The effects of extraneous speech on visual vigilance performance of children

First-grade males performed a 30-min visual vigilance task under 5 conditions of auditory background stimulation. The 5 conditions consisted of (1) continuous conversation, in which subjects listened to a tape of conversation spliced so that there were no intervals of silence lasting longer than 3 sec; (2) continuous reverse, in which subjects heard the continuous conversation tape played in reverse; (3) intermittent conversation, in which subjects heard alternating segments of conversation and silence; (4) intermittent reverse, in which subjects heard alternating segments of reverse conversation and silence; and (5) silence control. Compared with silence or continuous stimulation, intermittent stimulation produced better detection regardless of whether or not it was meaningful. High achievers made more correct detections than low achievers, but only in the second and third time periods. Few subjects made errors of commission.     

Effects of perceptual salience on the matrix task performance of four- and six-year-old children.

The effects of salience on 4- and 6-year-old children's ability to classify multiplicatively was investigated. A rank-ordered salience hierachy consisting of 3 dimensions was first assessed for each S. Several weeks later half the Ss of each age group were presented with a series of 9 3 times 3 matrix problems consisting of values from 2 dimensions ranked high in salience. The remaining half received identically structured matrices consisting of values from 1 highly salient dimension and of others from a dimension ranked low in salience. The goal in each problem was to select that compound stimulus from a set of alternatives that appropriately filled an empty cell in the matrix. Prior to the matrix problems, half the Ss in each matrix condition received sensitization training designed to increase the salience of the relevant dimensions in the matrix problems. The results showed that the pre-assessed salience of the relevant dimensions affected matrix solution in that more accurate performance was associated with those problems with both relevant dimensions relatively high in salience than those with one high and one low. Although the older Ss solved more problems, the evidence for coordination in the younger Ss was clear. No effects of sensitization training were found.     

Effects of sorting on subsequent recall of unrelated items: a developmental study.

Second graders, fifth graders, and adults participated in 2 experiments designed to study the effects of sorting on subsequent recall of unrelated words. 1 group sorted the items freely, while a second group was constrained to learn the sorting schemes generated by free subjects. In the first experiment, subjects sorted until they reached a criterion of organizational stability. In Experiment 2, sorting was terminated prior to reaching a stable criterion. Recall and output clustering were reduced in Experiment 2, relative to Experiment 1, because of organizational instability. No meaningful differences were found in either experiment in the sorting schemes generated by free subjects in the 3 age groups, nor was there an effect of age of yoking partner on performance of constrained subjects. This result differed from previous research, and it was concluded that the sorting technique diminished differences in organizational behavior usually found between older and younger subjects.     

Behavior of narcotics-addicted newborns.

The behavior of narcotics-addicted and nonaddicted newborns on the first 2 days of life was assessed with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. In addition to classic signs of narcotics abstinence, addicted infants were less able to be maintained in an alert state and less able to orient to auditory and visual stimuli. These deficits were especially pronounced at 48 hours of age. Addicted infants were as capable of self-quieting and responding to soothing intervention as normal neonates, although they were substantially more irritable. These characteristics and addicted infants' greater resistance to cuddling are discussed in terms of their potential impact on early infant-care-giver interaction.     

PPBS in higher education planning and management: Part II,the university of California experience

Part I provided an overview of PPBS, some discussion of PPBS implementation in the U.S. government, and a review of the arguments for adopting PPBS in postsecondary education and the various kinds of work that have been done toward this end. In part II, we discuss the experience of the University of California with PPBS from 1966 to 1971. Part III, to be published subsequently, will suggest some new departures in model construction and policy analysis which we believe represent a useful spirit in which further development can and should occur, and will also contain some general concluding observations.

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Résumé Dans la première partie, publiée antérieurement, on trouvait les principes généraux du PPBS (Program Planning Budgeting Systems) une discussion rapide de la mise en oeuvre du PPBS par les autorités gouvernementals aux Etats-Unis, quelques uns des arguments qui militent en faveur de l'adoption du PPBS dans l'enseignement post-secondaire ainsi que ce qui a été entrepris à cette fin. Dans la deuxième partie, nous soumettons à la discussion ce qu'a été l'expérience de l'Université de Californie en matière de PPBS de 1966 à 1971. La troisième partie, qui sera publiée ensuite, proposera quelques points de départ nouveaux pour la construction du modèle directeur et l'analyse des politiques; nous pensons qui'il s'agit là d'un point de vue utilisable qui peut et devrait donner lieu à de nouveaux développements; cette troisième partie présentera aussi quelques observations générales en forme de conclusion.