Layered communication development:the creation of a model that can describe, monitor and improve intersubjective communication between people with congenital deafblindness and others

Because of the differences in residual hearing and vision, people with congenital deafblindness (cdb) form a heterogeneous population, which shows (amongst other things) in this use of varying forms of communication (e.g. (tactile) sign language, (tactile) pictograms, signs supported by spoken language). This makes it difficult for teachers and caregivers to properly describe, monitor and improve communication. For these purposes, the layered communication model was formed, based on the theory of innate intersubjectivity (Bråten & Trevarthen, 2007). This model describes different communicative behaviors at three layers of development. The theory emphasizes the importance of both communication partners, which matched the reliance of people with cdb on others in communication. The current thesis shows that the model can be beneficial in describing the communication level between people with cdb and others by coding the frequency in which the behaviors occur in video recordings. Subsequently, the model can be used to monitor development, when the coding is repeated at different moments. Finally, the model showed to be useful in improving communication during intervention studies. The model helps to discover infrequently present behaviors, which can be targeted to improve their presence. Video feedback coaching showed to be more effective than when teachers and caregivers assessed their own targets. Given the exploratory nature of these studies, more research is needed to determine if and how self-assessment can be used to improve communication as well. The most important result is that the model can be used to support and improve communication at all three layers of development

Monitoring communication development between teachers and their students with congenital deafblindness:An application of the Layered Communication Model

The Layered Communication Model (LCM) consists of three layers of intersubjective development divided into different communicative behaviors per layer. Earlier research showed that the LCM can be used to describe the communication level between teachers and their students with congenital deafblindness (CDB). This study analyzed whether the LCM can also be used to monitor the development of LCM behaviors over time. Videos of eight student-teacher dyads recorded at the start of this study (baseline phase) and 5 months later (follow-up phase) were coded using 10-s partial interval coding. The presence of the communicative behaviors at the three layers of the LCM during baseline and follow-up were calculated and compared between dyads and phases. The results on the presence of LCM behaviors were in line with earlier research. The presence of primary layer behaviors was comparable between dyads, confirming that this is a basic communication layer. The differences found between dyads in the presence of secondary and tertiary layer behaviors shows that these can be used to determine a dyad's communicative level. Results also showed that the LCM can be used to monitor communication development. Small increases were found in the presence of LCM behaviors between baseline and follow-up for the primary layer behaviors, but larger increases were found for secondary and tertiary layer behaviors, showing that development can be monitored. In conclusion, this study again showed that the LCM can be used to describe a dyad's communicative level. We also found increases in the presence of certain behaviors between baseline and follow-up for all dyads, which shows that the LCM can also be used to monitor communication over time. More insight into the period between the analyzed phases is suggested to analyze what might have caused the increase in presence of behaviors. This would reveal more about the use of the LCM as a tool to improve communication development

Communication development from an intersubjective perspective: Exploring the use of a layered communication model to describe communication development in students with congenital deafblindness

This exploratory study conducts a quantitative investigation on the communication development of students with congenital deafblindness (CDB). First, a layered communication model (LCM) is introduced, describing communicative behaviors based on three layers of intersubjective development for typically developing children (Bråten & Trevarthen, 2007). Subsequently, an analysis is made of how applicable the LCM is for children with CDB. Video recordings of four dyads of students with CDB with varying developmental ages and their teachers are coded using ten-second partial interval coding. The presence of LCM behaviors, the student and teacher contributions to communication, and the development over a halfyear period are described and compared between dyads. The results reflected the developmental differences between dyads. At the primary layer, all behaviors occurred a comparable number of times between dyads, which confirms that this is a basic communication layer. Quantitative differences between dyads were encountered between and within the secondary and tertiary layers. Teacher contribution was higher for students with lower developmental ages compared to students with higher developmental ages. Also, teacher contribution was higher for the secondary and tertiary layer behaviors of the LCM compared to the primary layer behaviors. No increase was found in the behaviors over the half-year period. Results suggest that the LCM can be used to gain insight into the communication level of a dyad, hereby paving the way for intervention studies to improve communication development

Computational analysis of the adaptive causal relationships between cannabis, anxiety and sleep

In this paper an adaptive computational temporal-causal network model is presented to analyse the dynamic and adaptive relationships between cannabis usage, anxiety and sleep. The model has been used to simulate different well-known scenarios varying from intermittent usage to longer periods of usage interrupted by attempts to quit and to constant usage based on full addiction. It is described how the model has been verified and validated by empirical information from the literature