The purpose of this study was to examine the factors which facilitate the successful transition of youth from a detention educational program to a mainstream educational program. The study investigated the following components: (a) informal or formalized transition programs, (b) the practices used to assist youth at the detention level transition to the educational mainstream, (c) program components used at the detention level to successfully transition youth to the educational mainstream, the importance of personnel in assisting youth in their transition, (d) factors which contribute to the successful transition from detention to the educational mainstream, (e) program components effective in moving youth from a detention education program to the educational mainstream, and (f) whether or not a detention education program with a formal or informal transition program makes a difference in recidivism rates. A survey questionnaire was sent to 143 detention center administrators in the Southeastern United States . Descriptive data were run on all items in the survey. Cronbach's alpha test of reliability was used to assess internal consistency. Pearson correlation was used to compare consistency between independent and dependent variables. Finally, an independent sample t-test was conducted to examine if mean differences exist on Total Returned to a Detention Center by Transition Program. Transitioning from a detention facility to the community is a difficult process. By making available to youth a comprehensive program during periods of incarceration, and collaborating with the local educational agency, youth are often better able to make the adjustment. This study emphasized that in order for youth to be successful once they leave a correctional facility, a linkage must exist among all stakeholders. / Ed. D.

No / Current models of short-term visual perceptual memory invoke mechanisms that are closely allied to low-level perceptual discrimination mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which human visual perceptual memory for spatial frequency is based upon multiple, spatially tuned channels similar to those found in the earliest stages of visual processing. To this end we measured how performance on a delayed spatial frequency discrimination paradigm was affected by the introduction of interfering or ‘memory masking’ stimuli of variable spatial frequency during the delay period. Masking stimuli were shown to induce shifts in the points of subjective equality (PSE) when their spatial frequencies were within a bandwidth of 1.2 octaves of the reference spatial frequency. When mask spatial frequencies differed by more than this value, there was no change in the PSE from baseline levels. This selective pattern of masking was observed for different spatial frequencies and demonstrates the existence of multiple, spatially tuned mechanisms in visual perceptual memory. Memory masking effects were also found to occur for horizontal separations of up to 6 deg between the masking and test stimuli and lacked any orientation selectivity. These findings add further support to the view that low-level sensory processing mechanisms form the basis for the retention of spatial frequency information in perceptual memory. However, the broad range of transfer of memory masking effects across spatial location and other dimensions indicates more long range, long duration interactions between spatial frequency channels that are likely to rely contributions from neural processes located in higher visual areas. / V.N. supported by a Ph.D. studentship funded by the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians.

The Aronson Shopping List is a short-term memory test which integrates current knowledge of brain-behavior relationships in assessment. The test was designed to detect deficiency in fluid intelligence. The goal of this study was to standardize the test on an elderly population. The sample was composed of 67 males and females whose ages ranged from 62 to 89 years. It was found that recent stressful events did not account for variation of performance on the ASL. The reliability of the test, established by means of a test and alternate form retest procedure, was found to be .70 after an average of eleven months. Percentiles are presented indicating performance comparisons. Further experimentation would be needed to establish whether the test would be useful to designate organic brain pathology.

Since antiquity, philosophers, theologians, and scientists have been interested in human memory; however, researchers today are still working to understand the capabilities, boundaries, and architecture. While the storage capabilities of long-term memory are seemingly unlimited (Bahrick, 1984), working memory, or the ability to maintain and manipulate information held in memory, seems to have stringent capacity limits (e.g., Cowan, 2001). Individual differences, however, do exist and these differences can often predict performance on a wide variety of tasks (cf. Engle, 2001). Recently, researchers have promoted the enticing possibility that simple behavioral training can expand the limits of working memory which indeed may also lead to improvements on other cognitive processes as well (cf. Morrison&Chein, 2011). The current study investigated this possibility. Recommendations from the skill training literature (cf. Schneider, 1985) were incorporated to create optimized verbal and spatial working memory training tasks. Significant performance improvements were evident across eight days of cognitive training using verbal and spatial adaptive n-back procedures. Training-related improvements were also evident for some untrained measures of visual short-term memory, attentional control, and working memory. These training effects, however, were not universal. Other measures of visual short-term memory and attentional control, as well as measures of fluid intelligence were unaffected by training.

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2007. / Abstract and vita. Typescript. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-136).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, 2001. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-151).

Diss. Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2007.

This study investigated the relationship between working memory and language in typically developing young children. The aim was to gain a better understanding of language development, in particular, the involvement of visual and verbal short-term memory in language acquisition and its influence on vocabulary size. It explored possible underlying causes of why some children have problems in the process of learning to talk, whereas other children acquire language easily. A total of 51 New Zealand English speaking children aged two to five completed a battery of assessments measuring receptive and expressive vocabulary and visual and verbal short-term memory. The standardized tests administered included the Receptive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test (Brownell, 2000b), the Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test (Brownell, 2000a), the Visual Patterns Test (Stokes, Klee, Cruickshank, & Pleass, 2009), and the Test of Early Nonword Repetition (Stokes & Klee, 2009a). Receptive vocabulary knowledge was strongly associated with visual (r = .75) and verbal (r = .60) short-term memory performance and age (r = .72). The relationship of expressive vocabulary to visual short-term memory (r = .80) was stronger than to verbal short-term memory (r = .62) but significant for both and also for age (r= .83). Significant unique predictors for expressive vocabulary were age (R2 change = .60) as well as visual (R2 change = .04) and verbal (R2 change = .04) short-term memory. However, age appeared to be the only unique predictor for receptive vocabulary (R2 change = .54). In addition, the findings suggested that visual and verbal short-term memory increases as children get older. Hence, the Visual Patterns Test and Test of Early Nonword Repetition seem to be good predictors, over and above age, of expressive vocabulary knowledge.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2008. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-136).