Presidential popularity, presidential policies

Economic policy

The influence of auditory feedback on speed choice, violations and comfort in a driving simulation game

Two experiments are reported which explore the relationships between auditory feedback (engine noise), speed choice, driving violations and driver comfort. Participants played a driving simulation game with different levels of auditory feedback in the form of engine noise. In Experiment 1, a between-subjects design revealed that no noise and low levels of engine noise (65 dB(A)) resulted in participants driving at faster speeds than in the medium (75 dB(A)) and high (85 dB(A)) levels of engine noise conditions. The low noise feedback conditions were also associated with decreases in driver comfort. Experiment 2 also demonstrated that low levels of engine noise feedback (no feedback and 70 dB(A)) were associated with increases in driving speed, and driving violations relative to higher levels of feedback (75 dB(A) and 80 dB(A)). Implications exist for current car manufacturing trends which emphasise a growing increase in noise insulation for the driver. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Providing Physical Therapy Services in the Least Restrictive Educational Environment

Federal legislation has mandated free appropriate public education for all children with disabilities. Physical therapy is included as one of the related services which must be provided, if needed, to assist students with disabilities to benefit from the educational programs. This creates unique challenges for the physical therapist, who traditionally has provided services in a medical model rather than an educational model. The American Physical Therapy Association has published policies and guidelines for providing physical therapy services in the educational environment; however, each state is encouraged to adapt the guidelines to meet individual needs. This paper provides a general review of the federal mandates and physical therapy services in the educational environment. It also describes the least restrictive environment, various physical therapy services provided, team models utilized in the educational environment and direct versus indirect physical therapy services. A continuum of options for providing physical therapy services in the least restrictive environment is presented in this paper. The appendices also include proposed state guidelines for the sections on Least Restrictive Environment and Delivery of Services for physical therapists working in the educational environment in North Dakota

A Study to Test the Effectiveness of Time-out in the Decrease of Moderate Stuttering

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of time-out from speaking on the frequency of moderate stuttering. Two parallel single subject studies were carried out concurrently. Two adult moderate stutterers were selected as subjects. Two sessions of baserate measurement were followed by nine sessions in which 10 seconds of time-out from speaking was made contingent upon the stuttering of Subject A. Subject B was the control subject for the first nine sessions and he received no consequences for stuttering. With session twelve, Subject A became the control and Subject B was required to stop speaking for 10 seconds following each stuttering behavior. Time-out from speaking, signalled by a red light, was instituted contingent upon subject stuttering. Results of the study showed the rate of stuttering decreased during the use of time-out procedures. Stuttering was shown to increase when time-out from speaking was withdrawn as a consequence for stuttering. It was concluded that the time-out from speaking used in this study was effective in reducing stuttering behavior

Obesity and Food Insecurity are both Florida Public Health Issues – A Commentary

Florida faces an epidemic of overweight and obesity primarily due to an imbalance of caloric intake and physical activity modulated by multiple physiologic and cultural factors. The overweight and obesity issue notwithstand- ing, Florida’s public health efforts must also continue to address problems related to food insecurity and hunger. Although much of the focus concerning food insecurity has been at the individual or household level, there is also discussion among policymakers, food experts, and community members about the need to focus on food security at the community-level as well. This commentary examines Florida’s current food security issues

Frequency Effects on Categorization and Recognition

An experiment investigating effects of familiarity (indicated by presentation frequency) on categorization and recognition behavior is presented. Results show frequency influenced performance under speeded response conditions only, producing increased categorization of new, similar items with the frequent item, and differentiation (a decrease in false alarms to these same items) in recognition. These results are evaluated with respect to different versions of an exemplar model of categorization and recognition (Medin & Schaffer, 1978; Nosofsky, Clark & Shinn, 1989). Models that include a mechanism for differentiation, or changes in the similarity computation to a familiar example, provided better descriptions of both categorization and recognition behavior than models without this added aspect. The addition of a differentiation mechanism improved flts to categorization data of all three versions of exemplar models considered: the type model (in which repetitions do not produce separate memory traces), the toicen model (which posits individual memory traces for each repetition of an item) and the frequency parameter model (wiiich iiKludes frequency weighting as a free parameter)

The Impact of Mentoring on Beginning Teachers in a Rural Northeast Georgia School District

The needs of beginning teachers have been addressed both on the state and national level because of increasing concerns about teacher quality and teacher shortage problems. Schools experience high rates of attrition for beginning teachers, more than forty percent in the first five years of teaching. Within the next decade, school districts will have to hire a large number of teachers for grades k-12. The traditional sink-or-swim induction of teachers contributes to lower levels of teacher effectiveness such as curriculum and behavioral issues and higher levels of teacher attrition. Beginning teachers experience isolation, difficult students, curriculum challenges, and inadequate preparation which cause them to leave the education field in high numbers. More states and school districts have begun to provide mentoring for their beginning teachers in an effort to help them transition into their first years of teaching. The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate the impact of mentoring on beginning teachers in a rural Northeast Georgia school district. The study provided important data about the mentoring practices that were the most meaningful to the beginning teachers. The methodology used to collect data for this study was individual interviews and focus group interviews. Nine purposive sample participants were included for the individual interviews: one from each of five elementary schools and two both from the middle school and high school. The focus group included two elementary teachers, two middle school teachers, and two high school teachers. The analysis of the data revealed the following themes: 1) Mentoring provided support for new teachers in the area of curriculum, discipline, and parental communication. 2) Secondly, the time spent with the mentors had an important effect on the success of the mentoring experience. 3) The variation of attitudes both of the mentor and the administration/school played an important part in a successful mentoring program. The results of this study support the positive results of mentoring on beginning teachers. The data collected correlated with the research questions and supported the idea that mentoring is an important program in the school district. When school districts promote teacher support through mentoring, teacher retention appears to be higher