Biomedical subjects

Timothy R Jordan

Publications and source records attributed to Timothy R Jordan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Obstetricians and gynecologists' perceptions and use of nicotine replacement therapy.

The objective of this study was to assess Ohio obstetricians/ gynecologists' perceptions and use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with pregnant smokers. A three-wave mailing procedure was used and 154 responded (44%) to a valid and reliable 36-item questionnaire regarding: Stage of Change in using NRT, perceptions of prescribing NRT, confidence in using NRT, barriers to prescribing NRT, and use of 5 A's counseling steps. One-fourth (26%) prescribed NRT to pregnant smokers. One-third (32%) perceived NRT as safe, yet few (14%) perceived it as effective. Respondents were most likely to prescribe NRT if the patient requested it (44%). Those most likely to prescribe NRT were more likely to: perceive use of NRT in pregnancy as safe (OR = 20.0); perceive NRT as effective in pregnancy (OR = 4.3); have high confidence in their ability to effectively prescribe NRT (OR = 3.86); and believed most or some of their colleagues prescribed NRT to pregnant smokers (OR = 6.7). The majority did not prescribe NRT possibly because few respondents received cigarette smoking cessation training in medical school or their residencies. Significant revisions in professional training and more continuing medical education are needed regarding smoking cessation and use of NRT.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Parents' perceptions of the role of schools in tobacco use prevention and cessation for youth.

The purpose of this study was to examine Ohio parents' perceptions of the role of schools in smoking prevention, cessation, and anti-tobacco policy for their children. A 46-item questionnaire was based on the CDC Guidelines for School Health Programs to Prevent Tobacco Use and Addiction. Surveys (n = 800) were sent to a stratified random sample of parents of junior high and high school aged students and 57% responded. Parents were supportive of smoking prevention activities, but almost two-thirds believed their child's school should get parents' input. Furthermore, mothers/step-mothers were more likely than fathers/step-fathers to agree that the school had a role in smoking prevention activities. The majority of parents were also supportive of smoking cessation activities. However, only 8% of parent respondents supported schools providing nicotine gum or patches to students trying to quit smoking. Overall, the majority of parents were supportive of the seven recommendations developed by the CDC as guidelines for school health programs to prevent tobacco use and addiction. Schools have the opportunity to impact student smoking through prevention and cessation activities. Schools need to know that parents are supportive of these activities and want to be included in the process of implementing effective prevention or cessation programs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Best practices for smoking cessation in pregnancy: do obstetrician/gynecologists use them in practice?

OBJECTIVE: To assess Ohio obstetrician/gynecologists' perceptions and use of the 5As method of smoking cessation (ask, advise, assess, assist, and arrange) with pregnant patients who smoke. METHODS: A three-wave mailing procedure was used with a statewide random sample of obstetrician/ gynecologists who responded to a valid and reliable 31-item questionnaire. RESULTS: Regarding the 5As method of smoking cessation, almost all (98%) asked their pregnant patients about smoking, but fewer respondents engaged in advising (66%), assessing (42%), assisting (29%), and arranging for follow-up visits or referrals (6%). Higher efficacy expectations were associated with greater use of the 5As method (r = 0.52, p < 0.001). A majority believed that two cessation activities would result in smoking cessation in pregnant smokers: explaining the dangers of smoking (65%) and referring pregnant smokers to smoking cessation programs (57%). However, 26% of physicians reported that they were "slightly confident" or "not confident at all" in their ability to refer pregnant smokers to such programs, and 6% of physicians reported always providing smoking cessation referrals. A significant proportion of respondents believed that prenatal smoking would not cause severe effects for the unborn child but would likely lead to moderate (46%) or minor (3%) health effects. CONCLUSION: Obstetrician/gynecologists face many competing demands for their time and energy, yet 62% believed smoking cessation advice would be of significant value. Physicians with higher levels of efficacy expectations reported significantly greater use of the 5 As. Future research should explore ways to facilitate obstetrician/gynecologists' use of the 5As method.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2006

Effects of small monetary incentives on return rates of a health survey to adults in rural areas.

This study assessed differences in response rates to a mailed health survey by adults in two neighboring rural midwestern counties with differential incentives, of dollar 2.00 and dollar 5.00. Potential respondents in each county were randomly selected from a commercial database of residents' addresses. County "F" respondents (n = 541) which were 57% female and 95% Euro-American having a mean age of 47.3 yr. (SD= 16.9), received the dollar 5 incentive. County "H" respondents (n= 514) were 63% female, 95% Euro-American, had a mean age of 49.0 yr. (SD= 14.7), and received a S2 incentive. The response rates were 71% using the dollar 2 incentive and 73% using the dollar 5 incentive. These were not significantly different by chi-square test. The more cost-effective incentive for increasing the response rate of adults in this rural midwestern sample was to code the envelopes and use a dollar 2.00 rather than dollar 5.00 incentive, a cost per returned survey of dollar 5.24 versus dollar 9.13, respectively. The findings support Dillman's principle of diminishing returns as the size of the incentive goes up.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Assessing effects of fixation demands on perception of lateralized words: A visual window technique for studying hemispheric asymmetry.

A major concern when using lateralized words to study hemispheric asymmetry is that the retinal eccentricity of targets is matched across visual hemifields. The standard technique is to fixate a point fixed at the centre of the visual field. However, the demands of this fixation task are substantial and so may confound performance with lateralized targets. To investigate this possibility, words were presented unilaterally in each visual hemifield and retinal eccentricity was controlled using (a) a fixed central point or (b) a window technique that permitted small shifts in fixation while maintaining accurate retinal eccentricity by using automatic adjustments to target location. Fixation errors and time to fixate indicated that the demands of the standard technique were considerable and far greater than those of the window technique. Nevertheless, both techniques produced the same pattern of visual field effects, indicating that the demands of fixating a fixed central point do not confound performance with lateralized words. However, the window technique was more efficient and easier for participants to use and so offers a new improved methodology for studying hemispheric asymmetry.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Spatial frequency sensitivity differences between adults of good and poor reading ability.

PURPOSE: To determine whether normal adults of good and poor reading ability exhibit different patterns of sensitivity to spatial frequency, as previously found between dyslexic and nondyslexic control subjects. METHODS: The visual acuity, spatial frequency sensitivity, and reading ability of 96 normal, nondyslexic adults was assessed. Participants were ranked according to reading ability. The top 50% were classified as good readers and the bottom 50% as poor readers. RESULTS: Despite no differences in visual acuity, good and poor readers showed different patterns of spatial frequency sensitivity. In particular, compared with good readers, poor readers showed reduced sensitivity to spatial frequencies between 2 and 6 cyc/deg, and no differences in sensitivity were found at lower or higher spatial frequencies. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that spatial frequency sensitivity differences found previously between dyslexic and nondyslexic controls can extend to the normal (nondyslexic) adult population.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Assessing the role of different spatial frequencies in word perception by good and poor readers.

Numerous studies indicate that dyslexic and nondyslexic individuals exhibit different patterns of sensitivity to spatial frequency. However, the extension of this effect to normal (nondyslexic) adults of good and poor reading abilities and the role played by different spatial frequencies in word perception have yet to be determined. In this study, using normal (nondyslexic) adults, we assessed reading ability, spatial frequency sensitivity, and perception of spatially filtered words and nonwords (using a two-alternative forced choice paradigm to avoid artifactual influences of nonperceptual guesswork). Good and poor readers showed different patterns of spatial frequency sensitivity. However, no differences in accuracy of word and nonword perception were found between good and poor readers, despite their differences in spatial frequency sensitivity. Indeed, both reading abilities showed the same superior perceptibility for spatially filtered words over nonwords across different spatial frequency bands. These findings indicate that spatial frequency sensitivity differences extend to normal (nondyslexic) adult readers and that a range of spatial frequencies can be used for word perception by good and poor readers. However, spatial frequency sensitivity may not accurately reveal an individual's ability to perceive words.

Humans↗

PubMed2005

Adolescent exposure to and perceptions of environmental tobacco smoke.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) poses an underappreciated risk to adolescent health. This study examined perceptions of adolescents (n = 574) regarding ETS. About one half (54%) were exposed to ETS the previous week, and one third (30%) were exposed to 3 or more hours of ETS the past week. Concurrently, 29% believed that breathing someone else's cigarette smoke had little or no effect on their health. Most adolescents (56%) believed that smoking should not be allowed in restaurants without bars but were less supportive of prohibiting smoking in restaurants with bars (20%) or in bars (14%). Two thirds (69%) of adolescents believed that the government should be involved in making laws that protect the health of people who work in bars and restaurants. Almost one half (49%) believed that the government should be involved in passing laws that make it illegal for people to smoke in public places. Odds ratios revealed that females, nonwhites, younger students, nonsmoking students, and students who believed that ETS exposure had a moderate or major effect on health were statistically significantly more likely to support clean indoor air ordinances in select locations compared to males, whites, older students, students who smoke, and students who perceived that ETS exposure has little to no effect on health.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Perception of words and non-words in the upper and lower visual fields.

The findings of previous investigations into word perception in the upper and the lower visual field (VF) are variable and may have incurred non-perceptual biases caused by the asymmetric distribution of information within a word, an advantage for saccadic eye-movements to targets in the upper VF and the possibility that stimuli were not projected to the correct retinal locations. The present study used the Reicher-Wheeler task and an eye-tracker to show that, using stringent methodology, a right over left VF advantage is observed for word recognition, but that no differences were found between the upper and the lower VF for either word or non-word recognition. The results are discussed in terms of the neuroanatomy and perceptual abilities of the upper and the lower VF and implications for other studies of letter-string perception in the upper and the lower VF are presented.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2004

What do lateralized displays tell us about visual word perception? A cautionary indication from the word-letter effect.

A common assumption underlying laterality research is that visual field asymmetries in lateralized word perception indicate the hemispheric specialisation of processes generally available for the perception of words, including words viewed in a more typical setting (i.e. in the central visual field). We tested the validity of this assumption using a phenomenon (the word-letter effect) frequently reported for displays viewed in the central visual field, where letters in words are perceived more accurately than the same letters in isolation. Words and isolated letters were presented in the left visual field (LVF), right visual field (RVF) and central visual field (CVF), the Reicher-Wheeler task was used to suppress influences of guesswork, and an eye-tracker ensured central fixation. In line with previous findings, lateralized displays revealed a RVF-LVF advantage for words (but not isolated letters) and CVF displays revealed an advantage for words over isolated letters (the word-letter effect). However, RVF and LVF displays both produced an advantage for isolated letters over words (a letter-word effect), indicating that processing subserving the advantage for words when participants viewed stimuli in the central visual field was unavailable for lateralized displays. Implications of these findings for studies of lateralized word perception are discussed.

Attention↗

PubMed2004

Contributions of oral and extraoral facial movement to visual and audiovisual speech perception.

Seeing a talker's face influences auditory speech recognition, but the visible input essential for this influence has yet to be established. Using a new seamless editing technique, the authors examined effects of restricting visible movement to oral or extraoral areas of a talking face. In Experiment 1, visual speech identification and visual influences on identifying auditory speech were compared across displays in which the whole face moved, the oral area moved, or the extraoral area moved. Visual speech influences on auditory speech recognition were substantial and unchanging across whole-face and oral-movement displays. However, extraoral movement also influenced identification of visual and audiovisual speech. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that these results are dependent on intact and upright facial contexts, but only with extraoral movement displays.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Implementing communication between Windows PCs and test equipment using RS-232 and Borland C++ Builder.

Modern experiments in the behavioral sciences frequently employ several items of electronic equipment such as computers, monitoring devices, stimulus presentation equipment, and response collection systems. In many cases it would be advantageous for these items to communicate directly with each other. Such communication may facilitate greater automation of experiments (i.e., reduced experimenter influences during the experiment), more precise experiment control (i.e., superior timing and synchronization capabilities of electronic devices), and greater accuracy of data collection (i.e., reduced ambiguity of participant responses). Many electronic experiment devices already provide external interfaces through which communication with other devices can be implemented. The most common is based on the RS-232 protocol, which is also found in all standard PCs. Therefore, Microsoft Windows based computers can be programmed to control experiments by communicating directly with electronic experiment devices. We show how to implement this RS-232 interconnection between devices and a Windows PC using currently available software tools.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed2003

Effects of form familiarity on perception of words, pseudowords, and nonwords in the two cerebral hemispheres.

Previous investigations of hemispheric processes of word perception provide a mixed picture of the sensitivity of each hemisphere to the familiarity of the visual form of lateralized displays. We investigated this issue by presenting words, pseudowords, and nonwords briefly to either the left (LH) or right (RH) hemisphere in lowercase, uppercase, and a matched, unfamiliar mixed-case form, and used an eye tracker to ensure central fixation and the Reicher-Wheeler task to suppress influences of stimulus asymmetry. Familiarity of form exerted a substantial effect on perception. In particular, perception of LH and RH displays of words, pseudowords, and nonwords was least accurate for mixed case, intermediate for upper case, and most accurate for lowercase. However, form had no effect on the LH advantage observed for words, pseudowords, and nonwords, indicating that form affected processing in both hemispheres to a similar extent. Moreover, LH and RH displays both showed that mixed case disrupted performance most for words, and more for pseudowords than for nonwords, indicating the sensitivity to form shown by each hemisphere reflected more than a general perceptual process. Implications for the role of form familiarity in hemispheric processing of words are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Assessing effects of stimulus orientation on perception of lateralized words and nonwords.

Numerous studies of the processes of visual word recognition in the left and right cerebral hemispheres have attempted to control for confounding differences in the retinal placement (and hence visual acuity) of the beginnings of words by re-orientating normally-horizontal words vertically. However, despite the popularity of this approach, little is known about the precise effects that vertically orientating normally-horizontal words exert on hemispheric processes of word recognition. In this study, we investigated perception of horizontal and vertical English words and nonwords in the left visual field (LVF) and right visual field (RVF). An eye-tracking device ensured central fixation and a 2AFC paradigm (Reicher-Wheeler task) suppressed influences of non-perceptual bias. Horizontal stimuli produced a strong right visual field advantage for words but not for nonwords, whereas, vertical stimuli produced no hemifield differences at all. Moreover, vertical stimuli produced an advantage for words over nonwords in both visual fields whereas horizontal stimuli produced this effect only in the right visual field. Implications of these findings for the sensitivity of processes of word perception to stimulus orientation in the two cerebral hemispheres are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Assessing the importance of letter pairs in initial, exterior, and interior positions in reading.

Exterior letter pairs (e.g., d--k in dark) play a major role in single-word recognition, but other research (D. Briihl & A. W. Inhoff, 1995) indicates no such role in reading text. This issue was examined by visually degrading letter pairs in three positions in words (initial, exterior, and interior) in text. Each degradation slowed reading rate compared with an undegraded control. However, whereas degrading initial and interior pairs slowed reading rate to a similar extent, degrading exterior pairs slowed reading rate most of all. Moreover, these effects were obtained when letter identities across pair positions varied naturally and when they were matched. The findings suggest that exterior letter pairs play a preferential role in reading, and candidates for this role are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Assessing the importance of letter pairs in reading-parafoveal processing is not the only view: reply to Inhoff, Radach, Eiter, and Skelly (2003).

D. Briihl and A. W. Inhoff (1995; see record 1995-20036-001) found that exterior letter pairs showed no privileged status in reading when letter pairs were presented as parafoveal primes. However, T. R. Jordan, S. M. Thomas, G. R. Patching, and K. C. Scott-Brown (2003; see record 2003-07955-013) used a paradigm that (a) allowed letter pairs to exert influence at any point in the reading process, (b) overcame problems with the stimulus manipulations used by Briihl and Inhoff (1995), and (c) revealed a privileged status for exterior letter pairs in reading. A. W. Inhoff, R. Radach, B. M. Eiter, and M. Skelly (2003; see record 2003-07955-014) made a number of claims about the Jordan, Thomas, et al. study, most of which focus on parafoveal processing. This article addresses these claims and points out that although studies that use parafoveal previews provide an important contribution, other techniques and paradigms are required to reveal the full role of letter pairs in reading.

Attention↗

PubMed2003

Perceptual interactions between bilaterally presented words: what you get is often not what you see.

Bilateral presentations of words, 1 in the left visual hemifield (LVF) and 1 in the right (RVF), are used widely in studies of hemispheric asymmetry. However, although words shown centrally (i.e., nonlaterally) produce perceptual interactions in which 1 word alters the perceived identity of the other, perceptual interactions between bilaterally presented words have never been reported. To investigate this issue, the authors used brief, bilateral displays of words (e.g., romp-ramp) presented simultaneously. An eye tracker and forced-choice task ensured appropriate presentation and testing. Report accuracy was greatest for RVF words. However, this was accompanied by perceptual interactions that occurred almost exclusively in responses to LVF words, indicating that RVF words often altered the perceived identity of LVF words but not vice versa.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The role of facial colour and luminance in visual and audiovisual speech perception.

We conducted four experiments to investigate the role of colour and luminance information in visual and audiovisual speech perception. In experiments 1a (stimuli presented in quiet conditions) and 1b (stimuli presented in auditory noise), face display types comprised naturalistic colour (NC), grey-scale (GS), and luminance inverted (LI) faces. In experiments 2a (quiet) and 2b (noise), face display types comprised NC, colour inverted (CI), LI, and colour and luminance inverted (CLI) faces. Six syllables and twenty-two words were used to produce auditory and visual speech stimuli. Auditory and visual signals were combined to produce congruent and incongruent audiovisual speech stimuli. Experiments 1a and 1b showed that perception of visual speech, and its influence on identifying the auditory components of congruent and incongruent audiovisual speech, was less for LI than for either NC or GS faces, which produced identical results. Experiments 2a and 2b showed that perception of visual speech, and influences on perception of incongruent auditory speech, was less for LI and CLI faces than for NC and CI faces (which produced identical patterns of performance). Our findings for NC and CI faces suggest that colour is not critical for perception of visual and audiovisual speech. The effect of luminance inversion on performance accuracy was relatively small (5%), which suggests that the luminance information preserved in LI faces is important for the processing of visual and audiovisual speech.

Acoustic Stimulation↗