Math Preference and Mastery Relationship in Middle School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

We conducted this study to determine the relationship between math preference and mastery for five middle school students with autism spectrum disorders. We randomly presented several math addition and subtraction problem formats to determine the students’ preferences. Results indicated that preference was idiosyncratic across students. In addition, preference was not related to mastery in some students. Results are discussed within a theoretical framework of matching law. Implications for practitioners are discussed.

Offspring Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure from Birth to 25 Years: The Seattle Prospective Longitudinal Study

Before alcohol was generally known to cause birth defects, NIAAA in 1974 began funding a population-based Seattle study on alcohol use and pregnancy outcome. Women receiving prenatal care by mid-pregnancy were recruited (N = 1,529) and interviewed at home. Approximately 500 offspring exposed to a range of alcohol levels were examined on 11 occasions between day 1 and 25 years. Neuropsychological and neurobehavioral performance measures are correlated with prenatal alcohol dose, without substantial confounding by socio-demographic or rearing conditions, smoking, nutrition, or other drugs. Deficits in attention, arithmetic skill, spatial-visual memory, and IQ, as well as increased alcohol problems and psychiatric disorders are among offspring outcomes correlated at several ages with maternal drinking during and before pregnancy recognition. Findings are not confined to women who believed they had alcohol problems. Not all exposed offspring appear affected.     

The Relevance of a Relevantly Assertable Disjunction for Material Implication

In this paper Grice’s requirements for assertability are imposed on the disjunction of Classical Logic. Defining material implication in terms of negation and disjunction supplemented by assertability conditions, results in the disappearance of the most important paradoxes of material implication. The resulting consequence relation displays a very strong resemblance to Schurz’s conclusion-relevant consequence relation.     

自闭症谱系障碍者面孔识别的神经机制

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种心理状况的谱系障碍,其症状是社交及沟通上的广泛性异常、异常局限性的兴趣和高度重复性的刻板行为。包括自闭症、亚斯伯格症候群和待分类的广泛性发展障碍3类。研究主要以事件相关电位和功能性磁共振成像两种技术为线索,通过深入分析ASD患者在面孔识别认知过程中脑的异常变化,探讨其面孔识别障碍的神经机制问题。研究表明,ASD患者面孔识别能力的损伤主要与N170、N300、P400和Nc等ERPs成份异常及梭状回面孔区和杏仁核的低激活有关。研究推论ASD患者面孔识别障碍是多个异常脑区联合作用的结果,且主要受异常脑区的数量和损伤程度的影响。     

Stepping Stones Triple P: An RCT of a Parenting Program with Parents of a Child Diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Whilst the Triple P Positive Parenting Program has a large evidence base (Sanders, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 2:71–90, 1999; Sanders, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68:624–640, 2000) and preliminary evidence indicates that Stepping Stones Triple P is also efficacious (Roberts, Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35(2):180–193, 2006), to date Stepping Stones has not been evaluated with the ASD population. Fifty-nine families with a child with ASD aged between 2 and 9 participated in this randomized controlled trial. The results demonstrate significant improvements in parental reports of child behaviour and parenting styles with the treatment effects for child behaviour, parental over reactivity and parental verbosity being maintained at follow-up 6 months later. Further, the results suggest significant improvements in parental satisfaction and conflict about parenting as well as a sleeper effect for parental efficacy. The results indicate that Stepping Stones Triple P is a promising intervention for parents of children with ASD. Limitations and future research are also addressed.     

Executive functions in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Executive dysfunction is a characteristic impairment of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However whether such deficits are related to autism per se, or to associated intellectual disability is unclear. This paper examines executive functions in a group of children with ASD (N = 54, all IQ?70) in relation to a typically developing control group individually matched on the basis of age, gender, IQ and vocabulary. Significant impairments in the inhibition of prepotent responses (Stroop, Junior Hayling Test) and planning (Tower of London) were reported for children with ASD, with preserved performance for mental flexibility (Wisconsin Card Sorting Task) and generativity (Verbal Fluency). Atypical age-related patterns of performance were reported on tasks tapping response inhibition and self-monitoring for children with ASD compared to controls. The disparity between these and previous research findings are discussed. A multidimensional notion of executive functions is proposed, with difficulties in planning, the inhibition of prepotent responses and self-monitoring reflecting characteristic features of ASD that are independent of IQ and verbal ability, and relatively stable across the childhood years.     

Family Functioning and Coping Behaviors in Parents of Children with Autism

We analyzed family dynamics and coping behaviors of parents with a child with an autistic spectrum disorder. Previous research suggests that moderate levels of cohesion and adaptability are associated with higher levels of positive coping, and that the more coping strategies a family implements, the greater their satisfaction with family functioning. Using a family systems approach, the relationships among the familial variables of cohesion, adaptability, and social support were evaluated for their contributions to coping in the family unit. We also compared the responses of mothers and fathers. Surprisingly, for these parents of children with autism, those who rated their family as enmeshed implemented more positive coping strategies than did those from other cohesion styles. This finding suggests that the enmeshed style may be more adaptive for a family that encounters extreme challenges. Notably, mothers and fathers agreed on all variables except for perception of social support from family and friends. Mothers perceived more social support from family and friends. The results lead to several interesting suggestions for future research.     

Why neuroscience matters to cognitive neuropsychology

The broad issue in this paper is the relationship between cognitive psychology and neuroscience. That issue arises particularly sharply for cognitive neurospsychology, some of whose practitioners claim a methodological autonomy for their discipline. They hold that behavioural data from neuropsychological impairments are sufficient to justify assumptions about the underlying modular structure of human cognitive architecture, as well as to make inferences about its various components. But this claim to methodological autonomy can be challenged on both philosophical and empirical grounds. A priori considerations about (cognitive) multiple realisability challenge the thesis on philosophical grounds, and neuroscientific findings from developmental disorders substantiate that challenge empirically. The conclusion is that behavioural evidence alone is inadequate for scientific progress since appearances of modularity can be thoroughly deceptive, obscuring both the dynamic processes of neural development and the endstate network architecture of real cognitive systems.     

Managing Job Stress in the Netherlands

Compared with other countries, in the Netherlands work pressure and sickness absenteeism and work incapacitation rates due to work-related mental health problems are quite high. About a decade ago a new Working Conditions Act (WCA) was introduced that had far-reaching consequences for the way job stress is dealt with in organizations. The WCA emphasizes the central role to be played by commercially operating Occupational Health and Safety Services (OHSSs), and it defines a new kind of professional—the Work & Organizational Expert—who is primarily responsible for the assessment and prevention of job stress. Recently, a number of instruments have been developed for psychosocial risk assessment that are now widely used on a regular basis in a way prescribed by the WCA. Preventive measures are increasingly taken by organizations in order to reduce job stress and sickness absenteeism. Based on the Dutch approach some lessons may be learned. Recommendations pertain to (1) the role of government, (2) legal recognition of psychosocial work factors, (3) the privatization of the occupational health and safety sector, and (4) evaluation of job stress prevention programs.     

人工智能辅助的自闭症早期患者的筛查与诊断

自闭症谱系障碍(AutisticSpectrumDisorders,ASD)的症状早在婴幼儿期就会显现,越早发现,越早干预,治疗效果越好。传统自闭症早期筛查与诊断在评估方法、流程上存在局限,无法满足大规模筛查和诊断需求。随着人工智能技术的快速发展,使用智能化方法进行自闭症早期大规模无感筛查与诊断逐渐成为可能。近10年间,国内外对自闭症智能化识别方法的探索在经典任务行为、面部表情和情绪、眼动、脑影像、运动控制和运动模式、多模态6个领域积累了丰富的研究成果。未来研究应围绕构建国内自闭症早期智能医学筛查与诊断体系,开发针对婴幼儿患者的筛查工具,构建融合多模态数据的自闭症婴幼儿智能化识别模型,建立结合脑影像技术的自闭症精细化诊断方法等方面来开展。