Processing limitations in children with specific language impairment: the role of executive function

Research suggests that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have processing limitations; however, the mechanisms involved have not been well defined or investigated in a theory-guided manner. The theory of constructive operators was used as a framework to explore processes underlying limited processing capacity in children with SLI. Mental attentional capacity, mental attentional interruption, and 2 specific executive functions (shifting and updating) were examined in 45 children with SLI and 45 children with normally developing language, aged 7 to 12 years. The results revealed overall group differences in performance on measures of mental attention, interruption, and updating, but not shifting. The findings supported the premise that mental attention predicted language competence, but that this relationship was mediated partially by updating.     

The gifted child with attention deficit disorder: An identification and intervention challenge

Studies of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often emphasize the problems, diagnosis and treatment, but rarely consider the characteristics which are remarkably similar to those of creativity. This study reviews the literature on ADHD traits, their similarity to gifted and creative behaviors, and the implications for educational interventions. A case study of a boy identified with ADHD provides the focus for our discussions. The conclusions point to the need for more varied instructional interventions, emotional and social support, and collaboration between educators and parents.     

Common coding in pigeons: Partial versus total reversals of one-to-many conditional discriminations

Common coding in pigeons was examined using a delayed conditional discrimination in which each sample stimulus was associated with two different comparison stimuli (one-to-many mapping). In Experiment 1, pigeons matched circle and dot samples to red and green hues and vertical and horizontal line orientations. In Experiment 2, the samples were red and green and the comparisons were vertical and horizontal spatial positions (up vs. down and left vs. right). Following acquisition to high levels of accuracy in each experiment, the associations between the samples and either both sets or only one set of comparisons were reversed. Pigeons learned the total reversals faster than the partial reversals. These results suggest that when different comparisons are associated with a common sample, they may become functionally equivalent.     

Evidenced Based Practices that Promote Transition to Postsecondary Education: Listening to a Decade of Expert Voices

As increasing numbers of students with disabilities access postsecondary education, research studies and literature reviews have investigated the needs of these students who chose to pursue postsecondary education. These articles included studies that (a) asked students with disabilities to identify needs and (b) summarized needs in literature reviews about students with disabilities in postsecondary education. This article summarizes needs and recommendations from college students with disabilities and authors who reviewed related literature from 1995–2006. The summary includes needs in five areas: self-determination, social skills, academic preparation, accommodations, and assistive technology (AT). Each of these areas of need is described and recommendations for practice are discussed. The purpose of this article is to identify a set of evidence-based transition practices that will address these needs and increase the likelihood of success for students who enroll in postsecondary education institutions.     

Perspectives on the Contribution of Social Science to Adapted Physical Activity: Looking Forward,Looking Back

ABSTRACT

In this article, we reflect on the contributions of the social sciences to the field of adapted physical activity by examining the theories and methods that have been adopted from the social science disciplines. To broaden our perspective on adapted physical activity and provide new avenues for theoretical and empirical exploration, we discuss and evaluate broad ideas/tensions arising from the social science literature—the individual versus social/ecological, and social science of adapted physical activity versus social science in adapted physical activity. We intentionally focus discussion on the application of specific lines of inquiry in the social sciences that have not yet emerged (or have done so only in limited applications) in the field of adapted physical activity. Such untapped areas of scholarship in the social sciences can lead to broader understanding, innovations, and new lines of inquiry when applied to an adapted physical activity context.     

A typology of causal models for plate tectonics: Inferential power and barriers to understanding

Forty-seven fifth grade students (40 group-tested and 7 individually interviewed) read a text describing plate tectonics. At four points they drew diagrams of the spatial, causal, and dynamic processes inside the earth. These diagrams along with students' corresponding explanations, think-aloud protocols (for those individually interviewed), and answers to inference questions were analysed in order to characterize students' models of the interior of the earth, and models of its causal and dynamic processes. Types and characteristics of models, and reasoning associated with them are presented. Additionally, data from two exemplary students are presented as case studies. One student has considerable misunderstandings regarding both her understanding of the spatial layout of the interior of the earth and its causal mechanisms. The second student is more typical in terms of his initial models, but makes large gains in revising his understanding about the causal and dynamic processes inside the earth. In both cases, data are used to infer how each student used their diagrams as artefacts for externalizing knowledge, inference making, and model-revision.