Impact of T-ACASI on Survey Measurements of Subjective Phenomena

Numerous studies have shown that audio-computer-assisted self-interviewing (audio-CASI) and telephone audio-CASI (T-ACASI) technologies yield increased reporting of sensitive and stigmatized objective phenomena such as sexual and drug use behaviors. Little attention has been given, however, to the impact of these technologies on the measurement of subjective phenomena (attitudes, opinions, feelings, etc.). This article reports results for the seven subjective measurements included in the National STD and Behavior Measurement Experiment (NSBME). NSBME drew probability samples of USA and Baltimore adults (Ns = 1,543 and 744, respectively) and randomized these respondents to be interviewed by T-ACASI or telephone interviewer-administered questioning (T-IAQ). Response distributions for all subjective measurements obtained by T-ACASI diverge from those obtained by human telephone interviewers. For six of our seven ordinal-scaled measurements, this divergence involved shifting responses directionally along the ordinal scale, as opposed to a nondirectional redistribution among response categories. When interviewed by T-ACASI, respondents were more supportive of traditional gender roles and corporal punishment, less supportive of integrated neighborhoods and same-gender sex, and more likely to agree that occasional marijuana use is harmless and to describe themselves as attractive. The majority of these results suggest that telephone survey respondents may provide more "tolerant" and "socially liberal" responses to human interviewers than to a T-ACASI computer. Similarly, although the evidence is not entirely consistent, the impact of T-ACASI appears to increase with the social vulnerability of the population surveyed.     

Categorical Representation of Facial Expressions in the Infant Brain

Categorical perception, demonstrated as reduced discrimination of within‐category relative to between‐category differences in stimuli, has been found in a variety of perceptual domains in adults. To examine the development of categorical perception in the domain of facial expression processing, we used behavioral and event‐related potential (ERP) methods to assess discrimination of within‐category (happy‐happy) and between‐category (happy‐sad) differences in facial expressions in 7‐month‐old infants. Data from a visual paired‐comparison test and recordings of attention‐sensitive ERPs showed no discrimination of facial expressions in the within‐category condition, whereas reliable discrimination was observed in the between‐category condition. The results also showed that face‐sensitive ERPs over occipital‐temporal scalp (P400) were attenuated in the within‐category condition relative to the between‐category condition, suggesting a potential neural basis for the reduced within‐category sensitivity. Together, these results suggest that the neural systems underlying categorical representation of facial expressions emerge during the early stages of postnatal development, before acquisition of language.     

On boosting kernel regression

In this paper we propose a simple multistep regression smoother which is constructed in an iterative manner, by learning the Nadaraya–Watson estimator with _L2$L_2$ boosting. We find, in both theoretical analysis and simulation experiments, that the bias converges exponentially fast, and the variance diverges exponentially slow. The first boosting step is analysed in more detail, giving asymptotic expressions as functions of the smoothing parameter, and relationships with previous work are explored. Practical performance is illustrated by both simulated and real data.     

A Follow‐Up of Adult Career Counseling Clients of a University Extension Center

An unannounced, telephone follow‐up evaluation of 181 out‐of‐school adults who had enrolled in 1 of 2 programs of individual career counseling at a university extension center indicated that 78% were satisfied or very satisfied. Eighty‐five percent reported that they were following through on their counseling in a variety of ways, including pursuing further education (35%) and changing jobs or occupations (14%). Satisfaction was not related at a statistically significant level to completion of their allotted counseling interviews, program, gender, or education level. The discussion considers the implications for offering career counseling to adults and for future research.     

On Modeling Correlated Random Variables in Risk Assessment

Monte Carlo methods in risk assessment are finding increasingly widespread application. With the recognition that inputs may be correlated, the incorporation of such correlations into the simulation has become important. Most implementations rely upon the method of Iman and Conover for generating correlated random variables. In this work, alternative methods using copulas are presented for deriving correlated random variables. It is further shown that the particular algorithm or assumption used may have a substantial effect on the output results, due to differences in higher order bivariate moments.     

The past, present, and future of sex segregation methodoloqy

We review the logic underlying margin-free analyses of sex segregation arrays. In the course of our review, we show that the Karmel-MacLachlan decomposition does not live up to its margin-free billing, as the index upon which it rests, I _p , is itself margin-sensitive. Moreover, because the implicit individualism of D is necessarily inconsistent with margin-free analysis, the field would do well to abandon not merely the Karmel-MacLachlan decomposition but all related efforts to purge marginal dependencies from D-inspired measures. The criticisms that Watts (1998) levels against our log-multiplicative approach are likewise unconvincing. We demonstrate that our preferred models pass the test of organizational equivalence, that the “problem? of zero cells can be solved by applying well-developed methods for ransacking incomplete or sparse tables, and that simple log-multiplicative models can be readily devised to analyze disaggregate arrays. We illustrate these conclusions by analyzing a new cross-national archive of detailed segregation data.     

Quantification of hand grasp force using a pressure mapping system

The goal of this study was to use a pressure sensor to measure the force distribution and contact area of the hand when gripping, pushing, and pulling a cylinder. Data was collected from 10 subjects with no hand impairments and from 1 subject with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Subjects grasped an aluminum cylinder wrapped with a Tekscan pressure sensor and performed each trial at 25%, 50%, and 100% maximum voluntary exertion. A relationship was found between increasing exertion and increasing hand area with increasing hand contact area. The force distribution maps showed the thenar region of the hand exerts the most force during pushing while the metacarpal joint line exerts the highest force during pulling. The third and fourth phalange were found to exert the highest phalange force during gripping. The force distribution maps from the RA subject showed higher thumb forces and distal phalange forces, relative to the entire phalange, compared to the non-impaired subjects. This suggests that the RA subject compensates for the lack of phalange function with the regions of the hand that still function. Future studies should sample individuals with a larger hand area range and sample more individuals with RA.     

Design and ergonomics of package inserts of drugs in Brazil: a reality in construction

This research deals with the design of leaflets of medicines, evidencing the problems resulting from the lack of Brazilian normalization to promote the use of the graphical representation of instructional texts warnings. It approaches studies related to the effectiveness and efficiency of information systems, highlighting the semiotics and the cultural and informational ergonomics. The analysis of the context uses as method, an analytical study on selected warnings of thirty leaflets of medicines, followed by interviews lead with the public managers involved with the regulation of the pharmaceutical companies, and two experiments with users performed in city of Recife, in State of Pernambuco: one aiming at to identify how they interact with the leaflets of medicines, and the second one testing their understanding concerning standardized illustrations in the United States and the South Africa. The results show the need for improvements in presentation and graphic representation of leaflets of medicines, powering them to the role of communication, to ensure the consumption of medicine safely by its users. The conclusion congregates parameters and recommendations for the graphic representation of warnings in leaflets of medicines in Brazil.