The development of linguistic stimuli for the Swedish Situated Phoneme test

The speech perception ability of people with hearing loss can be efficiently measured using phonemic-level scoring. We aimed to develop linguistic stimuli suitable for a closed-set phonemic discrimination test in the Swedish language called the Situated Phoneme (SiP) test. The SiP test stimuli that we developed consisted of real monosyllabic words with minimal phonemic contrast, realised by phonetically similar phones. The lexical and sublexical factors of word frequency, phonological neighbourhood density, phonotactic probability, and orthographic transparency were similar between all contrasting words. Each test word was recorded five times by two different speakers, including one male and one female. The accuracy of the test-word recordings was evaluated by 28 normal-hearing subjects in a listening experiment with a silent background using a closed-set design. With a few exceptions, all test words could be correctly discriminated. We discuss the results in terms of content- and construct-validity implications for the Swedish SiP test.

Basic and complex cognitive functions in Adult ADHD

Background Many clinical studies reported deficits in basic and complex cognitive functions in adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, the extent in which deficits in basic functions (i.e., processing speed and distractibility) contribute to complex cognitive impairments (i.e., working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, memory functions) in adults with ADHD is not well-studied. So far, literature show only one study, revealing that basic functions explain 27–74% of executive dysfunctions. Yet, the authors reported that findings could be affected by the selection of neuropsychological tests. The goal of the present research is to replicate such a finding using a different sample and a different set of neuropsychological tests. Methods Forty-eight adult patients with ADHD were compared with 48 healthy controls in basic cognitive functions, namely processing speed and distractibility and more complex cognitive functions, namely selective attention, cognitive flexibility, planning, working memory, verbal fluency, and verbal memory. Basic and complex cognitive functions were assessed using the Vigilance and Sustained Attention, Selective Attention, N-Back, Tower of London, Trail Making Test, Word Fluency, and Verbal Learning and Memory. Results and conclusion Logistic regression analyses showed that impairments in complex cognitive functions explained 25% of the variance in ADHD diagnosis. The explained variance dropped from 25% to 9% after considering basic functions of processing speed and distractibility. This 64% reduction highlights the importance of basic functions for impairments in complex functions in patients with ADHD.

A-176 Undercover Performance Validity Testing: Proposed Embedded Validity Indicators for Pediatric Neuropsychological Assessment

Objective Literature supports the use of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Trail Making Test Conditions 4/2 ratio (TMT 4/2) and Stroop Color Word Test Word Reading (WR) as embedded validity indicators (EVIs) with adults (Erdodi et al., 2018; Guise et al., 2012) and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, 2nd Edition Matrix Reasoning (MR) as an EVI with children (Sussman et al., 2017). This study assessed the utility of these measures as EVIs in healthy children, compared to the Test of Memory Malingering Trial 1 (TOMM1 < 45; Perna & Loughan, 2013) and Reliable Digit Span (RDS). Method Participants (n = 99, 68.7% male, Mage = 11.9) completed baseline neuropsychological evaluations for sport participation, including the aforementioned measures. Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis was used to determine whether TMT 4/2, MR, and WR accurately categorized valid performance. Results TMT 4/2 yielded adequate sensitivity (0.83–1.00) but poor specificity (0.07–0.09) when predicting TOMM1 and RDS pass/fail performances. MR yielded adequate sensitivity (1.00) and specificity (0.92) when predicting RDS pass/fail performance and adequate specificity (0.92) and poor sensitivity (0.18) when predicting TOMM1 pass/fail performance. The only EVI that produced better than chance accuracy was MR when predicting RDS pass/fail performance (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.98). All participants failed the WR cutoff, suggesting poor specificity. Conclusion Results suggest that MR was the only EVI that achieved minimally acceptable specificity (≥0.90) in children. MR performed adequately when detecting valid performances but variably when detecting invalid performances; therefore, MR may be used alongside well-established performance validity tests with children but not independently.

A-91 Examining Symptoms of Depression in Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors Attention and Processing Speed Abilities

Objective We examined the effects of depression in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and healthy comparison (HC) adults attention/processing speed (APS) performance. Method The sample size consisted of 44 acute TBI (ATBI), 32 chronic TBI (CTBI), and 59 HC participants. The Symbol Digit Modalities Test Oral (SDMT-O) and written (SDMT-W), Stroop Color Word Test word (SCWT-W) and color (SCWT-C), and Trail Making Test part A (TMT-A) were used to evaluate APS. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to assess depression (HADS-D). Results ANCOVAs, controlling for age revealed the HC group outperformed both TBI groups on the SDMT-W and SCWT-C, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.08–0.24. We also found the CTBI group outperformed the ATBI group on the SDMT-W, p = 0.000, ηp2 = 0.24. Next, on the SDMT-O and TMT-A, the HC and CTBI groups outperformed the ATBI group, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.10–0.15. On the SCWT-W, the HC group outperformed the ATBI group, p = 0.004, ηp2 = 0.08. Additionally, on HADS-D, both TBI groups reported higher symptoms of depression compared to the HC group, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.09. Pearson correlations revealed that for the CTBI group HADS-D correlated with SDMT-W, R2 = -0.36, p = 0.043. Finally, for the HC group HADS-D correlated with SDMT-O, R2 = -0.38, p = 0.003, and SCWT-C, R2 = -0.26, p = 0.045. Conclusions Overall, the ATBI survivors underperformed on all APS tasks compared to the HC group. Furthermore, we found the CTBI group outperformed the ATBI group on several APS tasks. Our data suggests that depressive symptoms are related more to APS tasks in CTBI survivors and HC compared to ATBI survivors.

The Influence of the Type of Background Noise on Perceptual Learning of Speech in Noise

ObjectivesAuditory perceptual learning studies tend to focus on the nature of the target stimuli. However, features of the background noise can also have a significant impact on the amount of benefit that participants obtain from training. This study explores whether perceptual learning of speech in background babble noise generalizes to other, real-life environmental background noises (car and rain), and if the benefits are sustained over time.DesignNormal-hearing native English speakers were randomly assigned to a training (n = 12) or control group (n = 12). Both groups completed a pre- and post-test session in which they identified Bamford-Kowal-Bench (BKB) target words in babble, car, or rain noise. The training group completed speech-in-babble noise training on three consecutive days between the pre- and post-tests. A follow up session was conducted between 8 and 18 weeks after the post-test session (training group: n = 9; control group: n = 7).ResultsParticipants who received training had significantly higher post-test word identification accuracy than control participants for all three types of noise, although benefits were greatest for the babble noise condition and weaker for the car- and rain-noise conditions. Both training and control groups maintained their pre- to post-test improvement over a period of several weeks for speech in babble noise, but returned to pre-test accuracy for speech in car and rain noise.ConclusionThe findings show that training benefits can show some generalization from speech-in-babble noise to speech in other types of environmental noise. Both groups sustained their learning over a period of several weeks for speech-in-babble noise. As the control group received equal exposure to all three noise types, the sustained learning with babble noise, but not other noises, implies that a structural feature of babble noise was conducive to the sustained improvement. These findings emphasize the importance of considering the background noise as well as the target stimuli in auditory perceptual learning studies.

A hybrid of CNN and LSTM methods for securing web application against cross-site scripting attack

<span>Cross-site scripting (XSS) is today one of the biggest threatthat could targeting the Web application. Based on study published by the open web applications security project (OWASP), XSS vulnerability has been present among the TOP 10 Web application vulnerabilities.Still,an important security-related issue remains how to effectively protect web applications from XSS attacks.In first part of this paper, a method for detecting XSS attack was proposed by combining </span><span lang="EN-GB">convolutional</span><span> neural network (CNN) with long short term memories<strong> (</strong>LSTM), Initially, pre-processing was applied to XSS Data Set by decoding, generalization and tokanization, and then word2vec was applied to convert words into word vectors in XSS payloads. And then we use the combination CNN with LSTM to train and test word vectors to produce a model that can be used in a web application. Based on the obtaned results, it is observed that the proposed model achevied an excellent result with accuracy of 99.4%.</span>

STRUCTURE AND TYPOLOGY OF INTELLECTUAL-PERSONAL POTENTIAL OF EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL PENITENTIARY SERVICE OF RUSSIA AT THE INITIAL STAGE OF SERVICE ACTIVITIES

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the intellectual and personal potential of employees of the FPS of Russia who are at the initial stage of official activity in an educational organization. The study involved 275 employees of 4 specializations ("Penitentiary psychology", "Logistics in the penitentiary system", "organization of the regime in the penitentiary system", "Operational search activity"). To assess the intellectual and personal potential of employees of the FPS of Russia, the following methods were used: "Career orientation questionnaire" by E. Shane in adaptation by V.A. Chiker, V.E. Vinokurova "career Anchors";" Personal profile " by G. Eysenck (Eysenck Personality Profiler) in the adaptation of K. Sugonyaev; test "word Exclusion"; subtest "Numerical series" of the intelligence structure test by R. Amthauer in the adaptation of K. Sugonyaev; "Advanced progressive matrices" by J. Raven. The structure of the intellectual and personal potential of employees of the FPS of Russia includes the following factors: verbal intelligence, nonverbal intelligence, high-speed intellectual, aggressiveness-impulsivity, sociability-anxiety, autonomy, service-motivational. Employees of the FPS of Russia who are at the initial stage of official activity can be classified into separate personality types that differ in intellectual and personal potential: constructive, mediocre and unbalanced. After analyzing the average intellectual-personal potential of each of the three personality types according to objective performance criteria implementation, service and educational and professional activities, revealed the most favorable service activities of the FPS of Russia personality type.

Schibboleth

The word shibboleth appears in two poems of Celan’s: “Schibboleth” and “In eins.” Both poems seem to bring this word close to the semantic field of slogan, refusing it the meaning of test-word as phoneme, though a close reading of “In eins” reveals that the poem multiplies possible referents for this word within the poem, through and as multiple citations in multiple languages. The poem addresses itself to and declares itself for an international socialism, yet also holds itself open to a shibboleth-to-come. Shibboleth would be this exposed word, the breath-turn or Atemwende evoked in Celan’s Meridian, an in-eins (in-one) irreducible to identity.

Shibboleth

In the Book of Judges, the Gileadites use the word shibboleth to target and kill members of a closely related tribe, the Ephraimites, who cannot pronounce the initial shin phoneme. In modern European languages, shibboleth has come to mean a hard-to-falsify sign; it has also acquired the ancillary meanings of slogan or cliché. The word thus seems keyed to the waning of the logos in an era of technical reproducibility—to the proliferation of technologies and practices of encryption, decryption, exclusion and inclusion that saturate modern life. It is therefore useful to examine closely the inherited meaning of shibboleth as test-word. A relatively rare word, it figures powerfully at a crucial moment in William Faulkner’s Absalom! Absalom! and above all in poems by Paul Celan and in Jacques Derrida’s study of Celan. Subsequent chapters will read these texts carefully, together with the Biblical narrative.

S(h)ibboleth

The shibboleth test supplements ordinary discourse where the difference between self and other threatens to become illegible. It is performative in the radical sense of producing the difference between friend and enemy that opens the space of politics in Carl Schmitt’s sense and produces a target through which sovereign force can realize itself. As test-word, shibboleth has no semantic content; it tests a performance irreducible to cognition. Yet it must be iterable in Derrida’s sense. This allows it to become the concept of this kind of testing, yet also inscribes possible failure as the test’s condition of possibility. Hence the explosive aggressivity of the shibboleth story. For in fact the shibboleth test, despite being a technic of sovereign power, radically undermines sovereignty and identity.