In speech development, the correct production of a phoneme or set of phonemes, usually expressed as a percentage criterion (e.g., 75% correct). Phonemicawareness (abilityto reflect consciously on the sound structure of a word) and subsequent mastery also constitute an essential first step in learning toread. See Mastery, Phoneme, Phonological reading skills
Author Archives: Brian Hopkins
Phoneme
The smallest unit of meaningful speech sound used to distinguish words and morphemes in a language (e.g., in English, sounds typically made by the letters m and n are separate phonemes distinguishing words such mail/nail, or met/net). Thus,it is a difference in soundthat makes a difference in meaning, with a range of sounds being treated …
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
A recessive genetic disorder that leads to functional deficits in children arising from a neurochemical deficit in the prefrontal cortex (i.e., the enzyme converting dietary phenylalanine to tyrosine is deficient, resulting in the excretion of phenylpyruvate, or phenylalanine, into the urine). While cognitive impairment is common and about 25% of cases have epileptic attacks, it can …
Phase
in physics, it is the state-evolving periodic quality or process that may vary in a sinusoidal fashion such that after a minimum time period, the order parameter assumes the same value. When periodic quantities have the same waveform (or frequency), they are in-phase, otherwise they are out-of-phase, and which includes the more specific circumstances of …
Phase transition (or shift)
Any change that takes place in the phase of one quantity or in the relative phase. If the change is characterized by an abrupt jump in the value of the order parameter, then it is a first-order transition. If the change evolves smoothly to or from a zero value, it is a continuous phase transition …
Pharynx
Thethroat; a respiratory and digestive passageway from the oral and nasal cavities,and then to the esophagus and larynx (see figure below). It consists of circular muscles thatconstrict to aid food enter the esophagus while preventing air being inhaled,and longitudinal fibers that raise the walls of the pharynx duringswallowing. Both muscles are innervatedby the vagus nerve. …
Pharyngeal arches
Typically, five paired structures associated with the pharynx in humans that evolved from gills, with four being externally visible. Initially, each arch has identical structures. These are an internal ectodermal pouch, a core of mesenchyme, a membrane (consisting of both endoderm and ectoderm), and a external cleft (ectoderm). In humans and other vertebrates, they appear …
Personality
Like intelligence, it is difficult to define and has a very broad usage. For example, in 1927, Gordon W, Allport (1897-1967) produced almost 50 definitions of the term. It can be considered as patterns of behavior within an individual that are consistent time and situations, including both temperament and characteristics that are acquired as part …
Personal literacies
Individuals’a own communicative, social, vocational or educational literacy practices; ways of communicating that are based in individual experience and a sense of self. An example might be keeping a diary See Critical literacy, Qualitative research, Self, Vernacular (or community) literacies.
Person-specific variance
Systematic variance thatcharacterizes an individual or a group of individuals. It can be accounted for in statisticalapproaches such as multiple level modeling. See Multilevel modeling (MLM), Person-centered approaches