Detail-oriented cognitive style and social communicative deficits,within and beyond the autism spectrum: Independent traits that grow into developmental interdependence

At the heart of debates over underlying causes of autism is the “Kanner hypothesis” that autistic deficits in social reciprocity, and a cognitive/perceptual ‘style’ favouring detail-oriented cognition, co-vary in autistic individuals. A separate line of work indicates these two domains are normally distributed throughout the population, with autism representing an extremity. This realisation brings the Kanner debate into the realm of normative co-variation, providing more ways to test the hypothesis, and insights into typical development; for instance, in the context of normative functioning, the Kanner hypothesis implies social costs to spatial/numerical prowess. In light of this growing body of research, we review relevant factor analytic and correlational, behavioural studies. Findings are then synthesised into three themes: an alternative triad of primary autistic trait categories – Social Interaction Deficits, Cognitive Inflexibility, and Sensory Abnormalities – that more accurately reflects the factor structure of autistic traits; continuity between clinical and non-clinical autism-spectrum trait presentation; and indications that although social and non-social autistic traits may be initially independent, Kanner-like co-variance emerges behaviourally from dynamic trait interactions over the course of development. A dynamic developmental model subsuming these patterns is offered, and its advantages demonstrated in a novel account of ritualistic behaviours: as developmentally emergent, compensatory mechanisms for interactions between cognitive inflexibility and sensory abnormalities. We conclude with the broader imperative that behavioural scientists appealing for directly and exclusively genetic links may instead benefit from a developmental framing within their own discipline.     

En experimentell prövning av aktivt lyssnande som tröst för sm[acaron] barn som gr[acaron]ter

The procedural validity of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview - short form (CIDISF) administered via an Internet web-page was examined and compared with an in-person interview (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, research version; SCID) for 7 DSM-IV mental disorders: major depression, generalized anxiety, specific phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia, panic attack and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The 53 participants completed a computerized interview (CIDI-SF) via a web page 2 days before the scheduled in-person interview (SCID). The agreement between CIDI-SF and SCID was generally low (Cohens Kappa <0.40). However, if the panic disorder module from the long version of CIDI is used instead, the Kappa is fair (K = 0.48) with an agreement of 75%. Practical applications and future directions are discussed.     

T-PALS framework to assess children who stutter with coexisting disorders: A tutorial

The purpose of this paper is to present a tutorial on a diagnostic framework developed to assess children who stutter and exhibit co-existing disorders. While we have guidelines for treating these children, there are no specific guidelines for assessing them. We provide a rationale for the development of T-PALS with support from the literature. The T-PALS framework assesses 5 foundational key elements for the child: Temperament (T), Pragmatics (P), Articulation/phonology (A), Language (L), and Stuttering (S). Both qualitative and quantitative measures are used within each dimension. This framework is discussed with reference to using two clinical case examples. T-PALS observation data are presented as well as treatment suggestions for each case. We conclude that T-PALS may be a useful framework for both clinicians and researchers, working with children who present with stuttering and comorbid conditions. Clinicians are encouraged to reach beyond the traditional focus on solely assessing the stuttering behavior, even when that is the main concern for referral, and to consider a broader view of the child. It is hoped that this more integrative approach to assessment may yield a more holistic diagnostic picture of a dual diagnosis child from which treatment goals can be derived.     

Direct behavior rating as a school-based behavior universal screener: Replication across sites

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of Direct Behavior Rating Single Item Scale (DBR–SIS) targets of disruptive, engaged, and respectful behavior within school-based universal screening. Participants included 31 first-, 25 fourth-, and 23 seventh-grade teachers and their 1108 students, sampled from 13 schools across three geographic locations (northeast, southeast, and midwest). Each teacher rated approximately 15 of their students across three measures, including DBR–SIS, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007), and the Student Risk Screening Scale (Drummond, 1994). Moderate to high bivariate correlations and area under the curve statistics supported concurrent validity and diagnostic accuracy of DBR–SIS. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated that although respectful behavior cut scores recommended for screening remained constant across grade levels, cut scores varied for disruptive behavior and academic engaged behavior. Specific cut scores for first grade included 2 or less for disruptive behavior, 7 or greater for academically engaged behavior, and 9 or greater for respectful behavior. In fourth and seventh grades, cut scores changed to 1 or less for disruptive behavior and 8 or greater for academically engaged behavior, and remained the same for respectful behavior. Findings indicated that disruptive behavior was particularly appropriate for use in screening at first grade, whereas academically engaged behavior was most appropriate at both fourth and seventh grades. Each set of cut scores was associated with acceptable sensitivity (.79–.87), specificity (.71–.82), and negative predictive power (.94–.96), but low positive predictive power (.43–.44). DBR–SIS multiple gating procedures, through which students were only considered at risk overall if they exceeded cut scores on 2 or more DBR–SIS targets, were also determined acceptable in first and seventh grades, as the use of both disruptive behavior and academically engaged behavior in defining risk yielded acceptable conditional probability indices. Overall, the current findings are consistent with previous research, yielding further support for the DBR–SIS as a universal screener. Limitations, implications for practice, and directions for future research are discussed.     

The Causal Structure of Utility Conditionals

The psychology of reasoning is increasingly considering agents' values and preferences, achieving greater integration with judgment and decision making, social cognition, and moral reasoning. Some of this research investigates utility conditionals, ‘‘if p then q’’ statements where the realization of p or q or both is valued by some agents. Various approaches to utility conditionals share the assumption that reasoners make inferences from utility conditionals based on the comparison between the utility of p and the expected utility of q. This article introduces a new parameter in this analysis, the underlying causal structure of the conditional. Four experiments showed that causal structure moderated utility‐informed conditional reasoning. These inferences were strongly invited when the underlying structure of the conditional was causal, and significantly less so when the underlying structure of the conditional was diagnostic. This asymmetry was only observed for conditionals in which the utility of q was clear, and disappeared when the utility of q was unclear. Thus, an adequate account of utility‐informed inferences conditional reasoning requires three components: utility, probability, and causal structure.     

ICD-11 guidelines for psychotic,mood, anxiety and stress-related disorders in Mexico: Clinical utility and reliability

Background/Objective: The World Health Organization's diagnostic guidelines for ICD-11 mental and behavioural disorders must be tested in clinical settings around the world to ensure that they are clinically useful and genuinely global. The objective is evaluate the inter-rater reliability and clinical utility of ICD-11 guidelines for psychotic, mood, anxiety- and stress-related disorders in Mexican patients. Method: Adult volunteers exhibiting the selected symptoms were referred from the pre-consultation unit of a public psychiatric hospital to an interview by a pair of clinicians, who subsequently assigned independent diagnoses and evaluated the clinical utility of the diagnostic guidelines as applied to each particular case, on the basis of a scale developed for this purpose. Results: 23 clinicians evaluated 153 patients. Kappa scores were strong for psychotic disorders (.83), moderate for stress-related (.77) and mood disorders (.60) and week for anxiety and fear-related disorders (.43). A high proportion of clinicians considered all diagnostic guidelines to be quite to extremely useful as applied to their patients. Conclusions: ICD-11 guidelines for psychotic, stress-related and mood disorders allow adequate inter-rater consistency among Mexican clinicians, who also considered them as clinical useful tools.     

学习因素诊断测验在苏南地区的试用报告

本研究引进日本学习因素诊断测验(Diagnostic Test of Achievement Factor,简称DTAF),分别对苏南地区中小学学生进行抽样测验,以验证该测量工具在中国大陆的适用情况。研究结果表明：DTAF具有良好的信度、效度。以各分量表为单位的项目分析结果表明,DTAF的绝大多数题目之间结构紧密,具有很高的鉴别力。学习动机、学习计划、学习技能、学习环境对学生学习结果具有重要影响,本文对此展开了讨论。     

Échelle de stigmatisation familiale dans la maladie d’Alzheimer (ESF-MA) : une adaptation et validation française

According to scientific research, individuals diagnosed with neurodegenerative dementia of the Alzheimer type and their surroundings (family, family caregiver), experience a phenomenon of family stigmatization of which there are many consequences. Not only can they experience emotional reactions such as fear, anxiety, more depressive symptoms, but they can also face discrimination with a sense of care giving burden and be the result of social relationships avoidance. These effects lead to reduce family life quality. At the same time, scientific studies reveal that stigma acts on a personal, associative (family), public and on a structural level. Their joint perception seems necessary to apprehend their synergy and to adapt interventions. However, in the AD context, no tool exists in the French language to measure perceived family stigma on different levels. To fill this gap, we analyzed the construct validity (intra-concept validity), an aspect of the divergent validity, concurrent validity as well as the reliability of the AD family stigma scale (ESF-MA) in the French context. The results of the principal component analysis (n = 263 family caregivers) reveal 10 factors divided into 3 dimensions (intra-personal, public and structural) that explain 57 % of the total variance. The validity of the construct like the reliability represents satisfying results. The measurement of the family stigma by the ESF-MA presents an opportunity to complete clinical observations among family caregivers of people diagnosed with AD.