Further development of measures of early math performance for preschoolers

The purpose of this study was to examine the progress monitoring and screening accuracy for a set of curriculum-based measures (CBM) of early mathematics skills. Measures included counting objects, selecting numbers, naming numbers, counting, and visual discrimination. Measures were designed to be administered with preschoolers in a short period of time using a developmentally appropriate format, and to constitute minimal disruption to the classroom routine. Previous research indicated that each of these measures produced scores with acceptable consistency across alternate forms on consecutive days. Scores yielded on the experimental probes correlated moderately, in most cases, with two commonly used standardized measures (i.e., the Brigance Screens and TEMA-2). Performance on the probes also correlated with teacher rankings and ratings of child performance. In the present study, data were collected in two phases. In the first phase, a cohort of children were administered the early math measures in spring of preschool and were followed into winter of kindergarten where they were administered kindergarten CBM probes to examine the degree to which performance in preschool (as measured by the early math probes) could predict performance on similar tasks in kindergarten. Second, risk criteria were examined and compared to identification by the Brigance Screens. These analyses provided data about the potential accuracy of the probes for screening. In the second phase, sensitivity of the probes to performance differences was examined by comparing mean performance on the probes of preschoolers and kindergartners. The lowest-performing children were provided with seven intervention sessions to examine the degree to which probes could detect growth resulting from intervention. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.     

Electrophysiological correlates of rapid auditory and linguistic processing in adolescents with specific language impairment

Brief tonal stimuli and spoken sentences were utilized to examine whether adolescents (aged 14;3-18;1) with specific language impairments (SLI) exhibit atypical neural activity for rapid auditory processing of non-linguistic stimuli and linguistic processing of verb-agreement and semantic constraints. Further, we examined whether the behavioral and electrophysiological indices for rapid auditory processing were correlated with those for linguistic processing. Fifteen adolescents with SLI and 15 adolescents with normal language met strict criteria for displaying consistent diagnoses from kindergarten through the eighth grade. The findings provide evidence that auditory processing for non-linguistic stimuli is atypical in a significant number of adolescents with SLI compared to peers with normal language and indicate that reduced efficiency in auditory processing in SLI is more vulnerable to rapid rates (200ms ISI) of stimuli presentation (indexed by reduced accuracy, a tendency for longer RTs, reduced N100 over right anterior sites, and reduced amplitude P300). Many adolescents with SLI displayed reduced behavioral accuracy for detecting verb-agreement violations and semantic anomalies, along with less robust P600s elicited by verb-agreement violations. The results indicate that ERPs elicited by morphosyntactic aspects of language processing are atypical in many adolescents with SLI. Additionally, correlational analyses between behavioral and electrophysiological indices of processing non-linguistic stimuli and verb-agreement violations suggest that the integrity of neural functions for auditory processing may only account for a small proportion of the variance in morphosyntactic processing in some adolescents.     

The L/M-opponent channel provides a distinct and time-dependent contribution towards visual recognition

The visual pathway has been successfully modelled as containing separate channels consisting of one achromatically opponent mechanism and two chromatically opponent mechanisms. However, little is known about how time affects the processing of chromatic information. Here, parametrically defined objects were generated. Reduced-colour objects were interleaved with full-colour objects and measures of recognition performance (d') were compared by the continuous serial recognition paradigm. Measures were taken at multiple delay intervals (1, 4, 7, and 10 s). When chromatic variations were removed, recognition performance was impaired, but at the 1 s and 10 s intervals only. When luminance variations were removed, no impairment resulted. When only L/M-opponent modulations were removed, a deficit in performance was produced only at the 1 s and 10 s intervals, similar to the removal of chromatic variation. When only S-opponent modulations were removed, no impairment was observed. The results suggest that the L/M-opponent pathway provides a specialised contribution to visual recognition, but that its effect is modulated by time. A three-stage process model is proposed to explain the data.     

Efficacy of the Health Belief Model for Predicting Intention to Pursue Genetic Testing for Colorectal Cancer

This study examined the Health Belief Model’s efficacy to predict intention to undergo genetic testing for the Colorectal Carcinoma (CRC) gene within a rural/frontier setting. Survey data were collected on 558 Southwest Montanan residents. Regression analysis revealed that perceived benefits, including affordability and satisfying curiosity, were the strongest indicators of intention to undergo genetic testing for CRC. Select consumer barriers and cues to action variables were also found to be significant predictors. Collectively the model explained approximately 36% of the variance. These preliminary findings have implications for genetic counselors, health practitioners and health care providers concerned with genetic counseling and addressing the public health issue of CRC.     

Training paraprofessionals to use behavioral strategies when educating learners with autism spectrum disorders across environments

Although the use of paraprofessionals in the education of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a common practice, research on effective training procedures is scarce. The following study used a multiple‐baseline design across settings replicated by five paraprofessionals to evaluate their use of behavioral strategies with young children with, or at risk for, autism spectrum disorder. A training package consisting of a workshop and performance feedback by their supervising special education teacher served as the intervention. Results revealed that even though the paraprofessionals demonstrated skills in the use of behavioral strategies at the workshop, there was either no transfer or generalization to the preschool or home environments where they worked, or their use of skills decreased over time. When performance feedback was provided to all participants, their correct use of strategies increased. The training model evaluated in this study provides an example of one that could be employed in a typical public school classroom or early intervention program. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Utilizing physiological measures to facilitate phobia treatment with individuals with autism and intellectual disability: A case study

Despite the conceptualization of phobic fear as a multi‐factorial response, the measurement and treatment of phobias is often not comprehensive. The extant literature on the treatment of phobias for individuals with intellectual disabilities has exclusively focused on indices of behavioral avoidance. The present study demonstrates the treatment of behavioral avoidance and physiological reactivity in a child diagnosed with autism, intellectual disability, and a dog phobia. The results indicate that the individual often experienced physiological reactivity in the presence of the feared stimulus despite engaging in behavioral approach. Treatment of both behavioral avoidance and physiological reactivity resulted in successful generalization of treatment effects across three additional dogs and maintenance of treatment effects during a six‐month follow‐up assessment. Implications for examining multiple aspects of the anxious response when treating children with intellectual disabilities and severe language delays are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seeing the silver lining: cognitive reappraisal ability moderates the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms

Individuals differ in their adjustment to stressful life events, with some exhibiting impaired functioning, including depression, while others exhibit impressive resilience. The present study examined the hypothesis that the ability to deploy a particularly adaptive type of emotion regulation-cognitive reappraisal-may be a protective factor. It expands upon existing research in three ways. First, participants' ability to use reappraisal (cognitive reappraisal ability: CRA) was measured by using a behavioral challenge that assessed changes in experiential and physiological domains, rather than questionnaires. Second, all participants had been exposed to one or more recent stressful life events, a context in which emotion regulation may be particularly important. Third, a community sample of 78 women aged 20 to 60 was recruited, as opposed to undergraduates. Results indicate that, at low levels of stress, participants' CRA was not associated with depressive symptoms. However, at high levels of stress, women with high CRA exhibited less depressive symptoms than those with low CRA, suggesting that CRA may be an important moderator of the link between stress and depressive symptoms.     

The psychology of memory,extended cognition,and socially distributed remembering

This paper introduces a new, expanded range of relevant cognitive psychological research on collaborative recall and social memory to the philosophical debate on extended and distributed cognition. We start by examining the case for extended cognition based on the complementarity of inner and outer resources, by which neural, bodily, social, and environmental resources with disparate but complementary properties are integrated into hybrid cognitive systems, transforming or augmenting the nature of remembering or decision-making. Adams and Aizawa, noting this distinctive complementarity argument, say that they agree with it completely: but they describe it as “a non-revolutionary approach” which leaves “the cognitive psychology of memory as the study of processes that take place, essentially without exception, within nervous systems.” In response, we carve out, on distinct conceptual and empirical grounds, a rich middle ground between internalist forms of cognitivism and radical anti-cognitivism. Drawing both on extended cognition literature and on Sterelny’s account of the “scaffolded mind” (this issue), we develop a multidimensional framework for understanding varying relations between agents and external resources, both technological and social. On this basis we argue that, independent of any more “revolutionary” metaphysical claims about the partial constitution of cognitive processes by external resources, a thesis of scaffolded or distributed cognition can substantially influence or transform explanatory practice in cognitive science. Critics also cite various empirical results as evidence against the idea that remembering can extend beyond skull and skin. We respond with a more principled, representative survey of the scientific psychology of memory, focussing in particular on robust recent empirical traditions for the study of collaborative recall and transactive social memory. We describe our own empirical research on socially distributed remembering, aimed at identifying conditions for mnemonic emergence in collaborative groups. Philosophical debates about extended, embedded, and distributed cognition can thus make richer, mutually beneficial contact with independently motivated research programs in the cognitive psychology of memory.     

Predicting preference for items during periods of extended access based on early response allocation

Top‐ranked items were identified during 30‐min free‐operant preference assessments for 9 individuals. Data from each session were analyzed to identify the item (a) that was engaged with first in each session and (b) to which the most responding was allocated after 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, and 25 min had elapsed in each session. The results indicated that the first‐engaged item and the 5‐min high‐allocation item predicted the top‐ranked item in 55% and 62% of the sessions, respectively. The results also showed that engagement with the top‐ranked item from the first session decreased across subsequent sessions for 6 of the 9 participants. The implications of the results for brief versus extended stimulus preference assessments are discussed.