Individual prediction of dyslexia by single versus multiple deficit models

The overall goals of this study were to test single versus multiple cognitive deficit models of dyslexia (reading disability) at the level of individual cases and to determine the clinical utility of these models for prediction and diagnosis of dyslexia. To accomplish these goals, we tested five cognitive models of dyslexia--two single-deficit models, two multiple-deficit models, and one hybrid model--in two large population-based samples, one cross-sectional (Colorado Learning Disability Research Center) and one longitudinal (International longitudinal Twin Study). The cognitive deficits included in these cognitive models were in phonological awareness, language skill, and processing speed and/or naming speed. To determine whether an individual case fit one of these models, we used two methods: 1) the presence or absence of the predicted cognitive deficits, and 2) whether the individual's level of reading skill best fit the regression equation with the relevant cognitive predictors (i.e., whether their reading skill was proportional to those cognitive predictors.) We found that roughly equal proportions of cases met both tests of model fit for the multiple deficit models (30-36%) and single deficit models (24-28%); hence, the hybrid model provided the best overall fit to the data. The remaining roughly 40% of cases in each sample lacked the deficit or deficits that corresponded with their best-fitting regression model. We discuss the clinical implications of these results for both diagnosis of school-age children and preschool prediction of children at risk for dyslexia.     

Effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioral Randomized Controlled Trial for People Living with HIV Who are Heavy Drinkers: The Holistic Health Recovery Program (HHRP) Trial in Miami

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - This study evaluates the impact of an intervention targeting high-risk behaviors among diverse, alcohol-using adults living with HIV...     

On Lions and Adolescents: Affective Temperaments and the Influence of Negative Stimuli on Memory

The present study investigated the relation between reaction to negative stimuli and memory for stimuli. The relation was further investigated using as a framework individuals’ affective temperaments (AFTs). Eighty adolescents participated in the study. The AFTs are based on selfreported affect and categorizes individuals in four temperaments: self-actualizing, high affective, low affective and self-destructive. Reaction to negative stimuli was measured by interpretation of specific words in a short story. Two days later, participants were presented with a list of words and asked which of them were present in the short story. Individuals’ AFTs were expected to predict the promotion of pleasure or the prevention of displeasure. On a general level, reaction to negative stimuli predicted memory for negative, positive and neutral words. At an individual level, self-actualizers and high affectives’ negative reaction predicted the memory of positive words (i.e., promotion). In contrast, low affectives’ negative and positive reaction predicted the memory of neutral words (i.e., prevention).     

Content Analysis: A Comparison of Manual and Computerized Systems

Computerized content analysis is a technique for classifying texts. in personality research it has beer used to make inferences about psychological states and traits of the speaker or writer. Whereas computerized techniques have been increasing in both sophistication and ease of use, questions remain regarding their validity compared to hand-scored scales, in this study, we compare a relatively simple computerized technique; a more sophisticated, context-sensitive computerized approach; and a context-sensitive, human-scored system. Seventy-one subjects, representing four diagnostic groups, provided free-speech samples which were scored according to all three methods. Data from each method were then submitted to discriminant and classification analyses. In comparing the classification performance of the three methods, we found that both computerized methods were more accurate than the human-scored method. The time and cost benefits of computerized systems are discussed.     

A moderated mediation model of e-mentoring

Based on a longitudinal sample of 1381, this study develops and tests a moderated mediation model of electronic mentoring (e-mentoring). Results show evidence that frequency of interaction between protégés and mentors mediates the relationships between program antecedents (the protégé’s previous internet experience and initial motivation to participate) and program outcomes of general self-efficacy and task-efficacy. In addition, the protégé’s general self-efficacy prior to starting the program was found to moderate the relationships between protégé and mentor interaction frequency and program outcomes of task and general self-efficacy. Unexpectedly, having mentors in the past was not significantly related to program outcomes. Practical implications and future areas of research are identified and discussed.     

Parental Reports of Executive Dysfunction in Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a serious mental illness that affects children and adolescents at a rate similar to that seen in adults. Extremely little is known, however, about cognitive functioning in childhood and adolescent BPD. The present study represents an initial effort to examine executive functioning in adolescents with BPD who are in a manic or mixed mood state, by collecting data from caregivers about the participants' performance on everyday tasks thought to be mediated by executive functioning abilities, using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function. In comparison to healthy volunteers, adolescents with BPD exhibited significant elevations across all of the measured functional domains. These elevations were evident even in adolescents with BPD who did not have comorbid ADHD, although they were most prominent in those with comorbidity. The findings suggest that adolescents with BPD have functional deficits on tasks requiring executive functioning skills that are not explicable solely on the basis of comorbid ADHD.     

Grammatical class effects in relation to normal and aphasic sentence processing

Agrammatic, Broca's aphasic patients, Wernicke's aphasic patients, and neurologically intact control subjects were asked to detect target letters in prose passages and in a scrambled word passage. The targets were embedded, in some instances, in content words (open-class vocabulary items), and in other instances, in function words (closed-class vocabulary items). With respect to the prose passages, both the control subjects and Wernicke's aphasic patients were more apt to notice target letters when they appeared in the open-class items than when in closed-class items; by contrast, the agrammatic Broca's patients showed no vocabulary class detection difference. The Wernicke's patients were not entirely normal, however: Whereas the normal subjects showed a much smaller vocabulary class effect for letter detection in the scrambled condition, the Wernicke's maintained the pattern they had shown in the prose condition. These and other findings obtained on the letter cancellation task are discussed in relation to lexical access mechanisms geared to sentence parsing.