RESEARCH SECTION: Nurture groups: a large‐scale,controlled study of effects on development and academic attainment

Nurture groups have contributed to inclusive practices in primary schools in the UK for some time now and have frequently been the subject of articles in this journal. This large‐scale, controlled study of nurture groups across 32 schools in the City of Glasgow provides further evidence for their effectiveness in addressing the emotional development and behaviour problems of vulnerable children. In particular, Sue Reynolds, Principal Educational Psychologist, Maura Kearney, Senior Educational Psychologist, both working in Glasgow City Council Psychological Services, and Tommy MacKay, Professor at the University of Strathclyde and Director of Psychology Consultancy Services, suggest that is the first study to report quantitative gains in academic achievement when the progress of pupils in nurture groups is compared with that of matched children in mainstream classes. This highlights the importance of providing a nurturing context as a basis for promoting children's learning.     

A caution against the use of the Slosson Intelligence Test in the diagnosis of mental retardation

The Slosson Intelligence Test, unlike most current measures of intelligence, uses a ratio method of mental age divided by chronological age to obtain an IQ score. Due to this, standard deviations are not stable across age levels and present a problem in diagnosing mental retardation. The Slosson Test Manual provides information whereby an overall test standard deviation of approximately 25 points is obtained. This is reviewed in respect to current criteria for the classification of mental retardation. It is concluded that the Slosson is inappropriate for use in the diagnosis of mental retardation.     

Factor structure and specific variance of the WPPSI subtests at six age levels

The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) was factor analyzed at each of six age levels between 4 and 6½ years through the method of principal factors. A two-factor solution, corresponding essentially to Wechsler's a priori grouping of the subtests into a Verbal and nonverbal or Performance scale, best described the 11 WPPSI subtests at each age level. Examination of the common, specific, and error variance components of the subtests across age levels indicated adequate test specificity to allow for individual interpretation of all subtests except Information and Comprehension when the null hypothesis model of ipsative interpretation of individual tests is employed.     

The cell's journey: from metaphorical to literal factory

The concept of the cell has been based on metaphor since its inception, and the history of cell theory has continued to rely on metaphor and analogy. In the nineteenth century, cells were most popularly conceived either as building stones or elementary autonomous organisms from which larger organisms are composed. With advances in physiology and the rise of modern biochemistry in the early twentieth century, the chemical factory or laboratory became the dominant metaphor for this biological unit. Today in the twenty-first century, the metaphorical imagery has become a reality, with cells acting as chemical factories for the synthesis of commercially valuable bio-products. The history of the cell shows how metaphors act as conceptual tools, with particular strengths for facilitating different sorts of questions and experimental techniques.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT IN A LARGE,NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

The purpose of this study was to investigate developmental gender differences in academic achievement areas, with the primary focus on writing, using the child and adolescent portion (ages 6–21 years) of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement—Second Edition, Brief Form, norming sample (N = 1,574). Path analytic models with gender, parent education, age, age², and gender‐by‐age moderation as predictors of reading, writing, and math were used to test for gender differences and for the influence of development on these differences. A small but consistent advantage was identified for females in reading. No gender differences were detected in math. The most important results of the present study pertain to a gender gap in writing in favor of females that increased as a function of age. Male students are at greater risk for writing failure than are females.