A Response to Recent Reanalyses of the National Reading Panel Report: Effects of Systematic Phonics Instruction Are Practically Significant

The authors examine the reassessments of the National Reading Panel (NRP) report (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000) by G. Camilli, S. Vargas, and M. Yurecko (2003); G. Camilli, P. M. Wolfe, and M. L. Smith (2006); and D. D. Hammill and H. L. Swanson (2006) that disagreed with the NRP on the magnitude of the effect of systematic phonics instruction. Using the coding of the NRP studies by Camilli et al. (2003, 2006), multilevel regression analyses show that their findings do not contradict the NRP findings of effect sizes in the small to moderate range favoring systematic phonics. Extending Camilli et al. (2003, 2006), the largest effects are associated with reading instruction enhanced with components that increase comprehensiveness and intensity. In contrast to Hammill and Swanson, binomial effect size displays show that effect sizes of the magnitude found for systematic phonics by the NRP are meaningful and could result in significant improvement for many students depending on the base rate of struggling readers and the size of the effect. Camilli et al. (2003, 2006) and Hammill and Swanson do not contradict the NRP report, concurring in supporting comprehensive approaches to reading instruction.     

employment or economic success: the experience of individuals with disabilities in transition from school to work

This research explores the mediating effects of severity of disability on the employment outcomes of participants with disabilities, taking into account their perception of interest‐job match. Participants were 115 high school students with disabilities who took part in an intensive school‐to‐work transition program that explored occupational interests in relation‐to‐work opportunities. Results of a 1‐way analysis of covariance indicated that severity of disability had a significant effect on the employment outcomes of participants despite interest‐job matching. Although participants experienced positive employment outcomes in terms of job entry, these outcomes may not necessarily translate into higher earnings.     

Not so innocent: does seeing one's own capacity for wrongdoing predict forgiveness?

People are more forgiving toward transgressors if they see themselves as capable of committing similar offenses, as demonstrated in 7 studies. Methods included hypothetical scenarios, actual recalled offenses, individual and group processes, and correlational and experimental designs. Three factors mediated the link between personal capability and forgiveness: seeing the other's offense as less severe, greater empathic understanding, and perceiving oneself as similar to the transgressor. In terms of predicting forgiveness, it was important that people's own offenses were similar to the target offense in terms of both severity and type. The personal capability effect was independent of other established predictors of forgiveness and was more pronounced among men than women.     

Maintaining sexual desire in intimate relationships: the importance of approach goals

Three studies tested whether adopting strong (relative to weak) approach goals in relationships (i.e., goals focused on the pursuit of positive experiences in one's relationship such as fun, growth, and development) predict greater sexual desire. Study 1 was a 6-month longitudinal study with biweekly assessments of sexual desire. Studies 2 and 3 were 2-week daily experience studies with daily assessments of sexual desire. Results showed that approach relationship goals buffered against declines in sexual desire over time and predicted elevated sexual desire during daily sexual interactions. Approach sexual goals mediated the association between approach relationship goals and daily sexual desire. Individuals with strong approach goals experienced even greater desire on days with positive relationship events and experienced less of a decrease in desire on days with negative relationships events than individuals who were low in approach goals. In two of the three studies, the association between approach relationship goals and sexual desire was stronger for women than for men. Implications of these findings for maintaining sexual desire in long-term relationships are discussed.     

A large scale study of the assessment of the social environment of middle and secondary schools: The validity and utility of teachers' ratings of school climate, cultural pluralism, and safety problems for understanding school effects and school improvement

Due to changes in state and federal policies, as well as logistical and fiscal limitations, researchers must increasingly rely on teachers' reports of school climate dimensions in order to investigate the developmental impact of these dimensions, and to evaluate efforts to enhance the impact of school environments on the development of young adolescents. Teachers' climate ratings exhibited a robust dimensional structure, high levels of internal consistency, and moderate levels of stability over 1-and 2-year time spans. Teachers' climate ratings were also found to be related consistently with students' ratings. In three large-scale samples of schools, teachers' climate ratings were associated significantly and consistently with students' performance on standardized tests of academic achievement, and with indexes of their academic, behavioral, and socio-emotional adjustment.     

“Figuring” the Self: Unity and Multiplicity in Clinical and Theological Imagination

This paper considers the relationship of unconscious fantasy to theory, with the focus on the issue of unity and multiplicity. The purpose of the paper is to explore the deep structure of unconscious fantasy, which is understood as that which promotes and organizes our experiences of the “one” and the “many” and serves as a driving force in the formation of the self. Using Thomas Ogden’s reformulation of Melanie Klein’s theory of fantasy (phantasy) and his vision of the Kleinian subject, alongside Christian Trinitarian theology, the paper argues that unity and multiplicity persist in a generative and interpenetrating dialectic that unfolds within/toward a transcendent unity-in-process, an eternal “becoming one.”     

Methamphetamine abuse and impairment of social functioning: a review of the underlying neurophysiological causes and behavioral implications

The highly addictive drug methamphetamine has been associated with impairments in social cognitions as evidenced by changes in users' behaviors. Physiological changes in brain structure and functioning, particularly in the frontal lobe, have also been identified. The authors propose a biopsychosocial approach to understanding the effects of methamphetamine addiction by relating the physiological effects of the drug to the behaviors and social cognitions of its users, through the application of the theory of mind paradigm. Although onset of methamphetamine use has been linked to the desire for socialization, chronic use has been associated with an increase in depression, aggressiveness, and social isolation, behaviors that also implicate involvement of the frontal lobe. The reviewed literature provides strong circumstantial evidence that social-cognitive functioning is significantly impacted by methamphetamine use and that the social isolation, depression, and aggressiveness associated with chronic use is due to more than just the social withdrawal associated with addiction. Treatment considerations for methamphetamine must therefore consider the role of social cognition, and pharmacological responses must address the documented impact of the drug on frontal lobe functioning.     

Physical activity in infants with Down syndrome receiving a treadmill intervention

Despite the recognized relevance of physical activity in the development and health of children, assessment of physical activity levels (PA-level) in infancy is limited, especially in infants with Down syndrome (DS). Increasing PA-level using a treadmill training (TMT) intervention may benefit infants with motor delays. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a higher intensity, individualized TMT protocol (HI) would elicit immediate and short-term higher PA-level in infants with DS than a lower intensity, generalized training protocol (LG).Thirty infants with DS were randomly assigned to the LG or the HI group. Training was terminated when the infants could walk three steps independently. Activity monitors were placed on infants’ trunks and legs for a 24-h period every other month during the intervention phase, and at set intervals 1-year post-independent walking onset. Data were analyzed to separate sedentary-to-light activity (Lowact) and moderate-to-vigorous activity (Highact).Overall our results demonstrate that infants receiving the HI TMT had higher levels of Highact than infants in the LG group, factoring out the activity produced by the intervention itself. Infants in the LG group spent more time in Lowact than the HI group. In addition, these results seemed to be retained during the post-intervention follow-up. Despite these exciting results, more work is needed to understand the relationship of the intensity of TMT on PA-level in infants with DS, and whether PA-level and TMT are related to motor milestone achievement and/or health benefits.     

The role of explicit and implicit standards in visual speed discrimination

Five experiments were designed to investigate visual speed discrimination. Variations of the method of constant stimuli were used to obtain speed discrimination thresholds in experiments 1, 2, 4, and 5, while the method of single stimuli was used in experiment 3. The observers' thresholds were significantly influenced by the choice of psychophysical method and by changes in the standard speed. The observers' judgments were unaffected, however, by changes in the magnitude of random variations in stimulus duration, reinforcing the conclusions of Lappin et al (1975 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 1 383 394). When an implicit standard was used, the observers produced relatively low discrimination thresholds (7.0% of the standard speed), verifying the results of McKee (1981 Vision Research 21 491-500). When an explicit standard was used in a 2AFC variant of the method of constant stimuli, however, the observers' discrimination thresholds increased by 74% (to 12.2%), resembling the high thresholds obtained by Mandriota et al (1962 Science 138 437-438). A subsequent signal-detection analysis revealed that the observers' actual sensitivities to differences in speed were in fact equivalent for both psychophysical methods. The formation of an implicit standard in the method of single stimuli allows human observers to make judgments of speed that are as precise as those obtained when explicit standards are available.     

Motor maps, seizures, and behaviour

Atypically organised motor maps have been described in some people with epilepsy and we have modelled this in rats. Our goal is to more fully understand the mechanisms responsible for seizure-induced functional brain reorganisation and to reverse their effects. Here we present an overview of the relationship between neocortical motor maps, seizures, and interictal behaviour. To begin we summarise the observations of atypical motor maps with epilepsy and in animal models following experimentally induced seizures. Our novel experiments have established that motor map expansion is linked to a functional alteration of motor behaviour. Evidence for some of the putative brain mechanisms responsible for motor map size is discussed. Our successes reversing seizure-induced map expansion by two different methods are also briefly reviewed. Lastly, unanswered questions for possible future experimentation are posed.