Education and rehabilitation research with persons with developmental disabilities is often based on single-case designs (with small numbers of ordinal data points collected at irregular intervals) ...and relies upon graphic display and visual inspection of the data. This paper (a) provides a brief account of some statistical tests, which may serve to supplement the visual inspection process and (b) underlines some of their strengths and limitations to help education and rehabilitation personnel make a reasonable choice among them.
Last minute risk assessment (LMRA) is a well-known work method to support employees' risk perception. However, little is known about the effectiveness of LMRA in providing this support. Here, we ...describe an eye-tracking experiment with which we attempted to gain more insight into the relationship between LMRA and risk perception and to assess the difference between generic and specific supporting questions. Employees from an international energy production and desalination company participated in this experiment by assessing photographs portraying a (staged) work situation and deciding whether it was safe enough to continue activities and which risk factors were present or absent. The results show a consistent interaction effect over several parameters between work experience and the type of supporting questions, indicating that generic and specific supporting questions should be considered complimentary to each other. Furthermore, the results revealed several other challenges concerning real-world application of the LMRA.
•Study I taught two persons with multiple disabilities simple object manipulation responses.•Study II taught three persons with multiple disabilities complex object assembly responses.•Technology was ...used in both studies to monitor responses and provide guidance and/or stimulation.•The data of both studies were largely positive.
These two studies were aimed at assessing technology-aided programs to help persons with multiple disabilities engage in basic occupation or work activities. Specifically, Study I focused on teaching two participants (an adolescent and an adult) with low vision or total blindness, severe/profound intellectual disabilities, and minimal object interaction to engage in constructive object-manipulation responses. The technology monitored their responses and followed them with brief stimulation periods automatically. Study II focused on teaching three adults with deafness, severe visual impairment, and profound intellectual disabilities to perform a complex activity, that is, to assemble a five-component water pipe. The technology regulated (a) light cues to guide the participants through the workstations containing single pipe components and the carton for completed pipes and (b) stimulation events. The results of both studies were positive. The participants of Study I showed consistent and independent engagement in object-manipulation responses. The participants of Study II showed consistent and independent pipe assembling performance. General implications of the two programs and the related technology packages for intervention with persons with multiple disabilities are discussed.
Lancioni et al assess a girl's activation of microswitch with minimal residual vision and profound motor and intellectual disabilities, who showed a combination of tracheal congestion and unspecific ...or dystonic head movements. After discussing the result, they conclude that the girl learned to use vocalization to increase environmental stimulation effectively and that the new microswitch kept false positive responses to a low level.
This study is concerned with the question whether extremely emotional experiences, such as being the victim of Nazi concentration camps, leave traces in memory that cannot be extinguished. Relevant ...data were obtained from testimony by 78 witnesses in a case against Marinus De Rijke, who was accused of Nazi crimes in Camp Erika in The Netherlands. The testimonies were collected in the periods 1943–1947 and 1984–1987. A comparison between these two periods reveals the amount of forgetting that occurred in 40 years. Results show that camp experiences were generally well‐remembered, although specific but essential details were forgotten. Among these were forgetting being maltreated, forgetting names and appearance of the torturers, and forgetting being a witness to murder. Apparently intensity of experiences is not a sufficient safeguard against forgetting. This conclusion has consequences for the forensic use of testimony by witnesses who were victims of violent crimes.
•Standard technology resources were used to support patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease.•A computer with inexpensive video editing software provided pictorial instructions to support ...activity.•A doorbell system provided sound and light cues to support indoor travel.•Patients used both technology resources with satisfactory activity and travel results.
These two studies were aimed at evaluating standard technology resources for supporting activity and travel among patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, Study I assessed a pictorial instruction program relying on the use of a portable computer and a commercially available and inexpensive video editing software for supporting the performance of daily activities with three patients. Study II assessed the indoor travel performance of four patients (i.e., the three involved in Study I and a fourth patient with no previous research exposure) using a commercially available, basic doorbell system with sound and light cues. The percentages of correct activity steps obtained with the instruction program used in Study I were relatively high and largely similar to the percentages reported in previous studies using more sophisticated technology. During Study II, the percentages of correct travels of two patients matched the data of the most successful patients involved in previous studies with more sophisticated technology. The percentages of the other two patients tended to be lower than those obtained previously, but were still practically relevant. The implications of the results of the two studies and a number of issues for new research are discussed.
► Two orientation programs for indoor travel were assessed with persons with Alzheimer's disease. ► One program used auditory (verbal) cues and the other used light cues at the target destinations. ► ...Both programs were highly effective in helping the five participants travel to the destinations correctly. ► Social raters favored the program with light cues on a special six-item questionnaire.
The present study (a) extended the assessment of an orientation program involving auditory cues (i.e., verbal messages automatically presented from the destinations) with five patients with Alzheimer's disease, (b) compared the effects of this program with those of a program with light cues (i.e., a program in which strobe lights were used instead of the verbal messages) with the same five patients, and (c) conducted a social validation assessment of the two programs with 70 university psychology students employed as social raters. Results confirmed the effectiveness of the program with auditory cues and showed an equally strong impact of the program with light cues with all five patients. The psychology students involved in the social validation assessment provided significantly higher scores for the program involving light cues on a six-item questionnaire. Those scores suggested that this program was perceived as a practically and socially preferable choice. The implications of the findings for daily contexts dealing with patients with Alzheimer's disease are discussed.
► Assistive technology was used to enable patients with Alzheimer's disease to self-regulate music stimulation. ► Self-regulated music led to higher positive participation than outer-regulated music ...in five of six patients. ► Social raters favored the self-regulated music condition on a special six-item questionnaire.
We assessed the impact and social rating of an active and a passive music condition implemented with six patients with Alzheimer's disease. In the active condition, the patients used a simple hand response and a microswitch to self-regulate music stimulation inputs. In the passive condition, music stimulation was automatically presented throughout the sessions. Active and passive stimulation sessions were preceded and followed by control (non-stimulation) sessions. The active condition sessions showed an increase in the patients’ indices of positive participation (e.g., singing or music-related movements, and smiles) greater than that observed in the passive condition sessions for five of the six patients. Positive intervention effects could also spread to the post-intervention sessions. Social raters (42 care and rehabilitation staff members working with persons with multiple disabilities) favored the active condition on a six-item questionnaire dealing with, among others, conditions’ suitability, respect of patients’ dignity and independence, and practicality. The implications of the findings as to the plausibility/desirability of an active stimulation condition were discussed.
