Explored characteristics correlated with phenomenon of sensing the presence of a deceased spouse among 294 widows. Measurable differences predictive of the sensing experience were found, with widows reporting sensing experience also reporting higher levels of worry and anxiety, feelings of uselessness, a liberal religious orientation, and greater…

A new theoretical analysis of the stop-signal model is proposed. Within the concepts of crude- and net-hazard functions, the nonobservable control-latency distribution can be estimated from observable reaction times. This result allows a test of the Logan and Cowan model (1984) without simplifying assumptions. (SLD)

Results show that the ability to identify the odor of alcoholic beverages and know the norms for use of alcoholic beverages exists among preschool children. Findings also show that at least some aspects of that ability are enhanced by living in a family whose drinking pattern indicates heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages. (RH)

Investigates the effects of pleasant fragrances on student behavior in two eighth-grade science classrooms. Suggests that students in a scented environment required fewer redirections of their behavior from the teacher. (SR)

Seventeen students with severe disability (ages 5 to 18) were assessed on Foundation Outcome Statement (FOS) Skills and subsequently exposed to an interactive multi-sensory environment which included equipment for light and visual stimulation and touch/tactile activities. Students increased in their number of FOS Skills immediately following…

Writing an environmental autobiography is an opportunity for students to reflect on the ways that their relationship to nature is constructed through experiences with such things as food, music, particular places, the outdoors, or acts of creativity. A collection of passages is presented that led to environmental autobiographies in an…

A teacher of a multiage K-1 class in Juneau (Alaska) weaves art and music throughout her lesson plans. She uses broad creative themes to teach the concepts and skills of the primary grades, and finds support in Alaska's content standards, which affirm that study of the arts is essential to a basic education. (TD)

Eighteen boys with fragile X syndrome were compared with 42 with idiopathic intellectual disability, and 45 with Down syndrome. Boys with Down syndrome had more sensory problems and smaller head circumferences than normal. Head circumferences of boys with fragile X syndrome and with idiopathic intellectual disability were larger than normal.…

Explored in 2 studies 3- and 4-year-olds' understanding that the 5 senses can each lead to different types of knowledge. Found that 3-year-olds performed significantly poorer than 4-year-olds on all tasks, suggesting a marked transition in children's ability to recognize the origin of their modality-specific knowledge between 3 and 4 years.…

Tangible and pictorial paired-stimulus (PPS) preference assessments were compared for 6 individuals with developmental disabilities. During tangible and PPS assessments, two edible items or photographs were presented on each trial, respectively, and approach responses were recorded. Both assessments yielded similar preference hierarchies for 3…

Four adults with developmental disabilities were taught to make conditional discriminations between either pictures and their corresponding printed English and Spanish words, or tastes and their corresponding printed English and Spanish words. Participants required more training trials to master the visual-visual conditional discriminations than…

This study attempts to investigate the role of sensorimotor impairments in the reading disability that characterizes dyslexia. Twenty-three children with dyslexia were compared to 22 control children, matched for age and non-verbal intelligence, on tasks assessing literacy as well as phonological, visual, auditory and motor abilities. The dyslexic…

This study investigated some characteristics of persons experiencing "flashbacks," and provides systematic descriptions of the flashback phenomena. The drug user showed no significant differences in psychopathological characteristics as measured by the MMPI, nor significant differences in attentional processes as measured by the Embedded Figures…

A discussion of how audiovisual media affect the senses in communication. (HB)

Described are sentics, the assessment of emotions by measuring finger pressure on a finger-rest rigged with two pressure transducers that produce graphic tracings, and photography initiated by S. and V. Kirlian that converts nonelectrical properties of an object into electrical properties which appear on film as an electromagnetic field. (MC)