Delayed constructed-response identity matching improves the spelling performance of students with mental retardation

We assessed the effects of a computerized matching-to-sample procedure on the spelling performances of three students with mental retardation. Initially, the students could 1) match pictures and printed words to one another, and 2) match pictures and printed words to spoken words. However, they could not construct words to either pictures or spoken words (e.g., touch, in order, the letters s->h->o->e given the spoken-word sample Shoe). Word constructions then improved markedly after exposure to delayed constructed-response identity matching (e.g., touch the letters s->h->o->e given the printed-word sample shoe). One subject's oral and written spelling also improved. The results extend previous research by showing multiple positive effects of a computerized spelling intervention. These effects may have occurred in part because of the formation of stimulus classes among pictures, printed words, and spoken words.     

Improving the spelling performance of students with disabilities

The present study examined the effects of an error correction strategy on the spelling accuracy of students with emotional and/or learning disabilities. The strategy, which asked students to spell a word, view a correct model, and then correct their errors, was compared to a traditional strategy that asked students to write words three times each while viewing a correct model. Results showed that students learned more words in the error correction condition than in the traditional condition. The error correction treatment was shown to be an effective strategy that reduced the number of repetitive spelling practice trials, and was preferred by students.     

When to Self-Correct Spelling Words: A Systematic Replication

Previous studies have consistently demonstrated self-correction to be more effective than traditional approaches to spelling instruction. This investigation examined the comparative effects of self-correction after attempting each word and self-correction after attempting a list of 10 words by six fifth-graders with learning disabilities or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. An alternating treatments design showed self-correction after each word to be more effective for (a) acquisition of new spelling words as measured by weekly spelling tests for five of the six students, and (b) maintenance of spelling words as measured by 1-week maintenance tests for all six students.     

A Practitioner's Perspective of Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children

In this paper, the report by the Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children is discussed from a practitioner's perspective. The many and notable strengths are described, including the comprehensive review of the topic, the balanced manner of the report's conclusions, and the way in which the report was written. The weaknesses of the report also are presented.     

Mother Knows Best? Mother and Child Report of Behavioral Difficulties of Children of HIV-Infected Mothers

Children of HIV-infected mothers have more psychosocial adjustment difficulties than do those of noninfected mothers. In this study, child psychosocial adjustment in children of HIV-infected women is examined across the three stages of HIV-infected: asymptomatic, symptomatic and AIDS. Participants were 99 HIV-infected women and 148 noninfected women. Children were not identified as being HIV infected. Mother and child reports of behavioral difficulties are compared, and competing hypotheses about mother report of child behavior difficulties are tested. Results indicate an ascending linear trend for child report of internalizing and externalizing difficulties from the noninfected stage through increasingly severe stages of HIV-infection. According to mother report, child externalizing and internalizing difficulties are nonlinear, as mothers report an increase through the infected symptomatic stage, then a decrease in the AIDS stage. Implications for assessment, prevention and intervention in families with maternal HIV infection are discussed.     

Emotional and personality-related aspects of persistent career decision-making difficulties

This study focused on examining the persistent aspects of career decision-making difficulties, using the Emotional and Personality-related Career decision-making Difficulties scale (EPCD; [Saka, N., Gati, I., & Kelly, K.R. (in press). Emotional and personality-related aspects of career decision-making difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment]). The contribution of four personality measures—general indecisiveness, self-esteem, trait anxiety, and identity status—to the prediction of persistent career decision-making difficulties was tested on 747 students, using a longitudinal design. Results indicated that individuals with high EPCD scores at the beginning of the academic school year had less confidence in their choice and were less close to making a decision about the major into which they wanted to be admitted at the end of the year. The moderate correlations between the EPCD score and the four personality measures supported the validity of the EPCD. Implications for counseling and future research are discussed.     

Career-specific parental behaviors in adolescents’ development

Parents are major partners in helping adolescents prepare for a career choice. Although several studies have examined links between general aspects of the parent-adolescent relationship and adolescents’ career development, little research has addressed the mechanisms involved. This study aimed to validate a three-dimensional instrument for the assessment of parental career-related behaviors and to examine their associations with career exploration and decision-making difficulties. After testing the dimensional structure of the instrument, we examined the relationship between parents’ behaviors and adolescents’ career development by using data from 359 German adolescents who reported the amount of perceived parental career-related behaviors and their career exploration and decision-making difficulties. The results of structural equation modeling confirmed the hypothesized dimensional structure (support, interference, lack of engagement). While parental support associated positively with career exploration, interference and lack of engagement associated with decision-making difficulties. Furthermore, interference and lack of engagement moderated the relationship between support and exploration. Support moderated the association between interference and decision-making difficulties.     

The cognitive profile of Chinese children with mathematics difficulties

This study examined how four domain-specific skills (arithmetic procedural skills, number fact retrieval, place value concept, and number sense) and two domain-general processing skills (working memory and processing speed) may account for Chinese children’s mathematics learning difficulties. Children with mathematics difficulties (MD) of two age groups (7-8 and 9-11 years) were compared with age-matched typically achieving children. For both age groups, children with MD performed significantly worse than their age-matched controls on all of the domain-specific and domain-general measures. Further analyses revealed that the MD children with literacy difficulties (MD/RD group) performed the worst on all of the measures, whereas the MD-only group was significantly outperformed by the controls on the four domain-specific measures and verbal working memory. Stepwise discriminant analyses showed that both number fact retrieval and place value concept were significant factors differentiating the MD and non-MD children. To conclude, deficits in domain-specific skills, especially those of number fact retrieval and place value understanding, characterize the profile of Chinese children with MD.