学困儿童和学优儿童的手书特点比较

取小学生55名,其中25名为学困生,30名为学优生,使用数码写字板测试二者在横线自然手书状态下的速度、加速度、压力、波动和断续5个指标的变化特点。研究结果表明,学困生横线手书的速度超过学优生,特别是中间速度,差异显著。学困生的加速度增长比较快,在短期内维持在高速状态,然后快速下降,学优生增长速度比较慢,但是在很长的时间内保持在高速状态,最后加速度的递减明显比学困生慢,差异显著。学困生的加速度曲线形态趋势类似于一个倒U形,而学优生的曲线形态类似于梯形。学困生和学优生的压力变化呈现开始递增、然后保持在较高的压力状态的态势,但是二者之间没有显著差异。二者的波动都出现于书写的开始阶段,但是波动次数没有显著差异。在书写过程,二者都没有出现断续。     

意外地点任务中不同测试问题及意图理解与执行功能的关系

旨在讨论意外地点任务中“知否问题”与“预测问题”可能存在的差异及两者与执行功能任务的关系,并初步探讨意图理解与执行功能间的关系。用意外地点任务、膝跳反射任务和两个执行功能的任务（DCCS和手部游戏）对59名3~5岁的儿童施测。结果显示：（1）儿童在意外地点任务的“知否问题”上的表现显著好于“预测问题”,儿童对“知否问题”和“预测问题”的回答可能反映了心理理论发展的不同阶段。（2）膝跳反射任务,DCCS任务与“知否问题”三者间有显著的相关,且其高相关在排除年龄及语言能力的影响后仍保持显著。“双表征区分结构”可能是三者间具有共同的成分。     

两种符号检索条件下注意缺陷多动障碍和阅读障碍儿童的表现

在传统工作记忆刷新和选择性注意任务上,在匹配反应阶段均涉及符号检索的心理加工过程,注意缺陷多动障碍和阅读障碍儿童的工作记忆和注意缺陷已经被证实,本研究关注于两种障碍儿童是否存在符号检索能力的缺陷。研究比较了18名ADHD儿童、11名阅读障碍儿童和17名控制组儿童在RSVP任务中序列搜索和平行搜索的成绩差异,搜索条件通过实验材料（字母和数字）和呈现方式加以操控。结果表明,在平行搜索和序列搜索条件下,障碍儿童的成绩均低于正常控制组,两组障碍儿童成绩差异不显著;在搜索效应上,三组儿童的差异不显著,这说明注意缺陷     

儿童汉字练习:纸笔手写与键盘拼音输入的效果比较

在学校情境下,采用纸笔手写和键盘拼音输入练习汉字的实验任务,比较了75名小学六年级儿童在两种练习方式下的汉字学习及复习效果,并进行了保持效果的追踪。结果发现,纸笔手写和键盘拼音输入对儿童的汉字复习具有同等积极作用,在再认选择和回忆书写上效果均相当;对儿童的汉字学习积极作用不一致:在再认选择上两者积极效果相当,但在回忆书写上,手写明显优于拼音输入。另外,经纸笔手写和键盘拼音输入复习和学习的汉字,其记忆保持随时间变化的趋势一致。以上结果说明了对具有书面语言经验的儿童,拼音输入与手写都有助于形成和巩固汉字在心理词典中的义音形联结,但手写动作更有利于汉字从正字法代码向书写动作程序的转换;"提笔忘字"现象可能是正字法遗忘的结果,并非由使用拼音输入法造成。     

虚拟场景中的信息类型对路径整合效率的影响

空间巡航中常采用路径整合进行位置追踪及方向更新,本研究利用返回起点任务,通过对虚拟场景中不同信息类型的设置,探讨地标、纹理、双线索（地标+纹理）及纯色条件下路径整合效率的差异。结果发现,除角度误差外,双线索条件下路径整合效率显著较高,其次是地标条件,纹理条件次之,纯色条件下表现最差。结果表明,不同信息类型下路径整合效率存在显著差异,且双视觉信息较单一视觉信息条件下的整合效率更优。     

卡车驾驶员速度估计研究

用速度知觉测试仪,对251名男性卡车驾驶员在四种实验条件下的速度估计准确性进行了测量。结果发现：安全组卡车驾驶员的速度估计准确性优于事故组卡车驾驶员,两者在低速条件下差异不显著,高速条件下差异显著;事故组卡车驾驶员的高估次数高于安全组卡车驾驶员,低速条件下两者不显著.高速条件下差异显著;事故多发组与安全组卡车驾驶员的速度估计准确性在高速及低速长距离条件下差异显著;速度及距离对速度估计准确性有显著影响,且两者之间存在显著的交互作用;年龄对速度估计准确性无显著影响。     

虚拟场景中的信息类型对路径整合效率的影响

空间巡航中常采用路径整合进行位置追踪及方向更新,本研究利用返回起点任务,通过对虚拟场景中不同信息类型的设置,探讨地标、纹理、双线索（地标+纹理）及纯色条件下路径整合效率的差异。结果发现,除角度误差外,双线索条件下路径整合效率显著较高,其次是地标条件,纹理条件次之,纯色条件下表现最差。结果表明,不同信息类型下路径整合效率存在显著差异,且双视觉信息较单一视觉信息条件下的整合效率更优。     

留守儿童心理韧性的元分析

采用元分析的方法,探讨留守儿童与一般儿童心理韧性的差异及其调节变量。通过文献检索,共获得25篇文献和188个独立效应量（n=26784）。结果表明：留守儿童心理韧性显著低于一般儿童;具体来说,他们在积极认知、社会能力、家庭支持、家庭平等与自主、人际协助、教师关怀与同伴高期望维度上均显著低于一般儿童,而在同伴亲密关系维度上显著高于一般儿童。此外,人口学变量（性别、学龄段）和留守相关变量（打工者、监护者、团聚频率）影响留守儿童与一般儿童心理韧性的差异,测量工具不影响该差异。     

大学生在双趋冲突和趋避冲突中的折扣率差异

目的探讨大学生被试在双趋冲突和趋避冲突条件下的折扣率差异。方法让70名大学生完成两种条件下的延迟折扣任务（DDT）。结果趋避冲突条件下大学生被试的折扣率显著低于双趋冲突条件下的折扣率,在延迟奖赏为中幅度（50-60元）时折扣率最大。结论相对于双趋冲突,损益情况和延迟时间同时影响着被试在趋避冲突条件下的选择。     

汉语作为第二语言的越南大学生汉字部件意识的发展*

以226名将汉语作为第二语言的越南大学一到四年级学生为研究对象,以低频独体字、部件熟悉假字和部件不熟悉假字为材料,采用延迟书写任务,考察了不同年级的越南大学生汉字部件意识的发展及其影响因素。结果发现：（1）学习3个月汉语的大一学生能以部件作为汉字加工单元,其延迟书写部件熟悉假字显著好于低频独体字,并与高年级学生没有差异,说明越南大学生很早就发展出了汉字部件意识;（2）不同年级大学生书写部件不熟悉假字的成绩都显著低于部件熟悉假字,也低于低频独体字,表明部件构字能力是越南大学生汉字书写的重要影响因素。（3）越南大一学生的汉字书写成绩受到汉字结构的影响,左右结构优于上下结构,但其他年级的成绩不受汉字结构的影响。     

Phonological storage and executive function deficits in children with mathematics difficulties

Children with mathematics difficulties suffer from working memory deficits. This study investigated the deficit profile of phonological storage and executive functions in working memory among children with mathematics difficulties. Based on multiple instruments and two assessment points, 68 children were screened out of 805 fifth graders. Of these 68 children, 18 were classified as children with only mathematics difficulties (MD), 20 were classified as children with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD), and 30 were typically developing (TD) peers matched on age and general ability. Measures for phonological storage, dual-task performance, inhibition, and updating of verbal and numerical materials were administered individually. Results showed that compared with the TD group, children with MD exhibited storage and inhibition deficits specific to numerical information and dual-task deficits of both verbal and numerical information, whereas children with MDRD showed extensive deficits on phonological storage and executive functions on both verbal and numerical tasks. Moreover, executive function deficits were not confined to phonological storage deficits. Implications of the findings for the working memory deficit profile and working memory training among children with mathematics difficulties were discussed.     

Age differences between children and young adults in the dynamics of dual-task prioritization: body (balance) versus mind (memory)

Task prioritization can lead to trade-off patterns in dual-task situations. The authors compared dual-task performances in 9- and 11-year-old children and young adults performing a cognitive task and a motor task concurrently. The motor task required balancing on an ankle-disc board. Two cognitive tasks measured working memory and episodic memory at difficulty levels individually adjusted during the course of extensive training. Adults showed performance decrements in both task domains under dual-task conditions. In contrast, children showed decrements only in the cognitive tasks but actually swayed less under dual-task than under single-task conditions and continued to reduce their body sway even when instructed to focus on the cognitive task. The authors argue that children perform closer to their stability boundaries in the balance task and therefore prioritize protection of their balance under dual-task conditions.     

Children’s Evaluation and Categorization of Transgender Children

Despite extant evidence of negative peer treatment of transgender adolescents and adults, little is known about how young children perceive transgender peers, particularly those who have socially transitioned or are living in line with their gender rather than sex at birth. Whereas children have been shown to be averse to gender nonconformity in peers, because many transgender children appear and behave in ways consistent with their expressed gender (but not their sex at birth), it is unclear how children evaluate these identities. In 2 studies, we investigated 5- to 10-year-old children’s (N_total = 113) preferences for transgender versus gender-“typical” peers who either shared their gender identity or did not. We also examined whether children categorized transgender peers by their sex or expressed gender, as it might inform their evaluations. Children preferred cisgender peers over transgender peers; however, they also liked peers of their own gender rather than the other gender (e.g., female participants preferred girls over boys), demonstrating that the oft-documented own-gender bias plays an important role even when children are reasoning about transgender peers. Children did not reliably categorize transgender peers by sex or gender; yet those who categorized transgender peers by their sex showed greater dislike of transgender peers. The current studies are the first to investigate cisgender children’s attitudes toward transgender children and suggest that perceptions of gender categorization and conformity play a role in children’s evaluations of transgender peers.     

Cognitive Analysis of Children's Mathematics Difficulties

The aim of the study is to investigate the informal and formal mathematical knowledge of children suffering from "mathematics difficulty" (MD). The research involves comparisons among three groups: fourth-grade children performing poorly in mathematics but normal in intelligence; fourth-grade peers matched for intelligence but experiencing no apparent difficulties in mathematics; and a randomly selected group of third graders. These children were individually presented with a large number of tasks designed to measure key mathematical concepts and skills. The findings suggest that: (1) MD children are not seriously deficient in key informal mathematical concepts and skills; (2) MD children seem to have elementary concepts of base ten notation but experience difficulty in related enumeration skills, particularly when large numbers are involved; (3) MD children's calculational errors often result from common error strategies; (4) MD children display severe difficulty in recalling common addition facts; and (5) in the area of problem solving, MD children are capable of "insightful" solutions and can solve simple forms of word problems, but experience difficulty with complex word problems. MD children are in many respects similar to normal, younger peers; an hypothesis of "essential cognitive normality" is advanced. The only and dramatic exception occurs in the area of number facts. While clinical experience corroborates this finding, its explanation is not evident.     

Measuring lexical diversity in children who stutter: application of vocd

There is growing but equivocal evidence that the language abilities of young children who stutter (CWS) may be depressed when compared to those of their fluent peers. In particular, the lexical skills of CWS have variously been reported to be weaker or stronger than comparison children in a number of recent studies. One source for such disagreement may be the measures used to compute lexical characteristics of these children's spoken conversations. In this study, we examined the concurrent validity of two measures of lexical diversity in spontaneous language samples, Type-Token Ratio (TTR) and the newly developed utility vocd (Malvern & Richards, 1997), using a standard test of expressive vocabulary as the comparison measure. Findings indicated that vocd values ("D") correlated well with standardized measures of expressive vocabulary, while TTR values did not. In addition, both the standardized measure and vocd revealed significantly poorer expressive lexical skills of CWS, whereas TTR analyses did not evidence this difference. Results are discussed in relation to the relative strength of vocd over TTR as a method for describing lexical characteristics of the spontaneous language samples of this population. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will learn about and be able to (1) identify several common measures of conversational vocabulary and the strengths and weaknesses of each, and (2) compare the performance of the young CWS in this study to their normally fluent peers in terms of vocabulary performance on both formal and conversational measures of vocabulary.     

When paying attention becomes counterproductive: impact of divided versus skill-focused attention on novice and experienced performance of sensorimotor skills

Two experiments examined the impact of attention on sensorimotor skills. In Experiment 1, experienced golfers putted under dual-task conditions designed to distract attention from putting and under skill-focused conditions that prompted attention to step-by-step putting performance. Dual-task condition putting was more accurate. In Experiment 2, right-footed novice and experienced soccer players dribbled through a slalom course under dual-task or skill-focused conditions. When using their dominant right foot, experts again performed better in the dual-task condition. However, when using their less proficient left foot, experts performed better in the skill-focused condition. Novices performed better under skill-focus regardless of foot. Whereas novices and the less-proficient performances of experts benefit from online attentional monitoring of step-by-step performance, high-level skill execution is harmed.     

A neuropsychological assessment of dual-task costs in closed-head injury patients using Cohen’s effect size estimation method

A test of whether patients suffering from a severe closed-head injury (CHI) were affected by disproportionate dual-task costs compared to those of healthy control participants was carried out through a direct comparison of CHI effects on dual-task (psychological refractory period, or PRP) performance and on single-task performance. In the dual-task condition of the present experiment, independent choice-responses were required to two sequential stimuli presented at a variable stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). A significant delay of the reaction time (RT) to the second stimulus was reported by both CHI patients and controls at short (SOA) compared to long SOA, i.e., a PRP effect. The PRP effect was more pronounced for CHI patients than controls. In the single-task condition, a single choice-response was required to a stimulus presented in isolation. The RT produced by CHI patients in the single-task paradigm was longer than the RT produced by controls. CHI effects on dual-task performance and on single-task performance were compared following (1) their transformation into Cohen’s ds, and (2) the application of a correction algorithm taking into account the different reliability of single-task and dual-task measures. The analysis of Cohen’s ds revealed that CHI effects on performance were, if anything, smaller in the dual-task condition than in the single-task condition. The results imply that CHI patient’s slower responding in single- and dual-task performance reflects a single common cause—slowing of the central processing.     

Strategy choices in simple and complex addition: Contributions of working memory and counting knowledge for children with mathematical disability

Groups of first-grade (mean age = 82 months), third-grade (mean age = 107 months), and fifth-grade (mean age = 131 months) children with a learning disability in mathematics (MD, n = 58) and their normally achieving peers (n = 91) were administered tasks that assessed their knowledge of counting principles, working memory, and the strategies used to solve simple (4+3) and complex (16+8) addition problems. In all grades, the children with MD showed a working memory deficit, and in first grade, the children with MD used less sophisticated strategies and committed more errors while solving simple and complex addition problems. The group differences in strategy usage and accuracy were related, in part, to the group difference in working memory and to group and individual differences in counting knowledge. Across grade-level and group, the switch from simple to complex addition problems resulted in a shift in the mix of problem-solving strategies. Individual differences in the strategy mix and in the strategy shift were related, in part, to individual differences in working memory capacity and counting knowledge.     

Familial Association and Frequency of Learning Disabilities in ADHD Sibling Pair Families

In a sample of 235 families with at least two children with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the frequency and familial association of learning disabilities (LD) were assessed. Familiality was examined both between sibling pairs and between parents and their children. Two methods for defining LD, a discrepancy-based and a low-achievement model, were employed to examine the occurrence of LD in this sample. The specific types of LD examined included Reading Disability (RD), Math Disability (MD), and Writing Disability (WD). The prevalence rates were highest for RD, followed by WD then MD. The two definitions of LD yielded similar prevalence rates but identified different groups of children with vastly different IQ scores. Strong familial association was demonstrated for RD both between sibling pairs and between parents and children, with weaker association for WD. There was evidence of nonrandom mating for LD among parents, but not for ADHD or for ADHD + LD. Despite the high comorbidity of ADHD and LD among parents, the presence of ADHD in the parents did not predict child LD supporting independent familial factors underlying ADHD and LD.