发展性计算障碍儿童的数认知

发展性计算障碍作为一种特异性学习障碍,影响儿童的数学成就与数学学习观念,因而引起了多学科研究的关注和重视。文章分析了发展性计算障碍领域在数认知方面的已有研究,揭示了发展性计算障碍的数认知缺陷及内部差异,从一般认知加工障碍与数字加工模块障碍两个角度阐述了发展性计算障碍的可能成因,最后对当前研究进行了小结与展望,认为数认知缺陷的复杂关系、亚类型特征、成因之间的相互作用与机制还需进一步研究     

发展性阅读障碍亚类型研究进展

发展性阅读障碍是一种特殊的学习障碍,伴有多种认知缺陷并且存在不同的亚类型。依据相关的阅读模型理论,阅读障碍可划分为语音型和表层型。从认知缺陷角度出发,语音加工缺陷是主要的缺陷表现,以此为特征形成一种主要的阅读障碍的亚类型,同时还有以正字法加工缺陷和快速命名缺陷为主的其他亚类型。而以基本感知觉缺陷为标准,主要有以视觉加工缺陷和以听觉加工缺陷为主的两种亚类型。在汉语条件下,依据同样的阅读模型理论,语音型阅读障碍亚类型比例明显低于拼音文字条件下的。汉语阅读障碍也具有分别以语音加工缺陷、快速命名缺陷和正字法加工缺陷为主要认知缺陷的亚类型。未来有必要从神经机制角度进一步明确不同亚类型的神经基础。     

听觉障碍学生的社会观点采择能力发展研究

以中国寓言图画故事为刺激材料,采用个别测验的方式,考察了特殊学校小学三、四、五、六年级及初中一、三年级共122名听觉障碍学生的社会观点采择能力及其发展,结果发现：(1)听觉障碍学生的社会观点采择能力存在显著的年级差异;(2)听觉障碍学生的社会观点采择能力发展不存在性别差异;(3)听觉障碍学生的社会观点采择能力明显地受父母文化程度的影响。     

3～6年级学生及其教师对师生关系知觉的比较研究

采用师生关系学生知觉和教师知觉问卷,分别由508名3~6年级学生及其16名班主任教师对两者之间的关系进行评价,结果表明:(1)教师和学生知觉的师生关系具有相似的结构成分:亲密性、冲突性和反应性;(2)学生知觉到的师生关系与教师知觉到的师生关系特点有显著的不同:相对于教师而言,4~6年级学生知觉到的师生关系更为消极;而3年级学生知觉到的师生关系则更为积极.(3)快速聚类分析的结果表明,教师知觉和学生知觉的师生关系可以聚为两种相同的类型:亲密型和冲突型.教师和学生知觉类型一致的比例为62.5%;不一致类型的比例为37.5%.(4)在师生关系的类型上,三年级学生知觉到的亲密型比例显著高于教师知觉,而冲突型比例则显著低于教师知觉;六年级学生与此相反.     

云南省中小学生师生关系发展特点及对学校适应的预测

考察云南省中、小学生师生关系的发展趋势、类型特点和师生关系对中小学生学校适应的作用.采用分层随机取样的方式选取云南省中小学生9055名,调查了他们的师生关系和学校适应.结果发现:(1)云南省中小学生与教师的依恋和亲密性随年级升高呈下降趋势,冲突和回避性随年级升高呈先上升后下降趋势,初中生得分最高.不同年级段学生和性别之间存在显著差异;(2)云南省中小学生与教师的关系存在三种类型:矛盾型、疏远型和亲密型.在矛盾型分布上,随年级升高呈先上升后下降趋势,初中生矛盾型最多.在疏远型上,随年级升高呈上升趋势,高中生疏远型最多.在亲密型上,随年级升高呈下降趋势,小学生亲密型最多.在三种类型上,小学和初中年级段学生存在显著性别差异;(3)冲突性和亲密性是中小学生学校适应的重要预测变量,回避性对中学生有显著预测作用.(4)具有亲密型师生关系的学生学校适应能力显著好于矛盾型和疏远型.结论:应加强对学生亲密型师生关系的培养,更加重视对中学生师生关系的干预.     

发展性协调障碍儿童视觉通道前注意加工的特点：来自ERP的证据

研究表明发展性协调障碍儿童听觉通道的前注意受损,其视觉通道的前注意加工是否也存在缺陷,从而造成了信息加工困难,目前尚不清楚。本研究旨在探究发展性协调障碍儿童视觉通道前注意加工的特点。从小学二、三、四年级共760名学生中筛选出障碍组20名,同时选择年龄、智力水平相当的对照组儿童20名。采用非注意Oddball任务,以不同颜色图片为实验材料,比较两组儿童前注意信息加工能力。行为结果表明,在注意主任务上,两组儿童的反应时不存在差异;然而,障碍组儿童的准确率显著低于对照组。ERP结果表明,相比于对照组儿童,障碍组儿童的视觉失匹配负波(visual mismatch negativity, vMMN)潜伏期明显延长。同时,本研究还发现运动技能诊断量表得分与vMMN的潜伏期存在显著相关。结果提示,发展性协调障碍儿童视觉通道前注意加工可能存在缺陷;vMMN潜伏期可作为初步评估和判断发展性协调障碍的脑电指标。     

中学生师生关系的结构、类型及其发展特点

选取319名初一至高三学生作为被试,主要采用问卷法,考察中学生师生关系的结构、类型及其发展特点。结果表明：（1）师生关系结构具有冲突性、依恋性、亲密性和回避性四个维度;（2）师生关系类型包括矛盾冲突型、亲密和谐型和疏远平淡型三种类型;（3）师生关系各维度不存在显著性别差异,但存在显著年级差异,师生关系质量随年级升高呈波浪式下降趋势,初一学生的师生关系最好,初二和高二学生的师生关系最不理想;（4）师生关系各类型的人数比例存在显著年级差异。     

发展性计算障碍的最新研究进展

发展性计算障碍是一种影响算术技能获得的特定的学习障碍。截至目前,有关发展性计算障碍的认知与神经机制的理论尚存分歧,有关诊断与鉴别标准也未统一。近年来,对于发展性计算障碍的理论假设有从一般认知因素取向到数学特定因素取向发展的趋势。而随着脑成像技术的不断发展,对于发展性计算障碍神经机制的研究也从针对单个脑区的特异性功能发展到从功能连接网络角度进行研究。并且研究者们开始尝试开发基于数学认知基本理论的干预方法,并采用了利用生物技术手段的新方法。基因-脑-行为的整合研究将有助于全面揭示发展性计算障碍的发生机制,而建立在系统理论基础上经过科学评估的干预手段将可能有效促进障碍者的计算能力。     

3-6年级小学生师生关系:结构、类型及其发展

本研究采用师生关系教师评定量表,由14名班主任教师对498名3-6年级学生与教师的关系进行评价.结果表明:(1)师生关系量表具有较好的信度和效度,师生关系特点主要表现在冲突性、亲密性和反应性三个维度上.(2)快速聚类分析的结果表明,3-6年级学生的师生关系可划分为3种类型:冷漠型、冲突型、亲密型,其分布比例分别为23.0%、33.7%、43.3%.(3)师生关系随学生年级增长而变化.在师生关系各维度及总分上,存在显著的年级差异.随年级的上升,积极师生关系类型的比例逐渐下降,而消极师生关系类型的比例逐步上升.     

小学三～五年级儿童类比问题解决及策略运用发展

以270名小学三~五年级儿童为被试,采用问题解决类比任务范式,探讨了小学儿童类比问题解决及策略运用的发展趋势.结果发现:(1)在儿童类比问题解决质量的发展方面,不同年级儿童差异显著,四年级儿童成绩最好;而儿童类比问题解决速度则随着年级增高而加快;(2)儿童类比策略发展更符合混合模型;随着年级发展,儿童初级、中级和高级类比策略运用逐渐增加,而非类比策略运用渐少;儿童类比策略发展的“飞跃”发生在四到五年级之间;儿童策略运用的发展呈现出多样性、竞争性、适应性的特点.     

Developmental relations between reading fluency and reading comprehension: a longitudinal study from Grade 1 to Grade 2

From a developmental framework, relations among list reading fluency, oral and silent reading fluency, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension might be expected to change as children's reading skills develop. We examined developmental relations among these constructs in a latent-variable longitudinal study of first and second graders. Results showed that list reading fluency was uniquely related to reading comprehension in Grade 1, but not in Grade 2, after accounting for text reading fluency (oral or silent) and listening comprehension. In contrast, text reading fluency was uniquely related to reading comprehension in Grade 2, but not in Grade 1, after accounting for list reading fluency and listening comprehension. When oral reading fluency and silent reading fluency were compared, oral reading fluency was uniquely related to reading comprehension after accounting for silent reading fluency in Grade 1, whereas silent reading fluency was uniquely related to reading comprehension after accounting for oral reading fluency in Grade 2.     

Instability of Double-Deficit Subtypes Among At-Risk First Grade Readers

The double-deficit hypothesis provides a framework for identifying students at-risk for persistent reading difficulties. I examined the temporal stability of four double-deficit subtypes (no-deficit, naming-speed deficit, phonological deficit, and double-deficit) in 197 low-performing, first-grade readers. Concurrent analyses in fall and spring revealed that students with poor phonemic awareness and naming speed were the lowest readers in the sample; however, having a double-deficit in fall was not a good predictor of subsequent progress, most likely because subtypes were not stable over the first half of grade 1. Only about half the sample retained the same subtype from fall to spring.     

Basic number processing deficits in developmental dyscalculia: Evidence from eye tracking

Recent research suggests that developmental dyscalculia is associated with a subitizing deficit (i.e., the inability to quickly enumerate small sets of up to 3 objects). However, the nature of this deficit has not previously been investigated. In the present study the eye-tracking methodology was employed to clarify whether (a) the subitizing deficit of two boys with dyscalculia resulted from a general slowing in the access to magnitude representation, or (b) children with dyscalculia resort to a back-up counting strategy even for small object sets. In a dot-counting task, a standard problem size effect for the number of fixations required to encode the presented numerosity within the subitizing range was observed. Together with the finding that problem size had no impact on the average fixation duration, this result suggested that children with dyscalculia may indeed have to count, while typically developing controls are able to enumerate the number of dots in parallel, i.e., subitize. Implications for the understanding of developmental dyscalculia are considered.     

Typical and atypical development of basic numerical skills in elementary school

Deficits in basic numerical processing have been identified as a central and potentially causal problem in developmental dyscalculia; however, so far not much is known about the typical and atypical development of such skills. This study assessed basic number skills cross-sectionally in 262 typically developing and 51 dyscalculic children in Grades 2, 3, and 4. Findings indicate that the efficiency of number processing improves over time and that dyscalculic children are generally less efficient than children with typical development. For children with typical arithmetic development, robust effects of numerical distance, size congruity, and compatibility of ten and unit digits in two-digit numbers could be identified as early as the end of Grade 2. Only the distance effect for comparing symbolic representations of numerosities changed developmentally. Dyscalculic children did not show a size congruity effect but showed a more marked compatibility effect for two-digit numbers. We did not find strong evidence that dyscalculic children process numbers qualitatively differently from children with typical arithmetic development.     

Cognition to genes via the brain in the study of conduct disorder

Although a single diagnostic label, conduct disorder, is currently applied to children exhibiting antisocial behaviour, multiple routes to the same behavioural phenomena exist. Morton and Frith's (1995) causal modelling has been fundamentally important in influencing models of cognitive/affective and associated neural differences between callous-unemotional (CU) and reactive/threat-based antisocial behaviour. Current behavioural genetic research is still catching up with the developmental cognitive neuroscience, and very few genetically informative studies differentiate between these two subtypes of antisocial behaviour. Our own work with preadolescent twins suggests that while the CU subtype is genetically vulnerable to antisocial behaviour, the non-CU subtype manifests a primarily environmental aetiology to their antisocial behaviour. Molecular genetic work to date has not differentiated between these two subtypes, and we highlight why it might be of interest to do so. Finally, we discuss how the novel approach of imaging genetics could be harnessed to study genes to cognition pathways for different subtypes of conduct disorder. Uta Frith's contributions to articulating research strategies for developmental disorders are important in conducting and interpreting this work.     

Evaluation and classification of types of Chinese handwriting deficits in elementary schoolchildren

The handwriting problems of elementary schoolchildren were investigated in this study. A questionnaire for evaluation of Chinese handwriting was developed and then administered to 165 children with handwriting deficits. Factor analysis indicated that the questionnaire has six major dimensions, including construction of characters, accuracy, developmental delay, pencil grip, gross movement, and emotional reaction. These six dimensions were utilized to search for subtypes of handwriting deficits. By further sampling, another 209 children were administered the handwriting evaluation questionnaire to classify their handwriting deficits. According to the severity of deficits on different dimensions of the questionnaire, K-means clustering was utilized to classify the children into four subtypes of mild, severe, motor-originated, and academic learning dysfunction subtypes. The classification by subtype might be helpful in planning interventions for children with handwriting deficits.     

In search of subtypes of Chinese developmental dyslexia

The dual-route model offers a popular way to classify developmental dyslexia into phonological and surface subtypes. The current study examined whether this dual-route model could provide a framework for understanding the varieties of Chinese developmental dyslexia. Three groups of Chinese children (dyslexics, chronological-age controls, and reading-level controls) were tested on Chinese exception character reading, pseudocharacter reading (analogous to English nonword reading), novel word learning, and some phonological and orthographic skills. It was found that Chinese exception character reading and pseudocharacter reading were highly correlated and that orthographic skills was a better predictor of both Chinese exception character and pseudocharacter reading than was phonological skills. More than half (62%) of the children in the dyslexia sample were classified as belonging to the surface subtype, but no children were classified as belonging to the phonological subtype. These results suggested that the lexical and sublexical routes in Chinese are highly interdependent or that there may be only one route from print to speech as suggested by the connectionist models. Chinese dyslexic children generally are characterized as having delays in various phonological and orthographic skills, but some, such as those identified as surface dyslexics in the current study, are more severely impaired.     

Does subtype of developmental coordination disorder count: is there a differential effect on outcome following intervention?

It is well known that developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a heterogeneous condition in which children frequently present with co-occurring conditions in addition to their motor difficulties. This study considered whether there would be a differential effect of a group treatment program on subtypes of perceptual and movement problems or associated co-occurring conditions. A subset of children (n=43) from a larger clinical sample (n=100) with DCD participated in a 214 year cross-over intervention study which followed the cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance (CO-OP) approach. Original subtypes were determined by contrasting the current sample with previously published subtyping studies in DCD [Hoare, D. (1994). Subtypes of developmental coordination disorder. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11, 158-169; Macnab, J. J., Miller, L. T., & Polatajko, H. J. (2001). The search for subtypes of DCD: Is cluster analysis the answer? Human Movement Science, 20, 49-72]. No advantage was conferred to any subtype although children with more profound and complex difficulties at initial assessment, despite progress following intervention, were most likely to have continuing difficulties at the end of the project.