A COMPARISON OF SEMANTIC‐ AND MNEMONIC‐BASED VOCABULARY‐LEARNING STRATEGIES

Fourth‐ and fifth‐grade students were taught the meanings of new vocabulary items according to one of three instructional strategies. Two of the strategies were semantic‐based (contextual analysis and semantic mapping), and the other strategy was mnemonic‐based (the keyword method). Consistent with recent research findings, the keyword method facilitated students’ recall of the vocabulary items’ definitions, and this was true in both higher‐ and lower‐achieving subject populations. In the higher‐achieving sample, the keyword method was also superior to the contextual analysis strategy on two vocabulary‐usage tests, one that was administered on the day immediately following instruction and one that was administered a week later. Mean performance on a one‐week delayed definition‐matching test was statistically equivalent in the three conditions, although in the higher‐achieving sample a reliably higher proportion of keyword subjects than contextual analysis subjects attained perfect scores on that test. No significant difference between the two semantic‐ based strategies was found on any of the dependent measures. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are included in the discussion.     

Association of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Function with Neuropsychological Performance in Children with Mild/Moderate Asthma

The present study examines the relationship between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function and child psychological/neuropsychological function in a group of children with mild to moderate asthma. The goal of the study was to determine whether child neuropsychological functioning and psychological functioning were associated with cortisol production in response to adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH) stimulation when assessed as area under the curve. Data for this study were gathered from 63 children who participated in an ancillary study within the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP) during the pre-randomization phase of the CAMP trial. At 2 of the 8 CAMP clinical centers participants completed an ACTH stimulation test after an overnight stay in the General Clinical Research Center. Gender differences on baseline cortisol and change in cortisol 30 minutes after infusion of ACTH were present. Results further indicated significant associations between cortisol production and measures of child neuropsychological function. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that cortisol change could be predicted by measures of gender, working memory, and arousal maintenance, providing support for the hypothesis that cortisol plays a modest role in the neuropsychological function of children with mild and moderate asthma. In contrast, cortisol production was not associated with child reports of psychological functioning. Limitations to the methods employed in this study are discussed.     

Neurobehavioral Functioning in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Neurobehavioral functioning of 50 Canadian children diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) was evaluated. The aims of this study were to identify specific areas of weakness in neurobehavioral functioning, to examine whether neurobehavioral functioning was related to various predictor variables, and to determine which measures differentiated between children given a brain score of 2 (possible dysfunction) and 3 (probable dysfunction). Participants displayed difficulties with many aspects of intelligence, memory, executive functioning, and attention. Measures of Full scale and Verbal IQ, as well as memory for faces and numbers differentiated between children with a brain 2 and 3 ranking. An interesting pattern of strengths and weaknesses emerged as well as significant differences related to ethnic background, gender, and age. Aboriginal children and Caucasian children with FASD do not appear to show the same pattern of strengths and weaknesses in neurobehavioral functioning.     

Implications of Identification with Parents and Parents' Acceptance for Adolescent and Young Adult Self-esteem

Although several authors have suggested that youths' identification with their parents plays an important role in how they come to evaluate themselves, this hypothesis has not been explored empirically in longitudinal research. Using prospective data from a representative community sample, we tested whether the association between adolescents' identification with mother and father and subsequent gains in global self-esteem would hinge on the parent's acceptance or rejection of the adolescent. Results showed that male adolescents' self-esteem consistently improved the more they identified with their parents. Among female adolescents, the change in self-esteem associated with parental identification depended on the parent's evaluation of them, suggesting that identifying with a rejecting parent presents a particular vulnerability for low self-esteem in young women.     

Understanding spatial transformations: similarities and differences between mental rotation and mental folding

Mental rotation and mental folding, two widely used measures of spatial ability, both require the dynamic spatial transformation of objects with respect to their internal spatial structure. Traditionally, however, these two skills have been considered quite distinct, based primarily on factor analyses of psychometric data. This paper reviews the similarities and differences between mental rotation and mental folding from a variety of perspectives, including their definitions, component cognitive processes, neurological bases, developmental trajectories, malleability, predictive validity, and psychometric properties. We conclude that mental rotation and mental folding are similar in many respects. However, the tasks differ in whether they require rigid or non-rigid transformations of objects. In addition, mental rotation shows robust sex-related differences whereas mental folding does not. We also identify specific questions for which research is lacking.     

Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: Arrest Rates Across Recent Studies

Efforts by women's rights activists, concomitant with results of research studies and court cases, have prompted legal reforms in public policy that include recently implemented mandatory arrest and prosecution laws. A review of the recent research since the advent of these laws suggests that arrests of women have increased by 25–35%, while the most liberal estimate is that only 1–7% of all IPV arrests are of actual female primary batterers, suggesting that victim arrests are on the rise. Various factors contribute to officers arresting not only primary batterers but victims as well, creating confusion and resentment over mandatory arrest policies. The negative implications of this arrest pattern are far-reaching because errant arrests hold negative consequences for victims, including legal, financial, employment, and familial repercussions.     

Implementing an equal opportunities audit,gaining support,and implementing the findings

Abstract

An introduction to “Managing Diversity: Using an Equal Opportunities Audit to Maximize Career Potential and Opportunities in a UK Bank” by Valerie J. Sutherland and Marilyn J. Davidson     

Who is crossing where? Infants' discrimination of figures and grounds in events

To learn relational terms such as verbs and prepositions, children must first dissect and process dynamic event components. This paper investigates the way in which 8- to 14-month-old English-reared infants notice the event components, figure (i.e., the moving entity) and ground (i.e., stationary setting), in both dynamic (Experiment 1) and static representations of events (Experiment 2) for categorical ground distinctions expressed in Japanese, but not in English. We then compare both 14- and 19-month-old English- and Japanese-reared infants’ processing of grounds to understand how language learning interacts with the conceptualization of these constructs (Experiment 3). Results suggest that (1) infants distinguish between figures and grounds in events; (2) they do so differently for static vs. dynamic displays; (3) early in the second year, children from diverse language environments form nonnative – perhaps universal – event categories; and (4) these event categories shift over time as children have more exposure to their native tongue.