The battered-child syndrome

The battered-child syndrome, a clinical condition in young children who have received serious physical abuse, is a frequent cause of permanent injury or death. The syndrome should be considered in any child exhibiting evidence of fracture of any bone, subdural hematoma, failure to thrive, soft tissue swellings or skin bruising, in any child who dies suddenly, or where the degree and type of injury is at variance with the history given regarding the occurrence of the trauma. Psychiatric factors are probably of prime importance in the pathogenesis of the disorder, but knowledge of these factors is limited. Physicians have a duty and responsibility to the child to require a full evaluation of the problem and to guarantee that no expected repetition of trauma will be permitted to occur.     

Appendix B: Potential Effects on Children's Performance of Features of the Research Design

In addition to the variables of interest in this research (namely, age, delay, sequence type, mode of experience, and verbal reminders), children's performance may have been affected by a number of features of the research design. This Appendix is a report of the results of analyses of three potential influences on the children's performance. First, we examined the possibility that the particular experimenter who conducted the session might have affected the children's performance. Second, we examined the possibility that conclusions regarding children's recall of the event sequences were qualified by specific event sequence effects. Third, we examined the possibility that differences in the lengths of the child-controlled response periods might account for the patterns of effects observed. Although in each case some effects obtained, in no case did the findings present substantive qualifications to the major patterns described in the body of the text.     

Naming-speed processes, timing, and reading: a conceptual review

This article integrates the findings in the special issue with a comprehensive review of the evidence for seven central questions about the role of naming-speed deficits in developmental reading disabilities. Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and cross-linguistic research on naming-speed processes, timing processes, and reading is presented. An evolving model of visual naming illustrates areas of difference and areas of overlap between naming speed and phonology in their underlying requirements. Work in the cognitive neurosciences is used to explore two nonexclusive hypotheses about the putative links between naming speed and reading processes and about the sources of disruption that may cause subtypes of reading disabilities predicted by the double-deficit hypothesis. Finally, the implications of the work in this special issue for diagnosis and intervention are elaborated.     

Effects of Supervisors' Sex,Focus, and Experience on Preferences for Interpersonal Power Bases

The authors examined the effects that supervisor's sex, amount of supervisory experience, and supervisory focus had on preferences for the referent, expert, and legitimate power bases. Supervisors from seven counseling center training programs (20 women, 36 men) rated the utility of responses reflecting each power base in enhancing the professional development of a female trainee. Results indicated that men preferred the referent power base to a greater extent than did women and that supervisors with relatively little experience preferred the referent power base to a greater extent than did supervisors with more experience. Supervisors who focused on trainee self-awareness preferred the expert power base to a greater extent than did supervisors who focused on the trainees' conceptualization skills. Significant differences were not found in the preferences for the legitimate power base. Results were discussed in terms of differences between counseling and supervisory-relationships and the characteristics of each power base.     

Coenrollment for students who are deaf or hard of hearing: friendship patterns and social interactions

Third- and fourth-grade students in two separate classrooms--one a classroom with only hearing students and the other a coenrolled classroom with hearing, hard of hearing, and deaf students--were assessed to determine friendship patterns, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about sign language and deafness. Sociograms, interviews, and videotape analysis of the students' responses were done. Results suggest that hearing students in the coenrolled classroom had better sign language skills, a more positive attitude toward deafness, and an improved awareness of certain aspects of hearing loss (such as speech and amplification). Deaf and hard of hearing students' social acceptance was similar to that of their hearing peers.     

Use of grade-based norms versus age-based norms in psychoeducational assessment for a college population

Considerable discussion has occurred about the most appropriate methods for diagnosing learning disabilities (LD) in postsecondary students. Two of the many areas of controversy that have emerged include the appropriate diagnostic criteria to use and the appropriate referent group. A review of previous court cases demonstrates that the issue of whether to compare an individual to the general population or to a smaller referent population has not been adequately clarified. Furthermore, few empirical studies have examined the impact of choosing different referent groups on the likelihood that one will be diagnosed with LD. Therefore, this correlational study described the levels of agreement between three diagnostic models of LD, using both age- and grade-based norms to represent two referent groups for each of the three models. The sample included 155 postsecondary students referred for testing due to academic difficulties. The findings indicated that in two of the three models tested, comparing individuals to their grade-matched peers (i.e., using grade-based norms) resulted in more LD diagnoses than comparing individuals to their age-matched peers (i.e., age-based norms).