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S A Duffy

Publications and source records attributed to S A Duffy.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Sentence and text comprehension: roles of linguistic structure.

Readers and listeners use linguistic structure in comprehending sentences and texts. We review research, mostly published in the past five years, that addresses the question of how they use it. We consider effects of syntactic, lexical, prosodic, morphological, semantic, and discourse structure, as well as reviewing research on how discourse context and frequency of experience, the contents of long-term memory, and the mental models being constructed by a reader or listener affect sentence and text comprehension. We point out areas of theoretical debate including depth-first versus breadth-first models of parsing and memory-based versus constructionist models of discourse comprehension, attempt to show how the empirical effects we review bear on such theoretical questions, and discuss how new lines of research, including research on languages other than English, may enrich the discussion of these questions.

Cognition↗
PubMed2001

Global context effects on processing lexically ambiguous words: evidence from eye fixations.

Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read biased ambiguous target words in the context of a short paragraph. Two aspects of context were manipulated. The global context was presented in the topic sentence of the paragraph and instantiated either the dominant or the subordinate meaning of biased ambiguous target words (those with highly dominant meanings). Local contextual information either preceded or followed the target word and was always consistent with the subordinate interpretation. Consistent with prior research, we obtained a subordinate bias effect wherein readers looked longer at the ambiguous words than control words when the preceding context instantiated the subordinate meaning. More importantly, the magnitude of the subordinate bias effect was the same when global context alone, local context alone, or local and global context combined were consistent with the subordinate meaning of the ambiguous word. The results of this study indicate that global contextual information (1) has an immediate impact on lexical ambiguity resolution when no local disambiguating information is available, (2) has no additional effect when it is consistent with local information, but (3) does have a slightly delayed effect when inconsistent with local information.

Cognition↗
PubMed2000

Cartoon characters as tobacco warning labels.

BACKGROUND: Multiple studies have indicated that the Joe Camel advertising campaign has been successful in marketing tobacco to children and adolescents, whereas other studies have reported that current tobacco warning messages are ineffective. OBJECTIVE: To determine the importance and believability of familiar and novel tobacco warning messages with and without cartoons that were modeled after Joe Camel. DESIGN: Children and adolescents (N = 580) in Chicago, Ill, public schools were surveyed to determine the believability and importance of 3 cartoon tobacco warnings modeled after Joe Camel developed with the messages "Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy" or "Smoking Kills" and the same 2 messages without cartoons. RESULTS: Respondents rated all 3 cartoons significantly more believable than the plain condition regardless of the message (P<.05). Furthermore, respondents rated the "Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy" warning significantly more believable and important than the "Smoking Kills" message across all 4 cartoon conditions (walrus, penguin, bear, and no cartoon) (P<.01). Selected demographic groups found particular cartoon and warning messages more believable and/or important than others. CONCLUSIONS: The finding that cartoon tobacco warnings are more believable than plain warnings suggests that it may be desirable to include cartoons in future tobacco warning labels. The lower ratings of believability and importance of the "Smoking Kills" warning is a concern because similar warnings have recently been implemented in at least 2 countries (Australia and Canada) and have been considered for implementation in the United States. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154:1230-1236.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

The effect of clause wrap-up on eye movements during reading.

The effect of clause wrap-up on eye movements in reading was examined. Readers read passages in which a target category noun referred to either a high typical or a low typical antecedent. In addition, the category noun was either clause final or non-clause final. There were four primary results: (1) Readers looked longer at a category noun when its antecedent was a low typical member of the category than when it was a high typical member; (2) readers looked longer at the category noun and at the post-category region when they were clause final than when they were not clause final; (3) readers regressed from a category noun or post-category region more frequently when it was clause final than when it was not clause final; and (4) readers made longer initial saccades when their eyes left the category noun or post-category region when this word was in clause final position than when it was not clause final. The last result suggests that sometimes higher order processes that are related to making a decision about when to move the eyes impinge on lower level decisions that are typically associated with deciding where to move the eyes.

Attention↗
PubMed2000

Racial variations in end-of-life care.

OBJECTIVES: To identify differences in advanced care planning and end-of-life decision-making between whites and blacks aged 70 and older. DESIGN: The Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study is a nationally representative survey of adults who were aged 70 and older in 1993. Relatives (proxy respondents) for 540 persons who died between the first (1993) and second (1995) waves of the study were surveyed about advanced care planning and end-of-life decisions that were made for their family member who died. SETTING: Respondents were interviewed at home by telephone (n = 444) or in person (n = 95). PARTICIPANTS: The 540 proxy respondents included 454 whites and 86 blacks. MEASUREMENTS: Questions were asked about advance care planning and end-of-life decisions. RESULTS: Whites were significantly more likely than blacks to discuss treatment preferences before death (P = .002), to complete a living will (P = .001), and to designate a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (DPAHC) (P = .032). The treatment decisions for whites were more likely to involve limiting care in certain situations (P = .007) and withholding treatment before death (P = .034). In contrast, the treatment decisions for blacks were more likely to be based on the desire to provide all care possible in order to prolong life (P = .013). Logistic regression models revealed that race continued to be a significant predictor of advance care planning and treatment decisions even after controlling for sociodemographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that there are important differences between blacks and whites regarding advanced care planning and end-of-life decision-making. Health professionals need to understand the diverse array of end-of-life preferences among various racial and ethnic groups and to develop greater awareness and sensitivity to these preferences when helping patients with end-of-life decision-making.

Advance Care Planning↗
PubMed2000

The framing of drivers' route choices when travel time information is provided under varying degrees of cognitive load.

In two experiments, participants chose between staying on a main route with a certain travel time and diverting to an alternative route that could take a range of travel times. In the first experiment, travel time information was displayed on a sheet of paper to participants seated at a desk. In the second experiment, the same information was displayed in a virtual environment through which participants drove. Overall, participants were risk-averse when the average travel time along the alternative route was shorter than the certain travel time of the main route but risk-seeking when the average travel time of the alternative route was longer than the certain travel time along the main route. In the second experiment, in which cognitive load was higher, participants simplified their decision-making strategies. A simple probabilistic model describes the risk-taking behavior and the load effects. Actual or potential applications of this research include the development of efficient travel time information systems for drivers.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Contextual strength and the subordinate bias effect: comment on Martin, Vu, Kellas, and Metcalf.

Martin, Vu, Kellas, and Metcalf (this issue) claim to have demonstrated that the subordinate bias effect (when preceding context instantiates the subordinate meaning of an ambiguous word that has a highly dominant meaning, reading time on that word is lengthened) can be eliminated by strong context. They argue that this provides evidence critical to discriminating between competing models of lexical ambiguity resolution: the reordered access model (in which access of meanings for an ambiguous word is exhaustive but in which the order of access is influenced by prior disambiguating context) and the context-sensitive model (in which access is selective in the presence of prior disambiguating information). We argue that there are methodological problems with their demonstration, but even if there were not, it is unclear that the subordinate bias effect is appropriate for discriminating between competing models of lexical ambiguity resolution (the reordered access model and the context-sensitive model). The effect is an empirical finding and not a fundamental tenet of the reordered access model.

Humans↗
PubMed1994

Community baby shower as a transcultural nursing intervention.

A community assessment was conducted by nursing students to determine the educational needs of Native American women whose infants were at risk for infant mortality. As a result, a culturally based community baby shower was provided for the women and their infants which incorporated health education. Games, prizes, and lunch were provided for the mothers upon completion of educational newborn care, immunizations, and infant safety learning activities. The intervention project based upon maintaining a Native American cultural theme was used with cake, favors, prizes, invitations, and advertisements. In addition, a recognized Native American spiritual leader was invited to begin the shower with a traditional blessing. Multiple community resources such as businesses, stores (including drug), churches, hospitals, a local nursing home, and several private individuals also contributed time, money, and baby care items for the shower. From the advertising, many women expressed interest in attending the baby shower than could be accommodated. Press releases provided exposure for the school of nursing, contributors, participants, and many members of the Native American community. A pre- and post-test survey indicated that by the end of the baby shower, all 10 key native American women participants were able to demonstrate the use of the information taught by the nursing students. The baby shower enhanced the Native American mothers' self confidence and provided them with culturally sensitive care. The welcoming atmosphere created by the students for the Native Americans was also important to the success of the project.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Semantic facilitation of lexical access during sentence processing.

In three experiments we investigated the effect of a sentence context on naming time for a target word. Contexts were presented by using a rapid serial visual presentation; subjects named the last word of the sentence. In the first two experiments, facilitation was observed for a fully congruent context containing a subject and verb that were weakly related to the target word. No facilitation was observed when either the subject or verb was replaced with a more neutral word. In the third experiment, the fully congruent contexts were modified either to preserve or to disrupt the original relation between the subject and verb. Facilitation was observed in both conditions. The full pattern of results suggests that a combination of lexical items can prime a target word in the absence of priming by any of the lexical items individually. This combination priming is not dependent upon the overall meaning of the sentence.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Educational needs of community health nursing supervisors.

Recent legislative trends toward early hospital dismissal and cost containment have shifted the setting for health care from the hospital to the home. Consequently, community health nursing supervisors are becoming increasingly responsible both for coordinating care for sicker clients with fewer available resources, and for guiding staff nurses who provide high-tech nursing skills in the home. This has resulted in new educational needs for these supervisors. To determine their educational needs and the barriers to implementing their roles, 160 community health nursing supervisors employed by community health nursing agencies in Michigan were surveyed. They reported educational needs related to labor relations, reimbursement procedures, fiscal management, marketing, and computer systems. Several types of educational experiences were found to influence their abilities to handle supervisory responsibilities, including enrollment in an educational program, highest level of education, and selected content areas taught in their formal educational programs. Nursing implications include using the research results to develop educational programs to meet the needs of community health nursing supervisors. Those who are adequately prepared educationally will be better able to provide effective supervision of staff nurses and ultimately, coordinate high-level client home care.

Community Health Nursing↗
PubMed1989

Minimizing the time to search visual displays: the role of highlighting.

Office computer users frequently need to search long lists of options for a particular target. Highlighting a subset of the options can shorten the average display search time. The goal of the current research was to identify the subset of options to highlight that minimizes users' average search time for any given display. To begin, a mathematical model of the visual search process was constructed which could be used to predict the average search time for a target in a display with or without highlighted options. The predictions of this model were then compared with the results of a visual search experiment that varied the type of highlighting (blocked, random, or no highlighting), the number of highlighted options, and the probability that a target was highlighted. Overall the predictions of the model were consistent with the results from the experiment. Finally, procedures based on the model were developed which could be used to find the optimal subset of options to highlight for a given display--that is, the subset of highlighted options that minimizes users' search times.

Computers↗
PubMed1988

Understanding the central processing limit in consistent-mapping visual search tasks.

Effects of load (i.e., the number of stimuli in the display) have been observed in multiple-frame studies using a consistent mapping of stimuli to responses (e.g., Fisher, 1982, 1984). In a series of four experiments, it is shown that these effects are not the consequence of differences across the high- and low-load conditions in either decision noise or peripheral masking. Additionally, it is shown that of two modes of limited capacity (a limited-channel and divided-capacity model) considered as possible explanations of load effects in tasks where subjects are required to locate a target, only one--the limited-channel model--is consistent with the results from all three location tasks. Finally, it is argued that the limited-channel model predicts not only the behavior observed in the four consistent-mapping experiments reported in this article but also the behavior observed in several related consistent-mapping tasks (Kleiss & Lane, 1986; Shiffrin & Gardner, 1972).

Attention↗
PubMed1986

Role of expectations in sentence integration.

Three experiments examined the role of causal expectations in sentence integration. Subjects read narratives that did or did not elicit strong expectations about upcoming events (high-expectation vs. low-expectation texts). Subjects were faster to judge a target sentence to be unrelated when it followed a high-expectation text than when it followed a low-expectation text. Subjects were slower to read an unimportant, expectation-violating sentence embedded in a high-expectation text. Subjects were faster both to read and to judge an expectation-fulfilling target sentence when it followed a high-expectation text. Three models of the generation and use of expectations are considered. The results support a model in which expectations are generated selectively. Once generated, expectations become the focus of upcoming sentence integration processes such that correct expectations help and incorrect expectations interfere. A third experiment found no evidence that expectations took the form of highly specific predictions.

Emotions↗
PubMed1986

Anaphoric inference during reading.

Three experiments provide evidence that an anaphoric noun phrase reinstates its antecedent in the course of comprehension. Subjects read a series of texts each containing a target item. Immediately after the last line of each text, the item was probed using a recognition task in Experiment 1 and a naming task in Experiment 2. Subjects were faster to respond to the item when the last line contained an anaphoric reference to it than when the last line referred to a different item from the text. Additional control conditions ensured that the effect was not due to semantic priming and that the probed item was not in working memory when the last line was encountered. A third experiment suggested that previous evidence for reinstatement reflected interference from a change of topic in the last line rather than facilitation due to reinstatement of the probed item.

Cognition↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Eye movements and anaphor resolution: effects of antecedent typicality and distance.

The coordination of the eye movement control system with comprehension processes was studied. Eye movements were monitored while subjects read paragraphs containing an anaphoric noun phrase. In Experiment 1, fixations on the anaphoric noun were shorter when its antecedent was close and typical of the noun category than when it was distant and/or atypical. Subjects took longer reading the words following the anaphoric noun when the antecedent was atypical than when it was typical. In Experiment 2, distance of antecedent affected anaphor fixation times for category name anaphors but not for general noun anaphors (e.g., "object"). The results suggest that the eyes do not wait for the completion of anaphor resolution processes. Rather, these processes are completed after the eyes have left the anaphoric noun. The different patterns of effects on the anaphors themselves and the post-anaphor region were interpreted to reflect two different stages in anaphor resolution.

Eye Movements↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comprehension of synthetic speech produced by rule: a review and theoretical interpretation.

In this paper, we review research on the perception and comprehension of synthetic speech produced by rule. We discuss the difficulties that synthetic speech causes for the listener and the evidence that the immediate result of those difficulties is a delay in the point at which words are recognized. We then argue that this delay in processing affects not only lexical access but also comprehension processes. We consider the mechanisms by which the comprehension system adjusts to this delay, the resulting costs to higher level comprehension processes, and the changes that occur in the language processing system as its familiarity with synthetic speech increases. Based on the framework we have developed, we suggest several directions for future research on the comprehension of synthetic speech.

Female↗