Multifactorial pathways facilitate resilience among kindergarteners at risk for dyslexia: A longitudinal behavioral and neuroimaging study

Recent efforts have focused on screening methods to identify children at risk for dyslexia as early as preschool/kindergarten. Unfortunately, while low sensitivity leads to under‐identification of at‐risk children, low specificity can lead to over‐identification, resulting in inaccurate allocation of limited educational resources. The present study focused on children identified as at‐risk in kindergarten who do not subsequently develop poor reading skills to specify factors associated with better reading outcomes among at‐risk children. Early screening was conducted in kindergarten and a subset of children was tracked longitudinally until second grade. Potential protective factors were evaluated at cognitive‐linguistic, environmental, and neural levels. Relative to at‐risk kindergarteners with subsequent poor reading, those with typical reading outcomes were characterized by significantly higher socioeconomic status (SES), speech production accuracy, and structural organization of the posterior right‐hemispheric superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). A positive association between structural organization of the right SLF and subsequent decoding skills was found to be specific to at‐risk children and not observed among typical controls. Among at‐risk children, several kindergarten‐age factors were found to significantly contribute to the prediction of subsequent decoding skills: white matter organization in the posterior right SLF, age, gender, SES, and phonological awareness. These findings suggest that putative compensatory mechanisms are already present by the start of kindergarten. The right SLF, in conjunction with the cognitive‐linguistic and socioeconomic factors identified, may play an important role in facilitating reading development among at‐risk children. This study has important implications for approaches to early screening, and assessment strategies for at‐risk children.     

Advancing the dialogue between inner and outer empiricism: A comment on O’Nualláin

In a recent contribution to New Ideas in Psychology, Seán O’Nualláin draws out a distinction between inner and outer empiricism, and suggests that consciousness research can benefit from analysis in both directions, that is, via the exploration of facts and relations that facilitate a third-person understanding of consciousness (by reference to an analysis of the structures, processes, and functions of the brain) and via the direct exploration of conscious experience itself, both in terms of its computational (content filled) and non-computational (content empty) aspects. In positing a substrate of subjectivity independent of the contents of consciousness (and, more specifically, a state of “nothingness”), Ò’Nualláin follows a long tradition deeply rooted in mythical, religious, and esoteric schools of belief and practice. Although there is considerable debate amongst philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists as to whether or not a non-computational view of consciousness is viable, O’Nualláin accepts that such a possibility does exist. Further, he suggests that a dialogue between the inner and outer empiricists will be fruitful. In this comment I, critique Ò’Nualláin's initial thoughts on the subject and draw out a series of useful distinctions that will help to advance the dialogue between inner and outer empiricism. Critical amongst these distinctions is explicit reference to (1) ontological and epistemological interdependencies in consciousness research, and (2) states of consciousness that describe the transition from “mindfulness” through “nothingness” to “no-mind”.     

Experience and problem representation in statistics

This research investigated experience level differences in problem representation in statistics. A triad judgment task was designed so that source problems shared either surface similarity (story narrative) or structural (inferential level) features (t test, correlation, or chi-square) with the target problem. Graduate students with varying levels of experience in statistics were asked to choose which source problem "goes best" with the target problem for each triad. Given a choice between a problem that shares surface-level characteristics and one that shares inferential-level characteristics, students who had taken 0 to 4 courses in statistics tended to represent problems on the basis of surface-level features. Students who had more than 4 courses did not consistently make choices on the basis of surface-level features, nor did they consistently rely on structural features. However, all students with statistics course backgrounds noticed structural features when competition between different types of features was eliminated. The role of surface and structural features in determining problem representations is discussed.     

Leadership and the fate of organizations

This article concerns the real-world importance of leadership for the success or failure of organizations and social institutions. The authors propose conceptualizing leadership and evaluating leaders in terms of the performance of the team or organization for which they are responsible. The authors next offer a taxonomy of the dependent variables used as criteria in leadership studies. A review of research using this taxonomy suggests that the vast empirical literature on leadership may tell us more about the success of individual managerial careers than the success of these people in leading groups, teams, and organizations. The authors then summarize the evidence showing that leaders do indeed affect the performance of organizations--for better or for worse--and conclude by describing the mechanisms through which they do so.     

Statistical frequency in perception affects children’s lexical production

Children’s early word production is influenced by the statistical frequency of speech sounds and combinations. Three experiments asked whether this production effect can be explained by a perceptual learning mechanism that is sensitive to word-token frequency and/or variability. Four-year-olds were exposed to nonwords that were either frequent (presented 10 times) or infrequent (presented once). When the frequent nonwords were spoken by the same talker, children showed no significant effect of perceptual frequency on production. When the frequent nonwords were spoken by different talkers, children produced them with fewer errors and shorter latencies. The results implicate token variability in perceptual learning.     

Conductive education: the case for further research

This paper presents the case for further research into Conductive Education arguing that the Department of Education report (Bairstow, Cochrane and Hur, 1993) by attempting to evaluate the practice of Conductive Education has in relying upon an experimental research strategy produced a narrow construction of the methods and practice of Conductive Education. The timing and methodologies used in the report are questioned and attention is drawn to developments in child disability research that challenge the manner in which researchers construct the lives of children with disabilities. Recommendations for the research community suggest that future studies move away from experimental or quasi-experimental research designs towards understanding of the child in its entirety and to accept the importance of the perspectives of service users, particularly the parents. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Out on the edge of my comfort”: Trainee counsellor/psychotherapists' experiences of spirituality in therapy—A qualitative exploration

The integration of spirituality into counselling and psychotherapy poses complex challenges. Personal spirituality, professional competency and ethical considerations may impact on trainees' experiences of integrating spirituality into therapy. This study adopted an inductive, qualitative approach to explore trainee counsellor/psychotherapists' experiences and perceptions of integrating spirituality into therapy. Six trainee counsellors and psychotherapists were recruited using purposive sampling from a professional counsellor and psychotherapist training institution in the UK. In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were conducted, audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed two overarching themes: spirituality provides support but needs a warning; and spirituality is relevant but undervalued. These themes encompass a wide range of trainee concerns associated with integrating spirituality into therapy. Participants reported that they felt unprepared to work therapeutically with clients' spiritual beliefs. However, the value of spirituality in providing support to both the trainee and their clients was highlighted by several participants. Some participants described integrating clients' spirituality as having a positive impact on the therapeutic relationship, but often felt threatening to the trainee. This research has implications that are important for counselling and psychotherapy training and developing enhanced consideration of client spirituality and the interpersonal environment in which therapy is delivered.