Showing papers by "University of North Texas published in 1988"

Contingencies and metacontingencies: Toward a synthesis of behavior analysis and cultural materialism

Abstract: A synthesis of cultural materialism and behavior analysis might increase the scientific and technological value of both fields. Conceptual and substantive relations between the two fields show important similarities, particularly with regard to the causal role of the environment in behavioral and cultural evolution. Key concepts in Marvin Harris’s cultural materialist theories are outlined. A distinction is made between contingencies at the behavioral level of analysis (contingencies of reinforcement) and contingencies at the cultural level of analysis (metacontingencies). Relations between the two kinds of contingencies are explored in cultural practices from paleolithic to industrial sociocultural systems. A synthesis of these two fields may offer the opportunity to resolve serious problems currently facing modern cultures.

Multivariate interpolation of large sets of scattered data

Abstract: This paper presents a method of constructing a smooth function of two or more variables that interpolates data values at arbitrarily distributed points. Shepard's method for fitting a surface to data values at scattered points in the plane has the advantages of a small storage requirement and an easy generalization to more than two independent variables, but suffers from low accuracy and a high computational cost relative to some alternative methods. Localizations of this method have reasonably low computational costs, but remain relatively inaccurate. We describe a modified Shepard's method that, without sacrificing the advantages, has accuracy comparable to other local methods. Computational efficiency is also improved by using a cell method for nearest-neighbor searching. Test results for two and three independent variables are presented.

Critical path analysis for the execution of parallel and distributed programs

Abstract: The authors present the design, implementation, and testing of the critical path analysis technique using the IPS performance measurement tool for parallel and distributed programs. They create a precedence graph of a program's activities (program activity graph) with the data collected during the execution of a program. The critical path, the longest path in the program activity graph, represents the sequence of the program activities that take the longest time to execute. Various algorithms are developed to track the critical path from this graph. The events in this path are associated with the entities in the source program, and the statistical results are displayed on the basis of the hierarchical structure of the IPS. The test results from the measurement of sample programs show that the knowledge of the critical path in a program's execution helps users identify performance problems and better understand the behavior of a program. >

Submarine hot springs and the origin of life

Abstract: Commentaire sur l'article de Miller (S. L.) et Bada (J. L.) paru dans Nature (1988), 334, 609-611

Characterization of a pentylenetetrazol-like interoceptive stimulus produced by ethanol withdrawal.

Abstract: Rats were trained with food reinforcement to discriminate the anxiogenic drug pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, 20 mg/kg) from saline in a two-lever-choice task. In Experiment 1, ethanol, 8.25% w/v was given by gavage (7/day) for 4 days, with doses titrated to maintain moderate intoxication. After termination of ethanol, the rats exhibited mild overt signs of withdrawal and, in discrimination tests with saline as the test substance, they selected the PTZ lever, an effect reversed by ethanol, 2 g/kg, and by diazepam, 5 mg/kg. In Experiment 2, rats drank a nutritionally complete liquid diet containing ethanol, 4.5% w/v, for 1 week. They became tolerant to the intoxicating effect of ethanol, and blood ethanol concentration mounted with continued dosing. On termination of chronic ethanol, rats selected the PTZ lever before the onset of overt physical signs of withdrawal, and both measures returned to base line within 3 days. In Experiment 3 the percentage of rats selecting the PTZ lever after termination of ethanol depended upon the dose (up to 12.5 g/kg) and duration (up to a ceiling effect by 3 days) of ethanol administered chronically. These results indicate that a PTZ-like stimulus produced interoceptively can be demonstrated in the rat as an objective measure of ethanol withdrawal. This paradigm may provide insight into the symptom of anxiety associated with ethanol withdrawal.

Validity and reliability of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale with autistic adolescents.

Abstract: The validity and reliability of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) for autistic adolescents was tested. In the first study, CARS scores for autistic children and adolescents (matched on nonverbal IQ, sex, and ethnicity) were compared. In the second study, a group of nonautistic, handicapped adolescents were administered the CARS and these scores were compared with those of a group of autistic adolescents (matched on age, nonverbal IQ, sex, and ethnicity). The CARS clearly discriminated the two adolescent groups, suggesting that the scale may be an adequate measure of autism in adolescence. Although the CARS total score did not discriminate the younger from older autistic subjects, some interesting age-related differences emerged for specific items. A recommendation is made for elimination of one of the items on the CARS that negatively correlates with the CARS total score for both autistic groups.

Group Interaction Behaviors that Affect Group Performance on an I ntellective Task

Abstract: Interaction that occurs while a group completes a cooperative task describes how the group works. Group members working cooperatively on complex intellective tasks completed open-ended questionnaires that described interaction behaviors that facilitated and behaviors that interfered with their group's performance over the life of the group (four months). After considerable screening, these descriptions were adapted into behavioral items that made up a group style instrument. This instrument was administered at two points in time to an independent sample of subjects participating in similar groups. Descriptions of the facilitating and interfering interaction behaviors are provided. Group interaction is examined in terms of changes in responses to the items over time. The instrument was sensitive to levels of group performance, and descriptions of interaction behaviors that discriminated between performance levels are discussed. Applications for group feedback are described and implications for future resea...

Algorithm 660: QSHEP2D: Quadratic Shepard Method for Bivariate Interpolation of Scattered Data

Abstract: We describe a new algorithm for scattered data interpolation. The method is similar to that of Algorithm 660 but achieves cubic precision and C2 continuity at very little additional cost. An accompanying article presents test results that show the method to be among the most accurate available.

Power in the Isthmus: A Political History of Modern Central America

Abstract: An analysis of the political history of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

Cardiorespiratory fitness in highly active versus inactive paraplegics

Abstract: Maximum and submaximum arm crank exercise performance were assessed in male paraplegics (PARA) with the purpose of comparing cardiovascular responses among individuals of highly active (A, N = 15) vs inactive (I, N = 15) lifestyles. The A PARAs (average JOURNAL/mespex/04.02/00005768-198810000-00006/ENTITY_OV0312/v/2017-07-20T222206Z/r/image-pngO2 peak during arm cranking 2.241·min-1) demonstrated a significantly higher maximal cardiorespiratory fitness compared to I subjects (average JOURNAL/mespex/04.02/00005768-198810000-00006/ENTITY_OV0312/v/2017-07-20T222206Z/r/image-pngO2 peak 1.56 1·min-1). During graded arm exertion, at exercise intensities approximating 45%, 57%, and 70% of JOURNAL/mespex/04.02/00005768-198810000-00006/ENTITY_OV0312/v/2017-07-20T222206Z/r/image-pngO2 peak, the active subjects developed cardiac outputs (assessed via CO2-rebreathing) ranging from 9.07 to 11.21 1·min-1; a 34–44% advantage relative to their inactive counterparts (6.30–8.36 1·min-1). Similarly, exercise stroke volumes for A (76–80 ml) were 38–45% higher than for I paraplegics (55–56 ml). Although both groups demonstrated a distinctive circulatory hypokinesis during arm cranking, the immediate pattern of cardiovascular response was dissimilar for the highly active versus inactive subjects. The former demonstrated a predominantly “central” adaptation to steady-state arm exercise (exhibiting normal stroke volumes and arteriovenous O2 extractions for spinal cord-injured subjects), while the latter displayed markedly reduced stroke volumes concomitant with abnormally large peripheral arteriovenous oxygen extractions for a given oxygen uptake.

Family of Origin Violence and Courtship Abuse

Abstract: Research has shown that family of origin violence is related to later courtship and marital abuse. Few researchers, however, have distinguished between observed and received violence as a child and expressed and received abuse in adult relationships. Questionnaires addressing these issues were completed by 336 undergraduates. Results indicated that 75% of the sample had expressed threats or actual violence and 64% had received such abuse in an intimate relationship. Only 25% had been publicly identified as a result of the violence. In this sample, 30% had parents who abused each other. Less often, the mother (9.1%) or father (8.5%) had been the sole abuser. Most (76.4%) had been abused as children. Multiple regression indicated that being abused as a child predicted receiving and expressing violence as an adult.

Non-negative solutions for a class of non-positone problems

Abstract: In the recent past many results have been established on non-negative solutions to boundary value problems of the formwhere λ>0, f(0)>0 (positone problems). In this paper we consider the impact on the non-negative solutions when f(0)<0. We find that we need f(u) to be convex to guarantee uniqueness of positive solutions, and f(u) to be appropriately concave for multiple positive solutions. This is in contrast to the case of positone problems, where the roles of convexity and concavity were interchanged to obtain similar results. We further establish the existence of non-negative solutions with interior zeros, which did not exist in positone problems.

Urban Water Demand Estimates Under Increasing Block Rates

Abstract: A residential water demand equation is estimated using the only data set on water consumption that contains time series (monthly) observations on individual customers facing an increasing block rate schedule. Because the price of water both determines, and is determined by, usage, ordinary least squares estimation will yield biased estimates. Thus, two-stage least squares and instrumental variables techniques are used. The estimated coefficients on lawn size, weather, house size, and income have the expected signs and are statistically significant. However, there is not any significant response to changes in water price, perhaps due to the relatively low cost of water.

The Relationship of Massage and Exercise to Mood Enhancement

Abstract: The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the relationship between exercise, massage, and positive mood enhancement. Subjects were students in physical education classes including swimming, jogging, tennis, and racquetball, with each separate activity comprising a level of the primary independent treatment variable. In addition, subjects from other classes made up a control rest condition and a massage treatment condition resulting in a one-way design. All subjects completed the profile of mood states, state anxiety, and an activation checklist just prior to and immediately after 30 minutes of activity. Instructors in the classes agreed not to schedule any competitions between students but rather just let them play or exercise. Subjects in the control rest condition read or rested for 30 minutes, while in the massage treatment condition a certified massage therapist gave a 30-min Swedish massage. Results indicated that the running and massage conditions consistently produced positive mood enh...

STUDYING CONTEXTUAL EFFECTS ON POLITICAL BEHAVIOR A Research Inventory and Agenda

Abstract: The study of contextual effects on political behavior has expanded dramatically in the last two decades. In this article we review the recent progress of the field in an attempt to develop a cohere...

GATES: an airline gate assignment and tracking expert system

Abstract: A description is given of GATES, an expert system that assigns gates to arriving and departing flights at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). GATES uses flight information and knowledge about current constraints to produce possible gate assignment schedules. GATES is a constraint-satisfaction expert system. To make its decisions, it uses two types of production rule: permissive rules and conflict rules. Permissive rules determine when it's appropriate to consider a particular gate for a particular flight, and permit the system to search the next level of rules to obtain an assignment. Conflict rules determine when particular flights cannot be assigned to particular gates. System operators can modify schedules by retracting rules, adjusting tolerances, and deleting information. The system was developed for a PC, thereby providing an efficient and flexible user environment. The approach is extensible to various engineering and industrial problems where limited resources and weakly defined constraints exist and in which scheduling must occur. >

Differential Attitudes of Chinese Students Toward People With Disabilities: a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of 338 Chinese secondary school students toward three major disability groups (people who are physically disabled, emotionally disturbed, and mentally retarded) using an adaptation of the American Scale of Attitudes toward Disabled Persons (SADP). We found that physically disabled persons were rated higher across the three subscales of the SADP compared to either emotionally disturbed and mentally retarded individuals, who were rated similarly low by the students. The lack of differentiation between the two men tal handicapping conditions is at variance with contemporary western findings. The overall negative attitudes toward people with mental disabilities may have significant implications for community rehabilitation programming for this population.

Exact Hausdorff Dimension in Random Recursive Constructions

Abstract: The exact Hausdorff dimension function is determined for sets in Rm constructed by using a recursion that is governed by some given law of randomness.

Effect of Goal Proximity and Specificity on Endurance Performance of Primary-Grade Children

Abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to test the effects of goal proximity and goal specificity on endurance performance of young children. Subjects were 130 boys and 125 girls from the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. Children were matched on baseline performance of the 2-min sit-up test and then randomly assigned to one of the following goal setting conditions: (a) short-term goal improvement of 4% each test trial, (b) long-term goal of 20% improvement over the course of the 10-week study, (c) short-term plus long-term goal, and (d) do your best. Subjects practiced sit-ups in class every day with practice tests once a week and actual scored tests once every other week. No significant differences between goal-setting conditions were found on baseline performance and thus a 4 × 3 × 2 × 5 (Goal × Grade × Gender × Trials) ANOVA was conducted. Results produced significant gender and grade main effects, with boys and sixth graders exhibiting the best performance. More important, a significant goal-condition-...

Counseling Psychologists' Uses of and Opinions about Psychological Tests A Contemporary Perspective

Abstract: Since counseling psychology's inception, psychological testing has traditionally been considered an integral aspect of the specialty. However, contemporary information on the testing practices of counseling psychologists is quite limited. In an effort to gather current information about counseling psychologists 'uses of and opinions about psychological tests, we sent a five-page questionnaire to 1,000 members of Division 17 (Counseling). The questionnaire assessed information on four variables: personal and professional characteristics, opinions about test usage, recommended tests to include in graduate training, and current test usage. Approximately 70%0 of the sample returned questionnaires, with 63% of them being usable. Information about the four variables evaluated by the questionnaire is presented, and implications of the psychological test data in regard to training and practice in counseling psychology are considered.

A Longitudinal Study of Use of Health Care Services Among Older Women

Abstract: Article discussing a longitudinal study of the use of health care services among older women.

A longitudinal study of use of health care services among older women.

Abstract: This research tested the hypothesis that the percent of variance explained in use of health care services by the health care services utilization model could be significantly increased by including measures of past use of health care services and of past health status. Data from older women who participated in the Social Security Administration's Longitudinal Retirement History Survey (N = 1894) were analyzed by means of regression analysis. The results revealed that measures of previous use of health care services were more strongly related to current use of health care services in 1979 than were measures of previous health status. Inclusion of previous use and previous health status variables almost doubled the amount of variance explained by current predictors in number of physician visits, and more than doubled the explained variance in having to put off health care while the amount of variance explained in number of hospital episodes and in number of hospitalized nights was increased by approximately one-third.

Self‐efficacy and Endurance Performance: A Longitudinal Field Test of Cognitive Mediation Theory

Abstract: On demanda a 123 etudiants de cours de perfectionnement, designes au hasard, de realiser “de leur mieux” une tâche tres difficile, au but presqu‘ impossible a atteindre, apres cinq semaines d'entrainement a effectuer une tâche specifique en trois minutes. Une periode-test de quatre semaines suivit au cours de laquelle les buts des taches que devaient realiser les sujets et leur confiance en leur efficacite furent mesures une fois par semaine avant chaque evaluation de performance. Construit d'apres une theorie de mediation cognitive (Garland, 1985), un modele causal fut utilise dans lequel des buts de tâches individuelles furent soumis aux effets de la performance, notamment sur l'efficacite des sujets. L'analyse des resultats a partir des quatre tests hebdomadaires confirma les propositions du modele. One hundred and twenty-three students in a fitness training course were assigned at random to a “do your best,” very hard, or highly improbable goal condition after five weeks of baseline training on a three-minute sit-up task. A four-week test period followed in which subjects' task goals and efficacy expectations were measured once each week prior to an assessment of their performance. Based on cognitive mediation theory (Garland, 1985), a causal model was presented in which individual task goals are proposed to influence performance through their influence on self-efficacy. Path analyses on the data over each of the four test weeks provided support for the proposed model.

Towards a Christian Republic: Antimasonry and the Great Transition in New England, 1826-1836

Abstract: This is a study of the Antimasonry Party, but it is also a sweeping reinterpretation of America between 1820 and 1840 in social, political, cultural, and religious terms. The Order of the Masons became important in Europe and America in the wake of the American and French Revolutions. It was a cosmopolitan and tolerant Order that reflected the best aspects of the Enlightenment in many ways. But it was also a secret society, open only to men, that stressed sociability and appealed particularly to middle-class and upper-class members in small towns. When a former Mason, William Morgan, disappeared in western New York in 1826, the Antimasonary movement was fuelled and soon became a presence in state and national politics. The opposition was partly class inspired (against the ruling and upper classes) and partly religious (for an open religion with more emotional content). Part of the book provides a detailed account of Antimasonry politics in the six New England states. Scholars and students of American history; those interested in Masronry.

Personality-Ability Relationships in Aged Adults

Abstract: In an effort to investigate personality-ability interrelationships in older persons, 102 community-residing elderly persons were administered the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) and measures of both crystallized (Gc) and fluid (Gf) intelligence. Results suggested that each ability factor loaded on separate personality dimensions established in a previous analysis of HIT data using this sample. Whereas the personality factors labeled Anxiety Over Ideational Sufficiency and Feelings About Bodily Integrity loaded on Gc, factors termed Use of Cognitive Resources to Deal With Reality and Organizational Ability/Intellectual Functioning loaded on Gf. Causal inferences are difficult to make. However, these data suggest that individual differences in the maintenance of higher levels of intellectual functioning in later adulthood might be motivated by ego defensive mechanisms that act to insulate the older individual from feelings of self-worthlessness and failure and/or a loss of control over external forces via the development of intellectual skills.

Emerging lssues in Sales Forecasting and Decision Support Systems

Abstract: There are two distinct groups of emerging issues in the area of sales forecasting and decision support systems: methodological issues and implementational issues. This paper discusses each of them. The discussion of implementational issues includes some results of a survey of forecasting practice. The paper serves as a preface to the special section on sales forecasting and decision support systems and introduces the papers included in the special section.