Extended delayed recall of AVLT word lists: Effects of age and sex on adult performance

An extension of a previous study of age and sex effects on verbal recall (Geffen, Moar, O'Hanlon, lark, & Geffen, 1990) examined forgetting of words over extended delays. The AVLT was administered to 201 normal adults (99 males, 102 females) ranging in age between 20 and 59 years. Recall was tested at intervals of 30 minutes, 24 hours, and 7 days after acquisition. Testing of the latter two intervals was conducted by telephone (Experiment 1, N = 177). After 30 minutes there was no significant loss of the 10 to 11 words retained from five acquisition trials. However, an overall mean of about one word was forgotten after 1 day and a further word after 7 days. The oldest age group (50-59 years) acquired fewer words and forgot more words than the younger groups. Females of all age groups performed slightly better than males at acquisition, at retention, and at recall after longer delays. A second experiment showed that telephone testing at the longer delay intervals was equivalent to testing face to face. These results extend the use of the AVLT by assessing memory decay beyond the immediate testing period. Telephone follow-up is a convenient and economical method of testing delayed recall.

The nurse lecturer role in clinical practice conceptualized: helping clinical teachers provide optimal student learning

Despite the fairly wide reporting in the literature of the ma ny roles of clinical supervision by the nursing teacher, little attention has been given to conceptualizing the relative priorities these roles take during the process of supervising nursing students in clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to consider the manifestations and implications of conflicting roles when nurse lecturers undertake clinical supervision. Previously published research will provide working examples of issues in a conceptual framework for clinical teaching.

Work domain analysis for training-system definition and acquisition

Training-needs analysis is critical for defining and procuring effective training systems. However, traditional approaches to training-needs analysis are not suitable for capturing the demands of highly automated and computerized work domains. In this article, we propose that work domain analysis can identify the functional structure of a work domain that must be captured in a training system, so that workers can be trained to deal with unpredictable contingencies that cannot be handled by computer systems. To illustrate this argument, we outline a work domain analysis of a fighter aircraft that defines its functional structure in terms of its training objectives, measures of performance, basic training functions, physical functionality, and physical context. The functional structure or training needs identified by work domain analysis can then be used as a basis for developing functional specifications for training systems, specifically its design objectives, data collection capabilities, scenario generation capabilities, physical functionality, and physical attributes. Finally, work domain analysis also provides a useful framework for evaluating whether a tendered solution fulfills the training needs of a work domain.

The clinical utility of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test as a screening test for mild dementia

Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT) could be used as a valid and reliable screening test for mild dementia in older people, and to compare its performance to that of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Method. Using a cross-sectional design, we studied three groups of older subjects recruited from a district geriatric psychiatry service: (1) 26 patients with DSM-IV dementia and MMSE scores of 18 or better; (2) 15 patients with psychiatric diagnoses other than dementia; and (3) 15 normal controls. The relationship of each potential cutting point on the HVLT and the MMSE was examined against the independently ascertained DSM-IV diagnoses of dementia using a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results. The subjects consisted of 21 (37.5%) males and 35 (62.5%) females with a mean age of 74.7 (SD 6.1) years and a mean of 8.5 (SD 1.8) years of formal education. ROC analysis indicated that the optimal cutting point for detecting mild dementia in this group of subjects using the HVLT was 18/19 (sensitivity = 0.96, specificity = 0.80) and using the MMSE was 25/26 (sensitivity = 0.88, specificity = 0.93). Conclusions. The HVLT can be recommended as a valid and reliable screening test for mild dementia and as an adjunct in the clinical assessment of older people. The HVLT had better sensitivity than the MMSE in detecting patients with mild dementia, whereas the MMSE had better specificity. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A randomized trial of a problem-based learning approach for teaching epidemiology

Purpose. To conduct a controlled trial of traditional and problem-based learning (PBL) methods of teaching epidemiology. Method. All second-year medical students (n = 136) at The University of Western Australia Medical School were offered the chance to participate in a randomized controlled trial of teaching methods fur an epidemiology course. Students who consented to participate (n = 80) were randomly assigned to either a PBL or a traditional course. Students who did not consent or did not return the consent form (n = 56) were assigned to the traditional course, Students in both streams took identical quizzes and exams. These scores, a collection of semi-quantitative feedback from all students, and a qualitative analysis of interviews with a convenience sample of six students from each stream were compared. Results. There was no significant difference in performances on quizzes or exams between PBL and traditional students. Students using PBL reported a stronger grasp of epidemiologic principles, enjoyed working with a group, and, at the end of the course, were more enthusiastic about epidemiology and its professional relevance to them than were students in the traditional course. PBL students worked more steadily during the semester but spent only marginally more time on the epidemiology course overall. Interviews corroborated these findings. Non-consenting students were older (p < 0.02) and more likely to come from non-English-speaking backgrounds (p < 0.005). Conclusions. PBL provides an academically equivalent but personally far richer learning experience. The adoption of PBL approaches to medical education makes it important to study whether PBL presents particular challenges for students whose first language is not the language of instruction.