The development of reading impairment: a cognitive neuroscience model

This review discusses recent cognitive neuroscience investigations into the biological bases of developmental dyslexia, a common disorder impacting approximately 5 to 17 percent of the population. Our aim is to summarize central findings from several lines of evidence that converge on pivotal aspects of the brain bases of developmental dyslexia. We highlight ways in which the approaches and methodologies of developmental cognitive neuroscience that are addressed in this special issue-including neuroimaging, human genetics, refinement of cognitive and biological phenotypes, neural plasticity and computational model-can be employed in uncovering the biological bases of this disorder. Taking a developmental perspective on the biological bases of dyslexia, we propose a simple cascading model for the developmental progression of this disorder, in which individual differences in brain areas associated with phonological processing might influence the specialization of visual areas involved in the rapid processing of written words. We also discuss recent efforts to understand the impact of successful reading interventions in terms of changes within cortical circuits associated with reading ability.     

Examining the impact of psychiatric diagnosis and comorbidity on the medical lethality of adolescent suicide attempts

Specific psychiatric diagnoses and comorbidity patterns were examined to determine if they were related to the medical lethality of suicide attempts among adolescents presenting to an urban general hospital (N=375). Bivariate analysis showed that attempters with substance abuse disorders had higher levels of lethality than attempters without substance abuse. Regression results indicated having depression comorbid with any other diagnosis was not associated with medical lethality. However, having a substance abuse disorder was associated with higher suicide attempt lethality, highlighting the importance of substance abuse as a risk factor for lethal suicide attempts in adolescents. This finding stimulates critical thinking around the understanding of suicidal behavior in youth and the development and implementation of treatment strategies for suicidal adolescents with substance abuse disorders.     

Reframing Coalitions as Systems Interventions: A Network Study Exploring the Contribution of a Youth Violence Prevention Coalition to Broader System Capacity

This longitudinal research conceptualizes community coalitions as events in local intervention systems (Hawe et al. in Am J Commun Psychol 43(3–4):267–276, 2009 ). It explores the potential contribution coalitions make, through the collaborative activities of their members, to the broader intervention systems in which they are embedded. Using social network analysis, it examines patterns of structural change in a network of 99 organizations focused on youth violence prevention (YVP) over a 5‐year period in which 30 of the 99 organizations were involved in a local YVP Coalition. Both longitudinal modeling and cross sectional analyses are used to examine change in system capacity—strong interorganizational networks—related to patterns of network density, centralization, and hierarchy. Somewhat surprisingly, the study found that capacity in the broader YVP Intervention System actually diminished during the 5‐year period of the coalition’s operation, though part of the system—the sub‐network that made up the YVP Coalition—was marginally strengthened. In this case, therefore, the evidence suggests that power and relational resources in the broader YVP Intervention System were redistributed. The article explores how the definition of capacity related to density and hierarchy may be contextually dependent. Implications for the role of coalitions in building system capacity are discussed.     

Board Certification in Psychology: Insights from Medicine and Hospital Psychology

For physicians board certification is an accepted tradition that research suggests improves services and outcomes. In contrast, relatively few psychologists pursue board certification suggesting ambivalence or limited contingencies reinforcing it. The authors report on medical school and hospital-based psychologists’ attitudes toward board certification and current certification status. About one-fifth (21.7%) of the sample were certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology, a greater proportion than psychologists generally: Highest rates were seen in neuropsychology (7.5%), clinical psychology (6.4%), clinical child and adolescent psychology (3.2%) and clinical health psychology (2.8%). Few (<2%) reported their hospitals required board certification. Half recognized benefits to the profession for psychologists pursuing board certification, yet 70% opposed requiring it for their hospital-based practice. Forces seeking to promote healthcare quality ultimately may increase expectations for board certification. If consumers, employers, hospitals and managed care organizations demand board certification for health professionals, greater numbers of psychologists would likely seek it.     

An Investigation of Prospective Memory in Children With ADHD

Prospective memory, defined as the ability to follow through on intended behavior, is believed to be subserved by a number of neuroanatomical substrates, but particularly dependent, at least in part, on the frontal lobes. Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) traditionally have difficulty on tasks dependent on frontal lobe structures. The present study attempted to determine whether children with ADHD are impaired in prospective memory function. Two studies are described that use a new measure of time-based prospective memory, the CyberCruiser (Kerns, 2000), to compare children with ADHD to a control group consisting of participants who were matched in respect to age, gender, and IQ. The results document prospective memory deficits in ADHD. Prospective memory performance correlated significantly with clinical measures of ADHD as assessed by the Conners' Parent Rating Scale (Conners, 1990) Hyperactivity Index, but was unrelated to intellectual ability. Though psychometric measures of attention correlated with prospective memory performance, they did not account for the differences in prospective memory that were observed between the ADHD and control groups.     

The Red and The Real

It is often claimed that principles of individuation imply essential properties of the things individuated. For example, sets are individuated by their members, hence sets have their members essentially. But how does this inference work? First I discuss the form of such inferences, and conclude that the essentialist inference is not a purely formal matter: although there is a form which all principles of individuation have in common, it is not true that any statement of that form is a principle of individuation, and hence there is no valid inference based purely on that form. However, I argue that there is a viable version of the essentialist inference nonetheless. The resources for a proper reconstruction of this type of inference can be gathered from reflections upon the role principles of individuation play in the project of the ontologist: such principles turn out to carry a modal weight similar to that of definitions or conceptual truths. It follows that, no matter how austere the ontology, some portion of essentialist modality is inevitable.     

Counseling in Zimbabwe: History,Current Status,and Future Trends

Counseling in Zimbabwe has a long tradition, dating back to pre‐Colonial times. In the modern context, counseling has evolved through the educational and health care sectors. Since the 1990s, Zimbabwean counselors have advocated for professional recognition, a struggle similar to that of counselors in the United States. In this article, the authors provide a historical view of counseling in Zimbabwe, discuss the current status of and future trends in counseling, and make recommendations for the advancement of the profession.     

Social contexts influence ethical considerations of research

This article argues that we could improve the design of research protocols by developing an awareness of and a responsiveness to the social contexts of all the actors in the research enterprise, including subjects, investigators, sponsors, and members of the community in which the research will be conducted. "Social context" refers to the settings in which the actors are situated, including, but not limited to, their social, economic, political, cultural, and technological features. The utility of thinking about social contexts is introduced and exemplified by the presentation of a hypothetical case in which one central issue is limitation of the probability of injury to subjects by selection of individuals who are not expected to live long enough for the known risks of the study to become manifest as harms. Benefits of such considerations may include enhanced subject satisfaction and cooperation, community acceptance, and improved data quality, among other desirable consequences.     

Will you still hire me when I am over 50? The effects of implicit and explicit age stereotyping on resume evaluations

Multiple studies have found that older workers may be disadvantaged in their job search due to explicit age stereotypes. However, no published research has examined the effect of both explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) negative age stereotypes against older workers on hiring decisions. The current study fills this gap by using an experimental design to simultaneously examine how both explicit and implicit age stereotypes affect the evaluation of resumes for older and younger job applicants. Participants completed measures of explicit age stereotypes via a questionnaire and implicit age stereotypes with an Implicit Association Test focused on older and younger working-age people. They then completed a resume screening task that included younger and older potential applicants. Results showed that participants’ explicit age stereotypes positively influenced the evaluation of younger applicants’ resumes but had no significant effect on the evaluation of older applicants’ resumes. Conversely, implicit age stereotypes had a negative effect on the evaluation of older applicants’ resumes but had no significant effect on the evaluation of younger applicants’ resumes. The results suggest that both implicit and explicit age stereotypes may harm older job applicants’ hireablity, but through different pathways.     

Recapturing the power of ritual to enhance community in aging

Ritual returns us to the center of who we are. In times of transition, loss, disconnection, and loneliness, ritual offers transformative power. It can provide a language for expression, stability, serve an integrating force in community, mediate tradition, and offer emotional support. This article explores the need for ritual in coping with late life changes, the relationship of ritual to suffering, value of ritual in storytelling and mourning, and explains the role of witness facilitated through community. Therapeutic functions of ritual are addressed and a framework for ritual design is suggested.