How Distinctive are ADHD and RD? Results of a Double Dissociation Study

The nature of the comorbidity between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Reading Disability (RD) was examined using a double dissociation design. Children were between 8 and 12 years of age and entered into four groups: ADHD only (n = 24), ADHD+RD (n = 29), RD only (n = 41) and normal controls (n = 26). In total, 120 children participated in the study; 38 girls and 82 boys. Both ADHD and RD were associated with impairments in inhibition and lexical decision, although inhibition and lexical decision were more severely impaired in RD than in ADHD. Visuospatial working memory deficits were specific to children with only ADHD. It is concluded that there was overlap on lexical decision and to a lesser extent on inhibition between ADHD and RD. In ADHD, impairments were dependent on IQ, which suggest that the overlap in lexical decision and inhibition is different in origin for ADHD and RD. The ADHD only group was specifically characterized by deficits in visuospatial working memory. Hence, no double dissociation between ADHD and RD was found on executive functioning and lexical decision.     

The use of aggression in primary school boys' decisions about inclusion in and exclusion from playground football games

Background Sociometric studies have shown that some aggressive boys are popular, perceived as popular or cool, dominant, and central in the peer group ( Estell, Cairns, Farmer, & Cairns, 2002 ; Milich & Landau, 1984 ; Prinstein & Cillessen, 2003 ; Rodkin, Farmer, Pearl, & Van Acker, 2006 ). This is not predicted by social information processing (SIP) models which see aggression as socially incompetent, resulting from distorted understanding of the social world (e.g. Crick & Dodge, 1994 ). However, sociologists of childhood have argued that some aggressive boys are popular because they use aggression to gain status and dominance, to undermine those of lower status, and to achieve hegemonic masculinity ( Adler & Adler, 1998 ; Ferguson, 2000 ; Renold, 2007 ). Aims This study aims to connect psychological and sociological literatures, asking whether social processes of status formation contribute to the link between popularity and aggression identified sociometrically. Sample The paper describes case studies of three boys, aged between 8 and 10 years, attending a London primary school. Methods Sociometric data on liking, disliking, and aggression are combined with ethnographic and interview data for each case study. Results The data show that one way in which aggression aids popularity and dominance is through boys' strategic use of aggression to enforce decisions about inclusion and exclusion in desirable activities. It can be difficult for individual boys to achieve acceptance without resorting to aggression. Conclusions The data provide support for sociological explanations of aggression in terms of status and inclusion, and challenge the SIP claim that aggressive children are socially incompetent and biased.     

No evidence for object alternation impairment in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Recent neuroimaging studies have consistently ascribed the orbito-frontal cortex (OFC) a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Cognitive tests presumed sensitive to this region, such as the Object Alternation Task (OAT), are considered important tools to verify this assumption and to investigate the impact of cortical dysfunction on behavior. The aim of the present study was to assess if patients with OCD show enhanced perseveration errors on the OAT relative to healthy controls taking into account several potential moderators, especially comorbid depression and OCD subtype. Thirty-five OCD patients and 18 healthy controls underwent the OAT as well as the Trail-Making Tests (TMT) A and B. In line with prior studies, OCD patients were slowed on both TMT tasks. In contrast, samples performed similarly on the OAT. While the latter finding does not invalidate the assumption that the OFC is affected in OCD, dysfunctions involving this region may be more subtle than often claimed and likely encompass only a small subset of functional domains hosted in the OFC.     

Teaching a simple meal preparation skill to adults with moderate and severe mental retardation using video modeling

We evaluated whether adults with mental retardation in the moderate or severe range would acquire simple meal preparation skills via video modeling. Training was conducted in the kitchen of the participants' day treatment setting. The intervention consisted of (i) watching a video of an adult with a developmental disability making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and (ii) receiving verbal praise for each step of the task that was performed correctly. All three participants mastered the task and demonstrated generalization across settings. All three participants also demonstrated maintenance of the skill one month following mastery. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Orienteering in Wonderland: Ethical Decision-Making by Faculty in the UB Strike

The University of Bridgeport, like many other universities, inappropriately adopted a corporate model of faculty relations. But faculty members have multiple obligations: to their profession, discipline, students, public, self, and each other, in addition to their institution. These multiple obligations justified the actions taken by striking faculty. Faculty loyalty is not to an administration, and not ultimately even to their institution: it is to the truth, to the integrity of the profession, and to themselves.     

Exposing racism, exploring race

Therapeutic practice cannot be neutral in the understanding of race. Living in a society that discriminates between the races affects the thoughts, feelings and experiences of all. By its emphasis on context, systemic practice offers a way to consider how social inequalities are reflected in personal dilemmas without perpetuating myths of black inferiority. A case example is used to illustrate a systemic approach which takes account of racial differences. The orientation is towards exposing the manifestations and effects of racism as well as exploring associated issues of racial identity. These ideas are linked to theoretical and research studies in related fields. A therapeutic stance of exposing racism and exploring race fits with current developments in family therapy and can be applied to the therapist's use of self.     

The Contribution of Music to Positive Aging: A Review

Many people value music as an important part of their everyday lives. The published literature reveals that the role of music in life is varied: it can be recreational, educational, social, emotional, therapeutic, and spiritual. The importance and relevance of music depends on the life needs and interests of the individual and the social group within which he/she lives. It is now widely recognized that music for many older people is crucial in supporting a sense of well-being. The article reviews the evidence on the role of music in promoting health and well-being, and how it can produce positive psychological and physiological benefits for individuals. The aim of this article is to increase awareness among health professionals of the importance of music and discuss how it can be used to add to older people's lives.     

They're digging up the road again: the processing cost of institutional they

It is commonplace to use the pronoun they to refer to agents in certain situations without ever providing a referent, as in On the train, they served really bad coffee. Such an example we call “Institutional They”, because such defaults typically represent the actions of some agent tied stereotypically to a situation. These cases represent an important subset of unheralded pronouns (Gerrig, 1986), pronouns without any explicit antecedent. While in many situations, the occurrence of referential pronouns without explicit antecedents entails a processing cost, an eye-tracking experiment revealed no reliable detectable costs associated with Institutional They. However, there were for singular pronouns without antecedents in the same situations. We argue that Institutional They cases result from properties of plural pronouns (they and them). These will accept underspecified type-referents, while singular pronouns require specified token-referents. Failure to identify token-referents results in disruption of processing in the case of singulars, but not in the case of the plurals.