Improving executive functioning in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

An extensive body of literature has documented executive function (EF) impairments in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD); however, few studies have aimed specifically at improving EF. One treatment program that shows promise for children with FASD is the Alert Program for Self-Regulation®, which is a 12-week treatment specifically designed to target self-regulation, a component of EF. The present study sought to examine if Alert would produce improvements in self-regulation that would generalize to other aspects of EF, behavior, and social skills in children with FASD. Twenty-five children aged 8–12 years diagnosed with an FASD were assigned in alternating sequence to either an immediate treatment (TXT) or a delayed treatment control (DTC) group. Both groups received a comprehensive evaluation of EF at baseline and upon completing therapy (TXT), or after a 12- to 14-week interval from baseline (DTC). Parents also completed questionnaires assessing EF and behavior at both time points. For the TXT group only, parent questionnaires were readministered at 6-month follow-up. At the 12-week follow-up, the TXT group displayed significant improvements in inhibitory control and social cognition. Parents of children in the TXT group reported improved behavioral and emotional regulation, as well as reduced externalizing behavior problems. These behavioral improvements along with further improved parent-rated inhibitory control was maintained at the 6-month follow-up. The EF disabilities in children with FASD can be remediated through a targeted treatment approach aimed at facilitating self-regulation skills.     

Attributing illness to 'old age:' consequences of a self-directed stereotype for health and mortality

Stereotypic beliefs about older adults and the aging process have led to endorsement of the myth that 'to be old is to be ill.' This study examined community-dwelling older adults' (N?=?105, age 80+) beliefs about the causes of their chronic illness (ie, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.), and tested the hypothesis that attributing the onset of illness to 'old age' is associated with negative health outcomes. A series of multiple regressions (controlling for chronological age, gender, income, severity of chronic conditions, functional status and health locus of control) demonstrated that 'old age' attributions were associated with more frequent perceived health symptoms, poorer health maintenance behaviours and a greater likelihood of mortality at 2-year follow-up. The probability of death was more than double among participants who strongly endorsed the 'old age' attribution as compared to those who did not (36% vs. 14%). Findings are framed in the context of self-directed stereotypes and implications for potential interventions are considered.     

Patterns of vocal fold movement during stuttering

By means of an electroglottography, 114 tokens of stuttering produced by 12 adult stutterers were analyzed for patterns of vocal fold vibration as observed in eight types of stuttering episodes. Results suggest that stuttering events share certain phonational attributes. Issues concerning the nature of the disorder and approach to treatment are discussed.     

Conditioning history and the control of human avoidance and escape responding

Inter-subject differences in response rates under free-operant avoidance and escape schedules are commonly obtained from humans. Data are presented which demonstrate that such differences can be controlled experimentally by giving subjects different conditioning histories. Subjects given a fixed-ratio history avoided and/or escaped from “point-loss periods” at higher rates than subjects given a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rates history. History related differences in response rates were maintained during 40 hr of escape responding. For low-rates history subjects, response rates under escape contingencies decreased as the rate of point-loss periods decreased.     

Ocular motility and cognitive process

This study investigates the amount of ocular motility occuring in response to questions varying the kind of cognitive process required for answer. Fewer eye movements occur in response to questions designed to elicit visuo-spatial as compared to verbal-conceptual processes, a finding consistent with our earlier observation of more ‘stares’ occuring with the former than with the latter questions. The results are inconsistent with the traditional hypothesis that visual imagery involves an increase in scanning eye movements. The findings are interpreted in terms of a model postulating an interaction of the form of visual information processing and the type of cognitive activity subjects engage in.     

On the development of more and less

More and less were analyzed into two meaning dimensions, “occurrence” (derived from children's early language) and “quantity,” which were hypothesized to be developmentally related to acts of addition and subtraction. Two experiments tested 2- and 3-yr-old's comprehension of these concepts when initially equal or unequal rows were added to, subtracted from or left static. Addition and subtraction had little effect on Ss′ comprehension of either term. Two-year-old Ss understood more when differences in the number of objects in the array were relatively large, suggesting “many” as an intermediate stage of meaning for more. Three-year-olds understood less first as “smaller in amount,” not as more as others have found. Less was acquired later than more, a difference possibly due to its relatively restricted meaning and use or to its converse perceptual and logical relation to more.