Measuring preschool cognitive growth while it's still happening: The Learning Express

Educators need accurate assessments of preschool cognitive growth to guide curriculum design, evaluation, and timely modification of their instructional programs. But available tests do not provide content breadth or growth sensitivity over brief intervals. This article details evidence for a multiform, multiscale test criterion-referenced to national standards for alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, listening comprehension and mathematics, developed in field trials with 3433 3–5¹/₂-year-old Head Start children. The test enables repeated assessments (20–30 min per time point) over a school year. Each subscale is calibrated to yield scaled scores based on item response theory and Bayesian estimation of ability. Multilevel modeling shows that nearly all score variation is associated with child performance rather than examiner performance and individual growth-curve modeling demonstrates the high sensitivity of scores to child growth, controlled for age, sex, prior schooling, and language and special needs status.     

A longitudinal investigation of maternal touching across the first 6 months of life: Age and context effects

The types of touch used by 12 mothers with their 1-, 3- and 5.5-month-old infants were examined longitudinally during two different interaction contexts lasting 5 min each. Changes in maternal touching as a function of infants’ age and interaction context were revealed.     

The relationship between intercultural abilities and cultural identity styles: A longitudinal cross-lagged analysis

Hybrid and alternating identity styles are dynamic strategies that members of immigrant and ethnic minority groups use to maintain multiple cultural identities. Although research shows that the two strategies predict different outcomes for cultural identity development and psychological well-being, less is known about their antecedents. The present study investigated the temporal relationship between intercultural abilities (i.e. intercultural effectiveness) and the activation of hybrid and alternating identity styles in a community sample of Filipino and Indian New Zealanders. Cross-lagged analysis indicated that intercultural abilities positively predicted the hybrid identity style and negatively predicted the alternating identity style. Cultural identity styles were not predictive of intercultural abilities over time. Multigroup analysis indicated equivalence of regression paths across ethnic groups. Findings suggest that intercultural abilities function as an antecedent of cultural identity styles.     

14 challenges and their solutions for conducting social neuroscience and longitudinal EEG research with infants

The use of electroencephalography (EEG) to study infant brain development is a growing trend. In addition to classical longitudinal designs that study the development of neural, cognitive and behavioural functions, new areas of EEG application are emerging, such as novel social neuroscience paradigms using dual infant-adult EEG recordings. However, most of the experimental designs, analysis methods, as well as EEG hardware were originally developed for single-person adult research. When applied to study infant development, adult-based solutions often pose unique problems that may go unrecognised. Here, we identify 14 challenges that infant EEG researchers may encounter when designing new experiments, collecting data, and conducting data analysis. Challenges related to the experimental design are: (1) small sample size and data attrition, and (2) varying arousal in younger infants. Challenges related to data acquisition are: (3) determining the optimal location for reference and ground electrodes, (4) control of impedance when testing with the high-density sponge electrode nets, (5) poor fit of standard EEG caps to the varying infant head shapes, and (6) ensuring a high degree of temporal synchronisation between amplifiers and recording devices during dual-EEG acquisition. Challenges related to the analysis of longitudinal and social neuroscience datasets are: (7) developmental changes in head anatomy, (8) prevalence and diversity of infant myogenic artefacts, (9) a lack of stereotypical topography of eye movements needed for the ICA-based data cleaning, (10) and relatively high inter-individual variability of EEG responses in younger cohorts. Additional challenges for the analysis of dual EEG data are: (11) developmental shifts in canonical EEG rhythms and difficulties in differentiating true inter-personal synchrony from spurious synchrony due to (12) common intrinsic properties of the signal and (13) shared external perturbation. Finally, (14) there is a lack of test-retest reliability studies of infant EEG. We describe each of these challenges and suggest possible solutions. While we focus specifically on the social neuroscience and longitudinal research, many of the issues we raise are relevant for all fields of infant EEG research.     

A Prospective Longitudinal Study of High School Dropouts Examining Multiple Predictors Across Development

Prior studies report a variety of demographic, school, individual, and family characteristics that are related to high school drop out. This study utilizes data from a 19-year prospective longitudinal study of “at-risk” children to explore multiple predictors of high school dropouts across development. The proposed model of dropping out emphasizes the importance of the early home environment and the quality of early caregiving influencing subsequent development. The results of this study demonstrate the association of the early home environment, the quality of early caregiving, socioeconomic status, IQ, behavior problems, academic achievement, peer relations, and parent involvement with dropping out of high school at age 19. These results are consistent with the view of dropping out as a dynamic developmental process that begins before children enter elementary school. Psychosocial variables prior to school entry predicted dropping out with power equal to later IQ and school achievement test scores. In our efforts to better understand processes influencing dropping out prior to high school graduation, early developmental features warrant further emphasis.     

Selective residential mobility and social influence in the emergence of neighborhood personality differences: Longitudinal data from Australia

This study examined the role of selective residential mobility and differential personality development in the emergence of associations between personality and two neighborhood characteristics: urban–rural residence and neighborhood affluence. Participants were 19,665 individuals from the longitudinal Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) study with personality traits assessed in 2005, 2009, and 2013. Urban and more affluent neighborhoods were both characterized by higher openness to experience, extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Overall, selective residential mobility was more important for urban–rural differences whereas both selective residential mobility and social influence contributed to correlations with neighborhood affluence. Simulated data based on the regression models produced correlations that were very close to the empirical correlations, suggesting that the empirical correlations could feasibly emerge within a 30-year period.     

Specific Features of After-School Program Quality: Associations with Children’s Functioning in Middle Childhood

This longitudinal study examined associations between three after-school program quality features (positive staff–child relations, available activities, programming flexibility) and child developmental outcomes (reading and math grades, work habits, and social skills with peers) in Grade 2 and then Grade 3. Participants (n = 120 in Grade 2, n = 91 in Grade 3) attended after-school programs more than 4 days per week, on average. Controlling for child and family background factors and children’s prior functioning on the developmental outcomes, positive staff–child relations in the programs were positively associated with children’s reading grades in both Grades 2 and 3, and math grades in Grade 2. Positive staff–child relations also were positively associated with social skills in Grade 2, for boys only. The availability of a diverse array of age-appropriate activities at the programs was positively associated with children’s math grades and classroom work habits in Grade 3. Programming flexibility (child choice of activities) was not associated with child outcomes.     

Predictors of reading development in deaf children: A 3-year longitudinal study

The development of reading ability in a group of deaf children was followed over a 3-year period. A total of 29 deaf children (7-8 years of age at the first assessment) participated in the study, and every 12 months they were given a battery of literacy, cognitive, and language tasks. Earlier vocabulary and speechreading skills predicted longitudinal growth in reading achievement. The relations between reading and the predictor variables showed developmental change. Earlier reading ability was related to later phonological awareness skills, suggesting that deaf children might develop their phonological awareness through reading. Deaf children who had the most age-appropriate reading skills tended to have less severe hearing losses and earlier diagnoses and also preferred to communicate through speech. The theoretical implications of the role for speechreading, vocabulary and phonological awareness in deaf children’s literacy are discussed.     

临终患者ICU使用的相关问题

随着危重病医学的发展,越来越多的患者接受ICU治疗,而其中许多患者在临终前接受了他们所不愿接受的积极治疗。伦理学上并没有要求我们不惜一切代价挽救生命而不顾及患者及其家属的需要。让临终患者能够选择有尊严的、无痛苦的死亡,成为当前ICU治疗与护理的出发点和目标。在美国及欧洲ICU临终患者,限制生命支持治疗是主要的治疗模式,但差异显著。为真正理解“好死”的定义和判定患者生命质量、判定积极治疗的参考因素,国外已进行了大量研究。目前各国由于经济、文化、宗教等各方面的差异,直接影响临终患者的临终决策,综述了各国近年来有关ICU临终患者研究结果。