Toddlers with Developmental Delays and Challenging Behaviors

Behavior problems and parental expectations and practices were studied in a sample of 58 toddlers with developmental disabilities who were consecutively referred to a mental health clinic. The majority of children (70.7%) exceeded the clinical cut-off score for significant behavior problems including tantrums, aggression, defiance, and hyperactivity, and 77.6% met the DSM-IV criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis with oppositional defiant disorder being the most common. Consistent with previous research, child behavior problems were related to parental use of verbal and corporal punishment and were detrimental to the quality of the parent-child relationship. A new finding was that parental expectations also were positively related to the emergence of early child behavior problems

Training Community-Based Professionals to Implement an Empirically Supported Parenting Program

Professionals representing 14 community-based organizations were trained at three different sites serving urban and rural families to implement an empirically supported parenting program for families of young children with challenging behaviors. Of the 44 practitioners trained, 23 successfully completed the program, which involved passing a knowledge test and facilitating the entire 10session program with a family. A total of 28, primarily low-income families completed the program. The family outcomes obtained by the facilitators, based on multiple pre-program and post-program measures, were comparable with those reported previously in the literature for facilitators trained in university settings. The challenges inherent in efforts to increase the community’s capacity to implement empirically supported programs are addressed

A Novel Method of Constructing Sorting Networks

The construction of sorting networks has been a topic of much recent discussion. In view of the apparent difficulty of verifying whether a reasonably large proposed sorting network actually does sort, the most useful approach for constructing large networks seems to be to devise a recursive scheme which constructs a network which is guaranteed to sort, obviating the verification phase. In this note, another such approach is presented

Rediflow architecture prospectus

Journal ArticleRediflow is intended as a multi-function (symbolic and numeric) multiprocessor, demonstrating techniques for achieving speedup for Lisp-coded problems through the use of advanced programming concepts, high-speed communication, and dynamic load-distribution, in a manner suitable for scaling to upwards of 10,000 processors. An initial physical realization is proposed employing 16 nodes (initially in a hypercube topology), with processor, memory, and intelligent switch at each node

Towards a Theory of Universal Speed-Independent Modules

Of concern here are asynchronous modules, i.e., those whose activity is regulated by initiation and completion signals with no clocks being present. First a number of operating conditions are described that are deemed essential or useful in a system of asynchronous modules, while retaining an air of independence of particular hardware implementations as much as possible. Second, some results are presented concerning sets of modules that are universal with respect to these conditions. That is, from these sets any arbitrarily complex module may be constructed as a network. It is stipulated that such constructions be speed independent, i.e., independent of the delay time involved in any constituent modules. Furthermore it is required that the constructions be delay insensitive in the sense that an arbitrary number of delay elements may be inserted into or removed from connecting lines without effecting the external behavior of the network

Semantics and applications of function graphs

Journal ArticleFunction graphs provide graphical models of programs based on function application. The uses of such models include provision of a semantic framework for functional programs, explication of the structure of complex systems based on function application, increasing proximity of programs to certain application domains, resolution of ambiguities in programs based upon systems of equations, and representation of executable programs in machines based upon data flow execution. Application examples and underlying theory of function graphs are presented

Denotational models for parallel programs with indeterminate operators

technical reportSeveral approaches to networks of concurrently-operating modules involving indeterminacy are discussed. Techniques for representing the denotational semantics of such networks, and for verifying properties of them, are presented, including an oracle approach, an axiomatic approach, a data-type reduction approach, and a partial-ordering approach

An approach to determinacy proofs

Journal ArticleIt is known that any parallel program graph composed of continuous operators itself represents a continuous function. In other words, the network is determinate in the sense that for a given input, the output is unique, independent of the timing of the constituent operators. This result is applied to some unusual data types, resulting in a determinacy proof for a parallel version of the alpha-beta minimax procedure. The notion of the context of a function is introduced, and its usefulness in constructing such proofs is demonstrated

On Maximally Parallel Schemata

A model for parallel computation called a schema is presented. This model is similar to that presented in the recent work of Karp and Miller. Section 1 presents a description of the model, and some results on the characterization of computations within it. Section 2 summarizes some results on determinacy and equivalence. Section 3 presents a formalization of the property of maximal parallelism in schemata. Several alternate characterizations are shown to be equivalent for certain classes. Section 4 presents results on the complexity of a maximally parallel schema equivalent to a given schema

Sentinels: A concept for multiprocess coordination

Journal ArticleThe sentinel construct is introduced, which provides a certain syntactic and semantic framework for multiprocess coordination. The advantage of this construct over others is argued to be semantic transparency, efficiency, ease in implementation, and usefulness in verfication