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Biomedical subjects

B L Davis

Publications and source records attributed to B L Davis.

61 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Deriving speech from nonspeech: a view from ontogeny.

A comparison of babbling and early speech, word patterns of languages, and, in one instance, a protolanguage corpus, reveals three basic movement patterns: (1) a 'Frame' provided by the cycles of mandibular oscillation underlying the basic mouth close-open alternation of speech; this Frame appears in relatively 'pure' form in the tendency for labial consonants to co-occur with central vowels; (2) two other intracyclical consonant-vowel (CV) co-occurrence patterns sharing the alternation: coronal consonants with front vowels and dorsal consonants with back vowels; (3) an intercyclical tendency towards a labial consonant-vowel-coronal consonant (LC) sequence preference for word initiation. The first two patterns were derived from oral movement capabilities which predated speech. The Frame (1) may have evolved from ingestive cyclicities (e.g. chewing). The intracyclical consonant-vowel (CV) co-occurrence patterns involving tongue position constraints common to consonants and vowels (2) may result from the basic biomechanical property of inertia. The third pattern (LC) was a self-organizational result of pressures for interfacing cognition with action - a result which must have numerous analogs in other domains of movement organization.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Organization of babbling: a case study.

Speech is probably the most complex serially ordered behavior in living forms. However, no systematic investigation of the organization of speech-related output when it is presumably simplest, namely during the babbling stage, has been attempted. Transcriptions of 423 babbled utterances (1145 syllables) were obtained from one subject 7-12 months of age. Most results could be interpreted in terms of a basic mouth opening-closing alternation, responsible not only for the typical vowel-consonant alternation of babbling, but also for many prominent details including within-utterance variation in vowel height (often stress-related) and in degree of closure for consonants. The results suggest that a "frame" for babbling is provided by mandibular oscillation, perhaps reflected, when operating alone, in the common alternation between labial consonants and central vowels. Variation in the amplitude of this oscillation may be responsible for the within-utterance vowel height and consonant manner variation and much of the perceived stress variation. Further variation is attributed to fronting movements of the tongue, the effects of which often spread beyond single vowels and consonants.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Community health indicators predicting adolescent academic achievement.

Throughout the literature investigating adolescent academic achievement, little or no attention has been focused on indicators of community health as factors that share variance with academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to conduct exploratory analyses using indicators of community health to investigate adolescent academic achievement. This study employed hierarchical linear multiple regression to explain variations in adolescent academic achievement as measured by standardized tests for two different school years. The unit of analyses was the school district with the standardized test results of 8th grade students as academic achievement. The first model of the school district for school year 1997-98 accounted for almost 58% of the variance in adolescent academic achievement. This model was replicated on a different school year and it accounted for almost 63% of the variance in adolescent academic achievement. These strong models hold great promise for future investigations of adolescent academic achievement using indicators of community health and other community contextual variables.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Student upward mobility: utilization of an educational support model.

Hampton University School of Nursing was funded by the Teagle Foundation in 1990 for four years and later expanded for an additional year to develop, implement and evaluate an innovative Individualized Educational Support Model for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) residing in Southeastern Virginia. Project staff assigned the Teagle Initiative developed a model program for LPNs seeking the Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. The Teagle model offers opportunities for advanced placement through National League for Nursing Mobility Examinations, CLEP, ACT-PEP, and challenge examinations; tutoring by faculty and peers; counseling by project staff for academic and financial aid, and other concerns as needed; socialization with other project students and generic students; monthly stipends to assist with additional expenses incurred when the adult student returns to school and an alternative admissions criteria for the LPN who may not meet all aspects of the Hampton University admissions criteria.

Career Mobility↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Increasing retention rates of disadvantaged students through a faculty development program.

Efforts to recruit disadvantaged students have been increasing over the past three decades. How to retain those students once they have been recruited remains a critical issue for faculty. The authors include a Faculty Development Model presently being implemented at an inner city community college to increase faculty's expertise in enhancing the skills and abilities of students from diverse backgrounds with an emphasis on the disadvantaged student.

Black or African American↗