Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Verbal Reports (verbal + report)
Selected AbstractsAvoiding Misconception, Misuse, and Missed Opportunities: The Collection of Verbal Reports in Educational Achievement TestingEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2004Jacqueline P. Leighton The collection of verbal reports is one way in which cognitive and developmental psychologists gather data to formulate and corroborate models of problem solving. The current use of verbal reports to design and validate educational assessments reflects the growing trend to fuse cognitive psychological research and educational measurement. However, doubts about the trustworthiness or accuracy of verbal reports may suggest a potential reversal of this trend. Misconceptions about the trustworthiness of verbal reports could signal misuse of verbal reports and, consequently, waning interest and missed opportunities in the description of cognitive models of test performance. In this article, misconceptions of verbal reports are addressed by (a) discussing the value of cognitive models for educational achievement testing; (b) addressing pertinent issues in the collection of verbal reports from students; and (c) concluding with avenues for a more productive union between cognitive psychological research and educational measurement. [source] A Double-Blind Trial of Gabapentin Versus Lorazepam in the Treatment of Alcohol WithdrawalALCOHOLISM, Issue 9 2009Hugh Myrick Introduction:, Some anticonvulsants ameliorate signs and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, but have an unacceptable side effect burden. Among the advantages of using anticonvulsant agents in this capacity is their purported lack of interaction with alcohol that could increase psychomotor deficits, increase cognitive impairment, or increase intoxication. The aim of this study was to evaluate alcohol use and symptom reduction of gabapentin when compared with lorazepam in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal in a double-blinded randomized clinical trial. Methods:, One hundred individuals seeking outpatient treatment of alcohol withdrawal with Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol,Revised (CIWA-Ar) ratings ,10 were randomized to double-blind treatment with 2 doses of gabapentin (900 mg tapering to 600 mg or 1200 tapering to 800 mg) or lorazepam (6 mg tapering to 4 mg) for 4 days. Severity of alcohol withdrawal was measured by the CIWA-Ar on days 1 to 4 of treatment and on days 5, 7, and 12 post-treatment and alcohol use monitored by verbal report and breath alcohol levels. Results:, CIWA-Ar scores decreased over time in all groups; high-dose gabapentin was statistically superior but clinically similar to lorazepam (p = 0.009). During treatment, lorazepam-treated participants had higher probabilities of drinking on the first day of dose decrease (day 2) and the second day off medication (day 6) compared to gabapentin-treated participants (p = 0.0002). Post-treatment, gabapentin-treated participants had less probability of drinking during the follow-up post-treatment period (p = 0.2 for 900 mg and p = 0.3 for 1200 mg) compared to the lorazepam-treated participants (p = 0.55). The gabapentin groups also had less craving, anxiety, and sedation compared to lorazepam. Conclusions:, Gabapentin was well tolerated and effectively diminished the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal in our population especially at the higher target dose (1200 mg) used in this study. Gabapentin reduced the probability of drinking during alcohol withdrawal and in the immediate postwithdrawal week compared to lorazepam. [source] Avoiding Misconception, Misuse, and Missed Opportunities: The Collection of Verbal Reports in Educational Achievement TestingEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2004Jacqueline P. Leighton The collection of verbal reports is one way in which cognitive and developmental psychologists gather data to formulate and corroborate models of problem solving. The current use of verbal reports to design and validate educational assessments reflects the growing trend to fuse cognitive psychological research and educational measurement. However, doubts about the trustworthiness or accuracy of verbal reports may suggest a potential reversal of this trend. Misconceptions about the trustworthiness of verbal reports could signal misuse of verbal reports and, consequently, waning interest and missed opportunities in the description of cognitive models of test performance. In this article, misconceptions of verbal reports are addressed by (a) discussing the value of cognitive models for educational achievement testing; (b) addressing pertinent issues in the collection of verbal reports from students; and (c) concluding with avenues for a more productive union between cognitive psychological research and educational measurement. [source] The validity of self-reports of alcohol consumption: state of the science and challenges for researchADDICTION, Issue 2003Frances K. Del Boca ABSTRACT Aims To review three topics pertaining to the validity of alcohol self-reports: factors that influence response accuracy; the relative merits of different self-report approaches; and the utility of using alternative measures to confirm verbal reports. Findings Response behavior is influenced by the interaction of social context factors, respondent characteristics, and task attributes. Although research has advanced our knowledge about self-report methods, many questions remain unanswered. In particular, there is a need to investigate how task demands interact with different patterns of drinking behavior to affect response accuracy. There is also a continuing need to use multiple data sources to examine the extent of self-report response bias, and to determine whether it varies as a function of respondent characteristics or assessment timing. Conclusion Self-report methods offer a reliable and valid approach to measuring alcohol consumption. The accuracy of such methods, however, can be improved by research directed at understanding the processes involved in response behavior. [source] Testing via news videos: an exploratory studyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, Issue 2 2010Zhang Jing This case study investigated five test-takers' use of news videos in a listening-to-summarize task, and the extent to which the different strategies they employed in processing the visual and the audio elements of the videos affected their performance. It reports the significant features of the visual and audio elements that the test-takers made use of, and the interaction between these elements and test-takers' personal characteristics and summarization performance. Data was collected via verbal reports and follow-up interviews. A discussion of the findings follows in connection with the use of videos in testing and teaching listening comprehension skills, and suggestions for future research are made. [source] Concurrent and retrospective verbal reports as tools to better understand the role of attention in second language tasksINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, Issue 2 2003Joaquim Camps This study investigates how the use of think-aloud protocols, both concurrent and retrospective, can contribute to the study of the role of attention in second language acquisition. It is based on the analysis of think-aloud protocols produced by 74 first-year learners of Spanish during and immediately after a reading and multiple-choice activity. The activity consisted of a text with direct object pronouns and 16 blanks for which a choice of three possible antecedents was given. The key to making the right choice was attending to both form and meaning in the input. The data in the think-aloud protocols was classified into mentions of the pronouns in the text as well as references to gender and number agreement. The results showed that mention of the targeted structure in the think-aloud protocols was related to better performance on the task for second-semester students, but not for first-semester students. There was some difference in the results for the concurrent and retrospective protocols. The possible complementary nature of these two sources of data is discussed. [source] Beliefs about the causes of cervical cancer in Botswana: implications for nursingINTERNATIONAL NURSING REVIEW, Issue 4 2009D. M. McFarland rn Background:, Cervical cancer is the most common cause of cancer mortality and morbidity for women in Botswana. Yet, little is known about what women believe to be the causes of the disease. Aim:, This paper presents data on factors women in Botswana believe are responsible for the high incidence of cervical cancer in their country. Data were part of a larger study that explored knowledge and perceptions about cervical cancer and Pap smear screening from the perspectives of the clients and the healthcare providers. Methods:, The study that generated the data included 30 women of all socio-economic levels, recruited by network sampling. The women's ages ranged from 31 to 54 years. Demographic data were analysed descriptively. Individualized interview data were content-analysed. Findings:, The identified causes of cervical cancer were classified as cervical irritants and non-irritants. The most commonly cited cervical irritants were vaginally inserted chemical agents and traditional medicine. Discussions:, Participants identified vaginally inserted chemical substances and traditional medicines as possible explanations for the high incidence of cervical cancer in Botswana. They reported that women used these substances for sexual and hygienic purposes. Although these factors are believed to be the causes of cervical cancer and have not yet been medically acknowledged, verbal reports suggest that their use is problematic. Conclusion:, There is a need for health education and for further research to affirm women's beliefs about the harmful effects of intravaginal agents. [source] What's the Role of Spatial Awareness in Visual Perception of Objects?MIND & LANGUAGE, Issue 5 2007JOHN CAMPBELL The first is Lynn Robertson's: (a) spatial awareness is a cause of object perception. A natural counterpoint is: (b) spatial awareness is a cause of your ability to make accurate verbal reports about a perceived object. Zenon Pylyshyn has criticized both. I argue that nonetheless, the burden of the evidence supports both (a) and (b). Finally, I argue conscious visual perception of an object has a different causal role to both: (i) non-conscious perception of the object, and (ii) experience, e.g. hallucination, that may be subjectively indiscriminable from, but is not, perception of the object. [source] Seeing the phantom: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of a supernumerary phantom limb,ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 6 2009Asaid Khateb PhD Objective Supernumerary phantom limb (SPL) is a rare neurological manifestation where patients with a severe stroke-induced sensorimotor deficit experience the illusory presence of an extra limb that duplicates a real one. The illusion is most often experienced as a somesthetic phantom, but rarer SPLs may be intentionally triggered or seen. Here, we report the case of a left visual, tactile, and intentional SPL caused by right subcortical damage in a nondeluded woman. Methods Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the multimodal nature of this phantom, which the patient claimed to be able see, use, and move intentionally. The patient participated in a series of sensorimotor and motor imagery tasks involving the right, the left plegic, and the SPL's hand. Results Right premotor and motor regions were engaged when she imagined that she was scratching her left cheek with her left plegic hand, whereas when she performed the same task with the SPL, additional left middle occipital areas were recruited. Moreover, comparison of responses induced by left cheek (subjectively feasible) versus right cheek scratching (reportedly unfeasible movement) with the SPL demonstrated significant activation in right somesthetic areas. Interpretation These findings demonstrate that intentional movements of a seen and felt SPL activate premotor and motor areas together with visual and sensory cortex, confirming its multimodal dimension and the reliability of the patient's verbal reports. This observation, interpreted for cortical deafferentation/disconnection caused by subcortical brain damage, constitutes a new but theoretically predictable entity among disorders of bodily awareness. Ann Neurol 2009;65:698,705 [source] Ethical Issues of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Comparison of Emergency Physician Practices from 1995 to 2007ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 3 2009Catherine A. Marco MD Abstract Objectives:, The objectives were to determine current practice among emergency physicians (EPs) regarding the initiation and termination of cardiopulmonary resuscitative (CPR) efforts and to compare responses to those from a similar study performed in 1996. Methods:, This anonymous self-administered survey was mailed to 4,991 randomly selected EPs. Main outcome measures included responses regarding current practices related to advance directives and initiation and termination of resuscitative attempts. Results from 1995 and 2007 surveys were compared, using 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the difference between groups. Results:, Among 928 respondents (18% response rate), most (86%) honor legal advance directives, an increase over 78% reported in 1996 (8% increase, 95% CI = 5% to 11%). Few honor unofficial documents (7%) or verbal reports (12%) of advance directives. Many (58%) make decisions regarding resuscitation because of fear of litigation or criticism. Most respondents (62%) attempt resuscitation in 10% or more of cases of cardiac arrest. A majority (56%) have attempted more than 10 resuscitations in the past 3 years, despite expectations that such efforts would be futile. Factors reported to be "very important" in making resuscitation decisions were advance directives (78%), witnessed arrest (77%), downtime (73%), family wishes (40%), presenting rhythm (38%), age (28%), and prearrest state of health (25%). A significant majority of respondents (80%) indicated that ideally, legal concerns should not influence physician practices regarding resuscitation, but that in the current environment, legal concerns do influence practice (92%). Other than the increase in respondents who honor legal advance directives, these results do not differ substantially from responses in 1996. Conclusions:, Most EPs attempt to resuscitate patients in cardiopulmonary arrest regardless of poor outcomes, except in cases where a legal advance directive is available. Many EPs' decisions regarding resuscitation are based on concerns of litigation and criticism, rather than professional judgment of medical benefit. Most results did not differ significantly from the previous study of 1995, although more physicians honor legal advance directives than previously noted. [source] Misoprostol and declining abortion-related morbidity in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: a temporal associationBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 9 2005Suellen Miller Objective To validate anecdotal reports that abortion-related complications decreased in the Dominican Republic after the introduction of misoprostol into the country. Design Retrospective records reviews and cross-sectional surveys, interviews and focus groups. Setting Family planning clinics, pharmacies, door-to-door canvassing and a tertiary care maternity hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Population Women of reproductive age in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Methods Qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Individual interviews and focus groups of reproductive health professionals, non-governmental organisation leaders and women's group leaders (n= 50) were conducted to discover the role of misoprostol in the Dominican Republic. Local women (n= 157) were surveyed to determine their knowledge of misoprostol as an abortifacient and mystery client visits were made to 80 pharmacies in order to purchase misoprostol without a prescription. Sales data were obtained that documented when misoprostol was introduced to the Dominican Republic pharmacies. Hospital admissions for abortions from the prior eight years were reviewed and hospital emergency room consultation ledgers of 31,190 visits for the period 1994,2001 were reviewed for abortion complications. Main outcome measures Frequencies of maternal morbidities and knowledge of misoprostol. Results Mystery clients purchased misoprostol without a prescription in nearly 64% of pharmacies; staff provided little additional information or counselling. Reliable sales data documented the introduction of misoprostol in 1986. Abortion complications decreased from 11.7% of abortions in 1986 to 1.7% in 2001. The majority of professionals interviewed felt that knowledge of these findings should be made public. Conclusions The data were of too poor quality to validate the verbal reports reliably, but misoprostol appears to have been widely used over a period when abortion-related morbidity fell. It remains plausible that the use of misoprostol contributed to the reduction. [source] Perceptual Causality in ChildrenCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2002Anne Schlottmann Three experiments considered the development of perceptual causality in children from 3 to 9 years of age (N= 176 in total). Adults tend to see cause and effect even in schematic, two,dimensional motion events: Thus, if square A moves toward B, which moves upon contact, they report that A launches B,physical causality. If B moves before contact, adults report that B tries to escape from A,social or psychological causality. A brief pause between movements eliminates such impressions. Even infants in the first year of life are sensitive to causal structure in both contact and no,contact events, but previous research with talking,age children found poor verbal reports. The present experiments used a picture,based forced,choice task to reduce linguistic demands. Observers saw eight different animations involving squares A and B. Events varied in whether or not these agents made contact; whether or not there was a delay at the closest point; and whether they moved rigidly or with a rhythmic, nonrigid "caterpillar" motion. Participants of all ages assigned events with contact to the physical domain and events without contact to the psychological domain. In addition, participants of all ages chose causality more often for events without delay than with delay, but these events became more distinct over the preschool range. The manipulation of agent motion had only minor and inconsistent effects across studies, even though children of all ages considered only the nonrigid motion to be animal,like. These results agree with the view that perceptual causality is available early in development. [source] Accommodating Surprise in Taxonomic Tasks: The Role of ExpertiseCOGNITIVE SCIENCE - A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, Issue 1 2000Eugenio Alberdi This paper reports a psychological study of human categorization that looked at the procedures used by expert scientists when dealing with puzzling items. Five professional botanists were asked to specify a category from a set of positive and negative instances. The target category in the study was defined by a feature that was unusual, hence situations of uncertainty and puzzlement were generated. Subjects were asked to think aloud while solving the tasks, and their verbal reports were analyzed. A number of problem solving strategies were identified, and subsequently integrated in a model of knowledge-guided inductive categorization. Our model proposes that expert knowledge influences the subjects' reasoning in more complex ways than suggested by earlier investigations of scientific reasoning. As in previous studies, domain knowledge influenced our subjects' hypothesis generation and testing; but, additionally, it played a central role when subjects revised their hypotheses. [source] | ||||||||||||||||