Author Archives: Brian Hopkins

The location occupied by the first sound in a syllable . See Syllable-final position, Syllables

The location occupied by the last sound in a syllable . See Syllable-initial position, Syllables

The organization of speech sounds or movements into syllable units, such as CV (consonant + vowel).  See Phonotactics, Syllables

An extended selective engagement of a behavior system that primarily enhances information processing in that system, and similar in some respects to ‘vigilance’.  It shows dramatic developmental changes beginning at about 3 months and lasting through 18 months.  See Attention, Continuous performance task, Mesencephalic reticular activating system, Noradrenergic neurotransmiter system, Selective attention

A script in which the characters or letters represent syllables, rather than phonemes.  See Alphabetic writing systems, Kana scripts, Logographic writing systems, Phoneme. Syllables

Analysis of time to a given dichotomous outcome in one or more  groups. It is a type of regression analysis using the ‘time to first event’ as the outcome for instances when not all the individuals will have experienced any events. The most frequently employed type of survival is Cox’s regression analysis. It is used, …

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As used in clinical trials, it has been defined as a laboratory measurement or a physical sign used as a substitute for a clinically meaningful endpoint that measures directly how a patient feels, functions or survives.  Changes resulting from a therapy on a surrogate endpoint are expected to reflect those obtained in a clinically meaningful …

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Methodof significance testing when the distribution implied by the null hypothesis isnot clear.  The distribution must be generated by simulating data thatfollows the null hypothesis, so that the distribution of these simulated datacan be used as the null distribution in a hypothesis test. See Likelihood function, Likelihood ratio

A complex lipoprotein lining the air sacs in the lungs, which stabilises the  alveoli (i.e., the small gas-exchange units in the lungs) against collapse and enhances expansion of lungs during inhalation. Some preterm infants lack a sufficient amount of this substance, thus affecting respiratory function. Its application can reduce the need for supplemental oxygen and …

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A positive affect and rapid approach to rewarding stimuli.  See Extraversion, Five factor model, Temperament