An experimental test of the effects of gender constancy on sex typing

This study provides an experimental test of the hypothesis that level of gender constancy understanding affects children’s sex typing. Preschool-age children (N = 62, mean age = 47 months) were randomly assigned to experimental lessons that taught that biological traits (including gender) are either fixed (pro-constancy condition) or mutable (anti-constancy condition). Posttests revealed that the lessons were effective; children in the pro-constancy condition showed higher gender constancy and appearance–reality distinction scores than did children in the anti-constancy condition. Sex typing did not, however, differ between treatment conditions at immediate and 3-month posttesting.     

Regional cortical volume and cognitive functioning following traumatic brain injury

There has been limited examination of the effect of brain pathology on subsequent function. The current study examined the relationships between regional variation in grey matter volume, age and cognitive impairment using a semi-automated image analysis tool. This study included 69 individuals with mild-to-severe TBI, 41 of whom also completed neuropsychological tests of attention, working memory, processing speed, memory and executive functions. A widespread reduction in grey matter volume was associated with increasing age. Regional volumes that were affected also related to the severity of injury, whereby the most severe TBI participants displayed the most significant pathology. Poorer retention of newly learned material was associated with reduced cortical volume in frontal, parietal, and occipital brain regions. In addition, poorer working memory and executive control performance was found for individuals with lower cortical volume in temporal, parietal, and occipital regions. These findings are largely in line with previous literature, which suggests that frontal, temporal, and parietal regions are integral for the encoding of memories into long-term storage, memory retrieval, and working memory. The present study suggests that automated image analysis methods may be used to explore the relationships between regional variation in grey matter volume and cognitive function following TBI.     

Selective and sustained attention in children with spina bifida myelomeningocele

This study examined memory functioning in children and adolescents with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (DS; velocardiofacial syndrome). An overall verbal better than nonverbal memory pattern was evident on the Test of Memory and Learning (TOMAL), with children with 22q11.2 DS performing significantly below their siblings and children with low average IQ but similar to children with autism on facial memory. Children with 22q11 DS also performed significantly below their siblings on tests of verbal working memory. Children with autism performed significantly poorer than the siblings of children with 22q11.2 DS only on their recall of stories. Delayed recall was significantly poorer in children with 22q11.2 DS and children with autism, compared to sibling controls. Although there were no significant group differences on tests of multiple trial verbal or visual learning, a relative weakness was noted with multiple trial visual learning in children with 22q11.2 DS and their siblings, suggesting that an alternative or interactive factor other than the deletion may account for the relatively better verbal compared to nonverbal memory abilities. Deficits in facial memory in children with both 22q11.2 DS and autism suggest disruptions in ventral temporal pathways such as between fusiform gyrus and parahippocampal/hippocampal regions whereas deficits in verbal working memory in children with 22q11.2 DS implicates dorsolateral prefrontal regions, both intimating aberrant white matter pathways.     

Longitudinal development of manual motor ability in autism spectrum disorder from childhood to mid‐adulthood relates to adaptive daily living skills

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit motor difficulties, but it is unknown whether manual motor skills improve, plateau, or decline in ASD in the transition from childhood into adulthood. Atypical development of manual motor skills could impact the ability to learn and perform daily activities across the life span. This study examined longitudinal grip strength and finger tapping development in individuals with ASD (n = 90) compared to individuals with typical development (n = 56), ages 5 to 40 years old. We further examined manual motor performance as a possible correlate of current and future daily living skills. The group with ASD demonstrated atypical motor development, characterized by similar performance during childhood but increasingly poorer performance from adolescence into adulthood. Grip strength was correlated with current adaptive daily living skills, and Time 1 grip strength predicted daily living skills eight years into the future. These results suggest that individuals with ASD may experience increasingly more pronounced motor difficulties from adolescence into adulthood and that manual motor performance in ASD is related to adaptive daily living skills.     

Single-Sex Education: New Perspectives and Evidence on a Continuing Controversy

The number of single-sex schools in the United States has climbed steadily in recent years, despite a lack of consensus that such schools lead to academic or psychological outcomes superior to those of coeducational schools. In this introduction to the first part of a special issue on the topic, we review the history of single-sex education in the U.S. and factors that have led to its recent rise. We then review ideological and methodological controversies in the field. Finally, we summarize the eight empirical studies that appear in the issue, highlighting the contributions of each paper to a body of work that we hope will inform educational practice and policy.     

Social outcomes in childhood brain disorder: a heuristic integration of social neuroscience and developmental psychology

The authors propose a heuristic model of the social outcomes of childhood brain disorder that draws on models and methods from both the emerging field of social cognitive neuroscience and the study of social competence in developmental psychology/psychopathology. The heuristic model characterizes the relationships between social adjustment, peer interactions and relationships, social problem solving and communication, social-affective and cognitive-executive processes, and their neural substrates. The model is illustrated by research on a specific form of childhood brain disorder, traumatic brain injury. The heuristic model may promote research regarding the neural and cognitive-affective substrates of children's social development. It also may engender more precise methods of measuring impairments and disabilities in children with brain disorder and suggest ways to promote their social adaptation.     

NEUROBEHAVIORAL SEQUELAE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

This study examined intellectual and memory functioning in a sample of sexually abused children compared to demographically and age-matched controls. The severity of abuse and other pertinent factors were also examined in relation to cognitive performance. Elevated levels of psychopathology were present in the abused children, as well as diminished performance on tasks influenced by attention/concentration. However, after controlling for differences in IQ and socioeconomic status (SES), significant differences in memory function were not found. Results are discussed in the context of stress effects on cognition and the potential resiliency of cognitive function in children undergoing treatment for sexual abuse.     

The Efficacy of Single-Sex Education: Testing for Selection and Peer Quality Effects

To address selection and peer quality effects in tests of the efficacy of single-sex schools, the achievement of girls attending a public single-sex middle school in the Southwest United States (N?=?121) was compared to that of (a) girls who applied but were not admitted to the same school (N?=?229) and (b) girls who applied to and attended a coeducational magnet school (N?=?134). Achievement scores were collected over 3 years for the ethnically diverse participants (41 African Americans, 27 Asian Americans, 163 European Americans, 251 Latinos, and two Native Americans). After controlling for selection and peer quality effects, there was no significant effect of the gender composition of schools on achievement. Implications for educational policy are discussed.