Long‐Term Episodic Memory in Children with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Twenty‐nine grade‐matched 4th–8th‐grade males, 12 with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (age M= 12.2 years, SD= 1.48), and 17 without (age M= 11.5, SD= 1.59), completed two working memory tasks (digit span and the Simon game) and three long‐term episodic memory tasks (a personal event memory task, story memory task, and picture recognition task). In line with clinical observations, children with ADHD performed worse than peers on all working memory tasks, but performed as well as or better than peers on long‐term episodic tasks, demonstrating particularly detailed memory for personally experienced past events. Participants' parents also completed questionnaires about their children's memories in daily life. Parents rated children with ADHD lower than children without ADHD on working and semantic memory (e.g., remembering names, spelling, and math), but rated them as high or higher on memory for events. Implications for theory and educational practice are discussed.     

Long‐Term Effects of Gestures on Memory for Foreign Language Words Trained in the Classroom

Language and gesture are viewed as highly interdependent systems. Besides supporting communication, gestures also have an impact on memory for verbal information compared to pure verbal encoding in native but also in foreign language learning. This article presents a within‐subject longitudinal study lasting 14 months that tested the use of gestures in the classroom, with the experimenter presenting the items to be acquired. Participants learned 36 words distributed across two training conditions: In the audio‐visual condition subjects read, heard, and spoke the words; in the gestural condition subjects additionally accompanied the words with symbolic gestures. Memory performance was assessed through cued native‐to‐foreign translation tests at five time points. The results show that gestures significantly enhance vocabulary learning in quantity and over time. The findings are discussed in terms of Klimesch's connectivity model (CM) of information processing. Thereafter, a code, a word, is better integrated into long‐term memory if it is deep, that is, if it is comprised of many interconnected components.     

Why Arts Integration Improves Long‐Term Retention of Content

Advocates of the arts agree that the K‐12 curriculum should include dedicated time for arts instruction. Some have argued further that knowledge and skills acquired through the arts transfer to nonarts domains. Others claim that evidence of this kind of transfer is limited and instead argue that the arts cultivate valuable dispositions that help students succeed both in and outside of school. Another potential benefit of the arts has received little attention, however. Arts integration—the use of the arts as a teaching methodology throughout the curriculum—may improve long‐term retention of content. A variety of long‐term memory effects well known in cognitive psychology are reviewed, and it is argued that arts integration naturally takes advantage of these effects while promoting student motivation. This review of findings and applications provides an example of how existing research from neuroscience and cognitive science can inform the work of practicing educators.     

The Long‐Term Sustainability of IRT Scaling Methods in Mixed‐Format Tests

Due to recent research in equating methodologies indicating that some methods may be more susceptible to the accumulation of equating error over multiple administrations, the sustainability of several item response theory methods of equating over time was investigated. In particular, the paper is focused on two equating methodologies: fixed common item parameter scaling (with two variations, FCIP‐1 and FCIP‐2) and the Stocking and Lord characteristic curve scaling technique in the presence of nonequivalent groups. Results indicated that the improvements made to fixed common item parameter scaling in the FCIP‐2 method were sustained over time. FCIP‐2 and Stocking and Lord characteristic curve scaling performed similarly in many instances and produced more accurate results than FCIP‐1. The relative performance of FCIP‐2 and Stocking and Lord characteristic curve scaling depended on the nature of the change in the ability distribution: Stocking and Lord characteristic curve scaling captured the change in the distribution more accurately than FCIP‐2 when the change was different across the ability distribution; FCIP‐2 captured the changes more accurately when the change was consistent across the ability distribution.     

The Effects of Arts Integration on Long‐Term Retention of Academic Content

Previous correlational and quasi‐experimental studies of arts integration—the pedagogical practice of “teaching through the arts”—suggest its value for enhancing cognitive, academic, and social skills. This study reports the results of a small, preliminary classroom‐based experiment that tested effects of arts integration on long‐term retention of content. We designed matched arts‐integrated (AI) and conventional science units in astronomy and ecology. Four randomized groups of 5th graders in one school completed one unit in the treatment (AI) condition and the other in the control (conventional) condition. To control for teacher effects, four teachers taught the same subject to different groups in each condition. We administered curriculum‐based assessments before, immediately after, and 2 months after each unit to measure initial learning and retention. Results showed no differences in initial learning, but significantly better retention in the AI condition. Increases in retention were greatest for students at the lowest levels of reading achievement.     

Visual Short‐Term Memory for Complex Objects in 6‐ and 8‐Month‐Old Infants

Infants' visual short‐term memory (VSTM) for simple objects undergoes dramatic development: Six‐month‐old infants can store in VSTM information about only a simple object presented in isolation, whereas 8‐month‐old infants can store information about simple objects presented in multiple‐item arrays. This study extended this work to examine the development of infants' VSTM for complex objects during this same period (N = 105). Using the simultaneous streams change detection paradigm, Experiment 1 confirmed the previous developmental trajectory between 6 and 8 months. Experiment 2 showed that doubling the exposure time did not enhance 6‐month‐old infants' change detection, demonstrating that the developmental change is not due to encoding speed. Thus, VSTM for simple and complex objects appears to follow the same developmental trajectory.     

Predicting Long‐Term Growth in Students' Mathematics Achievement: The Unique Contributions of Motivation and Cognitive Strategies

This research examined how motivation (perceived control, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation), cognitive learning strategies (deep and surface strategies), and intelligence jointly predict long‐term growth in students' mathematics achievement over 5 years. Using longitudinal data from six annual waves (Grades 5 through 10; M_age = 11.7 years at baseline; N = 3,530), latent growth curve modeling was employed to analyze growth in achievement. Results showed that the initial level of achievement was strongly related to intelligence, with motivation and cognitive strategies explaining additional variance. In contrast, intelligence had no relation with the growth of achievement over years, whereas motivation and learning strategies were predictors of growth. These findings highlight the importance of motivation and learning strategies in facilitating adolescents' development of mathematical competencies.     

Wakefulness (Not Sleep) Promotes Generalization of Word Learning in 2.5‐Year‐Old Children

Sleep enhances generalization in adults, but this has not been examined in toddlers. This study examined the impact of napping versus wakefulness on the generalization of word learning in toddlers when the contextual background changes during learning. Thirty 2.5‐year‐old children (M = 32.94, SE = 0.46) learned labels for novel categories of objects, presented on different contextual backgrounds, and were tested on their ability to generalize the labels to new exemplars after a 4‐hr delay with or without a nap. The results demonstrated that only children who did not nap were able to generalize learning. These findings have critical implications for the functions of sleep versus wakefulness in generalization, implicating a role for forgetting during wakefulness in generalization.     

Memory and Executive Functioning in 12‐Year‐Old Children With a History of Institutional Rearing

We examined visual recognition memory and executive functioning (spatial working memory [SWM], spatial planning, rule learning, and attention shifting) in 12‐year‐olds (n = 150) who participated in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled trial of foster care for institutionally reared children. Similar to prior reports at 8 years of age, institutionally reared children showed significant deficits in visual recognition memory and SWM. Deficits in attention shifting and rule learning were also apparent at this time point. These data suggest that early experiences continue to shape the development of memory, learning, and executive functioning processes in preadolescence, which may explain broader cognitive and learning difficulties commonly associated with severe early life neglect.     

Sleep Disturbance and Expressive Language Development in Preschool‐Age Children With Down Syndrome

Recent evidence has suggested that sleep may facilitate language learning. This study examined variation in language ability in 29 toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) in relation to levels of sleep disruption. Toddlers with DS and poor sleep (66%, n = 19) showed greater deficits on parent‐reported and objective measures of language, including vocabulary and syntax. Correlations between sleep and language were found in groups with equivalent medical and social backgrounds and after control for relevant behavioral comorbidities, including autism symptoms. These results emphasize the important role of quality sleep in all children's expressive language development, and may help increase our understanding of the etiology of language deficits in developmental disorders, potentially leading to new treatment approaches.     

Building Tier 3 Intervention for Long‐Term Slow Growers in Grades 3–4: A Pilot Study

Tier 3 interventions are necessary for improving the reading performance of students who fail to respond adequately to Tier 1 general education instruction and Tier 2 supplemental reading intervention. In this pilot study, we identified 8 students in 3rd and 4th grade who had demonstrated slow response to Tier 2 reading interventions for three years. Students participated in a researcher‐developed Tier 3 intervention for 8 weeks that focused on skill development in word analysis, word identification, and reading rate. In the 6 months prior to Tier 3, students were making minimal growth in reading; however, during Tier 3, the 8 students demonstrated strong growth on measures of word identification and reading rate. Although results are promising for poor readers who are difficult to remediate, several aspects of the Tier 3 intervention need further testing.     

Modifications of Recognition Memory Processes in Preterm Children: An Event‐Related Potential Study

Prematurity may cause hippocampal compromise. Therefore, hippocampus‐dependent memory processes (recollection‐based retrieval) may be more impaired than hippocampus‐independent processes (familiarity‐based retrieval). The memory of 18 children born preterm with reduced hippocampal volumes, without neonatal complications (weeks of gestation < 34, weight < 1,600 g), and 15 controls (8–10 years) was tested using an item recognition task. While groups were equal in memory performance, dissociation was found: The event‐related potential (ERP) correlate of familiarity was intact in the preterm group, whereas the correlate of recollection was attenuated. A follow‐up experiment ruled out that this was due to general cognitive deficits. Furthermore, gestational age correlated with the ERP index of recollection. Thus, recognition memory in preterm children may be characterized by a compensation of attenuated recollection by familiarity.     

Verbal Short‐Term Memory Underlies Typical Development of “Thought Organization” Measured as Speech Connectedness

Formal thought organization obtained from free speech, a key feature for psychiatric evaluations, has been poorly investigated during typical development. Computational tools such as speech graph connectedness (LSC) currently allow for an accurate quantification in naturalistic settings. LSC's typical development is better predicted by years of education than by age. Among beginning readers, the LSC of stories composed of short‐term memory predicted reading independently from IQ. Here we set out to test a longitudinal sample (6–8 years old, n = 45, followed for 2 years) to verify whether the LSC is predictive of various memory measures, and whether such relations can explain the correlation with reading. The LSC was specifically correlated with verbal short‐term memory performance. The results support the notion that the short‐term storage of verbal information is necessary to plan a story. Given the limited sample size, the relationship of this interaction with reading remains inconclusive.     

The Relationship of Client Stages of Change to Working Alliance and Outcome in Short‐Term Counseling

This study evaluated the relationship of J. O. Prochaska's (1984; J. O. Prochaska & C. C. DiClemente, 1992) transtheoretical model of change with the process and outcome of short‐term counseling in college help seekers. Participants completed measures of readiness to change, psychological symptoms, and working alliance. Clients in the precontemplation stage evaluated the working alliance less favorably and experienced less improvement regarding symptoms than clients in other stages. Counselor working alliance did not differ as a function of clients' stage of change.     

Identification of Effective Strategies to Promote Language in Deaf Children With Cochlear Implants

Parental involvement and communication are essential for language development in young children. However, hearing parents of deaf children face challenges in providing language input to their children. This study utilized the largest national sample of deaf children receiving cochlear implants, with the aim of identifying effective facilitative language techniques. Ninety‐three deaf children (≤ 2 years) were assessed at 6 implant centers prior to and for 3 years following implantation. All parent–child interactions were videotaped, transcribed, and coded at each assessment. Analyses using bivariate latent difference score modeling indicated that higher versus lower level strategies predicted growth in expressive language and word types predicted growth in receptive language over time. These effective, higher level strategies could be used in early intervention programs.     

Mental Rotation With Tangible Three‐Dimensional Objects: A New Measure Sensitive to Developmental Differences in 4‐ to 8‐Year‐Old Children

There is an emerging consensus that spatial thinking is fundamental to later success in math and science. The goals of this study were to design and evaluate a novel test of three‐dimensional (3D) mental rotation for 4‐ to 8‐year‐old children (N = 165) that uses tangible 3D objects. Results revealed that the measure was both valid and reliable and indicated steady growth in 3D mental rotation between the ages of 4 and 8. Performance on the measure was highly related to success on a measure of two‐dimensional (2D) mental rotation, even after controlling for executive functioning. Although children as young as 5 years old performed above chance, 3D mental rotation appears to be a difficult skill for most children under the age of 7, as indicated by frequent guessing and difficulty with mirror objects. The test is a useful new tool for studying the development of 3D mental rotation in young children.