that provide a more consistent source of human interference (neighborhoods) than they do to those in which human presence is more intermittent (arterial roads with speeds >35 mph). Neighborhoods were a deterrent to pumas regardless of behavior, while arterial roads only deterred pumas when they were communicating and denning. Female pumas were less deterred by human development than males, but they showed larger variation in their responses overall. Our behaviorally explicit approach to modeling animal response to human activity can be used as a novel tool to assess habitat quality, identify wildlife corridors, and mitigate human-wildlife conflict. PMID:23613732
Linking Large-Scale Reading Assessments: Comment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hanushek, Eric A.
E. A. Hanushek points out in this commentary that applied researchers in education have only recently begun to appreciate the value of international assessments, even though there are now 50 years of experience with these. Until recently, these assessments have been stand-alone surveys that have not been linked, and analysis has largely focused on…
Behavioral Landscapes and Change in Behavioral Landscapes: A Multiple Time-Scale Density Distribution Approach
Ram, Nilam; Coccia, Michael; Conroy, David; Lorek, Amy; Orland, Brian; Pincus, Aaron; Sliwinski, Martin; Gerstorf, Denis
In developmental arenas, it is well accepted that multiple observations are needed to obtain a robust characterization of individuals' behavioral tendencies across time and context. In this paper, we fuse core ideas from the study of lifespan development with intraindividual variability based approaches to personality and methods used to characterize the topography of geographic landscapes. We generalize the notion of density distributions into bivariate and multivariate space and draw parallels between the resulting behavioral landscapes and geographic landscapes. We illustrate through an empirical example how multiple time-scale study designs, measures of intraindividual variability, and methods borrowed from geography can be used to describe both an individual's behavioral landscape and changes in the behavioral landscape. PMID:23914142
Itch assessment scale for the pediatric burn survivor.
Morris, Vershanna; Murphy, Leticia M; Rosenberg, Marta; Rosenberg, Laura; Holzer, Charles E; Meyer, Walter J
The objective of the study is to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Itch Man Scale developed in 2000 by Blakeney and Marvin in assessing the intensity of itch in the pediatric burn patient. Forty-five patients (31 males and 14 females; average age 9.9 ± 5.0 years; and % TBSA burned 41 ± 25%) with an established itch complaint were studied. They were asked to describe the severity of their itch by two independent raters to determine test-retest reliability. Individuals aged 6 years or older were assessed using parental informants. Concurrent validity was determined by comparing three scales to quantify the level of itch: the Itch Man Scale (a 5-point Likert scale), the 5-D Itch Scale (adapted from a scale for peripheral neuropathy), and the Visual Analog Scale for itch. Itch Man Scale ratings collected from independent raters showed a strong correlation (r = .912, P < .0001). The Itch Man Scale also correlated significantly with the Visual Analog Scale, the gold standard for measurement of pruritus (r = .798, P < .0001). The total summated score of the Duration, Degree, Direction, and Disability domains from the 5-D Itch Scale had a significant correlation with the Itch Man Scale (r = .614, P < .0001). The Degree domain is the only individual component with a significant correlation (r = .757, P < .0001). The Itch Man Scale is a reliable and valid tool to assess itching in pediatric burn patients and to quantify postburn pruritus. PMID:22561307
Scaling behavior of linear polymers in disordered media.
Janssen, Hans-Karl; Stenull, Olaf
It has long been known that the universal scaling properties of linear polymers in disordered media are well described by the statistics of self-avoiding walks (SAWs) on percolation clusters and their critical exponent nu(SAW), with the SAW implicitly referring to the average SAW. Hitherto, static averaging has been commonly used, e.g., in numerical simulations, to determine what the average SAW is. We assert that only kinetic, rather than static, averaging can lead to asymptotic scaling behavior and corroborate our assertion by heuristic arguments and a renormalizable field theory. Moreover, we calculate to two-loop order nu(SAW), the exponent nu(max) for the longest SAW, and a family of multifractal exponents nu(alpha). PMID:17358306
Differences between uni- and multidimensional scales for assessing pain in term newborn infants at the bedside
Arias, Maria Carmenza Cuenca; Guinsburg, Ruth
OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine the level of agreement between behavioral and multidimensional pain assessment scales in term newborn infants submitted to an acute nociceptive stimulus. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 400 healthy term newborns who received an intramuscular injection of vitamin K during the first 6 hours of life. Two behavioral pain scales (the Neonatal Facial Coding System and the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain) and one multidimensional tool (the Premature Infant Pain Profile) were applied by a single observer before the procedure, during cleansing, during injection and two minutes after injection. The Cochran Q, McNemar and kappa tests were used to compare the presence and degree of agreement between the three scales. The Hotelling T2 test was used to compare the groups of newborns for which the scales showed agreement or disagreement. A generalized linear regression was used to compare the results of the Neonatal Facial Coding System and the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain across the four study time points. RESULTS: The neonates studied had a gestational age of 39±1 weeks, a birth weight of 3169±316 g and and postnatal age of 67±45 minutes. During the stimulus procedure, 80% of the newborns exhibited pain behaviors according to the Neonatal Facial Coding System and the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain, and 70% experienced pain according to the Premature Infant Pain Profile (p<0.001). The frequencies of the detection of pain using the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain and the Neonatal Facial Coding System were similar. The characteristics of the neonates were not associated with the level of agreement between the scales. CONCLUSION: The Neonatal Facial Coding System and the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain behavioral scales are more sensitive for the identification of pain in healthy term newborn infants than the multidimensional Premature Infant Pain Profile scale. PMID:23070343
Preschool Children's Learning Behaviors, Concept Attainment, Social Skills, and Problem Behaviors: Validity Evidence for Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale Scores
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schaefer, Barbara A.; Shur, Kimberely Fitch; Macri-Summers, Maria; MacDonald, Scott L.
This study provides concurrent and predictive validity and test-retest reliability evidence for scores from the preschool teacher-completed Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS; McDermott, Green, Francis, & Stott, 2002) using two regional samples of preschool children aged 3 to 5.5 years (Ns of 61 and 70). Teacher ratings of social skills and…
[Assessment of clinical practice guidelines evaluation. Scales and criteria].
Rico Iturrioz, Rosa; Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, Iñaki; Asua Batarrita, José; Navarro Puerto, Maria Asunción; Reyes Domínguez, Antonio; Marín León, Ignacio; Briones Pérez de la Blanca, Eduardo
Not only are there large number of guides, protocols and other support tools available for the clinical decision-making process in the Spanish National Health System, but there is also a major degree of variability among them, reflecting inconsistencies and low quality of those documents. This study is aimed at conducting all inventory of the Clinical Practice Guideline assessment scales and clinical analysis tools and to propose a scale or set of criteria for assessing the quality of the Clinical Practice Guidelines put out in Spain. A systematic search of critical evaluation scales was conducted. The inclusion criteria and the concordance analysis of the items by three evaluators were independently applied. The discordances were resolved by explicit consensus. Ten suggested critical assessment scales and sets of criteria from eleven institutions were identified, eight of which consist of scales and tools proposed for assessing the quality of the Clinical Practice Guidelines, the other two being proposals for assessing the implementation and inclusion of the Clinical Practice Guidelines in a register. In the comparative analysis, the criteria most often repeated on the scales analysed were related to the areas included in the AGREE Instrument. The areas considered in most of the critical assessment scales were the same as those of the AGREE Instrument. Although this tool does not take in criteria for guide implementation assessment purposes, it is considered suitable for use in the assessment prior to inclusion to the national CPG register. PMID:15384260
Introduction to Special Issue: Functional Behavior Assessment in Natural Settings.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peck-Peterson, Stephanie M.
This introductory article discusses the requirement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that practitioners being using functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to develop positive behavioral interventions for children with problem behavior and identified disabilities. The definition of FBA is summarized, along with following…
Cross-National Assessment of Adaptive Behavior in Three Countries
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oakland, Thomas; Iliescu, Dragos; Chen, Hsin-Yi; Chen, Juliet Honglei
Measures of adaptive behaviors provide an important tool in the repertoire of clinical and school/educational psychologists. Measures that assess adaptive behaviors typically have been built in Western cultures and developed in light of behaviors common to them. Nevertheless, these measures are used elsewhere despite a paucity of data that examine…
The Nociception Coma Scale: a new tool to assess nociception in disorders of consciousness.
Schnakers, Caroline; Chatelle, Camille; Vanhaudenhuyse, Audrey; Majerus, Steve; Ledoux, Didier; Boly, Melanie; Bruno, Marie-Aurélie; Boveroux, Pierre; Demertzi, Athena; Moonen, Gustave; Laureys, Steven
Assessing behavioral responses to nociception is difficult in severely brain-injured patients recovering from coma. We here propose a new scale developed for assessing nociception in vegetative (VS) and minimally conscious (MCS) coma survivors, the Nociception Coma Scale (NCS), and explore its concurrent validity, inter-rater agreement and sensitivity. Concurrent validity was assessed by analyzing behavioral responses of 48 post-comatose patients to a noxious stimulation (pressure applied to the fingernail) (28 VS and 20 MCS; age range 20-82 years; 17 of traumatic etiology). Patients' were assessed using the NCS and four other scales employed in non-communicative patients: the 'Neonatal Infant Pain Scale' (NIPS) and the 'Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability' (FLACC) used in newborns; and the 'Pain Assessment In Advanced Dementia Scale' (PAINAD) and the 'Checklist of Non-verbal Pain Indicators' (CNPI) used in dementia. For the establishment of inter-rater agreement, fifteen patients were concurrently assessed by two examiners. Concurrent validity, assessed by Spearman rank order correlations between the NCS and the four other validated scales, was good. Cohen's kappa analyses revealed a good to excellent inter-rater agreement for the NCS total and subscore measures, indicating that the scale yields reproducible findings across examiners. Finally, a significant difference between NCS total scores was observed as a function of diagnosis (i.e., VS or MCS). The NCS constitutes a sensitive clinical tool for assessing nociception in severely brain-injured patients. This scale constitutes the first step to a better management of patients recovering from coma. PMID:19854576
Fine-Scale Variability in Harbor Seal Foraging Behavior
Wilson, Kenady; Lance, Monique; Jeffries, Steven; Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Alejandro
Understanding the variability of foraging behavior within a population of predators is important for determining their role in the ecosystem and how they may respond to future ecosystem changes. However, such variability has seldom been studied in harbor seals on a fine spatial scale (<30 km). We used a combination of standard and Bayesian generalized linear mixed models to explore how environmental variables influenced the dive behavior of harbor seals. Time-depth recorders were deployed on harbor seals from two haul-out sites in the Salish Sea in 2007 (n = 18) and 2008 (n = 11). Three behavioral bout types were classified from six dive types within each bout; however, one of these bout types was related to haul-out activity and was excluded from analyses. Deep foraging bouts (Type I) were the predominant type used throughout the study; however, variation in the use of bout types was observed relative to haul-out site, season, sex, and light (day/night). The proportional use of Type I and Type II (shallow foraging/traveling) bouts differed dramatically between haul-out sites, seasons, sexes, and whether it was day or night; individual variability between seals also contributed to the observed differences. We hypothesize that this variation in dive behavior was related to habitat or prey specialization by seals from different haul-out sites, or individual variability between seals in the study area. The results highlight the potential influence of habitat and specialization on the foraging behavior of harbor seals, and may help explain the variability in diet that is observed between different haul-out site groups in this population. PMID:24717815
Co-Curricular Assessment Scale Development
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Feldmann, Matthew; Aper, Jeffery P.; Meredith, Sam T.
This article discusses the development of a scale informed by the construct of emotional intelligence designed to measure student development outcomes identified as co-curricular goals. Supervisors, staff, and coaches provided firsthand accounts of student development outcomes at a small, private, liberal arts work college, generating data on…
Taxometric Analysis of the Antisocial Features Scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory in Federal Prison Inmates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Walters, Glenn D.; Diamond, Pamela M.; Magaletta, Philip R.; Geyer, Matthew D.; Duncan, Scott A.
The Antisocial Features (ANT) scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) was subjected to taxometric analysis in a group of 2,135 federal prison inmates. Scores on the three ANT subscales--Antisocial Behaviors (ANT-A), Egocentricity (ANT-E), and Stimulus Seeking (ANT-S)--served as indicators in this study and were evaluated using the…
Testing the Factor Structure of a Scale to Assess African American Acculturation: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reid, Robert J.; Brown, Tiffany L.; Peterson, N. Andrew; Snowden, Lonnie; Hines, Alice
Research has pointed to the important role that acculturation plays in understanding a range of physical health behaviors as well as psychological functioning, but only a few studies have attempted to establish reliable and valid measures of African American acculturation. The scale developed by Snowden and Hines (1999) to assess African American…
Reliability and Validity of the Vietnamese Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales with Preschool-Age Children
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goldberg, Michael R.; Dill, Charles A.; Shin, Jin Y.; Nhan, Nguyen Viet
This study was conducted to examine an adaptation of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS) [Sparrow, S. S., Balla, D. A., & Cicchetti, D. V. (1984). "The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales." Circle Pines, MN: America Guidance Service; Sparrow, S. S., Balla, D. A., & Cicchetti, D. V. (2005). "Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Second Edition…
LSCI in Functional Behavior Assessment and Positive Behavioral Intervention.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marston, John R.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997 mandated a shift from reactive strategies toward proactive interventions with students who experience both disability and behavioral challenges. The author describes how the methodology of Life Space Crisis Intervention can provide a source of data for functional assessment…
Primary Influences on the Development of Competence: The Development of a Maternal Behavior Scale. Progress Report.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
LaCrosse, E. Robert, Jr.
This is a progress report on the development of a maternal behavior scale, one which would reflect both the actual behavior of a mother when confronted by her child's activities and also show the behaviors instigated by the mother in the child's presence. The ultimate goal of the research is to produce a human behavior scale which will record the…
Deciphering landslide behavior using large-scale flume experiments
Reid, Mark E.; Iverson, Richard M.; Iverson, Neal R.; LaHusen, Richard G.; Brien, Dianne L.; Logan, Matthew
Landslides can be triggered by a variety of hydrologic events and they can exhibit a wide range of movement dynamics. Effective prediction requires understanding these diverse behaviors. Precise evaluation in the field is difficult; as an alternative we performed a series of landslide initiation experiments in the large-scale, USGS debris-flow flume. We systematically investigated the effects of three different hydrologic triggering mechanisms, including groundwater exfiltration from bedrock, prolonged rainfall infiltration, and intense bursts of rain. We also examined the effects of initial soil porosity (loose or dense) relative to the soil's critical-state porosity. Results show that all three hydrologic mechanisms can instigate landsliding, but water pathways, sensor response patterns, and times to failure differ. Initial soil porosity has a profound influence on landslide movement behavior. Experiments using loose soil show rapid soil contraction during failure, with elevated pore pressures liquefying the sediment and creating fast-moving debris flows. In contrast, dense soil dilated upon shearing, resulting in slow, gradual, and episodic motion. These results have fundamental implications for forecasting landslide behavior and developing effective warning systems.
Cyclic Behavior of the Sun's Small-scale Magnetic Elements
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Jingxiu; Jin, C.
With the unique database from the Michelson Doppler Imager on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory in an interval embodying solar cycle 23, the cyclic behavior of solar small-scale magnetic elements is studied. More than 13 million small-scale magnetic elements are selected, and their cyclic behavior is analyzed in comparison with the changes of sunspot numbers and active region magnetic flux. From the small to large end of the flux spectrum, the variations of numbers and total flux of the network elements show no correlation, anti-correlation, and correlation with sunspots, respectively. The anti-correlated elements, covering the flux of (2.9-32.0)×1018 Mx, occupy 77.2% of the total element number and 37.4% of the quiet-Sun flux. Unlike the correlated elements, which follow the sunspot butterfly diagram, the anti-correlated elements cover very broad range of latitude and do not show clear latitude migration during the cycle. These results provide insight for understanding the anti-correlations of small-scale magnetic activity during the solar cycle. The quiet regions dominate the Sun's magnetic flux for about 8 years in the 12.25 year duration of cycle 23, their monthly average magnetic flux is 1.12 times that of the active regions in the cycle. For the 28 continuous months from July 2007 to October 2009, the six-month running average ratio of quiet region flux to that of the total Sun is larger than 90.0%, which characterizes the gram minima in cycles 23 and 24 very well.
Rooker, Griffin W.; DeLeon, Iser G.; Borrero, Carrie S. W.; Frank-Crawford, Michelle A.; Roscoe, Eileen M.
Severe problem behavior (e.g., self-injury and aggression) remains among the most serious challenges for the habilitation of persons with intellectual disabilities and is a significant obstacle to community integration. The current standard of behavior analytic treatment for problem behavior in this population consists of a functional assessment and treatment model. Within that model, the first step is to assess the behavior–environment relations that give rise to and maintain problem behavior, a functional behavioral assessment. Conventional methods of assessing behavioral function include indirect, descriptive, and experimental assessments of problem behavior. Clinical investigators have produced a rich literature demonstrating the relative effectiveness for each method, but in clinical practice, each can produce ambiguous or difficult-to-interpret outcomes that may impede treatment development. This paper outlines potential sources of variability in assessment outcomes and then reviews the evidence on strategies for avoiding ambiguous outcomes and/or clarifying initially ambiguous results. The end result for each assessment method is a set of best practice guidelines, given the available evidence, for conducting the initial assessment. PMID:26236145
Multidimensional assessment of beliefs about emotion: development and validation of the emotion and regulation beliefs scale.
Veilleux, Jennifer C; Salomaa, Anna C; Shaver, Jennifer A; Zielinski, Melissa J; Pollert, Garrett A
Recent work has extended the idea of implicit self-theories to the realm of emotion to assess beliefs in the malleability of emotions. The current article expanded on prior measurement of emotion beliefs in a scale development project. Items were tested and revised over rounds of data collection with both students and nonstudent adult online participants. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a three-factor structure. The resulting scale, the Emotion and Regulation Beliefs Scale, assesses beliefs that emotions can hijack self-control, beliefs that emotion regulation is a worthwhile pursuit, and beliefs that emotions can constrain behavior. Preliminary findings suggest that the Emotion and Regulation Beliefs Scale has good internal consistency, is conceptually distinct from measures assessing individuals' beliefs in their management of emotions and facets of emotional intelligence, and predicts clinically relevant outcomes even after controlling for an existing short measure of beliefs in emotion controllability. PMID:24835246
The Behavioral Function of Feeding Problems as Assessed by the Questions about Behavioral Function (QABF)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Matson, Johnny L.; Mayville, Stephen B.; Kuhn, David E.; Sturmey, Peter; Laud, Rinita; Cooper, Chris
Differences in subscale scores on the questions about behavioral function (QABF) were assessed for participants identified with pica, rumination, food stealing, food refusal, and mealtime behavior problems (e.g., aggression, self-injurious behavior). The QABF was administered to informants for 125 individuals identified with problematic feeding…
The Link between Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs) and Behavioral Intervention Plans (BIPs). ERIC Digest E592.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jolivette, Kristine; Scott, Terrance M.; Nelson, C. Michael
This Digest discusses provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that require functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) and behavioral intervention plans (BIPs) to be conducted prior to a change in placement or suspension for more than 10 days, based on inappropriate behaviors for students with disabilities. It presents…
What Is a Functional Behavior Assessment? The "WHY" of a Behavior.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities, Marion.
This guide discusses using Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) to find out why a student is behaving inappropriately and to enable the provision of appropriate positive behavior intervention. It stresses that a FBA goes beyond looking at antecedent behavior and consequence to review everything in the entire environment of the student.…
Technical and Applied Features of Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hawkins, Shannon M.
When conducted correctly, functional behavior assessments (FBAs) can help professionals intervene with problem behavior using function-based interventions. Despite the fact that researchers have shown that effective interventions are based on function, recent investigators have found that most behavioral intervention plans (BIPs) are written…
Neuroimaging supports behavioral personality assessment: Overlapping activations during reflective and impulsive risk taking.
Pletzer, Belinda; M Ortner, Tuulia
Personality assessment has been challenged by the fact that different assessment methods (implicit measures, behavioral measures and explicit rating scales) show little or no convergence in behavioral studies. In this neuroimaging study we address for the first time, whether different assessment methods rely on separate or overlapping neuronal systems. Fifty nine healthy adult participants completed two objective personality tests of risk propensity: the more implicit Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and the more explicit Game of Dice Task (GDT). Significant differences in activation, as well as connectivity patterns between both tasks were observed. In both tasks, risky decisions yielded significantly stronger activations than safe decisions in the bilateral caudate, as well as the bilateral Insula. The finding of overlapping brain areas validates different assessment methods, despite their behavioral non-convergence. This suggests that neuroimaging can be an important tool of validation in the field of personality assessment. PMID:27373370
The Brief Accessibility, Responsiveness, and Engagement Scale: A Tool for Measuring Attachment Behaviors in Clinical Couples.
Sandberg, Jonathan G; Novak, Joshua R; Davis, Stephanie Y; Busby, Dean M
Measuring attachment behaviors is relevant to creating secure couple relationships. This article seeks to test and examine the reliability and validity of the Brief Accessibility, Responsiveness, and Engagement (BARE) Scale-a practical measure of couple attachment-in a clinical sample. Couples took the BARE and other assessments measuring relationship functioning (self and partner reports of relationship satisfaction, relationship stability, positive and negative communication, and attachment styles). Results suggest that the BARE appears to be a reliable and valid tool for assessing couple attachment and can accurately predict and classify whether the couples belong in the clinical or nonclinical group, as well as their level of relationship satisfaction. Results also indicate attachment behaviors are related to relationship outcomes. PMID:26748730
Addressing Student Problem Behavior: An IEP Team's Introduction to Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plans. Second Edition.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Quinn, Mary Magee; Gable, Robert A.; Rutherford, Robert B., Jr.; Nelson, C. Michael; Howell, Kenneth W.
This paper provides guidelines for conducting a functional behavioral assessment and developing positive behavior intervention plans with students who have behavior disorders or other disabilities in the context of requirements of the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). After an introduction, rights and…
Development of a scale to assess concern about falling and applications to treatment programs.
Lusardi, M M; Smith, E V
This study used Rasch methodology to pursue three goals. First, we sought to demonstrate the psychometric limitations of the Falls Efficacy Scale (Tinetti, Richman, & Powell, 1990). Second, we addressed these limitations using a simultaneous calibration of the Falls Efficacy Scale and Mobility Efficacy Scale items. Third, we review previous explorations of the self-efficacy construct in relationship to health behaviors and discuss a possible treatment program based on the simultaneous calibrated items and Social Cognitive Theory. Results indicate that responses from the Falls Efficacy Scale fail to assess the higher ends of the self-efficacy continuum. Simultaneous calibration of items improved this lack of scale definition. This initial work in assessing self-efficacy perceptions provides a theoretical framework for planning treatment programs that may be more cost effective than collecting performance measures. PMID:9661714
Internal Consistency and Inter-Rater Reliability of the Questions about Behavioral Function (QABF) Rating Scale When Used by Teachers and Paraprofessionals
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
May, Michael E.; Sheng, Yanyan; Chitiyo, Morgan; Brandt, Rachel C.; Howe, Abigail P.
There has been considerable emphasis on indirect functional behavior assessments in school settings. However, little research has evaluated the reliability of these methods to identify behavioral function. One indirect measure, the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) scale, has yet to be extensively studied in school settings, though…
Institutional Racism Scale: Assessing Self and Organizational Attributes.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barbarin, Oscar A.; Gilbert, Renee
The Institutional Racism Scale (IRS) was developed to assess how individuals look at racism, engage in activities to reduce racism, and view organizational commitment to the reduction of institutional racism. Existing methods for evaluating racism provided a framework for developing the scale. The final instrument generated after testing and…
Situational Specificity Makes the Difference in Assessment of Youth Behavior Disorders
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McDermott, Paul A.; Steinberg, Carrie M.; Angelo, Lauren E.
In this article we examine the ability of contextual information to enhance assessment of behavior problems in schools. Capitalizing on the multisituational structure of the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents, exploratory and confirmatory analyses with a representative national sample (N = 1,400, ages 5-17 years) revealed three unique…
Assessing Adolescents' Anticipated Behavioral and Emotional Responses to Offers of Alcohol and Marijuana
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pristas, Erica V.; Rosenberg, Harold
The Adolescent Responses to Alcohol and Drug Offers Scale (ARADOS) is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess a respondent's anticipated emotional reactions and intended use of cognitive-behavioral refusal skills in response to an offer of alcohol or other drug. A sample of 267 students enrolled in the 11th and 12th grades of four public…
State of the Art Procedures for Assessment and Treatment of Learners with Behavioral Problems
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
LaRue, Robert H., Jr.; Weiss, Mary Jane; Ferraioli, Suzannah J.
Challenging behavior can create significant obstacles to academic and social progress for individuals in a school setting, particularly those with developmental disabilities. Functional assessments such as rating scales, ABC analyses, and functional analyses, are evidenced to be the most effective methods for identifying the maintaining variables…
[French scale validation of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire three months after birth].
Lacombe, Marie; Delmas, Philippe; Carrier, Nathalie; Rabillon, Florence; Couture, Marie-Estelle
Breastfeeding is recognize to be the perfect food of mother and child's health. The child's temperament is one of the factors that may explain pursuing the breastfeeding. Few instruments are available in French to measure this factor. The objective of the study is to present and validate the French translation of the scale "Infant Behavior Questionnaire" (IBQ). The sample consists of 193 primaparous or multiparous women who gave birth in a maternity in Paris. The child's temperament questionnaire was sent by mail three months after the birth. The same questionnaire was sent to a sub-sample of 30 women 15 days later. Analyses were conducted to assess the temporal stability, internal consistency, construct validity and predictive. The different results tend to show a compliant validity to the french scale version. This first IBQ French-language validation is worth pursuing in order to confirm the scale factor structure and participate to studies supporting mothers in their breastfeeding project. PMID:26411241
Assessment scales in stroke: clinimetric and clinical considerations
Harrison, Jennifer K; McArthur, Katherine S; Quinn, Terence J
As stroke care has developed, there has been a need to robustly assess the efficacy of interventions both at the level of the individual stroke survivor and in the context of clinical trials. To describe stroke-survivor recovery meaningfully, more sophisticated measures are required than simple dichotomous end points, such as mortality or stroke recurrence. As stroke is an exemplar disabling long-term condition, measures of function are well suited as outcome assessment. In this review, we will describe functional assessment scales in stroke, concentrating on three of the more commonly used tools: the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, the modified Rankin Scale, and the Barthel Index. We will discuss the strengths, limitations, and application of these scales and use the scales to highlight important properties that are relevant to all assessment tools. We will frame much of this discussion in the context of "clinimetric" analysis. As they are increasingly used to inform stroke-survivor assessments, we will also discuss some of the commonly used quality-of-life measures. A recurring theme when considering functional assessment is that no tool suits all situations. Clinicians and researchers should chose their assessment tool based on the question of interest and the evidence base around clinimetric properties. PMID:23440256
Use of automated monitoring to assess behavioral toxicology in fish: Linking behavior and physiology
Brewer, S.K.; DeLonay, A.J.; Beauvais, S.L.; Little, E.E.; Jones, S.B.
We measured locomotory behaviors (distance traveled, speed, tortuosity of path, and rate of change in direction) with computer-assisted analysis in 30 day posthatch rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed to pesticides. We also examined cholinesterase inhibition as a potential endpoint linking physiology and behavior. Sublethal exposure to chemicals often causes changes in swimming behavior, reflecting alterations in sensory and motor systems. Swimming behavior also integrates functions of the nervous system. Rarely are the connections between physiology and behavior made. Although behavior is often suggested as a sensitive, early indicator of toxicity, behavioral toxicology has not been used to its full potential because conventional methods of behavioral assessment have relied on manual techniques, which are often time-consuming and difficult to quantify. This has severely limited the application and utility of behavioral procedures. Swimming behavior is particularly amenable to computerized assessment and automated monitoring. Locomotory responses are sensitive to toxicants and can be easily measured. We briefly discuss the use of behavior in toxicology and automated techniques used in behavioral toxicology. We also describe the system we used to determine locomotory behaviors of fish, and present data demonstrating the system's effectiveness in measuring alterations in response to chemical challenges. Lastly, we correlate behavioral and physiological endpoints.
Entrustability Scales: Outlining Their Usefulness for Competency-Based Clinical Assessment.
Rekman, Janelle; Gofton, Wade; Dudek, Nancy; Gofton, Tyson; Hamstra, Stanley J
Meaningful residency education occurs at the bedside, along with opportunities for situated in-training assessment. A necessary component of workplace-based assessment (WBA) is the clinical supervisor, whose subjective judgments of residents' performance can yield rich and nuanced ratings but may also occasionally reflect bias. How to improve the validity of WBA instruments while simultaneously capturing meaningful subjective judgment is currently not clear. This Perspective outlines how "entrustability scales" may help bridge the gap between the assessment judgments of clinical supervisors and WBA instruments. Entrustment-based assessment evaluates trainees against what they will actually do when independent; thus, "entrustability scales"-defined as behaviorally anchored ordinal scales based on progression to competence-reflect a judgment that has clinical meaning for assessors. Rather than asking raters to assess trainees against abstract scales, entrustability scales provide raters with an assessment measure structured around the way evaluators already make day-to-day clinical entrustment decisions, which results in increased reliability. Entrustability scales help raters make assessments based on narrative descriptors that reflect real-world judgments, drawing attention to a trainee's readiness for independent practice rather than his/her deficiencies. These scales fit into milestone measurement both by allowing an individual resident to strive for independence in entrustable professional activities across the entire training period and by allowing residency directors to identify residents experiencing difficulty. Some WBA tools that have begun to use variations of entrustability scales show potential for allowing raters to produce valid judgments. This type of anchor scale should be brought into wider circulation. PMID:26630609
International Large-Scale Assessments: What Uses, What Consequences?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johansson, Stefan
Background: International large-scale assessments (ILSAs) are a much-debated phenomenon in education. Increasingly, their outcomes attract considerable media attention and influence educational policies in many jurisdictions worldwide. The relevance, uses and consequences of these assessments are often the focus of research scrutiny. Whilst some…
Measurement, Sampling, and Equating Errors in Large-Scale Assessments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wu, Margaret
In large-scale assessments, such as state-wide testing programs, national sample-based assessments, and international comparative studies, there are many steps involved in the measurement and reporting of student achievement. There are always sources of inaccuracies in each of the steps. It is of interest to identify the source and magnitude of…
Integrating Risk Context into Risk Assessments: The Risk Context Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kroner, Daryl G.; Gray, Andrew L.; Goodrich, Ben
The context in which offenders are released is an important component of conducting risk assessments. A sample of 257 supervised male parolees were followed in the community ("M" = 870 days) after an initial risk assessment. Drawing on community-based information, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the recently developed Risk Context Scale.…
The Functional Assessment of School Refusal Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kearney, Christopher A.; Lemos, Amie; Silverman, Jenna
School refusal behavior refers to child-motivated refusal to attend school and/or difficulty attending classes for an entire day (Kearney & Silverman, 1996). As such, the term represents an umbrella construct for many historical ones that have been used to describe youths with problematic absenteeism, including truancy, psychoneurotic truancy,…
Implementing Functional Behavior Assessment in Thailand
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Opartkiattikul, Watinee; Arthur-Kelly, Michael; Dempsey, Ian
Thailand is aiming to improve special education practices, and inclusive education has been introduced and mandated by national laws in the past few years. However, inclusive practices are challenging for many Thai teachers and schools. Many teachers are unprepared to support students with diverse needs and to deal with behavior problems. To…
The Teaching Practices Observation Scale (TPOS): An Observational Taxonomy for Assessing Teacher-Preschooler Interactions during Free Play.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Moulton, Caryn E.; Coplan, Robert J.; Mills, Catherine
This study examined preliminary psychometric properties of the Teaching Practices Observation Scale (TPOS), a newly developed observational taxonomy for assessing teacher behaviors during free play with young children. Behaviors of 42 child caregivers and junior kindergarten teachers were coded using a combination of time-sampling, event-sampling,…
Development and validation of the Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption Scale (CEBRACS).
Rahal, Collin J; Bryant, Judith B; Darkes, Jack; Menzel, Jessie E; Thompson, J Kevin
The goal of the current investigation was to develop and validate a measure to assess an individual's eating-related behaviors related to alcohol consumption, specifically behaviors intended to compensate for calories so that more alcohol could be consumed or restrict calories to enhance the psychoactive effects of alcohol consumption. Two hundred and seventy four undergraduate students (n=51 males; 75.2% Caucasian) completed a newly developed scale, the Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption Scale (CEBRACS), along with measures of eating restriction, bulimia, and body dissatisfaction. An exploratory factor analysis on the CEBRACS revealed the existence of 4 clear-cut factors: alcohol effects, bulimia, dieting and exercise, and restriction. Internal consistency statistics for all subscales ranged from .79 to .95. Pearson product-moment correlations between the CEBRACS and measures of bulimia, restriction, and body dissatisfaction ranged from .04 to .44. T-tests revealed no gender differences in compensatory eating behaviors. Future research directions and limitations of the current study are discussed. PMID:22365787
National-Scale Wind Resource Assessment for Power Generation (Presentation)
Baring-Gould, E. I.
This presentation describes the current standards for conducting a national-scale wind resource assessment for power generation, along with the risk/benefit considerations to be considered when beginning a wind resource assessment. The presentation describes changes in turbine technology and viable wind deployment due to more modern turbine technology and taller towers and shows how the Philippines national wind resource assessment evolved over time to reflect changes that arise from updated technologies and taller towers.
Conceptualizing the Science Curriculum: 40 Years of Developing Assessment Frameworks in Three Large-Scale Assessments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kind, Per Morten
The paper analyzes conceptualizations in the science frameworks in three large-scale assessments, Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The assessments have a shared history, but have developed different conceptualizations. The…
The Social Validity Assessment of Social Competence Intervention Behavior Goals
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hurley, Jennifer J.; Wehby, Joseph H.; Feurer, Irene D.
Social validation is the value judgment from society on the importance of a study. The social validity of behavior goals used in the social competence intervention literature was assessed using the Q-sort technique. The stimulus items were 80 different social competence behavior goals taken from 78 classroom-based social competence intervention…
Using Brief Assessments to Evaluate Aberrant Behavior Maintained by Attention.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
O'Reilly, Mark F.; Lancioni, Giulio E.; King, Lisa; Lally, Grainne; Dhomhnaill, Orla Nic
Functional assessments were conducted for two Irish individuals with severe disabilities and aberrant behavior. A modified attention condition was introduced, which involved both parents interacting with a third person. Aberrant behavior occurred only in the modified attention condition. Successful treatment consisted of delivery of attention on a…
The Eating and Exercise Behavior Questionnaire: A Validity Assessment.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brandon, Jeffrey E.; And Others
Three studies assessing the Eating and Exercise Behavior Questionnaire indicated that it is reliable and useful in studying the eating patterns of the obese, differences in behavioral cue responses to eating, and multiple and single session weight loss training effectiveness.The research utility of the instrument is discussed. (CB)
Using Functional Assessment To Promote Desirable Student Behavior in Schools.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ryan, Amanda L.; Halsey, Heather N.; Matthews, William J.
This article presents a rationale for the functional behavioral assessment (FBA) approach to solving behavior problems in the classroom as well as FBA components and applications. The paper notes advantages of FBA as well as legal and ethical reasons for using FBA. A case study illustrates use of FBA within a four-stage decision-making framework.…
Writing Assessment's "Debilitating Inheritance": Behaviorism's Dismissal of Experience
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilson, Maja Joiwind
In this project, I examine the legacy of behaviorism's dismissal of experience on contemporary writing assessment theory and practice within the field of composition studies. I use an archival study of John B. Watson's letters to Robert Mearns Yerkes to establish behaviorism's systematic denial of experience and its related constructs: mind,…
Multi-scale satellite assessment of water availability and agricultural drought: from field to global scales
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
This paper discusses a multi-scale remote sensing modeling system that fuses flux assessments generated with TIR imagery collected by multiple satellite platforms to estimate daily surface fluxes from field to global scales. The Landsat series of polar orbiting systems has collected TIR imagery at 6...
A typology of time-scale mismatches and behavioral interventions to diagnose and solve conservation problems.
Wilson, Robyn S; Hardisty, David J; Epanchin-Niell, Rebecca S; Runge, Michael C; Cottingham, Kathryn L; Urban, Dean L; Maguire, Lynn A; Hastings, Alan; Mumby, Peter J; Peters, Debra P C
Ecological systems often operate on time scales significantly longer or shorter than the time scales typical of human decision making, which causes substantial difficulty for conservation and management in socioecological systems. For example, invasive species may move faster than humans can diagnose problems and initiate solutions, and climate systems may exhibit long-term inertia and short-term fluctuations that obscure learning about the efficacy of management efforts in many ecological systems. We adopted a management-decision framework that distinguishes decision makers within public institutions from individual actors within the social system, calls attention to the ways socioecological systems respond to decision makers' actions, and notes institutional learning that accrues from observing these responses. We used this framework, along with insights from bedeviling conservation problems, to create a typology that identifies problematic time-scale mismatches occurring between individual decision makers in public institutions and between individual actors in the social or ecological system. We also considered solutions that involve modifying human perception and behavior at the individual level as a means of resolving these problematic mismatches. The potential solutions are derived from the behavioral economics and psychology literature on temporal challenges in decision making, such as the human tendency to discount future outcomes at irrationally high rates. These solutions range from framing environmental decisions to enhance the salience of long-term consequences, to using structured decision processes that make time scales of actions and consequences more explicit, to structural solutions aimed at altering the consequences of short-sighted behavior to make it less appealing. Additional application of these tools and long-term evaluation measures that assess not just behavioral changes but also associated changes in ecological systems are needed. PMID
Animal behavioral assessments in current research of Parkinson's disease.
Asakawa, Tetsuya; Fang, Huan; Sugiyama, Kenji; Nozaki, Takao; Hong, Zhen; Yang, Yilin; Hua, Fei; Ding, Guanghong; Chao, Dongman; Fenoy, Albert J; Villarreal, Sebastian J; Onoe, Hirotaka; Suzuki, Katsuaki; Mori, Norio; Namba, Hiroki; Xia, Ying
Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder, is traditionally classified as a movement disorder. Patients typically suffer from many motor dysfunctions. Presently, clinicians and scientists recognize that many non-motor symptoms are associated with PD. There is an increasing interest in both motor and non-motor symptoms in clinical studies on PD patients and laboratory research on animal models that imitate the pathophysiologic features and symptoms of PD patients. Therefore, appropriate behavioral assessments are extremely crucial for correctly understanding the mechanisms of PD and accurately evaluating the efficacy and safety of novel therapies. This article systematically reviews the behavioral assessments, for both motor and non-motor symptoms, in various animal models involved in current PD research. We addressed the strengths and weaknesses of these behavioral tests and their appropriate applications. Moreover, we discussed potential mechanisms behind these behavioral tests and cautioned readers against potential experimental bias. Since most of the behavioral assessments currently used for non-motor symptoms are not particularly designed for animals with PD, it is of the utmost importance to greatly improve experimental design and evaluation in PD research with animal models. Indeed, it is essential to develop specific assessments for non-motor symptoms in PD animals based on their characteristics. We concluded with a prospective view for behavioral assessments with real-time assessment with mobile internet and wearable device in future PD research. PMID:27026638
Value-Eroding Teacher Behaviors Scale: A Validity and Reliability Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arseven, Zeynep; Kiliç, Abdurrahman; Sahin, Seyma
In the present study, it is aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale for determining value-eroding behaviors of teachers, hence their values of judgment. The items of the "Value-eroding Teacher Behaviors Scale" were designed in the form of 5-point likert type rating scale. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to…
Using Rasch Rating Scale Methodology to Examine a Behavioral Screener for Preschoolers at Risk
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
DiStefano, Christine; Greer, Fred W.; Kamphaus, R. W.; Brown, William H.
A screening instrument used to identify young children at risk for behavioral and emotional difficulties, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Teacher Rating Scale-Preschool was examined. The Rasch Rating Scale Method was used to provide additional information about psychometric properties of items, respondents, and the response scale.…
Nonlinearity and Scaling Behavior in Lead Zirconate Titanate Piezoceramic
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mueller, V.
The results of a comprehensive study of the nonlinear dielectric and electromechanical response of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoceramics are presented. The piezoelectric strain of a series of donor doped (soft PZT) and acceptor doped (hard PZT) polycrystalline systems was measured under quasistatic (nonresonant) conditions. The measuring field was applied both parallel and perpendicular to the poling direction of the ceramic in order to investigate the influence of different symmetry conditions. Dielectric properties were studied in addition to the electromechanical measurements which enables us to compare piezoelectric and dielectric nonlinearities. Due to the different level and type of dopants, the piezoceramics examined differ significantly with regard to its Curie temperature (190^o C
Thermal Behavior of Unusual Local-Scale Features on Vesta
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Tosi, Federico; Capria, Maria Teresa; DeSanctis, Maria Cristina; Palomba, Ernesto; Capaccioni, Fabrizio; Combe, Jean-Philippe; Titus, Timothy; Mittlefehldt, David W.; Li, Jian-Yang; Russell, Christopher T.
On Vesta, the thermal behavior of areas of unusual albedo seen at the local scale can be related to physical properties that can provide information about the origin of those materials. Dawn's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIR) hyperspectral cubes are used to retrieve surface temperatures and emissivities, with high accuracy as long as temperatures are greater than 180 K. Data acquired in the Survey phase (23 July through 29 August 2011) show several unusual surface features: 1) high-albedo (bright) and low-albedo (dark) material deposits, 2) spectrally distinct ejecta and pitted materials, 3) regions suggesting finer-grained materials. Some of the unusual dark and bright features were re-observed by VIR in the subsequent High-Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO) and Low-Altitude Mapping Orbit (LAMO) phases at increased pixel resolution. In particular, bright and dark surface materials on Vesta, and pitted materials, are currently being investigated by the Dawn team. In this work we present temperature maps and emissivities of several local-scale features that were observed by Dawn under different illumination conditions and different local solar times. To calculate surface temperatures, we applied a Bayesian approach to nonlinear inversion based on the Kirchhoff law and the Planck function, and whose results were compared with those provided by the application of alternative methods. Data from the IR channel of VIR show that bright regions generally correspond to regions with lower thermal emission, i.e. lower temperature, while dark regions correspond to areas with higher thermal emission, i.e. higher temperature. This behavior confirms that many of the dark appearances in the VIS mainly reflect albedo variations, and not, for example, shadowing. During maximum daily insolation, dark features in the equatorial region may rise to temperatures greater than 270 K, while brightest features stop at roughly 258 K for similar local solar times. However, pitted
How reliable is the Spanish bodily harm assessment scale?
Ordóñez-Mayán, Lucía; Represas, Carlos; Miguéns, Xoan; Rodríguez-Calvo, María Sol; Febrero-Bande, Manuel; Muñoz-Barús, José Ignacio
The use of scales to quantify or qualify bodily harm resulting from an unintentional car accident has been mandatory in Spain since 1995 and compensation for personal injuries resulting from a traffic accident is calculated according to a legal ruling established by Royal Decree 8/2004 (RDL). This present study assesses the reliability of the scale. Agreement between the evaluations for the same patient by 24 qualified observers following the Royal Decree 8/2004 was measured using the Kappa index. The variables assessed were the days of hospitalization, impeditive days, non impeditive days and the functional and aesthetic sequelae. The application of the Fleiss Kappa index obtained a result of 0.37, indicating a "fair agreement" according to the rating scale proposed by Landis and Koch. This study demonstrates the unreliability of the Spanish medical scale for the assessment of injury as described in the RDL 8/2004. The scale should adopt the measurement systems and clinical classifications of outcomes such as the ASIA, SCI scale or the Daniels scale of neurological injury and allow scientific discussion of the findings of the report. The resulting quantitative value should operate as a reliable indicator of a specific quality of the damage. PMID:25882143
Behavioral Risk Assessment of the Guarded Suicidal Patient
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Simon, Robert I.
Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals are trained to assess patients by direct observation and examination. Short inpatient length of stay, brief outpatient visits, emergency room evaluations, and other time-limited clinical settings require rapid assessment of suicide risk. Recognition of behavioral suicide risk factors can assist…
Direct Behavior Rating Scales as Screeners: A Preliminary Investigation of Diagnostic Accuracy in Elementary School
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kilgus, Stephen P.; Chafouleas, Sandra M.; Riley-Tillman, T. Chris; Welsh, Megan E.
This study presents an evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy and concurrent validity of Direct Behavior Rating Single Item Scales for use in school-based behavior screening of second-grade students. Results indicated that each behavior target was a moderately to highly accurate predictor of behavioral risk. Optimal universal screening cut scores…
Synthetic melanin films: Assembling mechanisms, scaling behavior, and structural properties
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lorite, Gabriela S.; Coluci, Vitor R.; da Silva, Maria Ivonete N.; Dezidério, Shirlei N.; Graeff, Carlos Frederico O.; Galva~O, Douglas S.; Cotta, Mônica A.
In this work we report on the surface characterization of melanin thin films prepared using both water-based and organic solvent-based melanin syntheses. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis of these films suggests that the organic solvent synthesis provides relatively planar basic melanin structures; these basic structures generate surface steps with height in the range of 2-3 nm and small tendency to form larger aggregates. The scaling properties obtained from the AFM data were used to infer the assembling mechanisms of these thin films which depend on the solvent used for melanin synthesis. The behavior observed in organic solvent-based melanin suggests a diffusion-limited aggregation process. Thus films with good adhesion to the substrate and smoother morphologies than water-prepared melanin films are obtained. Electronic structure calculations using a conductorlike screening model were also performed in order to elucidate the microscopic processes of thin film formation. Our results suggest that the agglomerates observed in hydrated samples originate from reaction with water at specific locations on the surface most likely defects on the planar structure.
Scaling in the Emergent Behavior of Heavy Electron Materials
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Curro, N.; Young, B.-L.; Pines, D.; Schmalian, Joerg
We show that the two fluid description of the Kondo lattice developed by Nakatsuji, Pines, and Fisk provides a quantitative explanation of the Knight shift anomaly that has been measured in a number of heavy electron materials. It enables us to identify the onset of the anomaly at a temperature, T, at which the heavy electron liquid emerges from a lattice of non-interacting Kondo centers, and to determine quantitatively the temperature evolution of the heavy electron spin susceptibility by combining measurements of the temperature dependence of the Knight shift with those of the bulk electronic spin susceptibility. We find that an excellent fit to existing experimental data in Ce, Yb and U based materials is obtained with a susceptibility whose temperature dependence follows the simple form: (1-T/T*)log T^*/T; a result that suggests that quite generally in Kondo lattices the emergent behavior of the heavy electron liquid can be characterized entirely by the single energy scale, T^*, that Nakatsuji et al. have proposed is a direct measure of the strength of nearest neighbor intersite magnetic coupling.
Increasing the on-Task Homework Behavior of Youth with Behavior Disorders Using Functional Behavioral Assessment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hawkins, Renee O.; Axelrod, Michael I.
Research has shown a positive correlation between time spent on homework and learning. However, students often engage in off-task behaviors to escape the demands of homework. Youth with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) are especially likely to engage in off-task behaviors. Effective interventions to increase on-task behavior during homework…
A computerized approach to cognitive behavioural assessment: an introduction to CBA-2.0 primary scales.
Bertolotti, G; Zotti, A M; Michielin, P; Vidotto, G; Sanavio, E
The Cognitive Behavioural Assessment-2.0 (CBA-2.0) Primary Scales is an automated assessment package investigating the cognitive-verbal response system. It consists of: (1) self-reports and questionnaires aimed at identifying and specifying patients' problems; (2) a group of programs and logical rules, implemented on personal computers, providing an editor with items, questionnaire scoring and an analysis of responses; (3) an intelligent program which analyzes the responses emerging from the questionnaires and forms hypotheses for the selection of Secondary Scales and for further assessment. The package is part of a research project aimed at reducing part of the decision-making process to an operational language and simulating behavioral therapists decisions in cases of clinical assessment. PMID:2197296
State Special Education Laws for Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plans
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zirkel, Perry A.
A comprehensive search identified 31 state statutes and regulations specific to functional behavioral assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP) in the special education context. A systematic tabulation of the state law provisions that exceed the rather narrow foundation requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…
Ecohydrological modeling for large-scale environmental impact assessment.
Woznicki, Sean A; Nejadhashemi, A Pouyan; Abouali, Mohammad; Herman, Matthew R; Esfahanian, Elaheh; Hamaamin, Yaseen A; Zhang, Zhen
Ecohydrological models are frequently used to assess the biological integrity of unsampled streams. These models vary in complexity and scale, and their utility depends on their final application. Tradeoffs are usually made in model scale, where large-scale models are useful for determining broad impacts of human activities on biological conditions, and regional-scale (e.g. watershed or ecoregion) models provide stakeholders greater detail at the individual stream reach level. Given these tradeoffs, the objective of this study was to develop large-scale stream health models with reach level accuracy similar to regional-scale models thereby allowing for impacts assessments and improved decision-making capabilities. To accomplish this, four measures of biological integrity (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa (EPT), Family Index of Biotic Integrity (FIBI), Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI), and fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)) were modeled based on four thermal classes (cold, cold-transitional, cool, and warm) of streams that broadly dictate the distribution of aquatic biota in Michigan. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate streamflow and water quality in seven watersheds and the Hydrologic Index Tool was used to calculate 171 ecologically relevant flow regime variables. Unique variables were selected for each thermal class using a Bayesian variable selection method. The variables were then used in development of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) models of EPT, FIBI, HBI, and IBI. ANFIS model accuracy improved when accounting for stream thermal class rather than developing a global model. PMID:26595397
Basin-Scale Opportunity Assessment Initiative Background Literature Review
Saulsbury, Bo; Geerlofs, Simon H.; Cada, Glenn F; Bevelhimer, Mark S
As called for in the March 24, 2010, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Hydropower, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), environmental stakeholders, and the hydropower industry are collaborating to identify opportunities to simultaneously increase electricity generation and improve environmental services in river basins of the United States. New analytical tools provide an improved ability to understand, model, and visualize environmental and hydropower systems. Efficiencies and opportunities that might not be apparent in site-by-site analyses can be revealed through assessments at the river-basin scale. Information from basin-scale assessments could lead to better coordination of existing hydropower projects, or to inform siting decisions (e.g., balancing the removal of some dams with the construction of others), in order to meet renewable energy production and environmental goals. Basin-scale opportunity assessments would inform energy and environmental planning and address the cumulative effects of hydropower development and operations on river basin environmental quality in a way that quantifies energy-environment tradeoffs. Opportunity assessments would create information products, develop scenarios, and identify specific actions that agencies, developers, and stakeholders can take to locate new sustainable hydropower projects, increase the efficiency and environmental performance of existing projects, and restore and protect environmental quality in our nation's river basins. Government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO) have done significant work to understand and assess opportunities for both hydropower and environmental protection at the basin scale. Some initiatives have been successful, others less so, and there is a need to better understand the legacy of work on which this current project can build. This background literature review is intended to
Communication Self-Assessment Scale Inventory for Deaf Adults.
Kaplan, H; Bally, S J; Brandt, F
The Communication Self-Assessment Scale for Deaf Adults (CSDA) evaluates difficult communication situations, their importance to the respondent, communication strategies, and communication attitudes. Scale items use simple descriptive language in active declarative form. Each scale is comprised of three or more subscales. The subject responds using a three point semantic differential based on frequency of occurrence or degree of importance. Item analysis, factor analysis, internal consistency reliability studies, and collection of normative data have been performed on a population of 290 deaf adults. PMID:1768885
Mirzaei, Mojtaba; Ahmadi, Khodabakhsh; Saadat, Seyed-Hassan; Ramezani, Mohammad Arash
Background: Sexual behavior is a complex activity affecting all aspects of human's life. Risky sexual behaviors impose negative outcomes on family, relationships and health. Unsafe sex is the second most leading cause of disability adjusted life years worldwide. Valid and reliable tools for assessment of risky sexual behaviors are necessary for implementing preventive measures. Methods: we searched Medline and the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews, with the keywords of "risky sexual behavior assessment", "sexual risk assessment", "high risk sexual behavior", "sexual risk taking". By reviewing references of the articles, some complementary studies were added. Results: Assessment can be performed by questionnaire or non-questionnaire instruments. Questionnaires vary depending on their target population, evaluation of risky sexual behavior as a whole or focusing on an associated risk factor. In order to avoid usual biases in self reports, objective biomarker assessment of unprotected sex are employed. These markers include prostate specific antigen, chromosome Y DNA and Seminogelin. Conclusion: Risky sexual behavior can be assessed by various subjective and objective methods. While self-reports are more feasible, objective methods offer a higher degree of reliability. Further studies for finding more feasible methods of using biomarkers are recommended. PMID:27047267
The development of an annoyance scale for community noise assessment
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Levine, N.
The development of an annoyance scale for use in community noise assessment is described. In previous studies in which annoyance scales have been used descriptors, intervals, and metrics have been variable and non-standard. Such variability may be a serious shortcoming in comparing studies of assessment of noise reactions. It is not clear how many semantic distinctions can be made to describe subjective reactions to noise, especially the degree of annoyance. There is also great variability in language use reflecting educational, social class, regional and sub-cultural differences. Finally, scaling annoyance responses ordinally, when the underlying intervals are skewed, may seriously distort relationships when analyzed with parametric statistics. In the research described here, an attempt has been made to produce a standardized annoyance scale with descriptors marking clear semantic distinctions, roughly equidistant from each other, and having wide acceptability. Using the Thurstone scaling method, 51 subjects from both high and low educational backgrounds were asked to rate 43 different descriptors of annoyance. The results show that six to seven semantic distinctions can be made. Seven descriptors which mark off roughly equal-sized intervals and which show the greatest agreement are chosen for an annoyance scale. It is felt that the use of such a scale may be more useful in comparing subjective response to noise. Data from a survey lend support to this.
Development and Construct Validation of the Mentor Behavior Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brodeur, Pascale; Larose, Simon; Tarabulsy, George; Feng, Bei; Forget-Dubois, Nadine
Researchers suggest that certain supportive behaviors of mentors could increase the benefits of school-based mentoring for youth. However, the literature contains few validated instruments to measure these behaviors. In our present study, we aimed to construct and validate a tool to measure the supportive behaviors of mentors participating in…
Expectancy Theory Predictions and Behaviorally Anchored Scales of Motivation: An Empirical Test of Engineers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ivancevich, John M.
A behaviorally specific motivational effort rating scale was developed and tested. The organizational specific scale results were examined and compared to those generated from the Landy and Guion scale. It was found that the organizationally specific and engineer relevant scale is a better predictor of two types of expectancies. (Author)
Debris flows: behavior and hazard assessment
Iverson, Richard M.
Debris flows are water-laden masses of soil and fragmented rock that rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form lobate deposits when they spill onto valley floors. Because they have volumetric sediment concentrations that exceed 40 percent, maximum speeds that surpass 10 m/s, and sizes that can range up to ~109 m3, debris flows can denude slopes, bury floodplains, and devastate people and property. Computational models can accurately represent the physics of debris-flow initiation, motion and deposition by simulating evolution of flow mass and momentum while accounting for interactions of debris' solid and fluid constituents. The use of physically based models for hazard forecasting can be limited by imprecise knowledge of initial and boundary conditions and material properties, however. Therefore, empirical methods continue to play an important role in debris-flow hazard assessment.
Development and validation of a scale to measure Latino parenting strategies related to children's obesigenic behaviors. The parenting strategies for eating and activity scale (PEAS).
Larios, Sandra E; Ayala, Guadalupe X; Arredondo, Elva M; Baquero, Barbara; Elder, John P
Research has shown that children's dietary and activity-related behaviors are shaped by the family environment and parenting behaviors. The present study describes the development and validation of a bilingual (Spanish and English) scale assessing parenting strategies associated with children's dietary and activity-related behaviors in the home. Items were generated from focus groups with Latina mothers and a review of the literature, and two different samples were used to assess the scale's psychometric properties, including an examination of predictive validity using measured child body mass index. Factor analysis of the first sample (N=91) yielded a 5-factor solution (limit setting, monitoring, discipline, control and concern) and accounted for 65% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analyses on a second sample of Latina mothers recruited into a childhood obesity prevention study (N=714) showed that a 26-item 5-factor solution (limit setting, monitoring, discipline, control and reinforcement) provided the best fit for the data. Parenting strategies characterized as controlling were associated with a lower BMI among children. After using multiple samples and establishing its validity, the parenting strategies for eating and activity scale (PEAS) was found to be valid and reliable in measuring Latino parenting strategies related to children's dietary and activity-related behaviors. PMID:18845197
The utility of verbal and behavioral assessments of value.
Bernstein, D J; Michael, R L
Subjects lived in a laboratory apartment for up to 30 days, engaging in ordinary activities such as reading, sewing, and artwork. The amount of time devoted to each activity was recorded and compared with periodic verbal ratings of the amount of time devoted to the activities. The verbal and observational assessments of the time distribution were very similar, but there were some discrepancies. Based on self-reports and on observation of time actually devoted to the activities, contingencies were arranged in which time devoted to one activity produced time available for a second activity. When the contingency relation was based on behavioral assessment, predictions of time redistribution were more accurate than when the relations were based on verbal assessment. The close correspondence between observed distributions of time and verbally assessed distributions was probably due to the well-specified situation and rigorous assessment methods. Contrary to some cognitive-behavioral accounts, the contingency results suggest that verbal assessment is not necessarily preferable to observation when the two make discrepant predictions. It is suggested that verbal reports might be used more often in behavior analysis in place of lengthy or difficult observations, and attention is drawn to a personality model that parallels important components of behavior analysis. PMID:2103580
Objective estimation of patient age through a new composite scale for facial aging assessment: The face - Objective assessment scale.
La Padula, Simone; Hersant, Barbara; SidAhmed, Mounia; Niddam, Jeremy; Meningaud, Jean Paul
Most patients requesting aesthetic rejuvenation treatment expect to look healthier and younger. Some scales for ageing assessment have been proposed, but none is focused on patient age prediction. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new facial rating scale assessing facial ageing sign severity. One thousand Caucasian patients were included and assessed. The Rasch model was used as part of the validation process. A score was attributed to each patient, based on the scales we developed. The correlation between the real age and scores obtained, the inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability were analysed. The objective was to develop a tool enabling the assigning of a patient to a specific age range based on the calculated score. All scales exceeded criteria for acceptability, reliability and validity. The real age strongly correlated with the total facial score in both sex groups. The test-retest reliability confirmed this strong correlation. We developed a facial ageing scale which could be a useful tool to assess patients before and after rejuvenation treatment and an important new metrics to be used in facial rejuvenation and regenerative clinical research. PMID:27221225
Assessing Counter-Terrorism field training with multiple behavioral measures.
Spiker, V Alan; Johnston, Joan H
Development of behavioral pattern recognition and analysis skills is an essential element of Counter-Terrorism training, particularly in the field. Three classes of behavioral measures were collected in an assessment of skill acquisition during a US Joint Forces Command-sponsored course consisting of Combat Tracking and Combat Profiling segments. Measures included situational judgment tests, structured behavioral observation checklists, and qualitative assessments of the emergence of specific knowledge-skills-attitudes over the course of the training. The paper describes statistical evidence across the three types of measures that indicate that behavioral pattern recognition and analysis skills were successfully acquired by most students (a mix of Army and civilian law enforcement personnel) during the field training exercises. Implications for broader training of these critical skills are also discussed. PMID:22818862
The Classroom Adaptation Scale: A Behavior Rating Scale Designed to Screen Primary Grade Children for School Adaptation Problems.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Virbickis, Joseph A.
After a brief historical review of the background and research, the paper focuses on development of a teacher-administered behavior rating scale to screen for school adaptation problems on a large scale basis using as Ss 15 primary grade teachers and their ratings of 315 primary grade children (ages 6-to-10 years) in their classes. A 16-item…
The Incremental Validity of a Short Form of the Ideational Behavior Scale and Usefulness of Distractor, Contraindicative, and Lie Scales
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Runco, Mark A.; Walczyk, Jeffrey John; Acar, Selcuk; Cowger, Ernest L.; Simundson, Melissa; Tripp, Sunny
This article describes an empirical refinement of the "Runco Ideational Behavior Scale" (RIBS). The RIBS seems to be associated with divergent thinking, and the potential for creative thinking, but it was possible that its validity could be improved. With this in mind, three new scales were developed and the unique benefit (or…
The Children's Behavior Questionnaire very short scale: Psychometric properties and development of a one-item temperament scale
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Little research has been conducted on the psychometrics of the very short scale (36 items) of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire, and no one-item temperament scale has been tested for use in applied work. In this study, 237 United States caregivers completed a survey to define their child's behav...
Assessing Laptop Use in Higher Education: The Laptop Use Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kay, Robin; Lauricella, Sharon
The laptop computer is considered one of the most used and important technological devices in higher education, yet limited systematic research has been conducted to develop a measure of laptop use in college and university. The purpose of the following study was to develop a research-based, theoretically grounded scale to assess student use of…
Teachers' Rooms Environmental Assessment Scale: Development and Psychometric Evaluation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arslan, Suna
Teachers' rooms are important parts of educational environments, as the quality of the physical-spatial and psychosocial conditions may affect the personal and occupational developments of teachers as well as the education processes. In Study 1 (n = 245), a Teachers' Rooms-Environmental Assessment Scale (TREAS) measure of the current conditions of…
Validation of the Evidence-Based Practice Process Assessment Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rubin, Allen; Parrish, Danielle E.
Objective: This report describes the reliability, validity, and sensitivity of a scale that assesses practitioners' perceived familiarity with, attitudes of, and implementation of the evidence-based practice (EBP) process. Method: Social work practitioners and second-year master of social works (MSW) students (N = 511) were surveyed in four sites…
Assessing the Eating Behaviors of Low-Income, Urban Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fahlman, Mariane; McCaughtry, Nate; Martin, Jeffrey; Garn, Alex C.; Shen, Bo
Background: There is a need for instruments that can accurately determine the effectiveness of nutrition interventions targeting low-income, inner-city adolescents. Purpose: To examine the development of a valid and reliable eating behavior scale (EBS) for use in school-based nutrition interventions in urban, inner-city communities dominated by…
Assessing Vulnerability to Drought on a pan-European scale
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Urquijo, Julia; De Stefano, Lucia; González-Tánago, Itziar; Blauhut, Veit; Stahl, Kerstin
During the past decade, a number of theoretical frameworks have been defined within the Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change communities to assess drought vulnerability at different scales, sectors, socio-political contexts, and geo-climatic conditions. However, there is still little consensus around the criteria, dimensions and factors used in these assessments; and none of them has been applied at a pan-European scale. This is due to a triple complexity. Firstly, drought as a natural hazard is a complex phenomenon due to the difficulty of determining its onset and its multiscale, multifaceted and dynamic nature. Secondly, there is an on-going debate regarding the concept of vulnerability and its constitutive elements, together with an important diversity of theoretical approaches to assess it. Finally, Europe's diversity in bioclimatic conditions, national water use practice and water use policies adds a challenging characteristic for working on pan-European scale. This work addresses the challenge of defining a methodological approach to the assessment of vulnerability factors to drought at a pan-European scale. For this purpose, we first review existing conceptual frameworks as well as of past initiatives for drought vulnerability assessment. The literature review showed that the high complexity of drought vulnerability assessment requires a clear definition of the concept of vulnerability and the associated terms, and that, before undertaking any assessment, it is necessary to clearly define the "vulnerable unit" i.e. replying to the questions 'whose vulnerability is being assessed?' and 'vulnerability to what type of impact?'. In this context, this work proposes the application of a factor-based approach, consisting in the analysis of significant factors that influence vulnerability in the context of specific situations of potential vulnerability. Those situations are framed within the specific drought characteristics of four different geoclimatic macro
Use of behavioral endpoints in natural resource damage assessment
Lipton, J.; Marr, J.
Behavioral effects caused by exposure to hazardous substances can play an important role in Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) cases. Behavioral avoidance has been recognized as a natural resource injury in the Department of Interior`s NRDA regulations. Behavioral avoidance may be particularly important as an NRDA endpoint because it can occur at exposure concentrations substantially less than lethal concentrations, and can result in the effective loss of aquatic habitat. For example, in a recent NRDA case, laboratory testing demonstrated behavioral avoidance at copper concentrations of 1.2 {micro}g/l and 6 {micro}g/l for rainbow and brown trout, respectively. Other behavioral effects may have similar adverse effects on populations in the wild and may merit inclusion in NRDA injury and restoration studies.
Calcium isotope fractionation in groundwater: Molecular scale processes influencing field scale behavior
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Druhan, Jennifer L.; Steefel, Carl I.; Williams, Kenneth H.; DePaolo, Donald J.
It is the purpose of this study to demonstrate that the molecular scale reaction mechanisms describing calcite precipitation and calcium isotope fractionations under highly controlled laboratory conditions also reproduce field scale measurements of δ44Ca in groundwater systems. We present data collected from an aquifer during active carbonate mineral precipitation and develop a reactive transport model capturing the observed chemical and isotopic variations. Carbonate mineral precipitation and associated fluid δ44Ca data were measured in multiple clogged well bores during organic carbon amended biogenic reduction of a uranium contaminated aquifer in western Colorado, USA. Secondary mineral formation induced by carbonate alkalinity generated during the biostimulation process lead to substantial permeability reduction in multiple electron-donor injection wells at the field site. These conditions resulted in removal of aqueous calcium from a background concentration of 6 mM to <1 mM while δ44Ca enrichment ranged from 1‰ to greater than 2.5‰. The relationship between aqueous calcium removal and isotopic enrichment did not conform to Rayleigh model behavior. Explicit treatment of the individual isotopes of calcium within the CrunchFlow reactive transport code demonstrates that the system did not achieve isotopic reequilibration over the time scale of sample collection. Measured fluid δ44Ca values are accurately reproduced by a linear rate law when the Ca2+:CO32- activity ratio remains substantially greater than unity. Variation in the measured δ44Ca between wells is shown to originate from a difference in carbonate alkalinity generated in each well bore. The influence of fluid Ca2+:CO32- ratio on the precipitation rate and δ44Ca is modeled by coupling the CrunchFlow reactive transport code to an ion by ion growth model. This study presents the first coupled ion-by-ion and reactive transport model for isotopic enrichment and demonstrates that reproducing field-scale
The Emotional Reactions to Challenging Behavior Scale-Korean (ERCBS-K): Modification and Validation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oh, Hyun-Kyoung; Seo, Dong-Chul; Kozub, Francis M.
The purpose of this study was to explore the original version of Mitchell and Hastings's (1998) Emotional Reaction to Challenging Behavior Scale (ERCBS) and estimate validity and reliability of a revised version containing 29 items. The Emotional Reaction to Challenging Behavior Scale-Korean (ERCBS-K) was studied using 445 in-service physical…
Social Desirability and Behavior Rating Scales: An Exploratory Study with the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Merydith, Scott P.; Prout, H. Thompson; Blaha, John
This study investigated the relationship between the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 (CBCL/4-18) and two modified measures of social desirability, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and the Edwards Social Desirability Scale with a sample of 65 parents of normal children from grades K-7. Results from correlational and multiple regression…
Behavioral Approach to Assessment of Youth with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: A Handbook for School-Based Practitioners. Second Edition.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Breen, Michael J., Ed.; Fiedler, Craig R., Ed.
The 15 chapters in this book address behavioral approaches to the assessment of youth with emotional and/or behavioral disorders. Chapters have the following titles and authors: (1) "Behavioral Assessment: An Overview" (Catherine Stanger); (2) "Legal and Ethical Issues in the Educational Assessment and Programming for Youth with…
Comparison of Different Symptom Assessment Scales for Multiple System Atrophy.
Matsushima, Masaaki; Yabe, Ichiro; Oba, Koji; Sakushima, Ken; Mito, Yasunori; Takei, Asako; Houzen, Hideki; Tsuzaka, Kazufumi; Yoshida, Kazuto; Maruo, Yasunori; Sasaki, Hidenao
To identify the most sensitive scale for use in clinical trials on multiple system atrophy (MSA), a short and sensitive scale is needed for MSA clinical trials. Potential candidates are the Unified MSA Rating Scale (UMSARS), Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), MSA Health-Related Quality of Life scale (MSA-QoL), and Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease-Autonomic questionnaire (SCOPA-AUT). We enrolled patients with MSA from eight hospitals in Hokkaido, Japan. Board-certified neurologists assessed each patient at 6-month intervals and scored them on the UMSARS, SARA, BBS, MSA-QoL, and SCOPA-AUT. Score changes were evaluated using the standardized response mean (SRM). The correlation between disease duration and each score was examined. The first evaluation was conducted on 85 patients (60 patients with MSA cerebellar ataxia dominant subtype [MSA-C] and 25 patients with MSA Parkinsonism-dominant subtype [MSA-P]). Sixty-nine patients were examined after 6 months and 63 patients after 12 months. The UMSARS Part 4 had the largest SRM after 6 months and the SARA after 12 months. SRMs for MSA-P, the shorter duration group, and the early-onset group were larger than were those for MSA-C, the longer duration group, and the late-onset group. SRMs for items regarding skilled hand activities, walking, and standing were relatively large. Our study indicates that the UMSARS (parts 2 and 4), SARA, and BBS are sensitive scales for evaluating MSA progression over 12 months. Items with large SRMs effectively evaluated short-term changes. PMID:26093615
Full scale assessment of pansharpening methods and data products
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aiazzi, B.; Alparone, L.; Baronti, S.; Carlà, R.; Garzelli, A.; Santurri, L.
Quality assessment of pansharpened images is traditionally carried out either at degraded spatial scale by checking the synthesis property ofWald's protocol or at the full spatial scale by separately checking the spectral and spatial consistencies. The spatial distortion of the QNR protocol and the spectral distortion of Khan's protocol may be combined into a unique quality index, referred to as hybrid QNR (HQNR), that is calculated at full scale. Alternatively, multiscale measurements of indices requiring a reference, like SAM, ERGAS and Q4, may be extrapolated to yield a quality measurement at the full scale of the fusion product, where a reference does not exist. Experiments on simulated Pĺeiades data, of which reference originals at full scale are available, highlight that quadratic polynomials having three-point support, i.e. fitting three measurements at as many progressively doubled scales, are adequate. Q4 is more suitable for extrapolation than ERGAS and SAM. The Q4 value predicted from multiscale measurements and the Q4 value measured at full scale thanks to the reference original, differ by very few percents for six different state-of-the-art methods that have been compared. HQNR is substantially comparable to the extrapolated Q4.
Development of the Behavioral Evaluation of Disorders of Sleep Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schreck, Kimberly A.; Mulick, James A.; Rojahn, Johannes
We describe the development, preliminary psychometric properties, and cross-validation of the Behavioral Evaluation of Disorders of Sleep (BEDS: Schreck 1997/1998). Parental reports of problem sleep behavior in elementary school aged children 5 years to 12 years were collected for two samples. With the first sample, an exploratory factor analysis…
Parent Behavior Importance Questionnaire-Revised: Scale Development and Psychometric Characteristics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mowder, Barbara A.; Shamah, Renee
This paper reports the scale development and psychometric characteristics of the Parent Behavior Importance Questionnaire-Revised (PBIQ-R). To develop this measure, 502 subject matter experts (SMEs) evaluated 91 parenting behaviors in terms of parenting behavior specificity (e.g., bonding, discipline), importance level, and appropriateness for…
Refining a self-assessment of informatics competency scale using Mokken scaling analysis.
Yoon, Sunmoo; Shaffer, Jonathan A; Bakken, Suzanne
Healthcare environments are increasingly implementing health information technology (HIT) and those from various professions must be competent to use HIT in meaningful ways. In addition, HIT has been shown to enable interprofessional approaches to health care. The purpose of this article is to describe the refinement of the Self-Assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies Scale (SANICS) using analytic techniques based upon item response theory (IRT) and discuss its relevance to interprofessional education and practice. In a sample of 604 nursing students, the 93-item version of SANICS was examined using non-parametric IRT. The iterative modeling procedure included 31 steps comprising: (1) assessing scalability, (2) assessing monotonicity, (3) assessing invariant item ordering, and (4) expert input. SANICS was reduced to an 18-item hierarchical scale with excellent reliability. Fundamental skills for team functioning and shared decision making among team members (e.g. "using monitoring systems appropriately," "describing general systems to support clinical care") had the highest level of difficulty, and "demonstrating basic technology skills" had the lowest difficulty level. Most items reflect informatics competencies relevant to all health professionals. Further, the approaches can be applied to construct a new hierarchical scale or refine an existing scale related to informatics attitudes or competencies for various health professions. PMID:26652630
The Driving Behavior Survey: Scale construction and validation
Clapp, Joshua D.; Olsen, Shira A.; Beck, J. Gayle; Palyo, Sarah A.; Grant, DeMond M.; Gudmundsdottir, Berglind; Marques, Luana
Although long recognized in the clinical literature, problematic behavior characteristic of anxious drivers has received little empirical attention. The current research details development of a measure of anxious driving behavior conducted across three studies. Factor analytic techniques identified three dimensions of maladaptive behaviors across three college samples: anxiety-based performance deficits, exaggerated safety/caution behavior, and anxiety-related hostile/aggressive behavior. Performance deficits evidenced convergent associations with perceived driving skill and were broadly related to driving fear. Safety/caution behaviors demonstrated convergence with overt travel avoidance, although this relationship was inconsistent across studies. Safety/caution scores were associated specifically with accident- and social-related driving fears. Hostile/aggressive behaviors evidenced convergent relationships with driving anger and were associated specifically with accident-related fear. Internal consistencies were adequate, although some test-retest reliabilities were marginal in the unselected college sample. These data provide preliminary evidence for utility of the measure for both research and clinical practice. PMID:20832988
The Reading Behavior Inventory: An Outcome Assessment Tool
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goodrich, Gregory L.; Kirby, Jennine; Wood, Jennifer; Peters, Laura
Many questionnaires attempt to assess the quality of life of individuals who are visually impaired (that is, those who are blind or have low vision), but few apply to those who are undergoing visual rehabilitation and hence are difficult to adapt as an outcome measure Massof & Rubin, 2001). The Reading Behavior Inventory (RBI) was developed as a…
Assessment of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Plotts, Cynthia A.
Assessment and identification of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is complex and involves multiple techniques, levels, and participants. While federal law sets the general parameters for identification in school settings, these criteria are vague and may lead to inconsistencies in selection and interpretation of assessment…
A Systems Approach To Assess Severe Behavior Problems.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Costello, Brian R.; Meyer, John K.
The systems approach assembles in a single assessment setting four basic instruments to determine the current functioning status of the individual for the purpose of better understanding the dynamics involved in severe behavior problems: (1) the Democratic Maturity Test ; (2) the Life Fulfillment Inventory; (3) the Voluntary Control Test; and (4)…
Recent Case Law Regarding Functional Behavioral Assessments: Implications for Practice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Losinski, Mickey L.; Katsiyannis, Antonis; Ryan, Joseph B.
While functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) are currently federally mandated requirements, public schools have not been provided clear federal guidance concerning what constitutes an acceptable FBA through Individuals With Disabilities Education Act or related regulations. The purpose of this article is to examine recent rulings regarding FBAs…
A Comparison of Treatment Integrity Assessment Methods for Behavioral Intervention
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koh, Seong A.
The purpose of this study was to examine the similarity of outcomes from three different treatment integrity (TI) methods, and to identify the method which best corresponded to the assessment of a child's behavior. Six raters were recruited through individual contact via snowball sampling. A modified intervention component list and 19 video clips…
An Evaluation of Routines Analyses within Functional Behavior Assessment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barnes, Aaron C.
Procedures for direct observation as part of functional behavior assessment (FBA) in natural settings continue to be an important area of inquiry and evaluation in the field of education. Spread across a continuum of control and rigor, various direct FBA methods involve a variety of strengths and limitations. The purpose of this study was to…
Assessing Teacher Behaviors with Infants in Day Care.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Honig, Alice S.; Lally, J. Ronald
The program of the Syracuse University Children's Center for the design and maintenance of an optimal living and learning environment for infants from 6 to 36 months from low-income families is presented. A checklist, Assessing the Behaviors of Caregivers (ABC) was designed to gather evidence for the extent to which teaching staff actually…
Assessing Problem Behaviors by Videotape: A Multidisciplinary Approach.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Safran, Stephen P.; And Others
A methodology that will allow teachers to assess a child's behavior problems within both Disruptive (D) and Nondisruptive (ND) contexts was developed, and a questionnaire that would attend to the issues of Manageability and Contagion, as well as Tolerance and Severity, was prepared. Initial questionnaire research using the Devereux Elementary…
The transient behavior of scaling in the atmosphere: stratiform/convective transition and applications to sub-grid scale statistics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nogueira, M.; Barros, A. P.
Multifractal behavior holds to a remarkable approximation over wide ranges of spatial scales in orographic rainfall and cloud fields. The scaling exponents characterizing this behavior are shown to be fundamentally transient with nonlinear dependencies on the particular atmospheric state and terrain forcing. In particular, a robust transition is found in the scaling parameters between non-convective (stable) and convective (unstable) regimes, with clear physical correspondence to the transition from stratiform to organized convective orographic precipitation. These results can explain two often reported scaling regimes for atmospheric wind, temperature and water observations. On the one hand, spectral slopes around 2-2.3 arise under non-convective or very weak convective conditions when the spatial patterns are dominated by large-scale gradients and landform. On the other hand, under convective conditions the scaling exponents generally fluctuate around 5/3, in agreement with the Kolmogorov turbulent regime accounting for the intermittency correction. High-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) models are able to reproduce the ubiquitous scaling behavior of observed atmospheric fields down to their effective resolution length-scale, below which the variability is misrepresented by the model. The effective resolution is shown to be a transient property dependent on the particular simulated conditions and NWP formulation, implying that a blunt decrease in grid spacing without adjusting numerical techniques may not lead to the improvements desired.Finally, the application of transient spatial scaling behavior for stochastic downscaling and sub-grid scale parameterization of cloud and rainfall fields is investigated. The proposed fractal methods are able to rapidly generate large ensembles of high-resolution statistically robust fields from the coarse resolution information alone, which can provide significant improvements for stochastic hydrological prediction
[The Verbal Peer Adult Emotional (VPAE) Scale and Manual. A Behavioral Rating Scale for Measuring the Progress of Severely Maladaptive Children.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Streedbeck, Darlene; Hughes, Robert B.
The Verbal Peer Adult Emotional Scale (VPAE), a behavioral rating scale for measuring the progress of severely maladaptive children, covers four areas: verbal behavior, peer interaction, interaction with adults, and emotional behavior. The 16-item scale is designed for use with children between the chronological ages of two and nine years, who are…
Bridging Behavioral Assessment and Behavioral Intervention: Finding Your Inner Behavior Analyst
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, LeAnne D.; Monn, Emily
The persistence of challenging behaviors for some children highlights a need and an opportunity to explore several key principles of behavioral intervention that are necessary for effective decision- making when more personalized interventions must be layered on top of high-quality universal supports. In the absence of expert support,…
Neuronal long-range temporal correlations and avalanche dynamics are correlated with behavioral scaling laws.
Palva, J Matias; Zhigalov, Alexander; Hirvonen, Jonni; Korhonen, Onerva; Linkenkaer-Hansen, Klaus; Palva, Satu
Scale-free fluctuations are ubiquitous in behavioral performance and neuronal activity. In time scales from seconds to hundreds of seconds, psychophysical dynamics and the amplitude fluctuations of neuronal oscillations are governed by power-law-form long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs). In millisecond time scales, neuronal activity comprises cascade-like neuronal avalanches that exhibit power-law size and lifetime distributions. However, it remains unknown whether these neuronal scaling laws are correlated with those characterizing behavioral performance or whether neuronal LRTCs and avalanches are related. Here, we show that the neuronal scaling laws are strongly correlated both with each other and with behavioral scaling laws. We used source reconstructed magneto- and electroencephalographic recordings to characterize the dynamics of ongoing cortical activity. We found robust power-law scaling in neuronal LRTCs and avalanches in resting-state data and during the performance of audiovisual threshold stimulus detection tasks. The LRTC scaling exponents of the behavioral performance fluctuations were correlated with those of concurrent neuronal avalanches and LRTCs in anatomically identified brain systems. The behavioral exponents also were correlated with neuronal scaling laws derived from a resting-state condition and with a similar anatomical topography. Finally, despite the difference in time scales, the scaling exponents of neuronal LRTCs and avalanches were strongly correlated during both rest and task performance. Thus, long and short time-scale neuronal dynamics are related and functionally significant at the behavioral level. These data suggest that the temporal structures of human cognitive fluctuations and behavioral variability stem from the scaling laws of individual and intrinsic brain dynamics. PMID:23401536
Assessing Students with Serious Mental Health and Behavioral Problems: Clinical Assessment for Educators.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hansen, Jo-Ida C.; Conlon, Amy L.
The current intervention trend for many of the mental health and behavioral problems faced by today's youth is an integrative approach that involves the community, families, and schools. Clinical assessment for serious mental health and behavioral problems can be an important component in the development of school-based screening programs. The…
Development of a Preschool Developmental Assessment Scale for Assessment of Developmental Disabilities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Leung, Cynthia; Mak, Rose; Lau, Vanessa; Cheung, Jasmine; Lam, Catherine
The aim of this paper was to describe the development of the cognitive domain of the Preschool Developmental Assessment Scale (PDAS) for assessment of preschool children with developmental disabilities. The initial version of the cognitive domain consisted of 87 items. They were administered to 324 preschool children, including 240 children from…
Preferences in Individuals with Angelman Syndrome Assessed by a Modified Choice Assessment Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Didden, R.; Korzilius, H.; Kamphuis, A.; Sturmey, P.; Lancioni, G.; Curfs, L. M. G.
Background: Individuals with Angelman syndrome (AS) seem to have a strong preference for water-related items. Until present, preference assessment in AS has not been reported. Methods: An adapted Dutch version of the Choice Assessment Scale (CAS) was administered by parents and other caregivers to 105 individuals with AS. The CAS was adapted by…
Development of a Behavioral Affective Relationship Scale for Encounter Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shadish, William R., Jr.; Zarle, Thomas
The paper outlines several studies over a two-year period to develop a self-report and observer-rating measure of sensitivity/encounter group outcome. The initial form of the scale was taken from McMillan (1971) who developed a measure of 16 categories of group outcome; McMillan's work indicated the scale had high reliability. Subsequent study…
Multisurface Interpersonal Assessment in a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Context.
Dawood, Sindes; Pincus, Aaron L
The interpersonal paradigm of personality assessment provides a rich nomological net for describing and assessing constructs of interpersonal functioning. The aim of this article is to demonstrate for clinicians how the use of a multisurface interpersonal assessment (MSIA) battery can augment psychotherapy (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy). We present 2 clinical case examples and specify interpretative guidelines for MSIA that integrate multiple circumplex profiles (e.g., problems, traits, sensitivities, strengths, values, and efficacies) for each patient. Subsequently, we demonstrate how this approach provides a context to better understand patient symptoms and difficulties, and discuss how it can inform case conceptualization, treatment planning, and intervention. PMID:27070943
Large-scale genotoxicity assessments in the marine environment.
Hose, J E
There are a number of techniques for detecting genotoxicity in the marine environment, and many are applicable to large-scale field assessments. Certain tests can be used to evaluate responses in target organisms in situ while others utilize surrogate organisms exposed to field samples in short-term laboratory bioassays. Genotoxicity endpoints appear distinct from traditional toxicity endpoints, but some have chemical or ecotoxicologic correlates. One versatile end point, the frequency of anaphase aberrations, has been used in several large marine assessments to evaluate genotoxicity in the New York Bight, in sediment from San Francisco Bay, and following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. PMID:7713029
Large-scale genotoxicity assessments in the marine environment
Hose, J.E.
There are a number of techniques for detecting genotoxicity in the marine environment, and many are applicable to large-scale field assessments. Certain tests can be used to evaluate responses in target organisms in situ while others utilize surrogate organisms exposed to field samples in short-term laboratory bioassays. Genotoxicity endpoints appear distinct from traditional toxicity endpoints, but some have chemical or ecotoxicologic correlates. One versatile end point, the frequency of anaphase aberrations, has been used in several large marine assessments to evaluate genotoxicity in the New York Bight, in sediment from San Francisco Bay, and following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. 31 refs., 2 tabs.
The Coaching Behavior Scale for Sport (CBS-S): A psychometric evaluation of the Swedish version.
Carlsson, A; Lundqvist, C
The present study validated a Swedish version of the 47-item Coaching Behavior Scale for Sport (CBS-S). Sample 1 consisted of 506 team sport athletes [262 men and 244 women; mean age: 22.20, standard deviation (SD) = 3.90] distributed across 41 coaches at the two highest national levels of various sports. Athletes completed the CBS-S and established questionnaires of coaching behaviors (LSS), self-confidence (CSAI-2R), and coach-athlete relationship (CART-Q). An additional sample of 39 basketball players (21 men and 18 women; mean age = 17.40, SD = 2.39) completed the CBS-S twice, approximately 4 weeks apart. Confirmatory factor analysis showed an acceptable model fit for the seven-factor version of the CBS-S, although two items of the negative personal rapport subscale displayed insufficient factor loadings. Correlations between the subscales of the CBS-S and established instruments were in accordance with theoretical expectations, supporting the concurrent validity. Cronbach's alpha (> 0.82) for all dimensions provided support for the reliability of the CBS-S, and test-retest correlations indicated moderate stability over time. Cultural differences in the assessment of coaching behaviors and the usability of the CBS-S by coaches for self-reflection and development are discussed. PMID:25440429
Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of fission gas behavior in engineering-scale fuel modeling
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pastore, Giovanni; Swiler, L. P.; Hales, J. D.; Novascone, S. R.; Perez, D. M.; Spencer, B. W.; Luzzi, L.; Van Uffelen, P.; Williamson, R. L.
The role of uncertainties in fission gas behavior calculations as part of engineering-scale nuclear fuel modeling is investigated using the BISON fuel performance code with a recently implemented physics-based model for fission gas release and swelling. Through the integration of BISON with the DAKOTA software, a sensitivity analysis of the results to selected model parameters is carried out based on UO2 single-pellet simulations covering different power regimes. The parameters are varied within ranges representative of the relative uncertainties and consistent with the information in the open literature. The study leads to an initial quantitative assessment of the uncertainty in fission gas behavior predictions with the parameter characterization presently available. Also, the relative importance of the single parameters is evaluated. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is carried out based on simulations of a fuel rod irradiation experiment, pointing out a significant impact of the considered uncertainties on the calculated fission gas release and cladding diametral strain. The results of the study indicate that the commonly accepted deviation between calculated and measured fission gas release by a factor of 2 approximately corresponds to the inherent modeling uncertainty at high fission gas release. Nevertheless, significantly higher deviations may be expected for values around 10% and lower. Implications are discussed in terms of directions of research for the improved modeling of fission gas behavior for engineering purposes.
Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of fission gas behavior in engineering-scale fuel modeling
Pastore, Giovanni; Swiler, L. P.; Hales, Jason D.; Novascone, Stephen R.; Perez, Danielle M.; Spencer, Benjamin W.; Luzzi, Lelio; Uffelen, Paul Van; Williamson, Richard L.
The role of uncertainties in fission gas behavior calculations as part of engineering-scale nuclear fuel modeling is investigated using the BISON fuel performance code and a recently implemented physics-based model for the coupled fission gas release and swelling. Through the integration of BISON with the DAKOTA software, a sensitivity analysis of the results to selected model parameters is carried out based on UO2 single-pellet simulations covering different power regimes. The parameters are varied within ranges representative of the relative uncertainties and consistent with the information from the open literature. The study leads to an initial quantitative assessment of the uncertainty in fission gas behavior modeling with the parameter characterization presently available. Also, the relative importance of the single parameters is evaluated. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is carried out based on simulations of a fuel rod irradiation experiment, pointing out a significant impact of the considered uncertainties on the calculated fission gas release and cladding diametral strain. The results of the study indicate that the commonly accepted deviation between calculated and measured fission gas release by a factor of 2 approximately corresponds to the inherent modeling uncertainty at high fission gas release. Nevertheless, higher deviations may be expected for values around 10% and lower. Implications are discussed in terms of directions of research for the improved modeling of fission gas behavior for engineering purposes.
Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of fission gas behavior in engineering-scale fuel modeling
Pastore, Giovanni; Swiler, L. P.; Hales, Jason D.; Novascone, Stephen R.; Perez, Danielle M.; Spencer, Benjamin W.; Luzzi, Lelio; Uffelen, Paul Van; Williamson, Richard L.
The role of uncertainties in fission gas behavior calculations as part of engineering-scale nuclear fuel modeling is investigated using the BISON fuel performance code and a recently implemented physics-based model for the coupled fission gas release and swelling. Through the integration of BISON with the DAKOTA software, a sensitivity analysis of the results to selected model parameters is carried out based on UO2 single-pellet simulations covering different power regimes. The parameters are varied within ranges representative of the relative uncertainties and consistent with the information from the open literature. The study leads to an initial quantitative assessment of the uncertaintymore » in fission gas behavior modeling with the parameter characterization presently available. Also, the relative importance of the single parameters is evaluated. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is carried out based on simulations of a fuel rod irradiation experiment, pointing out a significant impact of the considered uncertainties on the calculated fission gas release and cladding diametral strain. The results of the study indicate that the commonly accepted deviation between calculated and measured fission gas release by a factor of 2 approximately corresponds to the inherent modeling uncertainty at high fission gas release. Nevertheless, higher deviations may be expected for values around 10% and lower. Implications are discussed in terms of directions of research for the improved modeling of fission gas behavior for engineering purposes.« less
The Elkins Hypnotizability Scale: Assessment of Reliability and Validity.
Kekecs, Zoltán; Bowers, Juliette; Johnson, Alisa; Kendrick, Cassie; Elkins, Gary
Measuring hypnotizability is an integral part of hypnosis research and is also relevant for predicting effectiveness of hypnosis-based therapies. The Elkins Hypnotizability Scale (EHS) was designed to meet the needs of modern hypnosis research and clinical practice. Reliability, validity, and normative data were explored by subjecting 230 participants to the EHS and Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C (SHSS:C). The EHS demonstrated adequate internal consistency (α = .78), its items showed good discriminating ability, and scores of the two scales were highly correlated (ρ = .86). Results indicate that the EHS is a reliable and valid tool to assess hypnotizability. Further research is needed to establish its role as a surrogate for the SHSS:C. PMID:27267674
Assessing Social Support, Companionship, and Distress: NIH Toolbox Adult Social Relationship Scales
Cyranowski, Jill M.; Zill, Nicholas; Bode, Rita; Butt, Zeeshan; Kelly, Morgen A. R.; Pilkonis, Paul A.; Salsman, John M.; Cella, David
Objective The quality of our daily social interactions – including perceptions of support, feelings of loneliness, and distress stemming from negative social exchanges – influence physical health and well-being. Despite the importance of social relationships, brief yet precise, unidimensional scales that assess key aspects of social relationship quality are lacking. As part of the NIH Toolbox for the Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function, we developed brief self-report scales designed to assess aspects of social support, companionship, and social distress across age cohorts. This report details the development and psychometric testing of the adult NIH Toolbox Social Relationship scales. Methods Social relationship concepts were selected, and item sets were developed and revised based on expert feedback and literature review. Items were then tested across a community-dwelling U.S. internet panel sample of adults aged 18 and above (N=692) using traditional (classic) psychometric methods and item response theory (IRT) approaches to identify items for inclusion in 5–8 item unidimensional scales. Finally, concurrent validity of the newly-developed scales was evaluated with respect to their inter-relationships with classic social relationship validation instruments. Results Results provide support for the internal reliability and concurrent validity of resulting self-report scales assessing Emotional Support, Instrumental Support, Friendship, Loneliness, Perceived Rejection, and Perceived Hostility. Conclusion These brief social relationship scales provide the pragmatic utility and enhanced precision needed to promote future epidemiological and social neuroscience research on the impact of social relationships on physical and emotional health outcomes. PMID:23437856
Aspects of neurosurgical assessment using the Glasgow Coma Scale.
Ellis, A; Cavanagh, S J
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) has become a cornerstone of the neurological/surgical assessment of patients used by both nursing and medical staff. Since its development in the 1970s it has been used in a variety of clinical situations to monitor changes in a number of key neurological functions, including level of consciousness, pupil reaction and limb movement. During this time, however, there have been suggestions that there are problems with some of the measurement principles underlying its use, which in part has stimulated the development of other neuro-assessment tools. Irrespective of measurement device, there is always the possibility of error or incorrect assessment. In the field of neurosurgery, as with other high dependency environments, a patient's condition can change rapidly. Additionally, there is the association of certain assessment responses with nursing and medical interventions. Thus, accuracy in all aspects of assessment and recording is paramount. Despite the growing body of literature surrounding the GCS, little is known about the pattern of errors made by nursing staff using the GCS to assess neurosurgical patients. This study compared the assessment findings of Registered General Nurses (RGNs), Enrolled Nurses and Student Nurses after viewing videotaped neuro-assessments of patients in a high dependency unit. The criterion for judging the accuracy of subject's assessments was established by a panel of experts. As expected, RGNs had the highest proportion of correct assessments and students the least. Subjects were identified as having difficulty in determining the relative amounts of weakness that a patient exhibited, and in correctly distinguishing between flexion and extension. PMID:1611292
Scaling behavior of quantum critical relaxation dynamics of a system in a heat bath
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yin, Shuai; Lo, Chung-Yu; Chen, Pochung
We study the scaling behavior of the relaxation dynamics to thermal equilibrium when a quantum system is near the quantum critical point. In particular, we investigate systems whose relaxation dynamics is described by a Lindblad master equation. We find that the universal scaling behavior not only appears in the equilibrium stage at the long-time limit but also manifests in the nonequilibrium relaxation process. While the critical behavior is dictated by the low-lying energy levels of the Hamiltonian, the dissipative part in the Lindblad equation also plays important roles in two aspects: First, the dissipative part makes the high-energy levels decay fast, after which the universal behavior controlled by the low-lying modes emerges. Second, the dissipation rate gives rise to a time scale that affects the scaling behavior. We confirm our theory by solving the Lindblad equation for the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model.
Leader personality and 360-degree assessments of leader behavior.
Bergman, David; Lornudd, Caroline; Sjöberg, Lennart; Von Thiele Schwarz, Ulrica
To investigate the relationship between personality and multi-source feedback, we assessed 190 health care managers by applying the Understanding Personal Potential personality test, which provides comprehensive measurement of the Big Five dimensions and eight narrower personality traits. Managers' leadership behaviors were assessed by colleagues, supervisors, a random sample of each manager's subordinates as well as the managers themselves using a 360-degree change, production, employee (CPE) instrument. Hierarchical multivariate regression analysis showed that the Big Five variables were significantly related to the Managers' leadership behavior in all CPE dimensions. Also, addition of narrow personality variables to the Big Five increased explained variance in leadership behavior. This study is the first of its kind to include the full range of viewpoints in a 360-degree instrument, along with a large number of subordinate assessments. We found that both the strength of the relationship between personality and behavior and the configuration of different predictors varied depending on who did the rating and what leadership orientation was investigated, and this observation merits further investigation. PMID:24833326
An analysis of more than 1,400 articles, 900 scales, and 17 years of research: the state of scales in cyberpsychology, behavior, and social networking.
Howard, Matt C; Jayne, Bradley S
Cyberpsychology is a recently emergent field that examines the impact of technology upon human cognition and behavior. Given its infancy, authors have rapidly created new measures to gauge their constructs of interest. Unfortunately, few of these authors have had the opportunity to test their scales' psychometric properties and validity. This is concerning, as many theoretical assumptions may be founded upon scales with inadequate attributes. If this were found to be true, then previous findings in cyberpsychology studies would need to be retested, and future research would need to shift its focus to creating psychometrically sound and valid measures. To provide inferences on this concern, the current study examines the article reporting, scale creation, and scale reliabilities of every article published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking from its inception to July 2014. The final data set encompassed the coding of 1,478 individual articles, including 921 scales, and spanning 17 years. The results demonstrate that the simple survey methodology has become more popular over time. Authors are gradually applying empirically tested scales. However, self-created measures are still the most popular, leading to concerns about the measures' validity. Also, the use of multi-item measures has increased over time, but many articles still fail to report adequate information to assess the reliability of the applied scales. Lastly, the average scale reliability is 0.81, which barely meets standard cutoffs. Overall, these results are not overly concerning, but suggestions are given on methods to improve the reporting of measures, the creation of scales, and the state of cyberpsychology. PMID:25751050
Chronic Assessment of Diaphragm Muscle EMG Activity across Motor Behaviors
Mantilla, Carlos B.; Seven, Yasin B.; Hurtado-Palomino, Juan N.; Zhan, Wen-Zhi; Sieck, Gary C.
The diaphragm muscle is main inspiratory muscle in mammals. Quantitative analyses documenting the reliability of chronic diaphragm EMG recordings are lacking. Assessment of ventilatory and non-ventilatory motor behaviors may facilitate evaluating diaphragm EMG activity over time. We hypothesized that normalization of diaphragm EMG amplitude across behaviors provides stable and reliable parameters for longitudinal assessments of diaphragm activity. We found that diaphragm EMG activity shows substantial intra-animal variability over 6 weeks, with coefficient of variation (CV) for different behaviors ~29–42%. Normalization of diaphragm EMG activity to near maximal behaviors (e.g., deep breathing) reduced intra-animal variability over time (CV ~22–29%). Plethysmographic measurements of eupneic ventilation were also stable over 6 weeks (CV ~13% for minute ventilation). Thus, stable and reliable measurements of diaphragm EMG activity can be obtained longitudinally using chronically implanted electrodes by examining multiple motor behaviors. By quantitatively determining the reliability of longitudinal diaphragm EMG analyses, we provide an important tool for evaluating the progression of diseases or injuries that impair ventilation. PMID:21414423
Representing the Glasgow Coma Scale in IT: Proper Specification is Required for Assessment Scales.
Goossen, William; Oemig, Frank
In healthcare a huge amount of assessment scales and score systems are in use to abbreviate and summarize the results of clinical observations to interpret a patient's condition in a valid and reliable manner. It is challenging to convey the information in a semantic interoperable form to other systems. A bad approach would be to invent individual models for each of them. Within this paper we would like to demonstrate that a generic model is sufficient by demonstrating the realization with the Glasgow Coma Scale. PMID:24851961
An assessment of ENSO-scale secular variability
Wang, X.L.; Ropelewski, C.F.
Secular changes in the spatial and temporal structures of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle using four different versions of global sea surface temperature (SST) analysis are examined. The assessments were made for both multidecadal climate means and multidecadal measures of variability by separating the SST variations into low-frequency components. The reliability of these estimates is also addressed. This study substantiates a conceptual framework that views the multidecadal, low-frequency variations as a varying climate {open_quotes}base state{close_quotes} upon which ENSO-scale variability is superposed. The secular changes of the climate base state were quantified both in space and in time. The analysis suggests that multidecadal SST variability has been concentrated in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean Basins. The Pacific is dominated by the ENSO-scale variability. The analyses reveal that variations in the climate base state and ENSO-scale variability were positively correlated; that is, ENSO-scale variability is higher (lower) when the climate mean SST is relatively warmer (colder). However, the quantification of secular changes of the ENSO-scale variability was found to be sensitive to the particular SST analysis used. Therefore, the conclusions from this study are subject to further verification by using more variables and longer records. 18 refs., 13 figs., 1 tab.
Crossover from antipersistent to persistent behavior in time series possessing the generalyzed dynamic scaling law
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Balankin, Alexander S.; Morales Matamoros, Oswaldo; Gálvez M., Ernesto; Pérez A., Alfonso
The behavior of crude oil price volatility is analyzed within a conceptual framework of kinetic roughening of growing interfaces. We find that the persistent long-horizon volatilities satisfy the Family-Viscek dynamic scaling ansatz, whereas the mean-reverting in time short horizon volatilities obey the generalized scaling law with continuously varying scaling exponents. Furthermore we find that the crossover from antipersistent to persistent behavior is accompanied by a change in the type of volatility distribution. These phenomena are attributed to the complex avalanche dynamics of crude oil markets and so a similar behavior may be observed in a wide variety of physical systems governed by avalanche dynamics.
Validation of a behavioral observation tool to assess pig welfare.
Smulders, D; Verbeke, G; Mormède, P; Geers, R
Accurately measuring and monitoring of animal behavior is an important factor when assessing on-farm animal welfare. First we developed a feasible and simple method aiming at consistently on-farm measuring of pig's behavior. This test should cover a broad range of welfare-related pig behavior. The reaction towards a novel object, startling, tail and ear biting, play and aggressive behavior, stereotypies, coughing, sneezing, skin lesions, defecation, urination and cleanliness of body and pen are included. The development of accurate measures of on-farm behavior first requires the reliability assessment of the procedure. Therefore, the methodology was tested in a first part by three observers scoring simultaneously and independently pre-defined behavioral characteristics of 108 group-housed fattening pigs. The inter-observer repeatability of the measures was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients, which ranged from 0.7 to 1. In a second part, the objective was to validate the behavioral characteristics against salivary cortisol, urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine and production traits. Salivary cortisol concentrations significantly increased in ear-bitten pigs and in pigs with tail lesions. Growth rate significantly dropped when cortisol levels rose. An age effect was also found. The percentage of animals approaching the novel object is positively correlated with the urinary epinephrine concentration. Pigs defecating during the test showed significantly higher epinephrine levels. Urinary norepinephrine concentration decreased significantly with age. Faster growing animals and animals with tail lesions showed significantly higher levels of norepinephrine. Pen dirtiness and number of animals per pen were associated with higher norepinephrine concentrations. Finally, barrows had higher norepinephrine concentrations than sows. PMID:16904137
Concurrent Validity of the Child Behavior Checklist DSM-Oriented Scales: Correspondence with DSM Diagnoses and Comparison to Syndrome Scales
Bernstein, Adam; Nakamura, Brad J.; Chorpita, Bruce F.; Higa-McMillan, Charmaine K.; Weisz, John R.
This study used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methodology and discriminative analyses to examine the correspondence of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) rationally-derived DSM-oriented scales and empirically-derived syndrome scales with clinical diagnoses in a clinic-referred sample of children and adolescents (N = 476). Although results demonstrated that the CBCL Anxiety, Affective, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity, Oppositional and Conduct Problems DSM-oriented scales corresponded significantly with related clinical diagnoses derived from parent-based structured interviews, these DSM-oriented scales did not evidence significantly greater correspondence with clinical diagnoses than the syndrome scales in all cases but one. The DSM-oriented Anxiety Problems scale was the only scale that evidenced significantly greater correspondence with diagnoses above its syndrome scale counterpart —the Anxious/Depressed scale. The recently developed and rationally-derived DSM-oriented scales thus generally do not add incremental clinical utility above that already afforded by the syndrome scales with respect to corresponding with diagnoses. Implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:20700377
A structured assessment of motor function and behavior in patients with Kleefstra syndrome.
Schmidt, Susanne; Nag, Heidi E; Hunn, Bente S; Houge, Gunnar; Hoxmark, Lise B
The present study aimed to further our understanding of Kleefstra syndrome, especially regarding motor function and behavioral characteristics. In total, four males and four females between two and 27 years of age with a genetically confirmed diagnosis of Kleefstra syndrome and their parents participated in this study. Four patients had 9q34.3 deletions that caused Euchromatin Histone Methyl Transferase 1 (EHMT1) haplo-insufficiency, and four patients harbored EHMT1 mutations. The motor function was evaluated via systematic observation. Standardized assessments such as the Vineland Adapted Behavior Scales II (VABS II), the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and the Child or Adult Behavior Checklist (CBCL, ABCL) were used for the behavioral assessment. All patients showed a delayed developmental status. Muscular hypotonia and its manifestations were present in all patients, regardless of their age. The mean values for all VABS II domains (communication, socialization, daily living skills, and motor skills) were significantly lower than the mean of the reference population (p < 0.001), but similar to other rare intellectual disabilities such as Smith-Magenis syndrome and Angelman syndrome. The results from the SCQ indicated that all patient values exceeded the cut-off value, suggesting the possibility of autism spectrum disorder. The behavioral and emotional problems assessed by CBCL and ABCL were less frequent. In conclusion, patients with Kleefstra syndrome present with a broad range of clinical problems in all age groups and are therefore in need of a multidisciplinary follow-up also after their transition into adulthood. PMID:26808425
Pain Assessment in Elderly with Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia
Malara, Alba; De Biase, Giuseppe Andrea; Bettarini, Francesco; Ceravolo, Francesco; Di Cello, Serena; Garo, Michele; Praino, Francesco; Settembrini, Vincenzo; Sgrò, Giovanni; Spadea, Fausto; Rispoli, Vincenzo
Background: Pain is under-detected and undertreated in people with dementia. The present study investigates the prevalence of pain in people with dementia hospitalized in nursing homes that are members of National Association of Third Age Residences (ANASTE) Calabria, and evaluates the association among pain, mood, and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Objective: The aim of this study is to define the prevalence of pain in people with dementia in long term care facilities using scales of self-reporting and observational tools and, particularly, to study the relationship between pain and BPSD. Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out on 233 patients. Pain assessment was performed using self-reporting tools such as the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for patients with slight cognitive impairment or no cognitive impairment and observational tools such as Pain Assessment In Advanced Dementia Scale (PAINAD) for patients with moderate or severe cognitive impairment. Mood was evaluated through the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) while behavioral problems were assessed through the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Results: Only 42.5% of patients evaluated by NRS provided a reliable answer; of these, 20.4% reported no pain. The percentage of pain evaluated by PAINAD was 51.8% . Analysis of data showed a statistically significant correlation between diagnosis of pain and depressive symptoms, assessed with CSDD (p = 0.0113), as well as by single items of NPI, such as anxiety (p = 0.0362) and irritability (p = 0.0034), and F1 profile (Aggression) of CMAI (p = 0.01). Conclusion: This study confirms that self-report alone is not sufficient to assess pain in elderly people with dementia; the observational tool is a necessary and suitable way of assessing pain in patients with cognitive impairment. If not adequately treated, chronic pain can cause depression
Dispersive behavior and acoustic scaling in granular rocks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Carlos, Santos; Vanessa, Urdaneta; Ernesto, Medina; Xavier, García
Handling and making decisions based on data taken at different scales is a critical issue in the design of exploration and production tasks in the oil industry. Acoustic data is the classical example of the integration of dissimilar scales (i.e. seismic, well logs, lab data) where there is a scale dependent velocity. An understanding of the acoustic dispersion phenomenon in granular samples is needed. A detailed numerical work was conducted in order to establish the relationship between frequency and propagation speed for an acoustical pulse induced in simulated granular materials. The granular samples were generated with different grain size distributions while porosity and pressure were targeted and kept invariant using the grain radii expansion method. A sinusoidal burst with frequencies from 10Hz to 1MHz was applied and the corresponding acoustical speeds were estimated for each frequency. A coherent sigmoid dispersion relationship was obtained for each granular sample. The asymptotic boundaries for the dispersion function reflect the limiting cases for the wavelength/heterogeneity ratio in the granular pack. The lower speed asymptote was explained as the mean field value while upper speed asymptote can be understood based on a ray theory approximation scaled by a parameter we defined as the "acoustic tortuosity factor". This factor reflects the intricate acoustical path due to the texture of the stress network developed in the granular samples and can be used together with the sigmoid dispersive relationship to describe and clarify the scale discrepancy between different source acoustic data in granular materials.
Development and validation of the Family Health Behavior Scale
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The purpose of the current study was to develop a psychometrically sound, parent-report measure of family and child behaviors related to obesity in children between 5- and 12-years-old. Item generation, item selection, and initial exploratory factor analysis yielded a 27-item measure called the Fami...
An Examination of the Efficacy of Training School Personnel to Build Behavioral Interventions from Functional Behavioral Assessment Information
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Strickland-Cohen, Monica K.
The current study evaluated the efficacy of a training series designed to teach typical school-based behavior support professionals to build behavioral interventions from functional behavioral assessment (FBA) information. The study was conducted in three stages. First, a descriptive assessment examined the extent to which typical school team…
Another Scale for the Assessment of Facial Paralysis? ADS Scale: Our Proposition, How to Use It
Introduction Several authors in the years propose different methods to evaluate areas and specific movement's disease in patient affected by facial palsy. Despite these efforts the House Brackmann is anyway the most used assessment in medical community. Aim The aims of our study is the proposition and assessing a new rating Arianna Disease Scale (ADS) for the clinical evaluation of facial paralysis. Materials and Methods Sixty patients affected by unilateral facial Bell paralysis were enrolled in a prospective study from 2012 to 2014. Their facial nerve function was evaluated with our assessment analysing facial district divided in upper, middle and lower third. We analysed different facial expressions. Each movement corresponded to the action of different muscles. The action of each muscle was scored from 0 to 1, with 0 corresponding from complete flaccid paralysis to muscle's normal function ending with a score of 1. Synkinesis was considered and evaluated also in the scale with a fixed 0.5 score. Our results considered ease and speed of evaluation of the assessment, the accuracy of muscle deficit and the ability to calculate synkinesis using a score. Results All the three observers agreed 100% in the highest degree of deficit. We found some discrepancies in intermediate score with 92% agreement in upper face, 87% in middle and 80% in lower face, where there were more muscles involved in movements. Conclusion Our scale had some limitations linked to the small group of patients evaluated and we had a little difficulty understanding the intermediate score of 0.3 and 0.7. However, this was an accurate tool to quickly evaluate facial nerve function. This has potential as an alternative scale to and to diagnose facial nerve disorders. PMID:26814596
A Critique of Carver and White's (1994) Behavioral Inhibition Scale (BIS) for Investigating Lykken's (1995) Theory of Primary Psychopathy
Poythress, Norman G.; Edens, John F.; Landfield, Kristin; Lilienfeld, Scott O.; Skeem, Jennifer L.; Douglas, Kevin S.
In a 1995 monograph, Lykken asserted that an innate fearless temperament underpins the development of primary psychopathy as described by Cleckley (1941). To embed this insight in a larger theory of behavior, Lykken embraced constructs from Gray's (1982) reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST). Specifically, he hypothesized that in primary psychopaths the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) lacks normal sensitivity to cues of conditioned punishment or non-reward. Subsequent researchers have embraced Carver and White's (1994) BIS scale as the instrument of choice for testing Lykken's theory of primary psychopathy, a practice that this review calls into question. We note (a) a dearth of research using the BIS scales in offender samples, where more psychopathic individuals are likely to be found and (b) limited BIS scale coverage of the functions attributed to the behavioral inhibition system in RST. In addition, (c) we review literature suggesting that rather than assessing the fear sensitivity function critical to Lykken's theory, the BIS scale instead functions primarily as an index of negative emotionality. We recommend a moratorium on the use of the BIS scale to test Lykken's theory of primary psychopathy. PMID:19727321
An Auditory BCI System for Assisting CRS-R Behavioral Assessment in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness.
Xiao, Jun; Xie, Qiuyou; He, Yanbin; Yu, Tianyou; Lu, Shenglin; Huang, Ningmeng; Yu, Ronghao; Li, Yuanqing
The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) is a consistent and sensitive behavioral assessment standard for disorders of consciousness (DOC) patients. However, the CRS-R has limitations due to its dependence on behavioral markers, which has led to a high rate of misdiagnosis. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which directly detect brain activities without any behavioral expression, can be used to evaluate a patient's state. In this study, we explored the application of BCIs in assisting CRS-R assessments of DOC patients. Specifically, an auditory passive EEG-based BCI system with an oddball paradigm was proposed to facilitate the evaluation of one item of the auditory function scale in the CRS-R - the auditory startle. The results obtained from five healthy subjects validated the efficacy of the BCI system. Nineteen DOC patients participated in the CRS-R and BCI assessments, of which three patients exhibited no responses in the CRS-R assessment but were responsive to auditory startle in the BCI assessment. These results revealed that a proportion of DOC patients who have no behavioral responses in the CRS-R assessment can generate neural responses, which can be detected by our BCI system. Therefore, the proposed BCI may provide more sensitive results than the CRS-R and thus assist CRS-R behavioral assessments. PMID:27620348
Employee recruitment: using behavioral assessments as an employee selection tool.
Collins, Sandra K
The labor shortage of skilled health care professionals continues to make employee recruitment and retention a challenge for health care managers. Greater accountability is being placed on health care managers to retain their employees. The urgency to retain health care professionals is largely an issue that should be considered during the initial recruitment of potential employees. Health care managers should analyze candidates rigorously to ensure that appropriate hiring decisions are made. Behavioral assessments can be used as a useful employee selection tool to assist managers in the appropriate placement and training of potential new employees. When administered appropriately, these tools can provide managers with a variety of useful information. This information can assist health care managers in demystifying the hiring process. Although there are varying organizational concerns to address when using behavioral assessments as an employee selection tool, the potential return on investment is worth the effort. PMID:17938588
Functional Behavioral Assessment for a Boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Problem Behavior: A Case Study from Greece
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Theodoridou, Zoe; Koutsoklenis, Athanasios
This article focuses on the application of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to design a positive behavior intervention (PBI) for a boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who encounters serious difficulties at the mainstream school because of behavioral problems and physical limitations. After the definition of problem behavior and its…
Predicting Adaptive Behavior from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hotard, Stephen; McWhirter, Richard
To examine the proportion of variance in adaptive functioning predictable from mental ability, chronological age, I.Q., evidence of brain malfunction, seizure medication, and receptive and expressive language scores, 25 severely and profoundly retarded institutionalized persons (2-19 years old) were administered the Bayley Infant Scale Mental…
Scaling behavior of circular colliders dominated by synchrotron radiation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Talman, Richard
The scaling formulas in this paper — many of which involve approximation — apply primarily to electron colliders like CEPC or FCC-ee. The more abstract "radiation dominated" phrase in the title is intended to encourage use of the formulas — though admittedly less precisely — to proton colliders like SPPC, for which synchrotron radiation begins to dominate the design in spite of the large proton mass. Optimizing a facility having an electron-positron Higgs factory, followed decades later by a p, p collider in the same tunnel, is a formidable task. The CEPC design study constitutes an initial "constrained parameter" collider design. Here the constrained parameters include tunnel circumference, cell lengths, phase advance per cell, etc. This approach is valuable, if the constrained parameters are self-consistent and close to optimal. Jumping directly to detailed design makes it possible to develop reliable, objective cost estimates on a rapid time scale. A scaling law formulation is intended to contribute to a "ground-up" stage in the design of future circular colliders. In this more abstract approach, scaling formulas can be used to investigate ways in which the design can be better optimized. Equally important, by solving the lattice matching equations in closed form, as contrasted with running computer programs such as MAD, one can obtain better intuition concerning the fundamental parametric dependencies. The ground-up approach is made especially appropriate by the seemingly impossible task of simultaneous optimization of tunnel circumference for both electrons and protons. The fact that both colliders will be radiation dominated actually simplifies the simultaneous optimization task. All GeV scale electron accelerators are "synchrotron radiation dominated", meaning that all beam distributions evolve within a fraction of a second to an equilibrium state in which "heating" due to radiation fluctuations is canceled by the "cooling" in
DAPHNE: A New Tool for the Assessment of the Behavioral Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia
Boutoleau-Bretonnière, Claire; Evrard, Christelle; Hardouin, Jean Benoît; Rocher, Laëtitia; Charriau, Tiphaine; Etcharry-Bouyx, Frédérique; Auriacombe, Sophie; Richard-Mornas, Aurélie; Lebert, Florence; Pasquier, Florence; Sauvaget, Anne; Bulteau, Samuel; Vercelletto, Martine; Derkinderen, Pascal; Bretonnière, Cédric; Thomas-Antérion, Catherine
Background The diagnosis of behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) relies primarily on clinical features and remains challenging. The specificity of the recently revised criteria can be disappointing, justifying development of new clinical tools. Objective We produced a behavioral inventory named DAPHNE. This scale (adapted from Rascovsky's criteria) explores six domains: disinhibition, apathy, perseverations, hyperorality, personal neglect and loss of empathy. It is composed of ten items (five answer categories). The aim was (1) to assess the validity and reliability of DAPHNE and (2) to evaluate its contribution in differentiating patients. Methods Two scores were computed: DAPHNE-6 (screening) from the six domains and DAPHNE-40 (diagnosis) from the ten items. Reliability and reproducibility were assessed. External validity was studied with the Frontal Behavioral Inventory (FBI) and the Frontotemporal Behavioral Scale (FBS). Finally, the diagnostic performance of DAPHNE was compared to revised criteria, FBI and FBS. Results DAPHNE was administered to the caregivers of 89 patients, 36 with bvFTD, 22 with Alzheimer's disease, 15 with progressive supranuclear palsy and 16 with bipolar disorder. Reliability and reproducibility were excellent, as was external validity. DAPHNE-6 allowed bvFTD diagnosis (score ≥4) with a sensitivity of 92%, while DAPHNE-40 (score ≥15) had a specificity of 92%. Conclusion We demonstrate excellent psychometric features for DAPHNE. This quick tool could help for both diagnosing and screening bvFTD. PMID:26955383
Self-regulation assessment among preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems.
Graziano, Paulo A; Slavec, Janine; Ros, Rosmary; Garb, Leanna; Hart, Katie; Garcia, Alexis
This study examined the construct validity and clinical utility of a brief self-regulation assessment (Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders, HTKS) among a clinical sample of children with externalizing behavior problems (EBP). Participants for this study included 101 preschool children (72% male; Mage = 5.10 years; 79% Hispanic) with at-risk or clinically elevated levels of EBP. Self-regulation measures included the HTKS task, 4 standardized subtests from the Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA), parent and teacher reports of children's executive functioning (EF), and children's self-regulation performance across a series of executive functioning classroom games conducted as part of a summer treatment camp. Additional outcomes included school readiness as measured by standardized achievement tests, and parent and teacher reports of kindergarten readiness and behavioral impairment related to academic functioning. Performance on the HTKS task was moderately correlated with children's performance on the standardized working memory tasks and observed self-regulation performance in the classroom. Low to moderate correlations were observed between performance on the HTKS task and parent report of children's EF difficulties, as well as parent and teacher reports of children's kindergarten readiness and behavioral impairment related to academic functioning. Moderate to high correlations were observed between performance on the HTKS task and standardized academic outcomes. These findings highlight the promise of the HTKS task as a brief, ecologically valid, and integrative EF task tapping into both behavioral and cognitive aspects of self-regulation that are important for children with EBP's success in school. PMID:25822828
Metric qualities of the cognitive behavioral assessment for outcome evaluation to estimate psychological treatment effects
Bertolotti, Giorgio; Michielin, Paolo; Vidotto, Giulio; Sanavio, Ezio; Bottesi, Gioia; Bettinardi, Ornella; Zotti, Anna Maria
Background Cognitive behavioral assessment for outcome evaluation was developed to evaluate psychological treatment interventions, especially for counseling and psychotherapy. It is made up of 80 items and five scales: anxiety, well-being, perception of positive change, depression, and psychological distress. The aim of the study was to present the metric qualities and to show validity and reliability of the five constructs of the questionnaire both in nonclinical and clinical subjects. Methods Four steps were completed to assess reliability and factor structure: criterion-related and concurrent validity, responsiveness, and convergent–divergent validity. A nonclinical group of 269 subjects was enrolled, as was a clinical group comprising 168 adults undergoing psychotherapy and psychological counseling provided by the Italian public health service. Results Cronbach's alphas were between 0.80 and 0.91 for the clinical sample and between 0.74 and 0.91 in the nonclinical one. We observed an excellent structural validity for the five interrelated dimensions. The clinical group showed higher scores in the anxiety, depression, and psychological distress scales, as well as lower scores in well-being and perception of positive change scales than those observed in the nonclinical group. Responsiveness was large for the anxiety, well-being, and depression scales; the psychological distress and perception of positive change scales showed a moderate effect. Conclusion The questionnaire showed excellent psychometric properties, thus demonstrating that the questionnaire is a good evaluative instrument, with which to assess pre- and post-treatment outcomes. PMID:26442466
Assessment of Scaled Rotors for Wind Tunnel Experiments.
Maniaci, David Charles; Kelley, Christopher Lee; Chiu, Phillip
Rotor design and analysis work has been performed to support the conceptualization of a wind tunnel test focused on studying wake dynamics. This wind tunnel test would serve as part of a larger model validation campaign that is part of the Department of Energy Wind and Water Power Program's Atmosphere to electrons (A2e) initiative. The first phase of this effort was directed towards designing a functionally scaled rotor based on the same design process and target full-scale turbine used for new rotors for the DOE/SNL SWiFT site. The second phase focused on assessing the capabilities of an already available rotor, the G1, designed and built by researchers at the Technical University of München.
Measurement artifacts in the assessment of counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior: do we know what we think we know?
Spector, Paul E; Bauer, Jeremy A; Fox, Suzy
An experiment investigated whether measurement features affected observed relationships between counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and their relationships with other variables. As expected, correlations between CWB and OCB were significantly higher with ratings of agreement rather than frequency of behavior, when OCB scale content overlapped with CWB than when it did not, and with supervisor rather than self-ratings. Relationships with job satisfaction and job stressors were inconsistent across conditions. We concluded that CWB and OCB are likely unrelated and not necessarily oppositely related to other variables. Researchers should avoid overlapping content in CWB and OCB scales and should use frequency formats to assess how often individuals engage in each form of behavior. PMID:20604597
Evaluation of convergence behavior of metamodeling techniques for bridging scales in multi-scale multimaterial simulation
Sen, Oishik; Davis, Sean; Jacobs, Gustaaf; Udaykumar, H.S.
The effectiveness of several metamodeling techniques, viz. the Polynomial Stochastic Collocation method, Adaptive Stochastic Collocation method, a Radial Basis Function Neural Network, a Kriging Method and a Dynamic Kriging Method is evaluated. This is done with the express purpose of using metamodels to bridge scales between micro- and macro-scale models in a multi-scale multimaterial simulation. The rate of convergence of the error when used to reconstruct hypersurfaces of known functions is studied. For sufficiently large number of training points, Stochastic Collocation methods generally converge faster than the other metamodeling techniques, while the DKG method converges faster when the number of input points is less than 100 in a two-dimensional parameter space. Because the input points correspond to computationally expensive micro/meso-scale computations, the DKG is favored for bridging scales in a multi-scale solver.
Coarsening of granular clusters : two types of scaling behaviors.
Sapozhnikov, M. V.; Aranson, I. S.; Olafsen, J. S.; Materials Science Division; Russian Academy of Sciences; Univ. of Kansas
We report on an experimental study of small cluster dynamics during the coarsening process in driven granular submonolayers of 120-{mu}m bronze particles. The techniques of electrostatic and vertical mechanical vibration were employed to excite the granular gas. We measure the scaling exponent for the evaporation of small clusters during coarsening. It was found that the surface area of small clusters S vs time t behaves as S-(t{sub 0}-t){sup 2/3} for lower frequencies and S-(t{sub 0}-t) for higher frequencies. We argue that the change in the scaling exponent is related to the transition from three-dimensional (3D) to 2D character of motion in the granular gas.
Large-scale behavior and statistical equilibria in rotating flows
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mininni, P. D.; Dmitruk, P.; Matthaeus, W. H.; Pouquet, A.
We examine long-time properties of the ideal dynamics of three-dimensional flows, in the presence or not of an imposed solid-body rotation and with or without helicity (velocity-vorticity correlation). In all cases, the results agree with the isotropic predictions stemming from statistical mechanics. No accumulation of excitation occurs in the large scales, although, in the dissipative rotating case, anisotropy and accumulation, in the form of an inverse cascade of energy, are known to occur. We attribute this latter discrepancy to the linearity of the term responsible for the emergence of inertial waves. At intermediate times, inertial energy spectra emerge that differ somewhat from classical wave-turbulence expectations and with a trace of large-scale excitation that goes away for long times. These results are discussed in the context of partial two dimensionalization of the flow undergoing strong rotation as advocated by several authors.
Examining the factor structure of the recovery assessment scale.
Corrigan, Patrick W; Salzer, Mark; Ralph, Ruth O; Sangster, Yvette; Keck, Lorraine
This article follows up on earlier research examining the factor structure of a measure of recovery from serious mental illness. Exactly 1,824 persons with serious mental illness who were participating in the baseline interview for a multistate study on consumer-operated services completed the Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS) plus measures representing hope, meaning of life, quality of life, symptoms, and empowerment. Results of exploratory and subsequent confirmatory factor analyses of the RAS for random halves of the sample yielded five factors: personal confidence and hope, willingness to ask for help, goal and success orientation, reliance on others, and no domination by symptoms. Subsequent regression analyses showed that these five factors were uniquely related to the additional constructs assessed in the study. We compared these findings with those of other studies to summarize the factor structure that currently emerges on recovery. PMID:15957202
Analysis of Unbound Aggregate Layer Deformation Behavior from Full Scale Aircraft Gear Loading with Wander
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Donovan, Phillip Raymond
This study focuses on the analysis of the behavior of unbound aggregates to offset wheel loads. Test data from full-scale aircraft gear loading conducted at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF) by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are used to investigate the effects of wander (offset loads) on the deformation behavior of…
TABS Manual for the Temperament and Atypical Behavior Scale: Early Childhood Indicators of Developmental Dysfunction.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Neisworth, John T.; Bagnato, Stephen J.; Salvia, John; Hunt, Frances M.
This manual describes the rationale, use, and validity of the Temperament and Atypical Behavior Scale (TABS), a norm-referenced measure of dysfunctional behavior appropriately used with infants and young children between the ages of 11 and 71 months. TABS is intended to identify children who are developing atypically or are at risk for atypical…
Tools to study and manage grazing behavior at multiple scales to enhance the sustainability of livestock
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Free-ranging animal behavior is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon within rangeland ecology that must be understood and ultimately managed. Improving behavioral studies requires tools appropriate for use at the landscape scale. Though tools alone do not assure research will generate accurate in...
Parental Attitudes, Beliefs, and Responses to Childhood Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: The Parental Attitudes and Behaviors Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peris, Tara S.; Benazon, Nili; Langley, Audra; Roblek, Tami; Piacentini, John
This paper documents preliminary examination of the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Parental Attitudes and Behaviors Scale (PABS), an OCD-specific measure of parental attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral strategies related to childhood OCD. Employing a sample of 123 youth (mean age = 11.7; 59% male, 79% Caucasian) diagnosed with…
Technical Adequacy of the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale-2nd Edition--Self-Report
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Erford, Bradley T.; Miller, Emily M.; Isbister, Katherine
This study provides preliminary analysis of the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale-2nd Edition--Self-Report, which was designed to screen individuals aged 10 years and older for anxiety and behavior symptoms. Score reliability and internal and external facets of validity were good for a screening-level test.
The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form: Development and Validation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Manos, Rachel C.; Kanter, Jonathan W.; Luo, Wen
Following a landmark component analysis of cognitive therapy by Jacobson and colleagues (1996), there has been renewed interest in behavioral activation (BA) treatments for depression. The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS) was developed to measure when and how clients become activated over the course of BA treatment. Multiple…
Fatigue behavior of full-scale welded bridge attachments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fisher, J. W.; Barthelemy, B. M.; Mertz, D. R.; Edinger, J. A.
Findings of an extensive laboratory evaluation of the fatigue behavior of welded steel bridge members are reported. The fatigue strength of beams with web and flange lateral attachment plates are examined. In addition to providing a more comprehensive data base for this type of detail, the influence of lateral bracing members on the out-of-plane distortion of the lateral plates is explored. Work also was undertaken on the effectiveness of peening and gas tungsten arc remelting the fatigue-damaged connections and on the ability of drilled holes to arrest crack growth.
Deriving Childhood Temperament Measures from Emotion-Eliciting Behavioral Episodes: Scale Construction and Initial Validation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gagne, Jeffrey R.; Van Hulle, Carol A.; Aksan, Nazan; Essex, Marilyn J.; Goldsmith, H. Hill
The authors describe the development and initial validation of a home-based version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB), which was designed to assess childhood temperament with a comprehensive series of emotion-eliciting behavioral episodes. This article provides researchers with general guidelines for assessing specific…
Testing measurement invariance of the protective behavioral strategies scale in college men and women.
Treloar, Hayley R; Martens, Matthew P; McCarthy, Denis M
This study tested whether the measurement parameters of the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS; Martens et al., 2005) were equivalent for men and women in a college student sample. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses tested whether a similar 3-factor latent structure was shared across gender groups and whether item origins (i.e., thresholds) and the strength of associations between individual items and latent factors (i.e., factor loadings) were equivalent across gender groups. Multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) models tested whether gender differences in measurement parameters were explained by drinking patterns among college men and women. Results evidenced significant measurement bias (i.e., non-invariant measurement parameters) across gender groups at both the factor structure and individual item level. In addition, MIMIC models suggested that gender differences in item loadings and thresholds were not better explained by discrepancies in drinking patterns among male and female college students. Findings indicate that gender differences in latent factor scores may reflect measurement bias rather than true mean differences between gender groups, restricting meaningful comparisons of PBSS scores between college men and women. Implications for the assessment of specific strategies as well as clinical interventions among college students that include components on protective behavioral strategies are discussed. PMID:24059477
Scale Development for Measuring and Predicting Adolescents' Leisure Time Physical Activity Behavior
Ries, Francis; Romero Granados, Santiago; Arribas Galarraga, Silvia
The aim of this study was to develop a scale for assessing and predicting adolescents' physical activity behavior in Spain and Luxembourg using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework. The sample was comprised of 613 Spanish (boys = 309, girls = 304; M age =15.28, SD =1.127) and 752 Luxembourgish adolescents (boys = 343, girls = 409; M age = 14.92, SD = 1.198), selected from students of two secondary schools in both countries, with a similar socio-economic status. The initial 43-items were all scored on a 4-point response format using the structured alternative format and translated into Spanish, French and German. In order to ensure the accuracy of the translation, standardized parallel back-translation techniques were employed. Following two pilot tests and subsequent revisions, a second order exploratory factor analysis with oblimin direct rotation was used for factor extraction. Internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities were also tested. The 4-week test-retest correlations confirmed the items' time stability. The same five factors were obtained, explaining 63.76% and 63.64% of the total variance in both samples. Internal consistency for the five factors ranged from α = 0.759 to α = 0. 949 in the Spanish sample and from α = 0.735 to α = 0.952 in the Luxembourgish sample. For both samples, inter-factor correlations were all reported significant and positive, except for Factor 5 where they were significant but negative. The high internal consistency of the subscales, the reported item test-retest reliabilities and the identical factor structure confirm the adequacy of the elaborated questionnaire for assessing the TPB-based constructs when used with a population of adolescents in Spain and Luxembourg. The results give some indication that they may have value in measuring the hypothesized TPB constructs for PA behavior in a cross-cultural context. Key points When using the structured alternative format, weak internal consistency was obtained
The Coma Recovery Scale Modified Score: a new scoring system for the Coma Recovery Scale-revised for assessment of patients with disorders of consciousness.
Sattin, Davide; Minati, Ludovico; Rossi, Davide; Covelli, Venusia; Giovannetti, Ambra M; Rosazza, Cristina; Bersano, Anna; Nigri, Anna; Leonardi, Matilde
The differential diagnosis between vegetative state and minimally conscious state is still complex and the development of an evaluation systems is one of the challenging tasks for researchers and professionals. The Coma Recovery Scale-revised is considered the gold standard for clinical/behavioral assessment and for the differential diagnosis of patients with disorder of consciousness. However, the scale presents some limitations in that (i) scores may partially overlap between different diagnoses and (ii) there is an underlying assumption that if a patient is able to show higher-level behaviors, he/she is also able to show lower-level responses. In the present study, a procedure to calculate a modified Coma Recovery Scale-revised score is presented that attempts to avoid these problems. To exemplify this new scoring approach, 60 patients with disorder of consciousness were studied and the results showed the usefulness of the Modified Score. PMID:26465775
Methodological considerations when assessing restricted and repetitive behaviors and aggression
Keefer, A.J.; Kalb, L.; Mazurek, M.O.; Kanne, S.M.; Freedman, B.; Vasa, R.A.
Methodological issues impacting the relationship between aggression and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behaviors and interests (RRSBI) were examined in 2648 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) using a multi-method, multi-informant analysis model to assess the effects of informant, assessment method, and aggression phenotype. Overall, a significant, but small relationship was found between RRSBI and aggression (p < .05). There was significant heterogeneity of estimates with large effect sizes observed when utilizing teacher report and a broad phenotype of aggression. Variance in estimates was attributed to differences in informant and assessment method with two times greater effect attributed to informant. Results suggest strategies to optimize future investigations of the relationship between RRSBI and aggression. Findings also provide the opportunity for the development of targeted interventions for aggression in youth with ASD. PMID:27239223
Synoptic-Scale Behavior of the Extratropical Tropopause Inversion Layer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pilch Kedzierski, Robin; Matthes, Katja; Bumke, Karl
The Tropopause Inversion Layer (TIL) is a climatological feature of the tropopause region, characterized by enhanced static stability and strong temperature inversion in a thin layer (about 1km deep) right above the tropopause. It was discovered recently via tropopause-based averaging [Birner 2002]. The sharp static stability, temperature and wind shear gradients of the TIL theoretically shall inhibit stratosphere-troposphere exchange and influence the vertical propagation of planetary scale Rossby and small-scale gravity waves. High vertically resolved radiosonde and GPS radio occultation measurements show that the strength of the TIL is positively correlated with the tropopause height and anticyclonic conditions, and that it reaches its maximum strength in polar regions during summer [Birner 2006] [Randel and Wu, 2007 and 2010]. Our study takes advantage of the high density of vertical profiles (~2000 measurements per day, globally) measured by the COSMIC satellites (2007-present), in order to describe the synoptic-scale structures of the TIL and the differences between the seasonal climatologies from earlier studies and the real-time TIL. Also, using ERA-Interim reanalysis wind fields, we split relative vorticity into shear and curl terms and study separately their relation to TIL strength in cyclonic-anticyclonic conditions. We find that the TIL has a rich zonal structure, especially in midlatitude winter, and that its strength is instantly adjusted to the synoptic situation at near-tropopause level. The peaks of strongest TIL at midlatitude ridges in winter are stronger and much more frequent than any peaks found in polar summer. The roles of shear and curl vorticity differ substantially towards higher values of relative vorticity (both cyclonic and anticyclonic).
Scaling and gender behavior of road accidental dynamics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qiu, Tian; Zou, Xiang-Xiang; Chen, Guang; Jiang, Xiong-Fei; Zhong, Li-Xin
The probability distribution of the time intervals between two consecutive accidents is investigated, based on the road accidental records of the Great Britain. A universal description is obtained for different roads, by rescaling the probability distribution and time intervals. The scaling curve is found to deviate from the Gaussian distribution, but it is well fitted by a stretched exponential function. Long-range time correlation is revealed for the interevent series. Moreover, gender similarity is found for the small accidental intervals, while for the large intervals, the female drivers are observed to present a higher probability than the male drivers.
Time scale hierarchies in the functional organization of complex behaviors.
Perdikis, Dionysios; Huys, Raoul; Jirsa, Viktor K
Traditional approaches to cognitive modelling generally portray cognitive events in terms of 'discrete' states (point attractor dynamics) rather than in terms of processes, thereby neglecting the time structure of cognition. In contrast, more recent approaches explicitly address this temporal dimension, but typically provide no entry points into cognitive categorization of events and experiences. With the aim to incorporate both these aspects, we propose a framework for functional architectures. Our approach is grounded in the notion that arbitrary complex (human) behaviour is decomposable into functional modes (elementary units), which we conceptualize as low-dimensional dynamical objects (structured flows on manifolds). The ensemble of modes at an agent's disposal constitutes his/her functional repertoire. The modes may be subjected to additional dynamics (termed operational signals), in particular, instantaneous inputs, and a mechanism that sequentially selects a mode so that it temporarily dominates the functional dynamics. The inputs and selection mechanisms act on faster and slower time scales then that inherent to the modes, respectively. The dynamics across the three time scales are coupled via feedback, rendering the entire architecture autonomous. We illustrate the functional architecture in the context of serial behaviour, namely cursive handwriting. Subsequently, we investigate the possibility of recovering the contributions of functional modes and operational signals from the output, which appears to be possible only when examining the output phase flow (i.e., not from trajectories in phase space or time). PMID:21980278
Scaling behavior in the convection-driven Brazil nut effect
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hejmady, Prakhyat; Bandyopadhyay, Ranjini; Sabhapandit, Sanjib; Dhar, Abhishek
The Brazil nut effect is the phenomenon in which a large intruder particle immersed in a vertically shaken bed of smaller particles rises to the top, even when it is much denser. The usual practice while describing these experiments has been to use the dimensionless acceleration Γ=aω2/g, where a and ω are, respectively, the amplitude and the angular frequency of vibration and g is the acceleration due to gravity. Considering a vibrated quasi-two-dimensional bed of mustard seeds, we show here that the peak-to-peak velocity of shaking v=aω, rather than Γ, is the relevant parameter in the regime where boundary-driven granular convection is the main driving mechanism. We find that the rise time τ of an intruder is described by the scaling law τ˜(v-vc)-α, where vc is identified as the critical vibration velocity for the onset of convective motion of the mustard seeds. This scaling form holds over a wide range of (a,ω), diameter, and density of the intruder.
Time Scale Hierarchies in the Functional Organization of Complex Behaviors
Perdikis, Dionysios; Huys, Raoul; Jirsa, Viktor K.
Traditional approaches to cognitive modelling generally portray cognitive events in terms of 'discrete' states (point attractor dynamics) rather than in terms of processes, thereby neglecting the time structure of cognition. In contrast, more recent approaches explicitly address this temporal dimension, but typically provide no entry points into cognitive categorization of events and experiences. With the aim to incorporate both these aspects, we propose a framework for functional architectures. Our approach is grounded in the notion that arbitrary complex (human) behaviour is decomposable into functional modes (elementary units), which we conceptualize as low-dimensional dynamical objects (structured flows on manifolds). The ensemble of modes at an agent's disposal constitutes his/her functional repertoire. The modes may be subjected to additional dynamics (termed operational signals), in particular, instantaneous inputs, and a mechanism that sequentially selects a mode so that it temporarily dominates the functional dynamics. The inputs and selection mechanisms act on faster and slower time scales then that inherent to the modes, respectively. The dynamics across the three time scales are coupled via feedback, rendering the entire architecture autonomous. We illustrate the functional architecture in the context of serial behaviour, namely cursive handwriting. Subsequently, we investigate the possibility of recovering the contributions of functional modes and operational signals from the output, which appears to be possible only when examining the output phase flow (i.e., not from trajectories in phase space or time). PMID:21980278
Global scale flood exposure assessment - Methodologies and results
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jongman, B.; Ward, P. J.; Aerts, J. C. J. H.
Flood damage modelling has traditionally been limited to the local, regional or national scale. Recent flood events, population growth and climate change concerns have increased the need for global methods with both spatial and temporal dynamics. In this study we present a first estimate of economic exposure to both river and coastal flooding on a global scale from 1970 - 2050, using two different methods for economic exposure calculation. One methodology is based on population densities and GDP, while the other method uses land-use and maximum damage figures to calculate economic exposure. Both methods show very similar upward trends in economic exposure over the period 1970-2050. However, the absolute exposure values resulting from the two methods show different magnitudes, reflecting variation in urbanisation and income. Furthermore we found that growth of population and economic assets in flood prone areas is higher than average national growth, especially in developing countries. As a next step, we propose a methodology for assessing total flood vulnerability that goes beyond economic impact, using a welfare-based approach based on a broad range of development indicators. The results are interesting for academics and practitioners working on international environmental, economic and development issues at the regional and global scales.
Mapping Subfield-Scale Evapotranspiration to Assess Agricultural Drought Sensitivity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zipper, S. C.; Loheide, S. P., III
Assessing crop response to drought on the subfield-scale is critical for efficient agricultural water management and yield forecasting. Evapotranspiration provides a direct physical link between the soil, crop canopy, and the atmosphere, and is hence highly sensitive to changes in water availability. Here, we introduce a new surface energy balance model (High Resolution Mapping of Evapotranspiration; HRMET) that can map ET at very high resolution (meter-scale) requiring only canopy surface temperature, canopy structure, and meteorology as inputs. HRMET can be used in both open and closed canopy conditions. We validate HRMET over two commercial cornfields in the Yahara River Watershed (south-central Wisconsin, USA) and investigate the spatially variable ET response to severe drought conditions during the 2012 growing season. Results show that the magnitude of within-field ET variability is much larger when the drought is more severe. We then introduce a new metric, Relative ET (ETR), which normalizes ET on a field scale and allows for direct comparison across measurement dates, despite differences in meteorological conditions and crop growth stage. Using a novel paired-image technique, we use persistent patterns of ETR identify portions of the field that are most susceptible to drought, and portions that are consistently productive across measurement dates. These results have implications for precision agriculture and irrigation efficiency in addition to water management and yield forecasting, as identification of persistent patterns in crop productivity during low-stress periods allows farmers to direct resources to the most sensitive areas early in droughts.
Assessment and treatment of problem behavior occasioned by interruption of free-operant behavior.
Hagopian, Louis P; Bruzek, Jennifer L; Bowman, Lynn G; Jennett, Heather K
The current study describes the assessment and treatment of the problem behavior of 3 individuals with autism for whom initial functional analysis results were inconclusive. Subsequent analyses revealed that the interruption of free-operant behavior using "do" requests (Study 1) as well as "do" and "don't" requests (Study 2) occasioned problem behavior. Initially, treatment involved differential and noncontingent reinforcement without interruption. To make the intervention more sustainable in the natural environment (where interruptions are unavoidable), a two-component multiple-schedule arrangement was used to progressively increase the period of time in which ongoing activities would be interrupted. During generalization sessions, the intervention was applied across a variety of contexts and therapists. PMID:17471795
Dynamic scaling behaviors of linear fractal Langevin-type equation driven by nonconserved and conserved noise
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Zhe; Xun, Zhi-Peng; Wu, Ling; Chen, Yi-Li; Xia, Hui; Hao, Da-Peng; Tang, Gang
In order to study the effects of the microscopic details of fractal substrates on the scaling behavior of the growth model, a generalized linear fractal Langevin-type equation, ∂h / ∂t =(- 1) m + 1 ν∇ mzrw h (zrw is the dynamic exponent of random walk on substrates), driven by nonconserved and conserved noise is proposed and investigated theoretically employing scaling analysis. Corresponding dynamic scaling exponents are obtained.
Scale-invariant behavior in a spatial game of prisoners' dilemma
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lim, Y. F.; Chen, Kan; Jayaprakash, C.
A spatially extended version of the game of prisoner's dilemma, originally proposed by Nowak and May, is modified to include stochastic updating and found to exhibit scale-invariant behavior. Two critical regimes with different scaling behaviors are found; the corresponding exponents have been determined numerically. Spatially, the critical states are characterized by the existence of delicately balanced networks of defectors separating domains of cooperators; temporally, the evolution of the critical states following local perturbations is characterized by avalanches of various magnitudes, which cause restructuring of the networks of defectors on all scales.
Newcastle-Ottawa Scale: comparing reviewers' to authors' assessments
Background Lack of appropriate reporting of methodological details has previously been shown to distort risk of bias assessments in randomized controlled trials. The same might be true for observational studies. The goal of this study was to compare the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) assessment for risk of bias between reviewers and authors of cohort studies included in a published systematic review on risk factors for severe outcomes in patients infected with influenza. Methods Cohort studies included in the systematic review and published between 2008–2011 were included. The corresponding or first authors completed a survey covering all NOS items. Results were compared with the NOS assessment applied by reviewers of the systematic review. Inter-rater reliability was calculated using kappa (K) statistics. Results Authors of 65/182 (36%) studies completed the survey. The overall NOS score was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the reviewers' assessment (median = 6; interquartile range [IQR] 6–6) compared with those by authors (median = 5, IQR 4–6). Inter-rater reliability by item ranged from slight (K = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.19, 0.48) to poor (K = −0.06, 95% CI = −0.22, 0.10). Reliability for the overall score was poor (K = −0.004, 95% CI = −0.11, 0.11). Conclusions Differences in assessment and low agreement between reviewers and authors suggest the need to contact authors for information not published in studies when applying the NOS in systematic reviews. PMID:24690082
The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale: validation study of the mentation, behavior, and mood section.
Starkstein, Sergio E; Merello, Marcelo
The objective of this study was to examine the validity of the mentation, behavior, and mood items included in Part I of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and to assess its usefulness to screen for dementia, psychosis, depression, and apathy. A consecutive series of 168 patients with PD were assessed by neurologists with the UPDRS, and by psychiatrists using a comprehensive neuropsychiatric evaluation blind to each other's ratings. ROC analysis demonstrated that a score of 2 or greater on the intellectual impairment item of the UPDRS had 60% sensitivity and 92% specificity to detect dementia, as diagnosed with DSM-IV criteria. When a score of 23 or lower on the MMSE was included as an additional classification variable, the sensitivity increased to 85%. A score of 2 or greater on the thought disorder item had 43% sensitivity and 92% specificity to detect psychotic symptoms (delusions or hallucinations). A score of 2 or greater on the depression item had 77% sensitivity and 82% specificity to detect major depression as diagnosed with DSM-IV criteria. Finally, a score of 2 or greater on the motivation/initiative item had 73% sensitivity and 65% specificity to detect apathy, as diagnosed with a standardized criteria. When the sample was divided into mild (i.e. Hohen-Yahr stages I and II) versus moderate-severe PD (i.e. Hohen-Yahr stages III-V), findings remained unchanged, except that the UPDRS show unacceptably low accuracy to detect psychosis in mild PD. The mentation, behavior, and mood section of the UPDRS is an adequate screen for depression and apathy, and has adequate sensitivity to detect dementia when combined with the Mini-Mental State Exam, but has low sensitivity to detect psychosis. PMID:17721877
Methods to Assess Measurement Error in Questionnaires of Sedentary Behavior
Sampson, Joshua N; Matthews, Charles E; Freedman, Laurence; Carroll, Raymond J.; Kipnis, Victor
Sedentary behavior has already been associated with mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Questionnaires are an affordable tool for measuring sedentary behavior in large epidemiological studies. Here, we introduce and evaluate two statistical methods for quantifying measurement error in questionnaires. Accurate estimates are needed for assessing questionnaire quality. The two methods would be applied to validation studies that measure a sedentary behavior by both questionnaire and accelerometer on multiple days. The first method fits a reduced model by assuming the accelerometer is without error, while the second method fits a more complete model that allows both measures to have error. Because accelerometers tend to be highly accurate, we show that ignoring the accelerometer's measurement error, can result in more accurate estimates of measurement error in some scenarios. In this manuscript, we derive asymptotic approximations for the Mean-Squared Error of the estimated parameters from both methods, evaluate their dependence on study design and behavior characteristics, and offer an R package so investigators can make an informed choice between the two methods. We demonstrate the difference between the two methods in a recent validation study comparing Previous Day Recalls (PDR) to an accelerometer-based ActivPal. PMID:27340315
Predicting the Failure Behavior of Textile Composite Laminates by Using a Multi-Scale Correlating Approach
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Deng, Yan; Chen, Xiuhua; Wang, Hai
This paper investigates the elastic and failure behavior of textile composite laminates by using an analytical multi-scale correlating approach. The analyses are performed under the four scale levels, i.e. the laminate scale, representative unit cell (RUC) scale, tow architecture scale and fiber/matrix scale levels. The correlation between different scales is derived based on the continuum mechanics and homogenization method from which the stress and strain fields in multiple scales can be obtained concurrently. Effective modulus and ultimate failure strengths of different textile composite (plain weave, twill weave and satin weave) laminates are predicted solely from the corresponding constituent properties, braid geometrical parameters and lay-up. The damage and failure mechanisms at the constituent level are also determined by the micromechanical failure criteria. All the predicted results compare favorably with available experimental data. Parametric studies are also performed to examine the effect of various mechanical and geometrical parameters on the resulting mechanical properties.
Scaling behavior in ranking mobility of Chinese stock market
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wu, Ke; Xiong, Wanting; Weng, Xin; Wang, Yougui
As an aggregate measure of the variations in individuals, the analysis of mobility provides a substantial and comprehensive perspective into the complexity of socio-economic systems. In this paper, we introduced the ranking mobility index to measure the ranking variations of the stocks in Chinese stock market over time. Using the daily data of 837 constituent stocks of the Shanghai A-Stock Composite Index from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2012, we examined respectively the dependence of ranking mobility with respect to the absolute return, trading volume and turnover ratio on the sampling time interval. The scaling property is observed in all three relations. The fact of long relaxation times gives evidence of long memory property in the stock ranking orders.
Scaling Behavior of Barkhausen Avalanches along the Hysteresis loop in Nucleation-Mediated Magnetization Reversal Process
Im, Mi-Young; Fischer, Peter; Kim, D.-H.; Shin, S.-C.
We report the scaling behavior of Barkhausen avalanches for every small field step along the hysteresis loop in CoCrPt alloy film having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Individual Barkhausen avalanche is directly observed utilizing a high-resolution soft X-ray microscopy that provides real space images with a spatial resolution of 15 nm. Barkhausen avalanches are found to exhibit power-law scaling behavior at all field steps along the hysteresis loop, despite their different patterns for each field step. Surprisingly, the scaling exponent of the power-law distribution of Barkhausen avalanches is abruptly altered from 1 {+-} 0.04 to 1.47 {+-} 0.03 as the field step is close to the coercive field. The contribution of coupling among adjacent domains to Barkhausen avalanche process affects the sudden change of the scaling behavior observed at the coercivity-field region on the hysteresis loop of CoCrPt alloy film.
Effects of Aligning Self-Management Interventions with Functional Behavioral Assessment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hansen, Blake D.; Wills, Howard P.; Kamps, Debra M.
The differential effects of interventions aligned with indicated and non-indicated behavioral function were studied. Disruptive behavior of a fourth grade child at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) was assessed through functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures. Following the FBA, three interventions were designed, only one…
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Lester, Barry M.; Andreozzi-Fontaine, Lynne; Tronick, Edward; Bigsby, Rosemarie
There has been a long-standing interest in the assessment of the neurobehavioral integrity of the newborn infant. The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) was developed as an assessment for the at-risk infant. These are infants who are at increased risk for poor developmental outcome because of insults during prenatal development, such as substance exposure or prematurity or factors such as poverty, poor nutrition or lack of prenatal care that can have adverse effects on the intrauterine environment and affect the developing fetus. The NNNS assesses the full range of infant neurobehavioral performance including neurological integrity, behavioral functioning, and signs of stress/abstinence. The NNNS is a noninvasive neonatal assessment tool with demonstrated validity as a predictor, not only of medical outcomes such as cerebral palsy diagnosis, neurological abnormalities, and diseases with risks to the brain, but also of developmental outcomes such as mental and motor functioning, behavior problems, school readiness, and IQ. The NNNS can identify infants at high risk for abnormal developmental outcome and is an important clinical tool that enables medical researchers and health practitioners to identify these infants and develop intervention programs to optimize the development of these infants as early as possible. The video shows the NNNS procedures, shows examples of normal and abnormal performance and the various clinical populations in which the exam can be used. PMID:25177897
Assessment and evaluation of the high risk neonate: the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale.
Lester, Barry M; Andreozzi-Fontaine, Lynne; Tronick, Edward; Bigsby, Rosemarie
There has been a long-standing interest in the assessment of the neurobehavioral integrity of the newborn infant. The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) was developed as an assessment for the at-risk infant. These are infants who are at increased risk for poor developmental outcome because of insults during prenatal development, such as substance exposure or prematurity or factors such as poverty, poor nutrition or lack of prenatal care that can have adverse effects on the intrauterine environment and affect the developing fetus. The NNNS assesses the full range of infant neurobehavioral performance including neurological integrity, behavioral functioning, and signs of stress/abstinence. The NNNS is a noninvasive neonatal assessment tool with demonstrated validity as a predictor, not only of medical outcomes such as cerebral palsy diagnosis, neurological abnormalities, and diseases with risks to the brain, but also of developmental outcomes such as mental and motor functioning, behavior problems, school readiness, and IQ. The NNNS can identify infants at high risk for abnormal developmental outcome and is an important clinical tool that enables medical researchers and health practitioners to identify these infants and develop intervention programs to optimize the development of these infants as early as possible. The video shows the NNNS procedures, shows examples of normal and abnormal performance and the various clinical populations in which the exam can be used. PMID:25177897
Test Review: Bracken, B. A., & Keith, L. K. (2004). "Clinical Assessment of Behavior." Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Beran, Tanya N.
The Clinical Assessment of Behavior (CAB) is designed to assess both adaptive and problematic behaviors of children and adolescents from age 2 to 18 years. It can be individually or group administered, measures behaviors in different contexts, and includes both parent and teacher forms. The test was developed to be consistent with current…
Constructing Model of Relationship among Behaviors and Injuries to Products Based on Large Scale Text Data on Injuries
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nomori, Koji; Kitamura, Koji; Motomura, Yoichi; Nishida, Yoshifumi; Yamanaka, Tatsuhiro; Komatsubara, Akinori
In Japan, childhood injury prevention is urgent issue. Safety measures through creating knowledge of injury data are essential for preventing childhood injuries. Especially the injury prevention approach by product modification is very important. The risk assessment is one of the most fundamental methods to design safety products. The conventional risk assessment has been carried out subjectively because product makers have poor data on injuries. This paper deals with evidence-based risk assessment, in which artificial intelligence technologies are strongly needed. This paper describes a new method of foreseeing usage of products, which is the first step of the evidence-based risk assessment, and presents a retrieval system of injury data. The system enables a product designer to foresee how children use a product and which types of injuries occur due to the product in daily environment. The developed system consists of large scale injury data, text mining technology and probabilistic modeling technology. Large scale text data on childhood injuries was collected from medical institutions by an injury surveillance system. Types of behaviors to a product were derived from the injury text data using text mining technology. The relationship among products, types of behaviors, types of injuries and characteristics of children was modeled by Bayesian Network. The fundamental functions of the developed system and examples of new findings obtained by the system are reported in this paper.
Quantitative assessment of visual behavior in disorders of consciousness.
Trojano, L; Moretta, P; Loreto, V; Cozzolino, A; Santoro, L; Estraneo, A
The study of eye behavior is of paramount importance in the differential diagnosis of disorders of consciousness (DoC). In spite of this, assessment of eye movement patterns in patients with vegetative state (VS) or minimally conscious state (MCS) only relies on clinical evaluation. In this study we aimed to provide a quantitative assessment of visual tracking behavior in response to moving stimuli in DoC patients. Nine VS patients and nine MCS patients were recruited in a Neurorehabilitation Unit for patients with chronic DoC; 11 matched healthy subjects were tested as the control group. All participants under went a quantitative evaluation of eye-tracking pattern by means of a computerized infrared eye-tracker system; stimuli were represented by a red circle or a small color picture slowly moving on a PC monitor. The proportion of on- or off-target fixations differed significantly between MCS and VS. Most importantly, the distribution of fixations on or off the target in all VS patients was at or below the chance level, whereas in the MCS group seven out of nine patients showed a proportion of on-target fixations significantly higher than the chance level. Fixation length did not differ among the three groups significantly. The present quantitative assessment of visual behaviour in a tracking task demonstrated that MCS and VS patients differ in the proportion of on-target fixations. These results could have important clinical implications since the quantitative analysis of visual behavior might provide additional elements in the differential diagnosis of DoC. PMID:22302277
Behaviorally Assessed Sleep and Susceptibility to the Common Cold
Prather, Aric A.; Janicki-Deverts, Denise; Hall, Martica H.; Cohen, Sheldon
Study Objectives: Short sleep duration and poor sleep continuity have been implicated in the susceptibility to infectious illness. However, prior research has relied on subjective measures of sleep, which are subject to recall bias. The aim of this study was to determine whether sleep, measured behaviorally using wrist actigraphy, predicted cold incidence following experimental viral exposure. Design, Measurements, and Results: A total of 164 healthy men and women (age range, 18 to 55 y) volunteered for this study. Wrist actigraphy and sleep diaries assessed sleep duration and sleep continuity over 7 consecutive days. Participants were then quarantined and administered nasal drops containing the rhinovirus, and monitored over 5 days for the development of a clinical cold (defined by infection in the presence of objective signs of illness). Logistic regression analysis revealed that actigraphy- assessed shorter sleep duration was associated with an increased likelihood of development of a clinical cold. Specifically, those sleeping < 5 h (odds ratio [OR] = 4.50, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08–18.69) or sleeping between 5 to 6 h (OR = 4.24, 95% CI, 1.08–16.71) were at greater risk of developing the cold compared to those sleeping > 7 h per night; those sleeping 6.01 to 7 h were at no greater risk (OR = 1.66; 95% CI 0.40–6.95). This association was independent of prechallenge antibody levels, demographics, season of the year, body mass index, psychological variables, and health practices. Sleep fragmentation was unrelated to cold susceptibility. Other sleep variables obtained using diary and actigraphy were not strong predictors of cold susceptibility. Conclusions: Shorter sleep duration, measured behaviorally using actigraphy prior to viral exposure, was associated with increased susceptibility to the common cold. Citation: Prather AA, Janicki-Deverts D, Hall MH, Cohen S. Behaviorally assessed sleep and susceptibility to the common cold. SLEEP 2015
Simplifying Fibromyalgia Assessment: The VASFIQ Brief Symptom Scale
Boomershine, Chad S.; Emir, Birol; Wang, Yi; Zlateva, Gergana
Objectives: We tested the ability of the VASFIQ, a seven-item scale composed of Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) visual analog scales (VASs), to quantify fibromyalgia global disease severity and identify fibromyalgia patients with significant symptoms of fatigue, poor sleep, depression or anxiety. Methods: Spearman rank correlations were used to compare global VASFIQ, FIQ and Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) scores and individual FIQ VAS scores with full-length, validated questionnaire scores for fatigue (Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue—Global Fatigue Index [MAF-GFI]), poor sleep (Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Problems Index [SPI]) and depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]). Patient scores used in the analyses were derived from 2229 patients enrolled in three pregabalin fibromyalgia trials. Receiver operating characteristic analyses determined VASFIQ cutoff scores identifying patients with clinically significant symptom levels using full-length, validated symptom questionnaires to define cases. Results: Global VASFIQ and FIQ scores correlated highly at baseline and study endpoints (ρ = 0.94 and 0.97, respectively; both p<0.0001). Change in global VASFIQ and FIQ scores correlated similarly to PGIC scores at study endpoints (ρ = 0.58 and 0.61, respectively; both p<0.0001). Individual FIQ VAS scores correlated with corresponding full-length symptom questionnaire scores at baseline and study endpoints (VASfatigue with MAF-GFI, ρ = 0.64 and 0.76; VASsleep with SPI, ρ = 0.50 and 0.67; VASdepression with HADS-D, ρ = 0.43 and 0.62; VASanxiety with HADS-A, ρ = 0.47 and 0.67, respectively; p <0.0001 for all). Patients with significant symptoms of fatigue were identified by VASfatigue >7.5, poor sleep by VASsleep >7.9, depression by VASdepression >5.8 and anxiety by VASanxiety >6.0. VASFIQ global scores ≥31.4 and ≥45.0 identified patients with moderate and severe global fibromyalgia symptoms, respectively
Quantitative Assessment of Thermodynamic Constraints on the Solution Space of Genome-Scale Metabolic Models
Hamilton, Joshua J.; Dwivedi, Vivek; Reed, Jennifer L.
Constraint-based methods provide powerful computational techniques to allow understanding and prediction of cellular behavior. These methods rely on physiochemical constraints to eliminate infeasible behaviors from the space of available behaviors. One such constraint is thermodynamic feasibility, the requirement that intracellular flux distributions obey the laws of thermodynamics. The past decade has seen several constraint-based methods that interpret this constraint in different ways, including those that are limited to small networks, rely on predefined reaction directions, and/or neglect the relationship between reaction free energies and metabolite concentrations. In this work, we utilize one such approach, thermodynamics-based metabolic flux analysis (TMFA), to make genome-scale, quantitative predictions about metabolite concentrations and reaction free energies in the absence of prior knowledge of reaction directions, while accounting for uncertainties in thermodynamic estimates. We applied TMFA to a genome-scale network reconstruction of Escherichia coli and examined the effect of thermodynamic constraints on the flux space. We also assessed the predictive performance of TMFA against gene essentiality and quantitative metabolomics data, under both aerobic and anaerobic, and optimal and suboptimal growth conditions. Based on these results, we propose that TMFA is a useful tool for validating phenotypes and generating hypotheses, and that additional types of data and constraints can improve predictions of metabolite concentrations. PMID:23870272
An Evaluation of Functional Variables Affecting Severe Problem Behaviors in Adults with Mental Retardation by Using the Questions about Behavioral Function Scale (QABF).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Applegate, Heather; Matson, Johnny L.; Cherry, Katie E.
A study used the Questions about Behavior Function Scale to examine the functions of five severe problem behaviors (self-injurious behavior, aggression, stereotypies, pica, and rumination) in 417 institutionalized persons with mental retardation. The most common function for all behaviors except aggression was nonsocial. Aggression was maintained…
Alteration in scaling behavior of short-term heartbeat time series for professional shooting athletes from rest to exercise
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhuang, Jian Jun; Ning, Xin Bao; He, Ai Jun; Zou, Ming; Sun, Biao; Wu, Xu Hui
Scaling analysis of heartbeat time series has emerged as a useful tool for assessing the autonomic cardiac control under various physiologic and pathologic conditions. We study the heartbeat activity and scaling behavior of heartbeat fluctuations regulated by autonomic nervous system for professional shooting athletes under two states: rest and exercise, by applying the detrended fluctuation analysis method. We focus on alteration in correlation properties of heartbeat intervals for the shooters from rest to exercise, which may have a potential value in monitoring the quality of training and evaluating the sports capacity of the athletes. The result shows that scaling exponents of short-term heart rate variability signals from the shooters get significantly larger during exercise compared with those obtained at rest. It demonstrates that during exercise stronger correlations appear in the heartbeat series of shooting athletes in order to satisfy the specific requirements for high concentration and better control on their heart beats.
Handed Foraging Behavior in Scale-Eating Cichlid Fish: Its Potential Role in Shaping Morphological Asymmetry
Meyer, Axel
Scale-eating cichlid fish, Perissodus microlepis, from Lake Tanganyika display handed (lateralized) foraging behavior, where an asymmetric 'left' mouth morph preferentially feeds on the scales of the right side of its victim fish and a 'right' morph bites the scales of the left side. This species has therefore become a textbook example of the astonishing degree of ecological specialization and negative frequency-dependent selection. We investigated the strength of handedness of foraging behavior as well as its interaction with morphological mouth laterality in P. microlepis. In wild-caught adult fish we found that mouth laterality is, as expected, a strong predictor of their preferred attack orientation. Also laboratory-reared juvenile fish exhibited a strong laterality in behavioral preference to feed on scales, even at an early age, although the initial level of mouth asymmetry appeared to be small. This suggests that pronounced mouth asymmetry is not a prerequisite for handed foraging behavior in juvenile scale-eating cichlid fish and might suggest that behavioral preference to attack a particular side of the prey plays a role in facilitating morphological asymmetry of this species. PMID:22970282
Assessing Causality in the Relationship between Adolescents' Risky Sexual Online Behavior and Their Perceptions of This Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baumgartner, Susanne E.; Valkenburg, Patti M.; Peter, Jochen
The main aim of this study was to investigate the causal nature of the relationship between adolescents' risky sexual behavior on the internet and their perceptions of this behavior. Engagement in the following online behaviors was assessed: searching online for someone to talk about sex, searching online for someone to have sex, sending intimate…
Observational Assessment of Preschool Disruptive Behavior, Part II: Validity of the Disruptive Behavior Diagnostic Observation Schedule (DB-DOS)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wakschlag, Lauren S.; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J.; Hill, Carri; Danis, Barbara; Leventhal, Bennett L.; Keenan, Kate; Egger, Helen L.; Cicchetti, Domenic; Burns, James; Carter, Alice S.
A study is conducted to determine whether the multidomain, multicontext Disruptive Behavior Diagnostic Observation Schedule (DB-DOS) is a valid observational method for assessing disruptive behavior of preschool children. It is concluded that the DB-DOS is a valid method for a direct observational assessment of clinically significant disruptive…
Toward Instructional Leadership: Principals' Perceptions of Large-Scale Assessment in Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Prytula, Michelle; Noonan, Brian; Hellsten, Laurie
This paper describes a study of the perceptions that Saskatchewan school principals have regarding large-scale assessment reform and their perceptions of how assessment reform has affected their roles as principals. The findings revealed that large-scale assessments, especially provincial assessments, have affected the principal in Saskatchewan…
Vocal behavior and risk assessment in wild chimpanzees
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wilson, Michael L.; Hauser, Marc D.; Wrangham, Richard W.
If, as theory predicts, animal communication is designed to manipulate the behavior of others to personal advantage, then there will be certain contexts in which vocal behavior is profitable and other cases where silence is favored. Studies conducted in Kibale National Park, Uganda investigated whether chimpanzees modified their vocal behavior according to different levels of risk from intergroup aggression, including relative numerical strength and location in range. Playback experiments tested numerical assessment, and observations of chimpanzees throughout their range tested whether they called less frequently to avoid detection in border areas. Chimpanzees were more likely to call to playback of a stranger's call if they greatly outnumbered the stranger. Chimpanzees tended to reduce calling in border areas, but not in all locations. Chimpanzees most consistently remained silent when raiding crops: they almost never gave loud pant-hoot calls when raiding banana plantations outside the park, even though they normally give many pant-hoots on arrival at high-quality food resources. These findings indicate that chimpanzees have the capacity to reduce loud call production when appropriate, but that additional factors, such as advertising territory ownership, contribute to the costs and benefits of calling in border zones.
Behavioral assessment of NIH Swiss mice acutely intoxicated with tetramethylenedisulfotetramine.
Flannery, Brenna M; Silverman, Jill L; Bruun, Donald A; Puhger, Kyle R; McCoy, Mark R; Hammock, Bruce D; Crawley, Jacqueline N; Lein, Pamela J
Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine (TETS) is a potent convulsant poison that is thought to trigger seizures by inhibiting the function of the type A gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor (GABAAR). Acute intoxication with TETS can cause vomiting, convulsions, status epilepticus (SE) and even death. Clinical case reports indicate that individuals who survive poisoning may exhibit long-term neuropsychological issues and cognitive deficits. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine whether a recently described mouse model of acute TETS intoxication exhibits persistent behavioral deficits. Young adult male NIH Swiss mice received a seizure-inducing dose of TETS (0.15mg/kg, ip) and then were rescued from lethality by administration of diazepam (5mg/kg, ip) approximately 20min post-TETS-exposure. TETS-intoxicated mice typically exhibited 2 clonic seizures prior to administration of diazepam with no subsequent seizures post-diazepam injection as assessed using behavioral criteria. Seizures lasted an average of 72s. Locomotor activity, anxiety-like and depression-relevant behaviors and cognition were assessed at 1week, 1month and 2months post-TETS exposure using open field, elevated-plus maze, light↔dark transitions, tail suspension, forced swim and novel object recognition tasks. Interestingly, preliminary validation tests indicated that NIH Swiss mice do not respond to the shock in fear conditioning tasks. Subsequent evaluation of hot plate and tail flick nociception tasks revealed that this strain exhibits significantly decreased pain sensitivity relative to age- and sex-matched C57BL/6J mice, which displayed normal contextual fear conditioning. NIH Swiss mice acutely intoxicated with TETS exhibited no significant anxiety-related, depression-relevant, learning or memory deficits relative to vehicle controls at any of the time points assessed with the exception of significantly increased locomotor activity at 2months post-TETS intoxication. The general absence
Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) Watershed Assessment Studies: Advancing the Science for Conservation Assessment at Watershed Scale
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
CEAP Watershed Assessment Studies were initiated in 2004 or later to measure the environmental effects of conservation practices on water resources (quality and availability), soil quality, or fish and wildlife habitat at the watershed scale. Over 40 CEAP Watershed Studies have now been sponsored co...
Risk Assessment and Scaling for the SLS LH2 ET
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hafiychuk, Halyna; Ponizovskaya-Devine, Ekaterina; Luchinsky, Dmitry; Khasin, Michael; Osipov, Viatcheslav V.; Smelyanskiy, Vadim N.
In this report the main physics processes in LH2 tank during prepress and rocket flight are studied. The goal of this investigation is to analyze possible hazards and to make risk assessment in proposed LH2 tank designs for SLS with 5 engines (the situation with 4 engines is less critical). For analysis we use the multinode model (MNM) developed by us and presented in a separate report and also 3D ANSYS simulations. We carry out simulation and theoretical analysis the physics processes such as (i) accumulation of bubbles in LH2 during replenish stage and their collapsing in the liquid during the prepress; (ii) condensation-evaporation at the liquid-vapor interface and tank wall, (iv) heating the liquid near the interface and wall due to condensation and environment heat, (v) injection of hot He during prepress and of hot GH2 during flight, (vi) mixing and cooling of the injected gases due to heat transfer between the gases, liquid and the tank wall. We analyze the effects of these physical processes on the thermo- and fluid gas dynamics in the ullage and on the stratification of temperature in the liquid and assess the associated hazards. A special emphasize is put on the scaling predictions for the larger SLS LH2 tank.
Scaling studies and conceptual experiment designs for NGNP CFD assessment
D. M. McEligot; G. E. McCreery
The objective of this report is to document scaling studies and conceptual designs for flow and heat transfer experiments intended to assess CFD codes and their turbulence models proposed for application to prismatic NGNP concepts. The general approach of the project is to develop new benchmark experiments for assessment in parallel with CFD and coupled CFD/systems code calculations for the same geometry. Two aspects of the complex flow in an NGNP are being addressed: (1) flow and thermal mixing in the lower plenum ("hot streaking" issue) and (2) turbulence and resulting temperature distributions in reactor cooling channels ("hot channel" issue). Current prismatic NGNP concepts are being examined to identify their proposed flow conditions and geometries over the range from normal operation to decay heat removal in a pressurized cooldown. Approximate analyses have been applied to determine key non-dimensional parameters and their magnitudes over this operating range. For normal operation, the flow in the coolant channels can be considered to be dominant turbulent forced convection with slight transverse property variation. In a pressurized cooldown (LOFA) simulation, the flow quickly becomes laminar with some possible buoyancy influences. The flow in the lower plenum can locally be considered to be a situation of multiple hot jets into a confined crossflow -- with obstructions. Flow is expected to be turbulent with momentumdominated turbulent jets entering; buoyancy influences are estimated to be negligible in normal full power operation. Experiments are needed for the combined features of the lower plenum flows. Missing from the typical jet experiments available are interactions with nearby circular posts and with vertical posts in the vicinity of vertical walls - with near stagnant surroundings at one extreme and significant crossflow at the other. Two types of heat transfer experiments are being considered. One addresses the "hot channel" problem, if necessary
Child Behavior Checklist Juvenile Bipolar Disorder (CBCL-JBD) and CBCL Posttraumatic Stress Problems (CBCL-PTSP) Scales Are Measures of a Single Dysregulatory Syndrome
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ayer, Lynsay; Althoff, Robert; Ivanova, Masha; Rettew, David; Waxler, Ellen; Sulman, Julie; Hudziak, James
Background: The Child Behavior Checklist Juvenile Bipolar Disorder (CBCL-JBD) profile and Posttraumatic Stress Problems (CBCL-PTSP) scale have been used to assess juvenile bipolar disorder (JBD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), respectively. However, their validity is questionable according to previous research. Both measures are…
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Assessing the Evidence
Ramirez de Arellano, Michael A.; Jobe-Shields, Lisa; George, Preethy; Dougherty, Richard H.; Daniels, Allen S.; Ghose, Sushmita Shoma; Huang, Larke; Delphin-Rittmon, Miriam E.
Objective Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a conjoint parent-child treatment developed by Cohen, Mannarino, and Deblinger that uses cognitive-behavioral principles and exposure techniques to prevent and treat posttraumatic stress, depression, and behavioral problems. This review defined TF-CBT, differentiated it from other models, and assessed the evidence base. Methods Authors reviewed meta-analyses, reviews, and individual studies (1995 to 2013). Databases surveyed were PubMed, PsycINFO, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, PILOTS, the ERIC, and the CINAHL. They chose from three levels of research evidence (high, moderate, and low) on the basis of benchmarks for number of studies and quality of their methodology. They also described the evidence of effectiveness. Results The level of evidence for TF-CBT was rated as high on the basis of ten RCTs, three of which were conducted independently (not by TF-CBT developers). TF-CBT has demonstrated positive outcomes in reducing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, although it is less clear whether TF-CBT is effective in reducing behavior problems or symptoms of depression. Limitations of the studies include concerns about investigator bias and exclusion of vulnerable populations. Conclusions TF-CBT is a viable treatment for reducing trauma-related symptoms among some children who have experienced trauma and their nonoffending caregivers. Based on this evidence, TF-CBT should be available as a covered service in health plans. Ongoing research is needed to further identify best practices for TF-CBT in various settings and with individuals from various racial and ethnic backgrounds and with varied trauma histories, symptoms, and stages of intellectual, social, and emotional development. PMID:24638076
Deriving Childhood Temperament Measures from Emotion-eliciting Behavioral Episodes: Scale Construction and Initial Validation
Gagne, Jeffrey R.; Van Hulle, Carol A.; Aksan, Nazan; Essex, Marilyn J.; Goldsmith, H. Hill
The authors describe the development and initial validation of a home-based version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB), which was designed to assess childhood temperament using a comprehensive series of emotion-eliciting behavioral episodes. This paper provides researchers with general guidelines for assessing specific behaviors using the Lab-TAB and for forming behavioral composites that correspond to commonly researched temperament dimensions. We used mother ratings and independent post-visit observer ratings to provide validity evidence in a community sample of 4.5 year-old children. 12 Lab-TAB behavioral episodes were employed, yielding 24 within-episode temperament components that collapsed into 9 higher-level composites (Anger, Sadness, Fear, Shyness, Positive Expression, Approach, Active Engagement, Persistence, and Inhibitory Control). These dimensions of temperament are similar to those found in questionnaire-based assessments. Correlations among the 9 composites were low to moderate, suggesting relative independence. As expected, agreement between Lab-TAB measures and post-visit observer ratings was stronger than agreement between the Lab-TAB and mother questionnaire. However, for Active Engagement and Shyness, mother ratings did predict child behavior in the Lab-TAB quite well. Findings demonstrate the feasibility of emotion-eliciting temperament assessment methodologies, suggest appropriate methods for data aggregation into trait-level constructs, and set some expectations for associations between Lab-TAB dimensions and the degree of cross-method convergence between the Lab-TAB and other commonly used temperament assessments. PMID:21480723
Balk, Thomas
The mechanical behavior of materials with small dimension(s) is of both fundamental scientific interest and technological relevance. The size effects and novel properties that arise from changes in deformation mechanism have important implications for modern technologies such as thin films for microelectronics and MEMS devices, thermal and tribological coatings, materials for energy production and advanced batteries, etc. The overarching goal of the 2012 Gordon Research Conference on "Thin Film and Small Scale Mechanical Behavior" is to discuss recent studies and future opportunities regarding elastic, plastic and time-dependent deformation, as well as degradation and failure mechanisms such as fatigue, fracture and wear. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to: fundamental studies of physical mechanisms governing small-scale mechanical behavior; advances in test techniques for materials at small length scales, such as nanotribology and high-temperature nanoindentation; in-situ mechanical testing and characterization; nanomechanics of battery materials, such as swelling-induced phenomena and chemomechanical behavior; flexible electronics; mechanical properties of graphene and carbon-based materials; mechanical behavior of small-scale biological structures and biomimetic materials. Both experimental and computational work will be included in the oral and poster presentations at this Conference.
Anomalous scaling behavior and surface roughening in molecular thin-film deposition
Yim, S.; Jones, T. S.
The thin film growth dynamics of a molecular semiconductor, free-base phthalocyanine (H{sub 2}Pc), deposited by organic molecular beam deposition, has been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and height difference correlation function (HDCF) analysis. The measured dynamic scaling components ({alpha}{sub loc}=0.61{+-}0.12, {beta}=1.02{+-}0.08, and 1/z=0.72{+-}0.13) are consistent with rapid surface roughening and anomalous scaling behavior. A detailed analysis of AFM images and simple growth models suggest that this behavior arises from the pronounced upward growth of crystalline H{sub 2}Pc mounds during the initial stages of thin film growth.
Scaling behavior of spin gap of the bond alternating anisotropic spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Paul, Susobhan; Ghosh, Asim Kumar
Scaling behavior of spin gap of a bond alternating spin-1/2 anisotropic Heisenberg chain has been studied both in ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) cases. Spin gap has been estimated by using exact diagonalization technique. All those quantities have been obtained for a region of anisotropic parameter Δ defined by 0≤Δ≤1. Spin gap is found to develop as soon as the non-uniformity in the alternating bond strength is introduced in the AFM regime which furthermore sustains in the FM regime as well. Scaling behavior of the spin gap has been studied by introducing scaling exponent. The variation of scaling exponents with Δ is fitted with a regular function.
Scaling Behavior of the First Arrival Time of a Random-Walking Magnetic Domain
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Im, M.-Y.; Lee, S.-H.; Kim, D.-H.; Fischer, P.; Shin, S.-C.
We report a universal scaling behavior of the first arrival time of a traveling magnetic domain wall into a finite space-time observation window of a magneto-optical microscope enabling direct visualization of a Barkhausen avalanche in real time. The first arrival time of the traveling magnetic domain wall exhibits a nontrivial fluctuation and its statistical distribution is described by universal power-law scaling with scaling exponents of 1.34±0.07 for CoCr and CoCrPt films, despite their quite different domain evolution patterns. Numerical simulation of the first arrival time with an assumption that the magnetic domain wall traveled as a random walker well matches our experimentally observed scaling behavior, providing an experimental support for the random-walking model of traveling magnetic domain walls.
Scaling behavior of the first arrival time of a random-walking magnetic domain.
Im, M-Y; Lee, S-H; Kim, D-H; Fischer, P; Shin, S-C
We report a universal scaling behavior of the first arrival time of a traveling magnetic domain wall into a finite space-time observation window of a magneto-optical microscope enabling direct visualization of a Barkhausen avalanche in real time. The first arrival time of the traveling magnetic domain wall exhibits a nontrivial fluctuation and its statistical distribution is described by universal power-law scaling with scaling exponents of 1.34+/-0.07 for CoCr and CoCrPt films, despite their quite different domain evolution patterns. Numerical simulation of the first arrival time with an assumption that the magnetic domain wall traveled as a random walker well matches our experimentally observed scaling behavior, providing an experimental support for the random-walking model of traveling magnetic domain walls. PMID:18518241
Scaling Behavior of the First Arrival Time of a Random-Walking Magnetic Domain
Im, M.-Y.; Lee, S.-H.; Kim, D.-H.; Fischer, P.; Shin, S.-C.
We report a universal scaling behavior of the first arrival time of a traveling magnetic domain wall into a finite space-time observation window of a magneto-optical microscope enabling direct visualization of a Barkhausen avalanche in real time. The first arrival time of the traveling magnetic domain wall exhibits a nontrivial fluctuation and its statistical distribution is described by universal power-law scaling with scaling exponents of 1.34 {+-} 0.07 for CoCr and CoCrPt films, despite their quite different domain evolution patterns. Numerical simulation of the first arrival time with an assumption that the magnetic domain wall traveled as a random walker well matches our experimentally observed scaling behavior, providing an experimental support for the random-walking model of traveling magnetic domain walls.
Reliability and Validity of "Parents' Evaluation of Responsible Behaviors of 5-6 Year Old Children" Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Polat, Ozgul; Dagal, Asude B.
This study is aimed at developing a scale (Parents' Evaluation of Responsible Behaviors of 5-6 Year Old Children) for measuring parents' evaluation of their 5-6 year-old children's responsible behaviors. The construct validity of the scale was tested by Factor Analysis. Factor analysis determined that the scale can be clustered under 10 factors.…
Using multiple risk factors to assess the behavioral, cognitive, and affective effects of learned helplessness.
McKean, K J
Rather than examining the effect of the pessimistic explanatory style on an outcome variable reflecting a single domain, I studied the effects of multiple learned-helplessness risk factors on behavioral, cognitive, and affective variables. Undergraduate students completed the Learned Helplessness Scale (Quinless & McDermott-Nelson, 1988) as a measure of their expectation of uncontrollability and the Explanatory Style Questionnaire (Peterson et al., 1982) to determine their explanations for both positive and negative events. Results revealed a significant effect for risk level, with students at greater risk of helplessness reporting significantly more procrastination, lower grade point averages, and more dysphoria. These results support the use of multiple risk factors representing all learned-helplessness precursors and the assessment of learned-helplessness deficits drawn simultaneously from behavioral, cognitive, and affective domains. PMID:8189396
Behavioral Problems in Schools: Ways To Encourage Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) of Discipline-Evoking Behavior of Students with Emotional and/or Behavioral Disorders (EBD).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hendrickson, Jo M.; Gable, Robert A.; Conroy, Maureen A.; Fox, James; Smith, Carl
This article discusses some of the major challenges school districts face in implementing functional behavioral assessments (FBAs). A school improvement initiative, "Success4," is presented to illustrate an Iowa approach. Arguments are presented for fundamental changes in order to enhance school district effectiveness and accountability in…
Comment on "Compound nucleus aspect of sub-barrier fusion: A new energy scaling behavior"
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Karpov, A. V.; Rachkov, V. A.; Zagrebaev, V. I.
We comment on a recently published paper by R. Wolski entitled "Compound nucleus aspect of sub-barrier fusion: A new energy scaling behavior" [1], which claims that the sub-barrier fusion is determined mostly by the Q value of the compound nucleus formation. This ignores the dynamical channel-coupling effects at near-barrier energies. We demonstrate that this simplified scaling of fusion cross sections is not a common case and has no predictive power.
Evaluation of Thermal and Thermo-mechanical Behavior of Full-scale Energy Foundations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Murphy, Kyle D.
This study focuses on the thermo-mechanical and thermal behavior of full-scale energy foundations installed as part of two buildings recently constructed in Colorado. The soil stratigraphy at each of the sites differed, but both foundations were expected to function as primarily end-bearing elements with a tip socketed into rock. The heat exchanger configurations were also different amongst the foundations at both sites, permitting evaluation of the role of heat exchange. A common thread for both energy foundation case histories was the monitoring of the temperature and axial strain within the foundations during heat exchange operations. The first case study involves an evaluation of the long-term thermo-mechanical response of two full-scale energy foundations installed at the new Denver Housing Authority (DHA) Senior Living Facility at 1099 Osage St. in Denver, Colorado. Due to the construction schedule for this project, the thermal properties of the foundations and surrounding subsurface could not be assessed using thermal response tests. However, instrumentation was incorporated into the foundations to assess their long-term heat exchange response as well as the thermo-mechanical strains, stresses, and displacements that occurred during construction and operation of the ground-source heat pump system. The temperature changes within the foundations during heating and cooling operations over a period of approximately 600 days ranged from 9 to 32 °C, respectively. The thermal axial stresses in the foundations were calculated from the measured strains, and ranged from 3.1 MPa during heating to --1.0 MPa during cooling. These values are within reasonable limits for reinforced concrete structures. The maximum thermal axial stress was observed near the toe of both foundations, which is consistent with trends expected for end-bearing toe boundary conditions. The greatest thermal axial strains were observed near the top of the foundations (upward expansion during
Locally auxetic behavior of elastomeric polypropylene on the 100 nm length scale.
Franke, Mechthild; Magerle, Robert
We observe unexpected locally auxetic behavior in elastomeric polypropylene, a semicrystalline polymer with a natural microstructure and a low degree of crystallinity. Our series of scanning force microscopy images show the nanomechanical deformation processes that occur upon stretching a thin film of elastomeric polypropylene. Upon uniaxial stretching, the angle between epitaxially grown lamella branches remains constant and the lamellae elongate, resulting in locally auxetic behavior (negative Poisson's ratio) on the 100-nanometer scale. This mechanism causing auxetic behavior, which was previously proposed on the basis of geometric arguments, appears to be an intrinsic property of certain semicrystalline polymers. PMID:21495686
Scaling From Stream Reach Observations of Groundwater-Surfacewater Exchange to Network Scale Behavior and Effects
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Covino, T. P.; McGlynn, B. L.
Streamwater gains from and losses to groundwater impact stream hydrology, solute transport, and biogeochemistry. We used dual instantaneous salt injections (slugs) to investigate stream gains and losses across the Bull Trout watershed stream network (1,180 ha), Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho. The dual slug injection method allows estimation of gross gains and losses in addition to net changes in discharge across each study reach. Our results indicate that gross gains and losses occurred across each study reach despite net discharge that ranged from negative 58 % to positive 130 %. The hydrologic turnover or exchange of water can impact solute transport, in-stream solute concentrations and inertia, and watershed mass export. We found persistent relationships between stream discharge, stream flow velocity, and stream losses. From these relationships we present a simple approach using reach scale observations/experiments to simulate network scale hydrologic turnover. This conceptual model can help address: 1) how far a parcel of water travels in the stream before it is likely replaced and how this varies with stream network location and structure, and 2) where the water or solutes measured at the outlet (or anywhere else along the network) may have originated in the watershed. Addressing these questions is critical for understanding the role of the stream network and its geometry in modifying watershed runoff and solute dynamics.
Validating the Repetitive Behavior Scale-revised in young children with autism spectrum disorder.
Mirenda, Pat; Smith, Isabel M; Vaillancourt, Tracy; Georgiades, Stelios; Duku, Eric; Szatmari, Peter; Bryson, Susan; Fombonne, Eric; Roberts, Wendy; Volden, Joanne; Waddell, Charlotte; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie
This study examined the factor structure of the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R) in a sample of 287 preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine six competing structural models. Spearman's rank order correlations were calculated to examine the associations between factor scores and variables of interest. The 3- and 5-factor models were selected as preferable on the basis of fit statistics and parsimony. For both models, the strongest correlations were with problem behavior scores on the Child Behavior Checklist and repetitive behavior scores on the ADI-R. Developmental index standard scores were not correlated with factors in either model. The results confirm the utility of the RBS-R as a measure of repetitive behaviors in young children with ASD. PMID:20405194
Development of a Scale To Assess Concern about Falling and Applications to Treatment Programs.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lusardi, Michelle M.; Smith, Everett V., Jr.
Rasch methodology, often used in educational research, was used to assess psychometric limitations of a scale designed to measure fear of falling in older persons. Simultaneous calibration of scale items improved its lack of scale definition. Implications for assessment of self-efficacy perceptions and planning treatment programs are discussed.…
Kang, Soyeon; O'Reilly, Mark F; Fragale, Christina L; Aguilar, Jeannie M; Rispoli, Mandy; Lang, Russell
The rates of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers were evaluated across 3 preference assessment formats (i.e., paired stimulus, multiple-stimulus without replacement, and free operant). The experimenter administered each assessment format 5 times in a random order for 7 children with developmental disabilities whose problem behavior was maintained by attention, tangible items, or escape. Results demonstrated different effects related to the occurrence of problem behavior, suggesting an interaction between function of problem behavior and assessment format. Implications for practitioners are discussed with respect to assessing preferences of individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibit problem behavior. PMID:22219533
Evaluation of the rate of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers across preference assessments.
Kang, Soyeon; O'Reilly, Mark F; Fragale, Christina L; Aguilar, Jeannie M; Rispoli, Mandy; Lang, Russell
The rates of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers were evaluated across 3 preference assessment formats (i.e., paired stimulus, multiple-stimulus without replacement, and free operant). The experimenter administered each assessment format 5 times in a random order for 7 children with developmental disabilities whose problem behavior was maintained by attention, tangible items, or escape. Results demonstrated different effects related to the occurrence of problem behavior, suggesting an interaction between function of problem behavior and assessment format. Implications for practitioners are discussed with respect to assessing preferences of individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibit problem behavior. PMID:22219533
Behavioral assay for assessing effects of pollutants on fish chemoreception
Lemly, A.D.; Smith, R.J.
Behavioral assays are sensitive to sublethal levels of pollution but they usually require highly trained personnel and long observation periods. We describe a system that combines the sensitivity of a behavioral assay with commercially available automated monitoring equipment. The observation system consists of a special aquarium coupled to a recirculating water system, and an Opto-Varimex-Aqua activity tracking meter (Columbus Instruments, Columbus, Ohio) interfaced to a microcomputer. The tracking meter forms an intersecting, planar grid of light beams which, when interrupted by fish movements, is translated into a digitized signal and fed to the computer. The assay is based on the response of fish to natural chemical stimuli such as food odors or pheromones. When these stimulus solutions are injected into the water circulation the response of the fish is monitored by the computer system, which is capable of discriminating and quantifying changes in eight parameters. Normal responses to stimuli are compared with the response of fish that have been exposed to pollutants. We have successfully used this technique to examine effects of reduced pH on the response of fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, to chemical feeding stimuli. The system should be easily adapted to any laboratory concerned with testing for effects of toxic substances, and will identify effects of pollution that have thus far been difficult or impossible to assess.
Social Networks and Peer-Assessed Problem Behavior in Elementary Classrooms.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Farmer, Thomas W.; Van Acker, Richard M.; Pearl, Ruth; Rodkin, Philip C.
Peer-assessed problem behavior was examined in relation to peer-group membership and social-network centrality in 59 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade classes. Most students with high peer-assessed problem behavior were students without disabilities, but students with disabilities were over represented at the highest levels of problem behavior.…
When to Use Functional Behavioral Assessment? Best Practice vs. Legal Guidance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
von Ravensberg, Heidi; Blakely, Allison
When to conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a question answered by both best practice and the law. The special education field continues to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the functional behavioral assessment, an evidence-based technology that is the basis of a behavior intervention plan (BIP) and a cornerstone of the…
Behavioral and Psychological Assessment of Child Sexual Abuse in Clinical Practice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Malhotra, Savita; Biswas, Parthasarathy
This paper discusses the behavioral and psychological assessment of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in clinical practice. Following a brief introduction regarding definition and etiology of CSA and discussion on issues of behavioral/psychological consequences of CSA, the paper reviews the various approaches towards behavioral/psychological assessment in…
NASA Standard for Models and Simulations: Credibility Assessment Scale
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Babula, Maria; Bertch, William J.; Green, Lawrence L.; Hale, Joseph P.; Mosier, Gary E.; Steele, Martin J.; Woods, Jody
As one of its many responses to the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident, NASA decided to develop a formal standard for models and simulations (M&S). Work commenced in May 2005. An interim version was issued in late 2006. This interim version underwent considerable revision following an extensive Agency-wide review in 2007 along with some additional revisions as a result of the review by the NASA Engineering Management Board (EMB) in the first half of 2008. Issuance of the revised, permanent version, hereafter referred to as the M&S Standard or just the Standard, occurred in July 2008. Bertch, Zang and Steeleiv provided a summary review of the development process of this standard up through the start of the review by the EMB. A thorough recount of the entire development process, major issues, key decisions, and all review processes are available in Ref. v. This is the second of a pair of papers providing a summary of the final version of the Standard. Its focus is the Credibility Assessment Scale, a key feature of the Standard, including an example of its application to a real-world M&S problem for the James Webb Space Telescope. The companion paper summarizes the overall philosophy of the Standard and an overview of the requirements. Verbatim quotes from the Standard are integrated into the text of this paper, and are indicated by quotation marks.
Assessing the Accuracy of Landscape-Scale Phenology Products
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Nightingale, Joanne; Nickeson, Jaime
An International Workshop on the Validation of Satellite-Based Phenology Products; Dublin, Ireland, 18 June 2010; A 1-day international workshop on the accuracy assessment of phenology products derived from satellite observations of the land surface was held at Trinity College Dublin. This was in conjunction with the larger 4-day Phenology 2010 conference. Phenology is the study of recurring plant and animal life cycle stages (such as leafing and flowering, maturation of agricultural plants, emergence of insects, and migration of birds). The workshop brought together producers of continental- to global-scale phenology products based on satellite data, as well as providers of field observations and tower-mounted near-surface imaging sensors whose data are useful for evaluating the satellite products. The meeting was held under the auspices of the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites (CEOS) Land Product Validation (LPV) subgroup. The mission of LPV is to foster quantitative validation of high-level global land products derived from remotely sensed data and relay results that are relevant to users.
Assessing large-scale wildlife responses to human infrastructure development.
Torres, Aurora; Jaeger, Jochen A G; Alonso, Juan Carlos
Habitat loss and deterioration represent the main threats to wildlife species, and are closely linked to the expansion of roads and human settlements. Unfortunately, large-scale effects of these structures remain generally overlooked. Here, we analyzed the European transportation infrastructure network and found that 50% of the continent is within 1.5 km of transportation infrastructure. We present a method for assessing the impacts from infrastructure on wildlife, based on functional response curves describing density reductions in birds and mammals (e.g., road-effect zones), and apply it to Spain as a case study. The imprint of infrastructure extends over most of the country (55.5% in the case of birds and 97.9% for mammals), with moderate declines predicted for birds (22.6% of individuals) and severe declines predicted for mammals (46.6%). Despite certain limitations, we suggest the approach proposed is widely applicable to the evaluation of effects of planned infrastructure developments under multiple scenarios, and propose an internationally coordinated strategy to update and improve it in the future. PMID:27402749
Developing a comprehensive scale to assess college multicultural programming.
Mallinckrodt, Brent; Miles, Joseph R; Bhaskar, Tripti; Chery, Nicole; Choi, Gahee; Sung, Mi-Ra
A barrier to assessing effectiveness of multicultural programming is lack of a relatively brief instrument to measure the wide range of intended outcomes. A frequent goal of programming is to increase cultural empathy, but this is rarely the only intended outcome. We conducted focus groups of campus administrators, student affairs staff, and undergraduate instructors who identified a full range of racial/ethnic multicultural competencies that undergraduates should possess. An 84-item pool generated from these focus groups was combined with the 31-item Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE; Wang et al., 2003). These 115 items, together with instruments used to gauge concurrent validity, were administered to White undergraduate students in introductory psychology courses at the midpoint (n = 602) and end (n = 676) of fall semester. Exploratory factor analysis suggested 6 subscales for the Everyday Multicultural Competencies/Revised SEE (EMC/RSEE): (a) Cultural Openness and Desire to Learn; (b) Resentment and Cultural Dominance; (c) Anxiety and Lack of Multicultural Self-Efficacy; (d) Empathic Perspective-Taking; (e) Awareness of Contemporary Racism and Privilege; and (f) Empathic Feeling and Acting as an Ally. Item response theory principles guided final selection of subscale items. Analyses suggested good factor stability, reliability, and discriminant validity of the 48-item EMC/RSEE in these undergraduate samples. EMC/RSEE subscales were not strongly correlated with a measure of impression management and were significantly associated with measures of Openness to Diversity Challenge, and Universal-Diverse Orientation. PMID:24447061
The brief accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement (BARE) scale: a tool for measuring attachment behavior in couple relationships.
Sandberg, Jonathan G; Busby, Dean M; Johnson, Susan M; Yoshida, Keitaro
This article describes the purpose, reliability, validity, and potential clinical applications of the brief accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement (BARE) scale. In addition to focusing on the central attachment behaviors of accessibility and responsiveness, this instrument highlights the key role of engagement in couple bonding. The BARE is a short, systemic, self-report measure of attachment behaviors in couple relationships. Both classical testing theory and item response theory were used to test the psychometric properties of the instrument. The BARE demonstrated appropriate reliability and validity while maintaining its brevity and potential usefulness for clinicians and researchers. The BARE also accurately predicted the key relationship outcomes of stability and satisfaction. The data for this study were collected from the RELATE assessment (see www.relate-institute.org). PMID:23230982
Referred Students' Performance on the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fourth Edition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Edwards, Oliver W.; Paulin, Rachel V.
This study investigates the convergent relations of the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Data from counterbalanced administrations of each instrument to 48 elementary school students referred for psychoeducational testing were examined. Analysis of the 96…
Higher-Order Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales with a Referred Sample
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nelson, Jason M.; Canivez, Gary L.; Lindstrom, Will; Hatt, Clifford V.
The factor structure of the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS; [Reynolds, C.R., & Kamphaus, R.W. (2003). "Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales". Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.]) was investigated with a large (N=1163) independent sample of referred students (ages 6-18). More rigorous factor extraction criteria…
Actuarial Models for Assessing Prison Violence Risk: Revisions and Extensions of the Risk Assessment Scale for Prison (RASP)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cunningham, Mark D.; Sorensen, Jon R.
An investigation and extension of the Risk Assessment Scale for Prison (RASP-Potosi), an actuarially derived scale for the assessment of prison violence, was undertaken through a retrospective review of the disciplinary records of the first 12 months of confinement of a cohort of inmates entering the Florida Department of Corrections in 2002 and…
Dimensionality, Hierarchical Structure, Age Generalizability, and Criterion Validity of the GAIN's Behavioral Complexity Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Conrad, Kendon J.; Conrad, Karen M.; Mazza, Jessica; Riley, Barth B.; Funk, Rod; Stein, Mark A.; Dennis, Michael L.
This study used Rasch measurement model criteria and traditional psychometric strategies to examine key psychometric properties of the Behavioral Complexity Scale (BCS), a widely used measure of externalizing disorders that focuses on attention deficit, hyperactivity, and conduct disorders. With a sample of 7,435 persons being screened for…
The Psychometric Properties of the Difficult Behavior Self-Efficacy Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oh, Hyun-Kyoung; Kozub, Francis M.
The study was designed to estimate the psychometric properties of Hastings and Brown's (2002a) Difficult Behavior Self-efficacy Scale. Participants were two samples of physical educators teaching in Korea (n = 229) and the United States (U.S.; n = 139). An initial translation of the questionnaire to Korean and pilot study were conducted along with…
Preliminary Psychometric Evidence of the "Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Teacher Rating Scale-Preschool"
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Greer, Fred W.; DiStefano, Christine A.; Liu, Jin; Cain, Leia K.
The aim of this study was to provide psychometric evidence related to the "Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Teacher Rating Scale-Preschool" form's (BESS TRS-P) ability to identify emerging problems in preschool children. Reliability and validity associated with screener scores were compared by analyzing teacher ratings of…
Validating the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mirenda, Pat; Smith, Isabel M.; Vaillancourt, Tracy; Georgiades, Stelios; Duku, Eric; Szatmari, Peter; Bryson, Susan; Fombonne, Eric; Roberts, Wendy; Volden, Joanne; Waddell, Charlotte; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie
This study examined the factor structure of the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R) in a sample of 287 preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine six competing structural models. Spearman's rank order correlations were calculated to examine the associations between factor…
An ICF-CY-Based Content Analysis of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gleason, Kara; Coster, Wendy
Background: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and its version for children and youth (ICF-CY), has been increasingly adopted as a system to describe function and disability. A content analysis of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II (VABS-II) was conducted to examine congruence with the functioning…
Factor Structure, Internal Consistency, and Interrater Reliability of the Early Childhood Behavior Problem Screening Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nelson, Ron; Epstein, Michael; Griffith, Annette; Hopper, John
The current study examined the initial psychometrics of the "Early Childhood Behavior Problem Screening Scale" (ECBPSS; Epstein & Nelson, 2006), namely the factor structure and associated internal consistency of factor items of parent and teacher versions as well as interrater reliability. Data came from samples of preschool- and kindergarten-age…
Psychometric Properties of a Korean Translation of the "Scales of Independent Behavior--Revised"
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cho, Su-Je; Paik, Eunhee; Lee, Byoung-In; Yi, Joonsuk
This study explores the psychometric properties of data drawn from the Korean translation of the full "Scales of Independent Behavior--Revised" (SIB-R). In addition, semantic, content, conceptual, and technical equivalence are examined. The participants include 2,763 typically developing children and 406 children with intellectual disabilities…
Approaches to Learning among Head Start Alumni: Structure and Validity of the Learning Behaviors Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rikoon, Samuel H.; McDermott, Paul A.; Fantuzzo, John W.
This study reports new evidence for the dimensionality and validity of the Learning Behaviors Scale in samples of Head Start children. A sample of 900 former Head Start children enrolled in public kindergarten and first-grade classrooms was studied using modern techniques to analyze item responses represented as ordered categories. Findings from…
Impulsivity and the Sexes: Measurement and Structural Invariance of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cyders, Melissa A.
Before it is possible to test whether men and women differ in impulsivity, it is necessary to evaluate whether impulsivity measures are invariant across sex. The UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking, with added subscale of positive urgency) is one measure of five…
The Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale: Dimensionality and External Validity in Head Start
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McDermott, Paul A.; Rikoon, Samuel H.; Waterman, Clare; Fantuzzo, John W.
Given the importance of accurately gauging early childhood approaches to learning, this study reports evidence for the dimensionality and utility of the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale for use with disadvantaged preschool children. Data from a large (N = 1,666) sample representative of urban Head Start classrooms revealed three reliable…
Reliability of the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale-Public School Version.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mayfield, Kathy L.; And Others
Investigated interrater reliability of the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale-Public School Version in a sample of 31 educable mentally handicapped children who were rated by their parents, special education teacher, classroom teacher, and an independent observer. Results showed ratings of the special education teacher were generally lower. (JAC)
Unethical Computer Using Behavior Scale: A Study of Reliability and Validity on Turkish University Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Namlu, Aysen Gurcan; Odabasi, Hatice Ferhan
This study was carried out in a Turkish university with 216 undergraduate students of computer technology as respondents. The study aimed to develop a scale (UECUBS) to determine the unethical computer use behavior. A factor analysis of the related items revealed that the factors were can be divided under five headings; intellectual property,…
The Factor Structure of Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale Scores in Peruvian Children
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hahn, Kathryn R.; Schaefer, Barbara A.; Merino, Cesar; Worrell, Frank C.
The factor structure of the Escala de Conductas de Aprendizaje Preescolar (ECAP), a Spanish translation of the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS), was examined in this study. Children aged 2 to 6 years (N = 328) enrolled in public and private preschools in the Republic of Peru were rated by classroom teachers on the frequency of observable,…
Effect of chemical composition and microstructure on the mechanical behavior of fish scales from Megalops Atlanticus.
Gil-Duran, S; Arola, D; Ossa, E A
This paper presents an experimental study of the composition, microstructure and mechanical behavior of scales from the Megalops Atlanticus (Atlantic tarpon). The microstructure and composition were evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and RAMAN spectroscopy, respectively. The mechanical properties were evaluated in uniaxial tension as a function of position along the length of the fish (head, mid-length and tail). Results showed that the scales are composed of collagen and hydroxyapatite, and these constituents are distributed within three well-defined layers from the bottom to the top of the scale. The proportion of these layers with respect to the total scale thickness varies radially. The collagen fibers are arranged in plies with different orientations and with preferred orientation in the longitudinal direction of the fish. Results from the tensile tests showed that scales from Megalops Atlanticus exhibit variations in the elastic modulus as a function of body position. Additional testing performed with and without the highly mineralized top layers of the scale revealed that the mechanical behavior is anisotropic and that the highest strength was exhibited along the fish length. Furthermore, removing the top mineralized layers resulted in an increase in the tensile strength of the scale. PMID:26703228
Psychometric properties of the French translation of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form (BADS-SF) in non-clinical adults.
Wagener, Aurélie; Van der Linden, Martial; Blairy, Sylvie
A decrease in the level of engagement in activities ("behavioral activation") is usually observed in major depressive disorder. Because behavioral treatments of depression aim to counteract that mechanism, assessing changes in behavioral activation during treatment is of great interest. Therefore, Manos et al. (2011) developed a scale that assesses these changes, which was called the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form (BADS-SF). The aim of this study is to present a French version of this scale and to discuss its psychometric properties. The BADS-SF was translated into French, and 504 non-clinical adults completed an online survey that was composed of that scale and convergent measures. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed in two independent samples, and a two-factor solution was recommended, which references two functions of the engagement in activities (i.e., "activation" and "avoidance"). The results showed high levels of internal consistency and satisfying scores in terms of skewness and kurtosis. Moreover, relationships with measures of depression and behavioral systems indicated a good convergent validity. Therefore, the French BADS-SF can be seen as a reliable and valid instrument. PMID:25458479
A Comparison of Experimental Functional Analysis and the Questions about Behavioral Function (QABF) in the Assessment of Challenging Behavior of Individuals with Autism
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Healy, Olive; Brett, Denise; Leader, Geraldine
We compared two functional behavioral assessment methods: the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF; a standardized test) and experimental functional analysis (EFA) to identify behavioral functions of aggressive/destructive behavior, self-injurious behavior and stereotypy in 32 people diagnosed with autism. Both assessments found that self…
Transient Scaling Behavior and Predictability of Atmospheric Moisture, Clouds and Precipitation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Barros, Ana; Nogueira, Miguel; Sun, Xiaoming
The stochastic scaling behavior of clouds and rainfall observations exhibits transient behavior consistent with the temporal and spatial evolution of atmospheric dynamics at all scales. In mountainous regions, and regions of well-defined, spatially stationary modes of land-atmosphere interactions, analysis of remote-sensing and ground-based observations shows ubiquitous co-organization of landform, clouds and precipitation with seasonal and inter-annual variability consistent with regional climate. Recent work using both idealized and realistic model simulations of atmospheric dynamics (Nogueira and Barros, 2014; Nogueira et al., 2013) shows that transient scaling behavior at regional scales can be strictly interpreted in the light of moist processes, and in particular atmospheric stability regimes as defined by CAPE, Richardson number and normalized Brunt-Vaisala frequency among others. Furthermore, a sharp transition scaling parameters between non-convective and convective conditions is found that explains different scaling regimes reported in the literature for atmospheric wind, temperature and moisture observations. Spectral slopes around 2-2.3 arise under non-convective or very weak convective conditions, tightly related to the scaling behavior of the underlying topography. In convective situations the transient scaling exponents remain under 5/3 in agreement with the Kolmogorov turbulent regime accounting for the intermittency correction. The non-convective/convective transition is also unambiguously captured by the temporal evolution of the multifractal intermittency parameter. These findings indicate that the transient stochastic scaling of clouds and precipitation is an emergent property of complex moist processes with important implications for predictability: predictability in space conditional on landform and land-atmosphere interactions at local to regional scales, and predictability in time conditional on atmospheric dynamics, and convective activity
Assessing and Treating Stereotypical Behaviors in Classrooms Using a Functional Approach
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bruhn, Allison L.; Balint-Langel, Kinga; Troughton, Leonard; Langan, Sean; Lodge, Kelsey; Kortemeyer, Sara
For years, the assumption has been that stereotypical behaviors functioned only to provide sensory or automatic reinforcement. However, these behaviors also may serve social functions. Given the unsettled debate, functional behavior assessment and functional analysis can be used to identify the exact function of stereotypical behavior and design…
Using Functional Behavioral Assessment Data to Infer Learning Histories and Guide Interventions: A Consultation Case Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parker, Megan; Skinner, Christopher; Booher, Joshua
A teacher requested behavioral consultation services to address a first-grade student's disruptive behavior. Functional behavior assessment (FBA) suggested the behavior was being reinforced by "negative" teacher attention (e.g., reprimands, redirections, response cost). Based on this analysis, the teacher and consultant posited that this student…
Valid and Reliable Assessments to Measure Scale Literacy of Students in Introductory College Chemistry Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gerlach, Karrie; Trate, Jaclyn; Blecking, Anja; Geissinger, Peter; Murphy, Kristen
An important component of a student's science literacy is scale and concepts relating to scale including proportion and quantity. Measuring a student's scale concept has been examined using laboratory studies with one-on-one activities and interviews. However, classwide assessments to measure a student's scale concept have been…
A Mokken Scale to Assess Secondary Pupils' Experience of Violence in Terms of Severity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mooij, Ton
Violence assessment can potentially be improved by Item Response Theory, that is, ordinal Mokken Scale Analysis. The research question is as follows: Does Mokken Scale Analysis of secondary pupils' experience of violence result in a homogeneous, reliable, and valid unidimensional scale that fits all the requirements of Mokken scaling? The method…
Effects of polar solvents on the mechanical behavior of fish scales.
Murcia, Sandra; Li, Guihua; Yahyazadehfar, Mobin; Sasser, Mikaela; Ossa, Alex; Arola, D
Fish scales are unique structural materials that serve as a form of natural armor. In this investigation the mechanical behavior of scales from the Cyprinus carpio was evaluated after exposure to a polar solvent. Uniaxial tensile and tear tests were conducted on specimens prepared from the scales of multiple fish extracted from near the head, middle and tail regions, and after exposure to ethanol for periods from 0 to 24h. Submersion in ethanol caused instantaneous changes in the tensile properties regardless of anatomical site, with increases in the elastic modulus, strength and modulus of toughness exceeding 100%. The largest increase in properties overall occurred in the elastic modulus of scales from the tail region and exceeded 200%. Although ethanol treatment had significant effect on the tensile properties, it had limited influence on the tear resistance. The contribution of ethanol to the mechanical behavior appears to be derived from an increase in the degree of interpeptide hydrogen-bonding of the collagen molecules. Spatial variations in the effects of ethanol exposure on the mechanical behavior arise from the differences in degree of mineralization and lower mineral content in scales of the tail region. PMID:26838819
A Scale Assessing Music Student Teachers' Rehearsal Effectiveness.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bergee, Martin J.
Describes the development of a scale for evaluating music student teachers' rehearsal effectiveness. Includes scale items representing aspects of rehearsal effectiveness for three interpretable factors: conducting technique, teacher-student rapport, and instructional skills. Advises that scaling of rehearsal effectiveness should be only part of a…
Medicine in words and numbers: a cross-sectional survey comparing probability assessment scales
Witteman, Cilia LM; Renooij, Silja; Koele, Pieter
Background In the complex domain of medical decision making, reasoning under uncertainty can benefit from supporting tools. Automated decision support tools often build upon mathematical models, such as Bayesian networks. These networks require probabilities which often have to be assessed by experts in the domain of application. Probability response scales can be used to support the assessment process. We compare assessments obtained with different types of response scale. Methods General practitioners (GPs) gave assessments on and preferences for three different probability response scales: a numerical scale, a scale with only verbal labels, and a combined verbal-numerical scale we had designed ourselves. Standard analyses of variance were performed. Results No differences in assessments over the three response scales were found. Preferences for type of scale differed: the less experienced GPs preferred the verbal scale, the most experienced preferred the numerical scale, with the groups in between having a preference for the combined verbal-numerical scale. Conclusion We conclude that all three response scales are equally suitable for supporting probability assessment. The combined verbal-numerical scale is a good choice for aiding the process, since it offers numerical labels to those who prefer numbers and verbal labels to those who prefer words, and accommodates both more and less experienced professionals. PMID:17562000
Investigating Scaling Effects and Runoff Behavior Using Remote Sensed Data and Modeling in the Mississippi River Basin
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhao, Y.; Yoon, Y.; Beighley, E., II; Pavelsky, T.; Lee, H.
The hydrologic community has made significant advancements in our predictive understanding of the hydrologic cycle at continental to global scales. Still, there is need for improving model realism at the local scale (i.e., individual river reaches) to evaluate potential impacts of climate variability or landscape disturbances on water availability, ecosystem services and flood/drought risk. It is also well known that scaling issues has large effects on different hydrological processes. The assessment of local water resources and related systems (e.g., ecological and biogeochemical cycles) requires predictive capabilities for flood events not achievable in many current Earth System models. Here, we use an event-focused hydrologic modeling approach applicable at continental to global scales to study hydrologic scaling effects by systematically varying model scales. A case study in the Mississippi River Basin (3.0 M sqkm) is presented. Driven by TRMM precipitation (3B42v7), MODIS evapotranspiration (MOD16A2), MODIS land cover (MCD12C1), AMSR-E snow water equivalent (SWE), LandSat based river widths, and SRTM digital elevation data (v4.1), the Hillslope River Routing (HRR) hydrologic model is used to estimate daily streamflow throughout the Mississippi River Basin for the period 2004-2012. To generate runoff, a coefficient (α) based is used approach, where runoff is α times precipitation and α varies with soil moisture. The generated runoff is routed with HRR to simulate event hydrographs. In our approach, the runoff coefficient varies in space and time with the maximum value based on land cover, soil type and slope, and the time varying values are based on a relationship with relative soil moisture. Results are presented to illustrate how initial soil moisture conditions impact runoff generation and event hydrograph behavior. Simulated hydrographs are analyzed over a range of model resolutions (i.e., sub-catchment areas ranging from about 10 to 10,000 sqkm) to
Dielectric relaxation, resonance and scaling behaviors in Sr3Co2Fe24O41 hexaferrite
Tang, Rujun; Jiang, Chen; Qian, Wenhu; Jian, Jie; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Haiyan; Yang, Hao
The dielectric properties of Z-type hexaferrite Sr3Co2Fe24O41 (SCFO) have been investigated as a function of temperature from 153 to 503 K between 1 and 2 GHz. The dielectric responses of SCFO are found to be frequency dependent and thermally activated. The relaxation-type dielectric behavior is observed to be dominating in the low frequency region and resonance-type dielectric behavior is found to be dominating above 108 Hz. This frequency dependence of dielectric behavior is explained by the damped harmonic oscillator model with temperature dependent coefficients. The imaginary part of impedance (Z″) and modulus (M″) spectra show that there is a distribution of relaxation times. The scaling behaviors of Z″ and M″ spectra further suggest that the distribution of relaxation times is temperature independent at low frequencies. The dielectric loss spectra at different temperatures have not shown a scaling behavior above 108 Hz. A comparison between the Z″ and the M″ spectra indicates that the short-range charges motion dominates at low temperatures and the long-range charges motion dominates at high temperatures. The above results indicate that the dielectric dispersion mechanism in SCFO is temperature independent at low frequencies and temperature dependent at high frequencies due to the domination of resonance behavior. PMID:26314913
Dielectric relaxation, resonance and scaling behaviors in Sr3Co2Fe24O41 hexaferrite.
Tang, Rujun; Jiang, Chen; Qian, Wenhu; Jian, Jie; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Haiyan; Yang, Hao
The dielectric properties of Z-type hexaferrite Sr3Co2Fe24O41 (SCFO) have been investigated as a function of temperature from 153 to 503 K between 1 and 2 GHz. The dielectric responses of SCFO are found to be frequency dependent and thermally activated. The relaxation-type dielectric behavior is observed to be dominating in the low frequency region and resonance-type dielectric behavior is found to be dominating above 10(8) Hz. This frequency dependence of dielectric behavior is explained by the damped harmonic oscillator model with temperature dependent coefficients. The imaginary part of impedance (Z″) and modulus (M″) spectra show that there is a distribution of relaxation times. The scaling behaviors of Z″ and M″ spectra further suggest that the distribution of relaxation times is temperature independent at low frequencies. The dielectric loss spectra at different temperatures have not shown a scaling behavior above 10(8) Hz. A comparison between the Z″ and the M″ spectra indicates that the short-range charges motion dominates at low temperatures and the long-range charges motion dominates at high temperatures. The above results indicate that the dielectric dispersion mechanism in SCFO is temperature independent at low frequencies and temperature dependent at high frequencies due to the domination of resonance behavior. PMID:26314913
Scaling behavior of individual barkhausen avalanches in nucleation-mediated magnetization reversal processes
Im, Mi-Young; Fischer, Peter; Kim, Dong-Hyun; Shin, Sung-Chul
We report the scaling behavior of Barkhausen avalanches along the hysteresis loop of a CoCrPt alloy film with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy for every field step of 200 Oe. Individual Barkhausen avalanches are directly observed via high-resolution soft X-ray microscopy with a spatial resolution of 15 nm. The Barkhausen avalanches exhibit a power-law scaling behavior, where the scaling exponent of the power-law distribution drastically changes from 1 {+-} 0.04 to 1.47 {+-} 0.03 as the applied magnetic field approaches the coercivity of the CoCrPt film. We infer that this is due to the coupling of adjacent domains.
Copy of Using Emulation and Simulation to Understand the Large-Scale Behavior of the Internet.
Adalsteinsson, Helgi; Armstrong, Robert C.; Chiang, Ken; Gentile, Ann C.; Lloyd, Levi; Minnich, Ronald G.; Vanderveen, Keith; Van Randwyk, Jamie A; Rudish, Don W.
We report on the work done in the late-start LDRDUsing Emulation and Simulation toUnderstand the Large-Scale Behavior of the Internet. We describe the creation of a researchplatform that emulates many thousands of machines to be used for the study of large-scale inter-net behavior. We describe a proof-of-concept simple attack we performed in this environment.We describe the successful capture of a Storm bot and, from the study of the bot and furtherliterature search, establish large-scale aspects we seek to understand via emulation of Storm onour research platform in possible follow-on work. Finally, we discuss possible future work.3
Multiple-Time Scaling and Universal Behavior of the Earthquake Interevent Time Distribution
Bottiglieri, M.; Godano, C.; Lippiello, E.; Arcangelis, L. de
The interevent time distribution characterizes the temporal occurrence in seismic catalogs. Universal scaling properties of this distribution have been evidenced for entire catalogs and seismic sequences. Recently, these universal features have been questioned and some criticisms have been raised. We investigate the existence of universal scaling properties by analyzing a Californian catalog and by means of numerical simulations of an epidemic-type model. We show that the interevent time distribution exhibits a universal behavior over the entire temporal range if four characteristic times are taken into account. The above analysis allows us to identify the scaling form leading to universal behavior and explains the observed deviations. Furthermore, it provides a tool to identify the dependence on the mainshock magnitude of the c parameter that fixes the onset of the power law decay in the Omori law.
The behavior flexibility rating scale-revised (BFRS-R): factor analysis, internal consistency, inter-rater and intra-rater reliability, and convergent validity.
Peters-Scheffer, Nienke; Didden, Robert; Green, Vanessa A; Sigafoos, Jeff; Korzilius, Hubert; Pituch, Keenan; O'Reilly, Mark F; Lancioni, Giulio
We examined the psychometric properties of the behavior flexibility rating scale-revised (BFRS-R), a new scale intended for assessing behavioral flexibility in individuals with developmental disabilities. Seventy-six direct care staff members and 56 parents completed the BFRS-R for 70 children with developmental disabilities. Factor analysis revealed three factors (i.e., Flexibility towards objects, Flexibility towards the environment, and Flexibility towards persons) and results of several analyses indicated an excellent internal consistency and good intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the total scale. These data suggest that the BFRS-R may provide a reliable rating of behavioral flexibility when used by direct-care staff and parents of children with developmental disabilities. PMID:17826945
Neurobehavioral Assessment from Fetus to Infant: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale and the Fetal Neurobehavior Coding Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Salisbury, Amy L.; Fallone, Melissa Duncan; Lester, Barry
This review provides an overview and definition of the concept of neurobehavior in human development. Two neurobehavioral assessments used by the authors in current fetal and infant research are discussed: the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale and the Fetal Neurobehavior Coding System. This review will present how the two assessments…
Assessing the validity and reliability of the perceptions of the Consent To Sex Scale.
Jozkowski, Kristen N; Peterson, Zoë D
Although sexual assault prevention education tends to focus on consent promotion as a means to reduce rates of sexual assault, little is known about how college students consent to sexual activity. The current study aimed to better understand college students' consent via the systematic development of the Consent to Sex Scale (CSS), utilizing mixed methods via three phases and two waves of data collection. In Phase 1, qualitative data were collected from college students (n = 185) to provide a foundation for item writing. In Phase 2, closed-ended items were written for a quantitative instrument and reviewed by a team of experts. In Phase 3, a quantitative survey, including items written in Phase 2, was administered to college students (n = 685); the measure was assessed for its psychometric properties. Exploratory factor analysis was utilized, resulting in a five-factor solution. The CSS and corresponding factors demonstrated high internal consistency reliability and expected gender differences, supporting the construct validity of the measure. The CSS assesses college students' cues for indicating consent to sex, a construct not addressed by previous measures. The validated scale may be useful in future research to better understand how consent relates to other behaviors or constructs. PMID:23672426
Could sewage epidemiology be a strategy to assess lifestyle and wellness of a large scale population?
Santos, Julia M; Jurban, Michael; Kim, Hyesook
The use of sewage epidemiology to estimate the behavior of a large scale population has mainly been used to assess illicit drug use within a community. The systemic oxidative stress marker, 8-isoprostane, is a wildly accepted biomarker for various diseases such as diabetes, and cardiovascular and renal diseases. 8-Isoprostane is detected in urine and, as with illicit drugs, is excreted into urban sewer networks. Initially, we tested the hypothesis that differential 8-isoprostane levels are detected in wastewater of different communities and that 8-isoprostane values adjusted for the flow rate and population size will remain constant over a 2 months period. Sewage samples were collected from three sewage collection points supplied by different communities located in the Detroit metropolitan area and concentration of 8-isoprostane and synthetic plastic component, bisphenol A (BPA), were measured. Levels of 8-isoprostane were constant during the two measured months at each collection point in oppose to BPA levels. When the levels were compared among communities, 8-isoprostane levels in 24h flow and their concentrations per capita in each community varied by more than 5-fold among them. Considering the fact that 8-isoprostane is a biomarker of several diseases, we hypothesize that measurement of 8-isoprostane levels in sewage may serve as a risk assessment tool of oxidative stress-related diseases in a large scale population. Thus, sewage epidemiology can be utilized to obtain an early warning in a community to facilitate intervention for improvement of the community health. PMID:26146131
Attributing the behavior of low-level clouds in large-scale models to subgrid-scale parameterizations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Neggers, R. A. J.
This study explores ways of establishing the characteristic behavior of boundary layer schemes in representing subtropical marine low-level clouds in climate models. To this purpose, parameterization schemes are studied in both isolated and interactive mode with the larger-scale circulation. Results of the EUCLIPSE/GASS intercomparison study for Single-Column Models (SCM) on low-level cloud transitions are compared to General Circulation Model (GCM) results from the CFMIP-2 project at selected grid points in the subtropical eastern Pacific. Low cloud characteristics are plotted as a function of key state variables for which Large-Eddy Simulation results suggest a distinct and reasonably tight relation. These include the Cloud Top Entrainment Instability (CTEI) parameter and the total cloud cover. SCM and GCM results are thus compared and their resemblance is quantified using simple metrics. Good agreement is reported, to such a degree that SCM results are found to be uniquely representative of their GCM, and vice versa. This suggests that the system of parameterized fast boundary layer physics dominates the model state at any given time, even when interactive with the larger-scale flow. This behavior can loosely be interpreted as a unique "fingerprint" of a boundary layer scheme, recognizable in both SCM and GCM simulations. The result justifies and advocates the use of SCM simulation for improving weather and climate models, including the attribution of typical responses of low clouds to climate change in a GCM to specific parameterizations.
Validity and reliability of the developmental assessment screening scale
Singh, Ajay; Squires, Jane; Yeh, Chia Jung; Heo, Kay H.; Bian, Hui
Objectives: To develop and validate the 6-year Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) for school-age children. Methods: Parents/caregivers of children 66–78 months were recruited from 6 countries and 15 states in the United States. Similar to other ASQ intervals, the 6-year ASQ has five developmental domains targeted for children from 66 months to 78 months of age. We assessed internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, the scale structure, validity (correlation coefficients), and utility of the 6-year ASQ. The 6-year ASQ screens development in five domains using 30 items. Results: Coefficient alpha measuring internal consistency was 0.97. Test-retest reliability was estimated by having parents complete two ASQ's on the same child within a week interval. Correlations between scores of the two ASQ's reflected stability of scores. Test-retest reliability results were robust with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.94. Factor analysis results resulted in a five factors structure. The Pearson correlations coefficients between the latent variables were moderate to large and statistically significant, P < 0.0001. The 6-year ASQ screens development in five domains using 30 items. The administration time varied from 10 to 60 min with a mean of 15.17 min. General utility result shows that the 6-year ASQ can be used with satisfaction by caregivers, pediatricians, professionals, and parents. Conclusions: Preliminary data on the 6-year ASQ reflected promising results. An easy-to-administer, accurate caregiver-completed screening tool may increase the frequency of screening for school-age children. PMID:27453856
Using Electronic and Other New Ways To Help Students Improve Their Behavior: Functional Behavioral Assessment at Work.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Condon, Kim A.; Tobin, Tary J.
This article presents two case examples to demonstrate how teachers can use functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to design behavior support plans. FBA helps a second grade "class clown" to learn new ways to get attention and a first grade "class lawyer" to learn to stop arguing and stay on task (with the help of an electronic record keeping…
Functional Behavioral Assessment and Intervention with Emotional/Behaviorally Disordered Students: In Pursuit of State of the Art
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Waguespack, Angela; Vaccaro, Terrence; Continere, Lauren
The application of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures for the purposes of developing interventions for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) has received considerable attention since the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The purpose of this paper is to review the…
A behavioral economic approach to assessing demand for marijuana.
Collins, R Lorraine; Vincent, Paula C; Yu, Jihnhee; Liu, Liu; Epstein, Leonard H
In the United States, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. Its prevalence is growing, particularly among young adults. Behavioral economic indices of the relative reinforcing efficacy (RRE) of substances have been used to examine the appeal of licit (e.g., alcohol) and illicit (e.g., heroin) drugs. The present study is the first to use an experimental, simulated purchasing task to examine the RRE of marijuana. Young-adult (M age = 21.64 years) recreational marijuana users (N = 59) completed a computerized marijuana purchasing task designed to generate demand curves and the related RRE indices (e.g., intensity of demand-purchases at lowest price; Omax-max. spent on marijuana; Pmax-price at which marijuana expenditure is max). Participants "purchased" high-grade marijuana across 16 escalating prices that ranged from $0/free to $160/joint. They also provided 2 weeks of real-time, ecological momentary assessment reports on their marijuana use. The purchasing task generated multiple RRE indices. Consistent with research on other substances, the demand for marijuana was inelastic at lower prices but became elastic at higher prices, suggesting that increases in the price of marijuana could lessen its use. In regression analyses, the intensity of demand, Omax, and Pmax, and elasticity each accounted for significant variance in real-time marijuana use. These results provide support for the validity of a simulated marijuana purchasing task to examine marijuana's reinforcing efficacy. This study highlights the value of applying a behavioral economic framework to young-adult marijuana use and has implications for prevention, treatment, and policies to regulate marijuana use. PMID:24467370
Assessing reproductive behavior important to fisheries management: a case study with red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus.
Lowerre-barbieri, Susan K; Burnsed, Sarah L Walters; Bickford, Joel W
Spawning site selection and reproductive timing affect stock productivity and structure in marine fishes but are poorly understood. Traditionally, stock assessments measure reproductive potential as spawning stock biomass or egg production and do not include other aspects of reproductive behavior. Red drum make an excellent case study to assess these other aspects, as (1) they are highly fecund, pelagic spawners, like most exploited marine fishes; (2) their life cycle is delineated between nursery (estuarine) and adult (coastal and offshore) habitat; and (3) they are managed at these two spatial scales. This study was conducted from August 2012 to December 2013 and integrates data from multiple methods and spatial scales. Aerial surveys were used for large-scale monitoring of aggregations off two known estuarine nursery areas, Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor, Florida, USA. Capture-based sampling in Tampa Bay coastal (n = 2581) and estuarine waters (n = 158) was used to assess reproductive state and to confirm coastal spawning. To assess spatial dynamics, we acoustically tagged two population components in the Tampa Bay system, subadults from the estuary (n = 20) and adults from the coastal spawning site (n = 60). Behavioral plasticity was seen in subadult recruitment to coastal habitat, with some subadults maturing and recruiting before or during the spawning season and others (14 of 20 acoustically tagged fish) recruiting at the end of the 2012 spawning season. Both adults and recruited subadults (n = 29) were consequently detected in the Charlotte Harbor array, 132 km to the south. Spawning-site fidelity to the Tampa Bay spawning site occurred at both the population and individual scales. Aggregations consistently occurred in Tampa Bay coastal waters during the spawning season, and approximately two-thirds of tagged adults returned in the 2013 spawning season. A similar proportion of subadults returned to the Tampa Bay spawning site, exhibiting natal homing
Beyond Screen Time: Assessing Recreational Sedentary Behavior among Adolescent Girls
Bauer, Katherine W.; Friend, Sarah; Graham, Daniel J.; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne
Most studies of sedentary behavior have focused on television use or screen time. This study aims to examine adolescent girls' participation in a variety of recreational sedentary behaviors (e.g., talking on the phone and hanging around), and their association with physical activity (PA), dietary behaviors, and body mass index. Data were from a sample of 283 adolescent girls. Recreational sedentary behavior, PA, and dietary behaviors were self-reported, and girls' height and weight were measured. Over 95% of girls engaged in at least one recreational sedentary behavior during the recall period. Watching television and hanging around were the most common behaviors. Watching television, using the Internet, and hanging around were associated with less PA; watching television, hanging around, and talking on the phone were associated with less healthful dietary behaviors. No associations were found with body mass index. Interventions may benefit from capitalizing on and intervening upon girls' common recreational sedentary behaviors. PMID:22013514
Assessment of Elementary School Students' Sun Protection Behaviors
Hunter, Seft; Wells, Kristen J.; Jacobsen, Paul B.; Lee, Ji-Hyun; Boulware, David; Love-Jackson, Kymia; Abdulla, Rania; Roetzheim, Richard G.
Introduction Emerging studies suggest that excessive sun exposure in childhood contributes to the development of skin cancer later in life. Children rarely wear a wide-brimmed hat when outside although these hats offer the best protection to the areas on the face where children are most likely to be sunburned. The current study explores 4th grade student assessment of their sun protection behaviors outside at school and at times other than when they are at school. Method This study utilized baseline data collected in the Fall of 2006 for the Sun Protection for Florida's Children (SPF) project. In brief, the SPF project is a group randomized trial to test the effectiveness of a school based intervention promoting sun protection in general, and hat use in particular. The project targets all 4th grade students in Hillsborough County Schools, FL. The data reported in this study were collected at baseline before any intervention activities was initiated. Approximately 2,086 4th grade students completed self-report surveys evaluating sun protection behaviors. Trained research assistants carried out 99 direct observations of physical education classes over a five week period during Fall 2006 in Tampa, Florida. Results In general, the self-reported use of various methods of sun protection was low. Approximately one third of students reported that they wore sunscreen (32.8%) or sunglasses (32.3%) before leaving home for school. Only a small percentage of students wore long sleeves (15.0%) or a hat with a brim (16.4%) before leaving for school. In addition, few students wore a hat with a wide brim when outside but not at school (16.4%). Students spent an average of 59.1 minutes per week outdoors while attending school and 35.5 minutes during peak sun exposure. In general, female students and Hispanic, African American, and students of other racial and ethnic groups were more likely to practice sun protection behaviors at school than white or male students. Students who
Objective and projective personality assessment: the TEMAS and the Behavior Assessment System for Children, self-report of personality.
Flanagan, R
The TEMAS and Self-report of Personality of the Behavior Assessment System for Children were administered to 71 youngsters aged 8 to 13 years. Preliminary data suggest that, although the two measures assess several similarly named constructs, the data are complementary. This appears to reflect the fact that the TEMAS Personality Functions measure children's skills in coping with emotionally laden situations, whereas the Behavior Assessment System for Children measures the emotion or skill in question independent of situational context. PMID:10408208
Dimensionality and Psychometric Analysis of an Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Novik, Melinda G.; Boekeloo, Bradley O.
Objective: The current study examined the dimensionality of a protective behavioral strategies (PBS) measure among undergraduate, predominantly freshmen (92.5%) college students reporting recent alcohol use (n = 320). Method: Participants completed a web-based survey assessing 22 PBS items. Factor analyses determined the underlying factor…
Psychometric Properties of the Portuguese Version of the Adaptive Behavior Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Santos, Sofia; Morato, Pedro; Luckasson, Ruth
The adaptive behavior construct has gained prominent attention in human services over the last several years in Portugal, and its measurement has become an integral part of the assessment of populations with intellectual disability. In Portugal, diagnosis remains exclusively based on IQ measures, although some attention recently has been given to…
A comparative study of wide plate behavior of a range of structural steels using the failure assessment diagram
Bannister, A.C.; Harrison, P.L.
In the field of structural integrity assessments, attention is currently focused on the ability of such methods to conservatively predict the deformation and fracture behavior of structural steels and their weldments. In the current paper, the results of a series of wide plate tests on a range of structural steels are presented and the results assessed in terms of CTOD-strain relationships, BS PD 6493 Levels 2 and 3, and the crack driving force approach. The behavior of the large scale tests and the results of the various analyses are assessed with regard to the stress-strain characteristics of the individual steels. In a second step, the approach is extended to the assessment of a number of wide plate tests comprising welded joints with mismatched strength levels. Over, under and even-matched welded plates are compared with the behavior of normalized and Quenched and Tempered parent plates. The study demonstrates that the behavior of parent material wide plate tests can vary widely depending on the stress-strain characteristics of the material. The different behavior is a result of the consecutive effects of different steel processing conditions, microstructure, yield to tensile strength ratio and strain hardening exponent. These features are also manifested, to a lesser or greater extent, in the results of wide plate tests on welded plates of mismatched strength. Studies on mismatch effects should therefore include equal attention to the stress-strain characteristics of the parent materials as this may, in some circumstances, dominate any effects of weld strength mismatch.
Do Balanced Scales Assess Bipolar Constructs? The Case of the STAI Scales
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Vautier, Stephane; Pohl, Steffi
Balanced scales, that is, scales based on items whose content is either negatively or positively polarized, are often used in the hope of measuring a bipolar construct. Research has shown that usually balanced scales do not yield 1-dimensional measurements. This threatens their construct validity. The authors show how to test bipolarity while…
On-Line Performance Assessment Using Rating Scales.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stahl, John; Shumway, Rebecca; Bergstrom, Betty; Fisher, Anne
The development of an online performance assessment instrument, the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills, is reported. Issues addressed include development, implementation, and validation of the scoring rubric in an extended Rasch model, rater training, and implementation of the assessment in a computerized program. (SLD)
The need for multi-media, multi-stressor, and multi-response models for ecological assessment is widely acknowledged. Assessments at this level of complexity have not been conducted, and therefore pilot assessments are required to identify the critical concepts, models, data, and...
Spatial patterns and scaling behaviors of Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) distributions and their environment.
Lander, Michelle E; Logsdon, Miles L; Loughlin, Thomas R; Van Blaricom, Glenn R
Fractal geometry and other multi-scale analyses have become popular tools for investigating spatial patterns of animal distributions in heterogeneous environments. In theory, changes in patterns of animal distributions with changes in scale reflect transitions between the controlling influences of one environmental factor or process over another. In an effort to find linkages between Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and their environment, the objective of this study was to determine if the spatial distribution of Steller sea lions at sea displayed similar scaling properties to the variation of two environmental features, including bathymetry and sea surface temperature (SST). Additionally, distributions of Steller sea lion point patterns were examined with respect to measurements of bathymetric complexity. From February 2000 to May 2004, satellite transmitters were deployed on 10 groups of juvenile Steller sea lions (n=52) at eight different locations within the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska. Indices of fractal dimension were calculated for each group of sea lions using a unit square box-counting method, whereas indices of bathymetry and SST patchiness were derived by conducting a variance ratio analysis over the same scales. Distributions of Steller sea lions at sea displayed self-similar fractal patterns, suggesting that individuals were distributed in a continuous hierarchical set of clumps within clumps across scales, and foraging behavior was likely influenced by a scale invariant mechanism. Patterns of bathymetric variability also were self-similar, whereas patterns of SST variability were scale dependent and failed to retain self-similar spatial structure at larger scales. These results indicate that the distributions of Steller sea lions at sea were more influenced by bathymetry than SST at the scales examined, but scale-dependent patterns in the distribution of Steller sea lions at sea or linkages with SST may have been apparent if analyses
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kimata, Hiroyuki; Fujita, Yutaka; Horii, Hideyuki; Yazdani, Mahmoud
Dynamic cracking analysis of concrete gravity dam has been carried out during large-scale earthquake, considering the progressive failure of jointed rock foundation. Firstly, in order to take into account the progressive failure of rock foundation, the constitutive law of jointed rock is assumed and its validity is evaluated by simulation analysis based on the past experimental model. Finally, dynamic cracking analysis of 100-m high dam model is performed, using the previously proposed approach with tangent stiffness-proportional damping to express the propagation behavior of crack and the constitutive law of jointed rock. The crack propagation behavior of dam body and the progressive failure of jointed rock foundation are investigated.
The Prevalence of Food Addiction as Assessed by the Yale Food Addiction Scale: A Systematic Review
Pursey, Kirrilly M.; Stanwell, Peter; Gearhardt, Ashley N.; Collins, Clare E.; Burrows, Tracy L.
Obesity is a global issue and it has been suggested that an addiction to certain foods could be a factor contributing to overeating and subsequent obesity. Only one tool, the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) has been developed to specifically assess food addiction. This review aimed to determine the prevalence of food addiction diagnosis and symptom scores, as assessed by the YFAS. Published studies to July 2014 were included if they reported the YFAS diagnosis or symptom score and were published in the English language. Twenty-five studies were identified including a total of 196,211 predominantly female, overweight/obese participants (60%). Using meta-analysis, the weighted mean prevalence of YFAS food addiction diagnosis was 19.9%. Food addiction (FA) diagnosis was found to be higher in adults aged >35 years, females, and overweight/obese participants. Additionally, YFAS diagnosis and symptom score was higher in clinical samples compared to non-clinical counterparts. YFAS outcomes were related to a range of other eating behavior measures and anthropometrics. Further research is required to explore YFAS outcomes across a broader spectrum of ages, other types of eating disorders and in conjunction with weight loss interventions to confirm the efficacy of the tool to assess for the presence of FA. PMID:25338274
Mapping, Monitoring, and Assessment of Soil Salinity at Field Scales
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
In the past, spatial and temporal variability has made it difficult to measure, map, and monitor soil salinity at field scales. Large numbers of soil samples were needed both across the landscape and within the soil profile to map field-scale salinity, making the task too labor and cost intensive t...
Development and Assessment of the Social Issues Advocacy Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nilsson, Johanna E.; Marszalek, Jacob M.; Linnemeyer, Rachel M.; Bahner, Angela D.; Misialek, Leah Hanson
This article describes the development and the initial psychometric evaluation of the Social Issues Advocacy Scale in two studies. In the first study, an exploratory factor analysis (n = 278) revealed a four-factor scale, accounting for 71.4% of the variance, measuring different aspects of social issue advocacy: Political and Social Advocacy,…
Test Review: Michael H. Epstein and Lori Synhorst "Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale" Austin, TX--PRO-ED, 2009
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Drevon, Daniel D.
This article presents a review of the "Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale" (PreBERS), a 42-item family member--or school personnel--completed rating scale designed to measure the behavioral and emotional strengths of preschool children ages 3-0 to 5-11. According to the manual, results can be used to identify preschoolers with limited…
Asymmetric multifractal scaling behavior in the Chinese stock market: Based on asymmetric MF-DFA
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cao, Guangxi; Cao, Jie; Xu, Longbing
We utilized asymmetric multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis in this study to examine the asymmetric multifractal scaling behavior of Chinese stock markets with uptrends or downtrends. Results show that the multifractality degree of Chinese stock markets with uptrends is stronger than that of Chinese stock markets with downtrends. Correlation asymmetries are more evident in large fluctuations than in small fluctuations. By discussing the source of asymmetric multifractality, we find that multifractality is related to long-range correlations when the market is going up, whereas it is related to fat-tailed distribution when the market is going down. The main source of asymmetric scaling behavior in the Shanghai stock market are long-range correlations, whereas that in the Shenzhen stock market is fat-tailed distribution. An analysis of the time-varying feature of scaling asymmetries shows that the evolution trends of these scaling asymmetries are similar in the two Chinese stock markets. Major financial and economical events may enhance scaling asymmetries.
Structure and mechanical behaviors of protective armored pangolin scales and effects of hydration and orientation.
Liu, Z Q; Jiao, D; Weng, Z Y; Zhang, Z F
As natural flexible dermal armor, pangolin scales provide effective protection against predatory threats and possess other notable properties such as anti-adhesion and wear-resistance. In this study, the structure, mechanical properties, deformation and damage behaviors of pangolin scales were systematically investigated with the effects of hydration and orientation evaluated. The scales are divided into three macro-layers constituted by overlapping keratin tiles with distinct lamellar arrangements which are further composed of lower-ordered lamellae. Both hardness and strength are significantly decreased by hydration; while the plasticity is markedly improved concomitantly, and as such, the mechanical damages are mitigated. The tensile strength invariably approximates to one third of hardness in value. The tensile deformation is dominated by lamellae stretching and pulling out under wet condition, which is distinct from the trans-lamellar fracture in dry samples. The compressive behaviors are featured by pronounced plasticity in both dry and wet scales; and notable strain-hardening capacity is introduced by hydration, especially along the thickness direction wherein kinking occurs. Inter-lamellar cracking is effectively alleviated in wet samples compared with the dry ones and both of them deform by macroscopic buckling. This study may help stimulate possible inspiration for the design of high-performance synthetic armor materials by mimicking pangolin scales. PMID:26703230
Next-Generation Psychiatric Assessment: Using Smartphone Sensors to Monitor Behavior and Mental Health
Ben-Zeev, Dror; Scherer, Emily A.; Wang, Rui; Xie, Haiyi; Campbell, Andrew T.
Objective Optimal mental health care is dependent upon sensitive and early detection of mental health problems. The current study introduces a state-of-the-art method for remote behavioral monitoring that transports assessment out of the clinic and into the environments in which individuals negotiate their daily lives. The objective of this study was examine whether the information captured with multi-modal smartphone sensors can serve as behavioral markers for one's mental health. We hypothesized that: a) unobtrusively collected smartphone sensor data would be associated with individuals' daily levels of stress, and b) sensor data would be associated with changes in depression, stress, and subjective loneliness over time. Methods A total of 47 young adults (age range: 19–30 y.o.) were recruited for the study. Individuals were enrolled as a single cohort and participated in the study over a 10-week period. Participants were provided with smartphones embedded with a range of sensors and software that enabled continuous tracking of their geospatial activity (using GPS and WiFi), kinesthetic activity (using multi-axial accelerometers), sleep duration (modeled using device use data, accelerometer inferences, ambient sound features, and ambient light levels), and time spent proximal to human speech (i.e., speech duration using microphone and speech detection algorithms). Participants completed daily ratings of stress, as well as pre/post measures of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), stress (Perceived Stress Scale), and loneliness (Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale). Results Mixed-effects linear modeling showed that sensor-derived geospatial activity (p<.05), sleep duration (p<.05), and variability in geospatial activity (p<.05), were associated with daily stress levels. Penalized functional regression showed associations between changes in depression and sensor-derived speech duration (p<.05), geospatial activity (p<.05), and sleep duration (p<.05). Changes
Applying Computer Adaptive Testing to Optimize Online Assessment of Suicidal Behavior: A Simulation Study
de Vries, Anton LM; de Groot, Marieke H; de Keijser, Jos; Kerkhof, Ad JFM
Background The Internet is used increasingly for both suicide research and prevention. To optimize online assessment of suicidal patients, there is a need for short, good-quality tools to assess elevated risk of future suicidal behavior. Computer adaptive testing (CAT) can be used to reduce response burden and improve accuracy, and make the available pencil-and-paper tools more appropriate for online administration. Objective The aim was to test whether an item response–based computer adaptive simulation can be used to reduce the length of the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS). Methods The data used for our simulation was obtained from a large multicenter trial from The Netherlands: the Professionals in Training to STOP suicide (PITSTOP suicide) study. We applied a principal components analysis (PCA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), a graded response model (GRM), and simulated a CAT. Results The scores of 505 patients were analyzed. Psychometric analyses showed the questionnaire to be unidimensional with good internal consistency. The computer adaptive simulation showed that for the estimation of elevation of risk of future suicidal behavior 4 items (instead of the full 19) were sufficient, on average. Conclusions This study demonstrated that CAT can be applied successfully to reduce the length of the Dutch version of the BSS. We argue that the use of CAT can improve the accuracy and the response burden when assessing the risk of future suicidal behavior online. Because CAT can be daunting for clinicians and applied scientists, we offer a concrete example of our computer adaptive simulation of the Dutch version of the BSS at the end of the paper. PMID:25213259
Assessment and Implementation of Positive Behavior Support in Preschools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Benedict, Elizabeth A.; Horner, Robert H.; Squires, Jane K.
There is increasing concern over the number of young children who exhibit challenging behaviors in early childhood settings. Comprehensive prevention models are needed to support teachers' management of challenging behaviors and to avert the development of such behaviors within at-risk populations. One approach utilizes a three-tier prevention…
An Assessment of Self-Echoic Behavior in Young Children
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Esch, John W.; Esch, Barbara E.; McCart, Jordon D.; Petursdottir, Anna Ingeborg
In the behavioral literature, self-echoic behavior has been hypothesized to play an important role in, for example, emergent conditional discriminations (e.g., Lowenkron, 1991), emergent verbal operants (Horne & Lowe, 1996), and problem solving (Skinner, 1957). Although early behavioral intervention programs for children with autism emphasize the…
Active Teacher Participation in Functional Behavior Assessment for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Risks in General Education Classrooms
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kamps, Debra; Wendland, Maura; Culpepper, Michelle
This study presents functional assessment data from two second-grade students with behavior and academic problems. Functional assessment procedures included interview, observation, functional analysis, and intervention. Functional analysis conditions, conducted by the classroom teacher, with coaching from the researcher, indicated multiple…
Behavioral Approach to Assessment of Youth with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: A Handbook for School-Based Practitioners.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Breen, Michael J., Ed.; Fiedler, Craig R., Ed.
This text presents 13 chapters on the assessment of students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders for the purpose of making educational placement and programming decisions consistent with federal and state diagnostic guidelines. Chapters are grouped into four sections focusing on: basic considerations for assessment of youth in this…
Dynamic scaling behavior of a growing self-affine fractal interface in a paper-towel-wetting experiment
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kwon, T. H.; Hopkins, A. E.; O'donnell, S. E.
The dynamic scaling behavior of a growing self-affine fractal interface is examined in a simple paper-towel-wetting experiment. A sheet of plain white paper towel is wetted with red food dye solution, and the evolution of the interface is photographed with a 35-mm camera as a function of time. Each snapshot is scanned and digitized to obtain the interface height h(x,t) as a function of time and position. From these the interface width w(L,t) is determined as a function of time t and system size L. It is found that the interface width scales with system size L as w(L,t)~Lα with α=0.67+/-0.04 and scales with time as w(L,t)~tβ with β=0.24+/-0.02. It is also found that average height of the interface scales with time as
Multiple regression and inverse moments improve the characterization of the spatial scaling behavior of daily streamflows in the Southeast United States
Farmer, William H.; Over, Thomas M.; Vogel, Richard M.
Understanding the spatial structure of daily streamflow is essential for managing freshwater resources, especially in poorly-gaged regions. Spatial scaling assumptions are common in flood frequency prediction (e.g., index-flood method) and the prediction of continuous streamflow at ungaged sites (e.g. drainage-area ratio), with simple scaling by drainage area being the most common assumption. In this study, scaling analyses of daily streamflow from 173 streamgages in the southeastern US resulted in three important findings. First, the use of only positive integer moment orders, as has been done in most previous studies, captures only the probabilistic and spatial scaling behavior of flows above an exceedance probability near the median; negative moment orders (inverse moments) are needed for lower streamflows. Second, assessing scaling by using drainage area alone is shown to result in a high degree of omitted-variable bias, masking the true spatial scaling behavior. Multiple regression is shown to mitigate this bias, controlling for regional heterogeneity of basin attributes, especially those correlated with drainage area. Previous univariate scaling analyses have neglected the scaling of low-flow events and may have produced biased estimates of the spatial scaling exponent. Third, the multiple regression results show that mean flows scale with an exponent of one, low flows scale with spatial scaling exponents greater than one, and high flows scale with exponents less than one. The relationship between scaling exponents and exceedance probabilities may be a fundamental signature of regional streamflow. This signature may improve our understanding of the physical processes generating streamflow at different exceedance probabilities.
The Validity and Reliability of the Self-Assessment and Program Review: Assessing School Progress in Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Walker, Bridget; Cheney, Doug; Stage, Scott
The "Self-Assessment and Program Review" (SAPR) was developed to provide an assessment tool that schools could use to track their progress in implementing key practices related to all three levels of schoolwide positive behavior supports (SWPBS). The SAPR is a team-based assessment tool, using both individual and team ratings of 10 evidence-based…

subset: commoncrawl