Difference Scores in the Identification of Children with Learning Disabilities It's Time to Use a Different Method

In this article, we identify ten reasons why discrepancy scores (based on differences between IQ and reading achievement scores) provide an inadequate means for identifying children with reading disabilities. We recommend instead that children be identified simply on the basis of problems in reading skills, regardless of their IQs.     

中学生厌学心理及其干预与学习效率的相关研究

本研究旨在考察两个问题：1．心理咨询是否是改变中学生厌学心理的有效途径,如果是,它能够在多大程度上改变厌学心理;2．厌学心理的改善能否有效提高中学生学习效率。本实验用问卷调查法从183名中学生中筛选出有厌学心理的学生24名。运用个体心理咨询、团体心理咨询等手段对这24名学生进行为期4个月干预、结果表明：心理咨询能够有效且明显地改善厌学心理。但要完全消除厌学心理则还需要辅以其他干预手段;随着学生厌学心理的改善,其学习效率也相应有了明显的提高。     

Learning Disabilities, Gender, Sources of Efficacy, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Academic Achievement in High School Students

This study examined the impact of gender, learning disability (LD) status, and sources of efficacy on self-efficacy beliefs and academic achievement in the concept of Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Two hundred and seventy-eight high school students participated in the study. Structural equation modeling was used. The results revealed that LD status had indirect influence on self-efficacy via the source variable; gender did not have direct or indirect influences on self-efficacy; sources of efficacy had direct impact on self-efficacy, which in turn affected academic performance. The structural model fit the data well and explained 55% of the variance in academic achievement.     

Quantitative assessment of drawing tests in children with dyslexia and dysgraphia

Drawing tests in children diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia were quantitatively compared. Fourteen children with dysgraphia, 19 with dyslexia and 13 normally developing were asked to copy 3 figures: a circle, a square and a cross. An optoelectronic system allowed the acquisition of the drawing track in three-dimensions. The participants’ head position and upper limb movements were measured as well. A set of parameters including movement duration, velocity, length of the trace, Range of Motion of the upper limb, was computed and compared among the 3 groups. Children with dyslexia traced the circle faster than the other groups. In the cross test, dyslexic participants showed a reduced execution time and increased velocity while drawing the horizontal line. Children with dyslexia were also faster in drawing certain sides of square with respect to the other groups.     

The theory of learning styles applied to distance learning

Distance Education (DE) associated with the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) as interaction tools between the student and the educator has become a large research niche spread around the world. Techniques to improve learning effectiveness in VLEs seek to find relation-ships connections between pedagogical advances and educational technological resources available in VLEs. In this context, this work sought to associate the theory of Learning Styles with the behavior of the student of Distance Education, observing their interaction with the Virtual Learning Environment and trying to associate them with their learning style identified by the CHAEA questionnaire. For this purpose, the CHAEA questionnaire was applied to a group of distance learning students and the correlation between their interactions with VLE and their learning styles was verified. The results show that there is no correlation between these elements, which may show, in fact, the lack of coherence between these theories. Seeking a model for data, a linear regression was applied and the results were, then, confirmed.     

Failures to induce implicit evaluations by means of approach–avoid training

Woud, Becker, and Rinck (2008) asked participants to repeatedly push pictures of certain faces away and to pull pictures of other faces towards them using a joystick. Performance in a subsequent affective priming task showed that previously pulled faces evoked more positive implicit evaluations then previously pushed faces. We report five studies in which we failed to find consistent evidence for the effect of approach–avoid training on implicit evaluations. We also failed to reproduce the effect reported by Woud et al. when reanalysing their data. An overall analysis that included our data, the data of Woud et al. and additional data provided by Woud and colleagues also did not reveal a significant effect of approach–avoid training on implicit evaluations. We conclude that the impact of approach–avoid training on implicit evaluations is subject to subtle boundary conditions.     

The perceptual span and peripheral cues in reading

Skilled readers read passages that were displayed on a Cathode Ray Tube controlled by a computer. The readers' eye movements were monitored and certain critical words were changed by the computer as the eye was in motion. The experimental technique utilized in the study provided data on how wide the area is from which a reader acquires information during a fixation in silent reading. The results also delineate different types of visual information that are acquired from various areas within the perceptual span. It was found that a reader was able to make a semantic interpretation of a word that began 1–6 character spaces from his fixation point. When he fixated 7–12 character spaces prior to a word, he was able to pick up such gross visual characteristics as word shape and initial and final letters. It was concluded that the skilled reader is able to take advantage of information in the periphery. However, the size of the area from which he does is rather small.     

Concurrent validity of the differential ability scales,second edition with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning in young children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders

Estimates of intelligence in young children with neurodevelopmental disorders are critical for making diagnoses, in characterizing symptoms of disorders, and in predicting future outcomes. The limitations of standardized testing for children with developmental delay or cognitive impairment are well known: Tests do not exist that provide developmentally appropriate material along with norms that extend to the lower reaches of ability. Two commonly used and interchanged instruments are the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), a test of developmental level, and the Differential Ability Scales, second edition (DAS-II), a more traditional cognitive test. We evaluated the correspondence of contemporaneous MSEL and the DAS-II scores in a mixed sample of children aged 2–10 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), non-ASD developmental delays, and typically developing children across the full spectrum of cognitive ability. Consistent with published data on the original DAS and the MSEL, scores on the DAS-II and MSEL were highly correlated. However, curve estimation revealed large mean differences that varied as a function of the child’s cognitive ability level. We conclude that interchanging MSEL and DAS-II scores without regard to the discrepancy in scores may produce misleading results in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of children with and without ASD, and, thus, this practice should be implemented with caution.     

Auditioning the distinctiveness account: Expanding the production effect to the auditory modality reveals the superiority of writing over vocalising

The production effect (PE) documents the advantage in memory performance for words that are read aloud during study, rather than words that are read silently. Until now, the PE was examined in the visual modality, as the participants read the study words. In the present study, we extended the PE phenomenon and used the auditory modality at study. This novel methodology provides a critical test of the distinctiveness account. Accordingly, the participants heard the study words and learned them by vocal production (saying aloud) or by writing, followed by a free recall test. The use of the auditory modality yielded a memory advantage for words that were written during study over words that were vocally produced. We explain this result in light of the encoding distinctiveness account, suggesting that the PE is determined by the number of different encoding processes involved in learning, emphasising the essential role of active production.     

Dynamic testing of learning potential in adults with cognitive impairments: A systematic review of methodology and predictive value

Dynamic testing includes procedures that examine the effects of brief training on test performance where pre‐ to post‐training change reflects patients’ learning potential. The objective of this systematic review was to provide clinicians and researchers insight into the concept and methodology of dynamic testing and to explore its predictive validity in adult patients with cognitive impairments. The following electronic databases were searched: PubMed, PsychINFO, and Embase/Medline. Of 1141 potentially relevant articles, 24 studies met the inclusion criteria. The mean methodological quality score was 4.6 of 8. Eleven different dynamic tests were used. The majority of studies used dynamic versions of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The training mostly consisted of a combination of performance feedback, reinforcement, expanded instruction, or strategy training. Learning potential was quantified using numerical (post‐test score, difference score, gain score, regression residuals) and categorical (groups) indices. In five of six longitudinal studies, learning potential significantly predicted rehabilitation outcome. Three of four studies supported the added value of dynamic testing over conventional testing in predicting rehabilitation outcome. This review provides preliminary support that dynamic tests can provide a valuable addition to conventional tests to assess patients’ abilities. Although promising, there was a large variability in methods used for dynamic testing and, therefore, it remains unclear which dynamic testing methods are most appropriate for patients with cognitive impairments. More research is warranted to further evaluate and refine dynamic testing methodology and to further elucidate its predictive validity concerning rehabilitation outcomes relative to other cognitive and functional status indices.