Theory of mind,executive function and social competence in boys with ADHD

Abstract

Twenty-two boys with a diagnosis of ADHD were com-KEYWORDS pared with 22 typically developing boys on an advanced theory of mind task and on two tasks measuring aspects of executive function. Parents completed rating forms measuring general social competence, as well as mentalizing and non-mentalizing social behaviours. There were no differences between the groups on the advanced theory of mind measure.The children with ADHD scored more poorly than controls on an inhibition task but not on a planning task once age and IQ had been covaried. Ratings of social competence were correlated with theory of mind and executive function ability for the typically developing controls but not for the children with ADHD. The results are discussed in terms of inhibitory and social information processing accounts of ADHD.     

Apocalypticism in secular public discourse: A proposed theory

Scholars have long studied biblical apocalyptic texts and later religious texts in the same genre, considering their distinctive features and their effects. Literary theorists have found apocalyptic strains in secular literature and studied the literary texts as apocalyptic. Studying speeches as apocalyptic illuminates the rhetorical effects of the speeches and underscores the narrative elements of apocalyptic discourse that have been merely taken for granted.     

Reducing Journal Stacks: How Tufts University's Hirsh Health Sciences Library Made Electronic Journals Work for Them

In 2007, the Collections Management department at Tufts University's Hirsh Health Sciences Library (HHSL) reduced journal stacks to make room for additional seating and classrooms as part of a renovation to the Medical School's Sackler Center for Medical Education. Additional space was necessary to accommodate the library's increasing role in education and research at the medical school and a growing student population. Offsite storage with compact shelving was under construction nearby. Journals were identified for offsite storage by focusing on print titles that came with an online equivalent rather than using chronology to shift journals offsite. The goal was to keep storage retrieval requests to a minimum for patrons and staff.     

“Poetry is happening but I don't exactly know how”: Literacy Subject Leaders’ perceptions of poetry in their primary schools

Evidence suggests (Ofsted, 2007) that the role of the Subject Leader is crucial in how well poetry is taught in schools. This paper attempts to provide some insights on “what it is like” to coordinate poetry teaching in a primary school. Some of the data confirm elements of the findings from earlier research on the state of poetry in schools, particularly concerning space in the curriculum, teacher subject knowledge and personal interest in poetry. However, we attempt to show that, much to the surprise of some of the Subject Leaders, where poetry teaching in the participants’ schools was perceived to be successful it was often nourished by the combined enthusiasm and ‘zeal’ of the teachers and children experiencing poetry together, which in turn was maintained by an empowering synergy of professional/personal pleasure and engagement with poetic texts experienced by some of the teachers while in school.