Cognitive predictors of parent-rated inattention in very preterm children: The role of working memory and processing speed

Inattention is one of the most common neurobehavioral problems following very preterm birth. Attention problems can persist into adulthood and are associated with negative socio-emotional and educational outcomes. This study aimed to determine whether the cognitive processes associated with inattention differ between term-born and very preterm children. Sixty-five children born very preterm (<33+0 weeks’ gestation) aged 8–11 years were recruited alongside 48 term-born controls (?37 20 +0 weeks’ gestation). Both groups included children with a wide spectrum of parent-rated inattention (above average attention to severe inattention) measured as a continuous dimension using the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD and Normal-Behavior (SWAN) scale. The children completed tests to assess basic cognitive processes and executive function. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was implemented to assess which neurocognitive processes explained variance in parent-rated inattention and whether these differed between preterm and term-born children. In both groups, poorer verbal and visuospatial short-term memory and poorer visuospatial working memory independently explained variance in parent-rated inattention. Slower motor processing speed explained variance in inattention among very preterm children only. The cognitive mechanisms associated with parent-rated inattention were predominantly overlapping between groups, but relationships between motor processing speed and inattention were unique to very preterm children. These associations may reflect risk factors for inattention in term and very preterm children. Future research should assess the efficacy of these cognitive processes as potential targets for intervention     

Construct validity for the verbal associated pairs screen

The present study introduces the Verbal Associated Pairs Screen (VAPS) as a new measure for assessing performance validity in pediatric populations. This study presents initial data on psychometric properties and establishes construct validity for the VAPS in a sample of 30 adolescent healthy controls and 206 youths with traumatic brain injury (TBI: moderate/severe, N = 30; mild, N = 176). The control group’s age (M = 14.93, SD = 1.8) was significantly higher than the moderate/severe TBI (M = 13.9, SD = 2.8), t(68.508) = ?3.038, p = .003, and mild TBI (mTBI) groups (M = 14, SD = 2.8), t(54.147) = 2.038, p = .046. The TBI groups were administered the VAPS in accord with other established performance validity tests (PVTs) and well-established memory tests as part of routine clinical evaluations. The healthy control group was administered the VAPS only. VAPS score distributions for the control group were negatively skewed and highly kurtotic. VAPS scores from the moderate/severe TBI and control groups were indistinguishable for Trial 2 (U = 274, p < .01) and the Delay (U = 396, p = .218). In the mTBI group, convergent and divergent validity was established with other well-validated PVTs and memory tests, respectively. ROC curve analyses identified optimal cutoff scores for the VAPS Total Score, with acceptable sensitivity (55%) and excellent specificity (100%), as well as strong detectability (AUC = .829, 95% CI: 0.731 – 0.928, p < .001). Clinical applications, limitations, and directions for future research with the VAPS are discussed.     

Using the Reality Interview improves the accuracy of the Criteria‐Based Content Analysis and Reality Monitoring

Active interviewing approaches can exploit the verbal differences between truthtellers and liars, thus improving detecting deception. One such method is the Reality Interview (RI) aimed to facilitate recall from truthtellers, while increasing the difficulty for liars. This study investigated whether the RI could improve the diagnostic accuracy of the Reality Monitoring and the Criteria‐Based Content Analysis. Liars and truthtellers were either asked to freely recall an event or interviewed with the RI. As hypothesized, the RI improved the discriminability of Reality Monitoring and Criteria‐Based Content Analysis over Free Recall. Honest responses were longer, and the RI increased the word count difference between honest and false statements. However, after correcting for word count, results were no longer significant, showing its importance for deception detection. Nonetheless, the RI increased verbal differences between truthtellers and liars, demonstrating that using the RI with verbal credibility assessment tools is a powerful combination for investigative interviewing.     

Eliciting information and cues to deceit through sketching in interpreter‐based interviews

As interviewees typically say less when an interpreter is present, we examined whether this was caused by interpreters not interpreting everything interviewees says or by interviewees providing less information. We further examined (a) the effect of a model drawing on providing information and (b) the diagnostic value of total details and the proportion of complications as cues to deceit. Hispanic, Russian, and South Korean participants were interviewed by native interviewers or by a British interviewer through an interpreter. Truth tellers discussed a trip they had made; liars fabricated a story. Participants received no instruction (condition 1) or were instructed to sketch while narrating without (condition 2) or with (condition 3) being given examples of detailed sketches. Interviewees said less when an interpreter was present because they provided less information. Truth tellers gave more details and, particularly, obtained a higher proportion of complications than liars. The sketching manipulation had no effect.     

Using equivalence‐based instruction to teach the visual analysis of graphs

Previous research has demonstrated low rater agreement when visually inspecting trends in single‐subject design graphs (see Wolfe, Seaman, & Drasgow, 2016). Didactic instruction of visual analysis of practicing behavior analysts has resulted in generally poor and unreliable performances (Danov & Symons, 2008; Diller, Barry, & Gelino, 2016). Therefore, a refined instructional technology to improve the reliability among behavior analysts is warranted. Developing research has focused on the application of equivalence‐based instruction (Brodsky & Fienup, 2018; Rehfeldt, 2011) for a variety of complex human behaviors. In the current study, equivalence‐based instruction was used to train four participants to identify functional relations displayed in five different classes of graphs. Training resulted in the formation of five equivalence classes by all participants consisting of three members (graph, functional relation rule, and functional relation statement). In addition, the skills were maintained for up to 2 weeks and generalized to novel graphs.     

The Effectiveness of Psychosocial Interventions Delivered by Teachers in Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The growing mental health needs of students within schools have resulted in teachers increasing their involvement in the delivery of school-based, psychosocial interventions. Current research reports mixed findings concerning the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions delivered by teachers for mental health outcomes. This article presents a systematic review and meta-analysis that examined the effectiveness of school-based psychosocial interventions delivered by teachers on internalizing and externalizing outcomes and the moderating factors that influence treatment effects on these outcomes. Nine electronic databases, major journals, and gray literature (e.g., websites, conference abstract) were searched and field experts were contacted to locate additional studies. Twenty-four studies that met the study inclusion criteria were coded into internalizing or externalizing outcomes and further analyzed using robust variance estimation in meta-regression. Both publication and risk of bias of studies were further assessed. The results showed statistically significant reductions in students’ internalizing outcomes (d = .133, 95% CI [.002, .263]) and no statistical significant effect for externalizing outcomes (d = .15, 95% CI [?.037, .066]). Moderator analysis with meta-regression revealed that gender (%male, b = ?.017, p < .05), race (% Caucasian, b = .002, p < .05), and the tier of intervention (b = .299, p = .06) affected intervention effectiveness. This study builds on existing literature that shows that teacher-delivered Tier 1 interventions are effective interventions but also adds to this literature by showing that interventions are more effective with internalizing outcomes than on the externalizing outcomes. Moderator analysis also revealed treatments were more effective with female students for internalizing outcomes and more effective with Caucasian students for externalizing outcomes.     

Measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual worlds

How long does it take for a newborn to recognize an object? Adults can recognize objects rapidly, but measuring object recognition speed in newborns has not previously been possible. Here we introduce an automated controlled‐rearing method for measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual worlds. We raised newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) in strictly controlled environments that contained no objects other than a single virtual object, and then measured the speed at which the chicks could recognize that object from familiar and novel viewpoints. The chicks were able to recognize the object rapidly, at presentation rates of 125 ms per image. Further, recognition speed was equally fast whether the object was presented from familiar viewpoints or novel viewpoints (30° and 60° azimuth rotations). Thus, newborn chicks can recognize objects across novel viewpoints within a fraction of a second. These results demonstrate that newborns are capable of both rapid and invariant object recognition at the onset of vision.     

Bistable perception in normal aging: perceptual reversibility and its relation to cognition

The effects of age on the ability to resolve perceptual ambiguity are unknown, though it depends on frontoparietal attentional networks known to change with age. We presented the bistable Necker cube to 24 middle-aged and OAs (older adults; 56–78 years) and 20 YAs (younger adults; 18–24 years) under passive-viewing and volitional control conditions: Hold one cube percept and Switch between cube percepts. During passive viewing, OAs had longer dominance durations (time spent on each percept) than YAs. In the Hold condition, OAs were less able than YAs to increase dominance durations. In the Switch condition, OAs and YAs did not differ in performance. Dominance durations in either condition correlated with performance on tests of executive function mediated by the frontal lobes. Eye movements (fixation deviations) did not differ between groups. These results suggest that OAs’ reduced ability to hold a percept may arise from reduced selective attention. The lack of correlation of performance between Hold and executive-function measures suggests at least a partial segregation of underlying mechanisms.     

Orientation categories used in guidance of attention in visual search can differ in strength

We investigated orientation categories in the guidance of attention in visual search. In the first two experiments, participants had a limited amount of time to find a target line among distractors lines. We systematically varied the orientation of the target and the angular difference between the target and distractors. We find vertical, horizontal, and 45° targets require the least target/distractor angular difference to be found reliably and that the rate at which increases in target/distractor difference decrease search difficulty to be independent of target identity. Unexpectedly, even when the angular difference between the target and distractors was large, search performance was never optimal when the target orientation was 45°. A third experiment investigates this unexpected finding by correlating target/distractor difference and error rate with performance on tasks that measure a specific perceptual or cognitive ability. We find that the elevated error rate is correlated with performance on stimulus recognition and identification tasks, while the amount of target/distractor difference needed to detect the target reliably is correlated with performance on a stimulus reproduction task. We conclude that the target/distractor difference reveals the number of orientation categories in visual search, and, accordingly, that there are four such categories: two strong ones centred on 0° and 90° and two weak ones centred on 45° and 135°.