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N L Wood

Publications and source records attributed to N L Wood.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Two separate verbal processing rates contributing to short-term memory span.

Previous research indicates that verbal memory span, the number of words people can remember and immediately repeat, is related to the fastest rate at which they can pronounce the words. This relation, in turn, has been attributed to a general or global rate of information processing that differs among individuals and changes with age. However, the experiments described in this article showed that the rates of 2 processes (rapid articulation and the retrieval of words from short-term memory) are related to memory span but not to each other. Memory span depends on a profile of processing rates in the brain, not only a global rate. Moreover, there appears to be only a partial overlap between the rate variables that change with age and those that differ among individuals.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Is there implicit memory without attention? A reexamination of task demands in Eich's (1984) procedure.

The relation between memory and attention has been of long-standing interest. Eich (1984) made an important discovery of implicit but not explicit memory for contextually determined homophones (e.g., taxi-FARE) presented in a channel to be ignored within a selective listening procedure. However, his slow rate of presentation of shadowing task materials may have allowed frequent attention shifts to the allegedly ignored channel. With a direct replication of Eich's timing parameters, we reproduced his results, but when the attended channel was presented twice as fast as Eich's, implicit memory for the to-be-ignored words vanished. Our results contradict claims of extensive semantic processing of unattended auditory information in this task.

Attention↗
PubMed1995

The cocktail party phenomenon revisited: attention and memory in the classic selective listening procedure of Cherry (1953).

Though E. C. Cherry (1953) examined the recall of information from an irrelevant spoken channel in selective listening, the relationship between attention and subsequent recall still has not been examined adequately. It was examined here in 4 experiments, 3 of which were designed to identify conditions under which some participants, but not others, would notice a change from forward to backward speech. Only participants who shifted attention toward the irrelevant channel during the backward speech later recalled hearing it. In those whose attention shifted, shadowing errors peaked dramatically about 15 s after the change. There was no evidence of direct or indirect memory for phrases presented in the irrelevant channel. The results contradict models of attention stating that listeners process task-irrelevant information extensively without diverting resources used in shadowing.

Attention↗
PubMed1995

The role of the physician in effecting change in hospital charge for radical prostatectomy.

BACKGROUND: Continuing effort is being made to provide the best medical care in a cost-effective manner, requiring an evaluation of factors that control charges. The number of cases of carcinoma of the prostate gland and the number of radical retropubic prostatectomies performed have increased in recent years, with an estimate of several hundred million dollars being spent annually on this procedure in the United States of America. Because physicians are reported to effect the majority of charges for a hospitalization, this study examines the influence of notification of the physician of hospital charges on the overall hospital charges for radical retropubic prostatectomy. STUDY DESIGN: Total hospital charge and duration per hospitalization were determined for all patients having radical prostatectomies performed at five community hospitals in Richmond, VA, between January 1991 and December 1993. Patients included 625 males diagnosed with carcinoma of the prostate gland undergoing radical prostatectomy by one of 20 urologists from several different private practice groups. Halfway into the time period studied, physicians were notified of data collection and of factors that seemed to have a role in hospital charges. Total hospital charges before and after physician notification were measured to determine whether or not physicians could effect hospital charges. RESULTS: Overall, hospital charges decreased significantly after notification of physicians in the study. The decline in total charges continued throughout the follow-up period. Duration of hospitalization decreased throughout the entire study period, while total charge per hospital day increased. CONCLUSIONS: Physician awareness of hospital charges for operative procedures and accompanying hospitalizations may influence the overall decrease in charges.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Impact of physician awareness on hospital charges for radical retropubic prostatectomy.

PURPOSE: We determine if physician awareness of hospital costs for radical retropubic prostatectomy affects physician practice patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 256 consecutive radical retropubic prostatectomies performed by 14 urologists during 4 years at a community hospital. After 2 years the physicians were provided information on factors that may decrease charges. RESULTS: Charges decreased significantly following intervention, from +f417,134 within the initial 2 years to +f413,826 within the last 2 years (p < 0.005). Significant decreases were noted for length of stay, need for intensive care, operating time and blood loss. CONCLUSIONS: Traditional methods of physician education can impact practice patterns to decrease hospital charges for radical retropubic prostatectomy.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Depressed lymphokine activated killer cell activity in mycosis fungoides. A possible marker for aggressive disease.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 24 patients with mycosis fungoides were used to generate lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells in vitro by culturing with recombinant interleukin 2. Patients with stage la mycosis fungoides were capable of generating normal levels of LAK cell activity, while patients with more active disease (stages IB to IV) had depressed LAK activity. The ability of these patients' cells to respond in a proliferation assay to various mitogens was similar to that of controls, with the exception of patients in the terminal phase of their illness. Patients with active disease who were unable to generate LAK activity were capable of responding in a proliferation assay to interleukin 2. The results of this study suggest that depressed LAK cell activity in patients with mycosis fungoides may serve as an indicator of a more aggressive disease state.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Biochemical characterization of human vascular endothelial cell-monocyte antigens defined by monoclonal antibodies.

Although the clinical relevance of endothelial cell-monocyte (E-M) antigens has been demonstrated in organ graft transplantation, very limited data exist describing the nature of these antigens. The current study presents biochemical characterization of three different surface antigens of endothelial cells and monocytes that are defined by murine monoclonals produced against gamma-interferon-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The antigens gp150, gp48, and gp24 have molecular weights of 150,000, 48,000, and 24,000, respectively, under reducing conditions. The antibody binding sites of gp150 and gp48 are destroyed by pronase and chymotrypsin, indicating that the molecules are at least partly protein in nature. The inability to label the gp48 molecule with 125I using lactoperoxidase suggests that there is little protein structure exposed to the cell surface or that the molecule lacks sufficient cell surface tyrosine residues to enable detection. Immunoprecipitation of the gp24 molecule under nonreducing conditions shows that a molecule with a higher molecular weight ranging from 40,000-70,000 is detected. Although it is possible that this higher-molecular-weight species is a multimer of the 24,000 Mr species, it is also possible that there is another molecule(s) bound to the 24,000 Mr molecule. All three E-M antigens have some carbohydrate nature as evidenced by lectin-binding studies. The possible relevance of these antigens in the rejection of transplanted organ grafts is discussed.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1988

Integration of student development theory into the academic classroom.

This paper demonstrates how collaboration among student development educators and university instructors can utilize the content of academic courses to facilitate personal development in adolescent college students. Through an application of Chickering's (1969) seven vectors of human development (which occur during adolescence and early adulthood), this objective was accomplished in a course entitled Drinking and Driving: Legal and Social Aspects. Essay exams were analyzed for self-reported anecdotal behavioral examples of developmental growth attributable to participation in this course. Analysis of the results indicated that the class content had a definite developmental impact on the students, in addition to intellectual growth. By helping academic educators recognize that within their course content and structure they can and do affect adolescents on many developmental dimensions, the end result can be a richer, holistic educational experience for students.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Constraints on awareness, attention, processing, and memory: some recent investigations with ignored speech.

We discuss potential benefits of research in which attention is directed toward or away from a spoken channel and measures of the allocation of attention are used. This type of research is relevant to at least two basic, still-unresolved issues in cognitive psychology: (a) the extent to which unattended information is processed and (b) the extent to which unattended information that is processed can later be remembered. Four recent studies of this type that address these questions in various ways (Cowan, Lichty, & Grove, 1990; Wood & Cowan, 1995a,b; Wood, Stadler & Cowan, in press) are reviewed as illustrations. We conclude from these studies that (a) unattended information appears to be partially processed automatically, though attention enhances the processing considerably, and (b) the unattended information that is processed may not be retrievable in direct or many indirect memory tasks, though it remains possible that there is an automatically stored memory trace (e.g., one that could produce semantic priming).

Attention↗