The Emergence of Cognitive Maps for Spatial Navigation in 7- to 10-Year-Old Children

Although much is known about adults’ ability to orient by means of cognitive maps (mental representations of the environment), it is less clear when this important ability emerges in development. In the present study, 97 seven- to 10-year-olds and 26 adults played a video game designed to investigate the ability to orient using cognitive maps. The game required participants to reach target locations as quickly as possible, necessitating the identification and use of novel shortcuts. Seven- and 8-year-olds were less effective than older children and adults in using shortcuts. These findings provide clear evidence of a distinct developmental change around 9 years of age when children begin to proficiently orient and navigate using cognitive maps.     

Building strong foundations for educational achievement: Language assessments in early childhood education for deaf and hard of hearing children

It is widely accepted that assessment plays a role in monitoring the development of young children with special needs in early intervention/early childhood settings. The process of assessing young children's language skills often looks for delays within a solid language foundation. However, many children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) may not have a solid language foundation to assess, leading to inaccurate assessment. When we reframe how we assess language skills in children who are DHH, we ensure the assessment provides a comprehensive picture of the child's language development. It is important to modify language assessment tools where necessary while ensuring the assessment stays reliable and valid. It is critical to use multiple assessment tools to monitor the child's progress, including standardized assessments and assessment tools normed for DHH populations. Finally, it is crucial to monitor the child's skills in each language that they are using, regardless of which language is used most often. We explain why each of these factors needs to be considered in the assessment of young children who are DHH, will discuss the challenges of assessing this population, and will provide solutions to some of the challenges of assessing language skills in of young children who are DHH.     

The 2006 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science presented to Fernando Nottebohm, Ph.D. for demonstration of Central Neurogenesis in Adult Avians, with Concomitant Implications for the Theory of Memory and for the Future of Neurological Repair in Injury and Disease

Nottebohm is noted for his demonstration of Central Neurogenesis in Adult Avians, with Concomitant Implications for the Theory of Memory and for the Future of Neurological Repair in Injury and Disease.     

New Issues,New Developments and New Challenges for Negotiating the International Rights Contract

A guide to basic contractual provisions and current publishing trends for consideration in negotiating a concise, successful International Rights Contract, which includes: assessing the rights available for sale and ways in which to successfully exploit and maintain those rights.     

Lost and Found: Personal Reflections on Educational Earnestness and the Power of Love

In this essay, Polly Graham addresses a current instantiation of what might be called self‐loss within education in the United States. Graham observes that, in her experience, many students and educators, whether decidedly or without reflection, conform to superficial schooling practices that circumscribe the possibility of receiving affirmations for the sense of self we implicitly know to be authentic. Through narrative, she puts forward the possibility of “educational love” as a counter to the fundamental insecurity associated with habits of acting in conformance with superficial, alienated, school‐determined identity criteria. The question of “repetition” in a Kierkegaardian sense invites the reader to resist the logic of standardization — which assumes and valorizes comparability and reliability from an outsider perspective — in favor of a consideration of generalizability as embedded within the intimacy of a particular relation. As such, educational love is resonance rather than dictation.     

Handwriting instruction: a commentary on five studies

Handwriting is still a prominent mode for composing for both children and adults As a result, it is important that developing writers acquire fluent and legible handwriting. This article examines the five investigations that were presented in this special issue on handwriting instruction, providing a summary of their collective contributions as well as the limitations of each paper.