Infant tympanometry: differential results by race.

Black (N = 63) and White (N = 74) infants, ages 6-13 months, were screened by tympanometry for signs of middle ear dysfunction. More White infants (57%) than Black (33%) failed initial screening (p less than .01). Retest of initial failures after a minimum 6-week interval showed an overall reduction in failure rates, but the significant (p less than .05) racial effect was still obtained. Implications of these findings for the clinician are discussed.

Concurrent validity of two language screening tests.

The importance of ascertaining the validity of clinical instruments used to make decisions about individuals is discussed and the need for additional validation studies is emphasized. Steps that can be taken to confirm the validity for a particular application, setting, or population are described. As an example, the concurrent validity of two language screening instruments, the Fluharty Preschool Screening Test and the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test, and their subtests was examined. Decisions from these screening tests and subtests were compared to a validity criterion of passing or failing the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development for 182 white middle-class children, ages 36-47 months. The results showed that the screening tests differed in their validity, depending upon the content of the test and each subtest. The consequences of using either screening test are explored, to illustrate how the outcomes of such studies should be interpreted.

Racial differences in tympanometric results.

The occurrence of failed tympanometric screenings in 253 middle-class preschool children, ages 30-48 months, was examined. Black children showed a significantly (p less than .05) lower incidence of failure (23% compared to 38% for White children); this pattern was attributable primarily to differential rates of failure for older children (greater than or equal to 36 months). Explanations for this difference are discussed.

Screening Kit of Language Development: a preschool language screening instrument.

The Screening Kit of Language Development ( SKOLD ) was designed to meet the following criteria: Validity for 2.5-4 year old children, standardization for speakers of standard and Black English, and appropriateness for paraprofessional screeners . This paper describes the development, content, administration, scoring, reliability, and validity of SKOLD .

High-frequency Bekesy audiometry: IV. Normative aspects for normal-hearing young adult.

Normal-hearing young adults Ss (10 M, 20 F) produced Bekesy threshold tracings on a modified Grason - Stadler E-800 audiometer for pure tone in 2-kc/s increments from 7-19 kc/s, using as transducer an air-coupled 1/2-inch condenser microphone. Mean threshold functions and variances, the proportion of Ss responding at each frequency, and the role of sex-related differences were analyzed and discussed. Although the same was too small to yield reference equivalent threshold SPLs for high-frequency audiometry using the present apparatus and procedures, the data are useful for a future full-scale normative study.

Black English responses on selected language tests.

Standardized screening and assessment measures for language development do not take into account Black English responses. This study was designed to determine the extent to which normal and language impaired black preschool children respond in Black English and Standard English on selected screening instruments. Developmental differences in the usage of Standard English and Black English were also investigated. The results indicate that black normal and language impaired preschool children are both Standard English and Black English on screening tests. Developmental differences were noted. The results suggest that tests for language development need to be standardized on speakers of Black English and also should include Black English response alternatives.

Language evaluation: science of art?

This study was designed to determine the degree of agreement between standardized tests of language development and clinical judgment. The Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language (TACL), the Carrow Elicited Language Inventory (CELI), and the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development (SICD) were used. Three-year-old white preschool children were tested individually by experienced speech-language pathologists in day-care centers. Each examiner also made a clinical judgment of normal or impaired language behavior, based on observations during the testing. The results indicated that the CELI agreed the most with the clinical judgment of the examiners, followed by the SICD and TACL. The clinical significance of these results is discussed.

Sentence structures of trainable and educable mentally retarded subjects.

Educable and trainable mentally retarded children were administered a story completion task that elicits 14 grammatical structures. There were more correct responses from educable than from trainable mentally retarded children. Both groups found imperatives easiest, and future, embedded, and double-adjectival structures most difficult. The children classed as educable produced more correct responses than those termed trainable for declarative, question, and single-adjectival structures. The cognitive and linguistic processing of both groups is discussed as are the implications for language remediation.

Two measures of nurses' attitudes toward abortion as modified by experience.

Random samples of nurses in two states which differed in abortion statues were sent questionnaires. Content areas included experience with 12 specific nursing activities associated with abortion, willingness to participate in the same activities, and extent of agreement with statements related to abortion. Attitudes toward abortion were inferred from the willingness-to-participate items and from the agreement section. These two measures correlated highly suggesting a common underlying dimension. However, the two samples differed significantly in extent of agreement but did not differ in willingness to participate. These results were interpreted as supporting the position that attitudes derived from items using situational contexts might bear a better relationship to behavior. The findings also suggest that abortion facilities can probably be staffed without violating personal preferences since so many expressed willingness to participate in at least some of the activities. Comparison across the two samples suggest that increased experience or even the potential for experience with abortion patients tended to increase the favorableness of attitudes toward this issue.

A story completion approach as a measure of language development in children.

A task employing a story completion approach was administered to 120 children who exhibited normal language development. Fifteen boys and 15 girls at four-, five-, six-, and seven-year age levels were tested. The test elicits 14 grammatical structures using 28 stories. Significant differences in structures did not occur between the sexes at any age level but males required more prompting. Significant differences in the total number of correct responses were established between the four and five year olds and between the five and six year olds but not between the six and seven year olds. Performance by age varied according to the grammatical structure. Simple structures were produced most accurately by the younger subjects while the more advanced ones were used by the older subjects. Discussion of results emphasized normal cognitive and language development as well as the clinical significance for the assessment of language behavior.

Vasectomy: who gets one and why?

PIP: This study of 173 men who received vasectomies from one urologist shows the male seeking a vasectomy from this clinic is white, middle class, well educated, married once, median age of 36, and with 2 to 3 children. Three quarters of the men had used the condom and found it bothersome. The same number had also used the pill and various other methods of contraception without satisfaction. Other studies have shown economic reasons as the main factor leading to vasectomy whereas this one revealed freedom from anxiety about possible conception and sexual pleasure as the primary reasons. The concern for sexual freedom is considered characteristic of our present culture and probably closely associated with the pill itself. Since the pill is not related as closely with the sex act as other methods of contraception it has given couples the freedom to enjoy sex. Since the late 1960s when the media began publishing the side effects from the pill our society has been seeking a replacement method that will allow that freedom to remain. This group will continue to be followed along with other planned studies, to see if their contraceptive vasectomy has made any changes in their lives.^ieng