Language in autism and specific language impairment: where are the links?

It has been suggested that language impairment in autism is behaviorally, neurobiologically, and etiologically related to specific language impairment (SLI). In this article, the authors review evidence at each level and argue that the vast majority of data does not support the view that language impairment in autism can be explained in terms of comorbid SLI. The authors make recommendations for how this debate might be resolved and suggest a shift in research focus. They recommend that researchers concentrate on those aspects of language impairment that predominate in each disorder rather than on those comparatively small areas of potential overlap.     

Internet identification and future internet use.

This paper reports a study investigating the relationship between Internet identification and future Internet use. We predict that Internet identification is stable over time and that it is predictive of future use. The participants were 216 undergraduate students (184 females and 32 males) from five universities in the United Kingdom. They completed a questionnaire concerning their use of the Internet and a measure of Internet identification at the start of the academic year and at the end of the academic year. We found that Internet identification measured at the beginning of the academic year was positively related to Internet identification measured at the end of the academic year. Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between Internet identification and future general Internet use and a positive relationship between Internet identification and future educational Internet use.     

Thinking while talking: adults fail nonverbal false-belief reasoning

This experiment tested the ability of 81 adult subjects to make a decision on a simple nonverbal false-belief reasoning task while concurrently either shadowing prerecorded spoken dialogue or tapping along with a rhythmic shadowing track. Our results showed that the verbal task, but not tapping, significantly disrupted false-belief reasoning, suggesting that language plays a key role in working theory of mind in adults, even when the false-belief reasoning is nonverbal.     

Cognitive aspects of nonclinical obsessive-compulsive hoarding

Research on the cognitive variables associated with obsessive-compulsive hoarding is scarce. In this study, we investigated cognitive variables that may contribute to the maintenance and possibly etiology of hoarding. College students who characterized themselves as either "packrats" (nonclinical hoarders; n=21) or not (control participants; n=20) completed questionnaires assessing hoarding behavior and beliefs about hoarding, and completed a task requiring them to categorize diverse objects and trinkets of minimal value into groups. The results revealed that nonclinical hoarders, relative to control participants, rated the categorization task as significantly more stressful and difficult. Relative to control participants, hoarders took longer to complete the task and sorted objects into more categories. These findings suggest that underinclusiveness and indecisiveness, characteristic of clinical hoarders, are evident in nonclinical hoarders as well.     

General and Domain-Specific Self-Esteem Among Regular Education and Special Education Students

We examined the global and domain-specific self-esteem of students who are emotionally disturbed, students who are learning disabled, and students who are in regular education classrooms. Students who were emotionally disturbed or learning disabled had lower global self-esteem than did students in regular education classes. The specific domains in which students in special education felt that they were less competent than students in regular education included social skills, leadership skills, and academics. However, the 2 groups of students in special education did not differ from one another. No differences emerged between the groups on a measure of self-esteem that is less subject to social desirability concerns. Implications of this research for education are discussed.     

Comparison of two exercise protocols on fitness score improvement in poorly conditioned Air Force personnel

A 12-wk. study was conducted to contrast the effects of a longer and more frequent aerobic exercise protocol with a shorter and less frequent circuit strength-training protocol for improving U.S. Air Force physical fitness test scores of subjects who previously failed to achieve a passing point total. 83 men and women of the U.S. Air Force (M age = 32.7 yr.) participated in either the unsupervised standard conditioning program, which recommended approximately 60 min. of aerobic activity 4 to 5 days per week (n=26), or the supervised circuit strength-training program, which required approximately 25 min. of alternating strength and endurance exercises 3 days per week (n=57). Subjects were assessed on a 2400-m (1.5-mile) run, abdominal circumference, push-ups completed in 1 min., and abdominal crunches completed in 1 min. Dependent t tests with Bonferroni adjustment indicated that significant improvements were attained by the circuit strength-training group only on each of the aforementioned measures. Significantly more participants in the circuit strength-training group (26%) achieved a passing point total than in the standard conditioning group (19%) at Wk. 12 (chi1(2) =3.96, p = .05). Implications for enhancing physical fitness in poorly conditioned adults were discussed.     

The ACA Code of Ethics: Articulating Counseling's Professional Covenant

The ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association, 2005) is an articulation of the ever‐changing relationship between counseling professionals and society. It provides clear parameters of behaviors to meet the changing needs of the people counselors are called to serve. This article reviews the 2005 Code as both a statement of counselor identity and an ethical covenant with society.     

Speech errors reflect the phonotactic constraints in recently spoken syllables, but not in recently heard syllables

Adults rapidly learn phonotactic constraints from brief production or perception experience. Three experiments asked whether this learning is modality-specific, occurring separately in production and perception, or whether perception transfers to production. Participant pairs took turns repeating syllables in which particular consonants were restricted to particular syllable positions. Speakers’ errors reflected learning of the constraints present in the sequences they produced, regardless of whether their partner produced syllables with the same constraints, or opposing constraints. Although partial transfer could be induced (Experiment 3), simply hearing and encoding syllables produced by others did not affect speech production to the extent that error patterns were altered. Learning of new phonotactic constraints was predominantly restricted to the modality in which those constraints were experienced.