Examiner scoring of ambiguous WISC-R responses

Fabricated test protocols were used to study how effectively examiners agree in scoring ambiguous WISC-R responses. Clinical and school psychologists (N = 62) and graduate students (N = 48) scored WISC-R Similarities, Comprehension, and Vocabulary responses obtained in a group administration procedure. From over 15,000 responses obtained, only unusual, atypical, or ambiguous responses were selected; 726 responses were scored, with 11 groups of 10 raters each scoring 66 responses. Considerable scoring disagreement occurred. Unanimous agreement (within each group of 10 raters) was found on only 13% of the responses, while 80% of the raters agreed on 44% of the responses. Rates of scoring agreement were not related to level of rater experience, but were related to specific subtests. Higher rates of agreement were found on the Similarities and Comprehension subtests than on the Vocabulary subtest for both experienced and inexperienced raters. The results suggest that even with the improved WISC-R manual, scoring remains a difficult and challenging task.     

Naming speed deficits in adults with reading disabilities: a test of the double-deficit hypothesis

The present study investigated the persistent nature of naming speed deficits within the context of the double-deficit hypothesis in a university sample of adults with reading disabilities (RD). Twenty-five university students with RD were compared to 28 typically achieving readers on measures of reading skill, phonological processing, and naming speed. The results indicated that both naming speed and phonological processing deficits characterized the RD group. In a regression analysis, neither naming speed nor phonological processing were important variables in explaining comprehension when reading rate was in the model. The results of the present study are mixed at best and are consistent with earlier conclusions that support for the double-deficit hypothesis of dyslexia remains limited.     

A longitudinal study of the Stanford-Binet and WISC-R with special education students

A group of 95 black and 52 white low socioeconimic children assigned to special education calsses were initially given the Stanford-Binet (1972 norms) and three years later the WISC-R. Correlations between the Stanford-Binet and WISC-R Full Scale IQs were significant in both ethnic groups, with r=.60 for the total group. Correlations between the Stanford-Binet and WISC-R subtests also were generally signiificant (rs between .29 and .52 for the total group). Stanford-Binet and WISC-R Full Scale IQs did not differ significantly. For this sample of special education children, the Stanford-Binet was found to have satisfactory predictive validity.     

Goal‐Directed Correlates and Neurobiological Underpinnings of Adolescent Identity: A Multimethod Multisample Longitudinal Approach

This multimethod multisample longitudinal study examined how neurological substrates associated with goal directedness and information seeking are related to adolescents’ identity. Self‐reported data on goal‐directedness were collected across three biannual waves in Study 1. Identity was measured one wave later. Study 1 design and measurements were repeated in Study 2 and extended with structural brain data (nucleus accumbens [NAcc] and prefrontal cortex gray matter volume [PFC]), collected across three biannual waves. Study 1 included 497 adolescents (M_{age T1} = 13.03 years) and Study 2 included 131 adolescents (M_{age T1} = 14.69 years). Using latent growth curve models, goal directedness, NAcc, and PFC volume predicted a stronger identity one wave later. These findings provide crucial new insights in the underlying neurobiological architecture of identity.     

Can you see me thinking (about my answers)? Using eye-tracking to illuminate developmental differences in monitoring and control skills and their relation to performance

This study focuses on relations between 7- and 9-year-old children’s and adults’ metacognitive monitoring and control processes. In addition to explicit confidence judgments (CJ), data for participants’ control behavior during learning and recall as well as implicit CJs were collected with an eye-tracking device (Tobii 1750). Results revealed developmental progression in both accuracy of implicit and explicit monitoring across age groups. In addition, efficiency of learning and recall strategies increases with age, as older participants allocate more fixation time to critical information and less time to peripheral or potentially interfering information. Correlational analyses, recall performance, metacognitive monitoring, and controlling indicate significant interrelations between all of these measures, with varying patterns of correlations within age groups. Results are discussed in regard to the intricate relationship between monitoring and recall and their relation to performance.     

A Path Analysis of Nutrition,Stimulation, and Child Development Among Young Children in Bihar,India

Nutrition plays an important role in the development of a child, particularly in low‐ and middle‐income countries where malnutrition is often widespread. The relation between diet, hemoglobin, nutritional status, motor development, stimulation and mental development was examined in a cross‐sectional sample of 1,079 children 12–18 months of age living in rural Bihar, India. Path analysis revealed associations between (a) length‐for‐age z‐scores and motor development, standardized β (β) = .285, p < .001, and (b) motor and all mental development outcomes (language: β = .422; personal‐social: β = .490; memory: β = .139; and executive function: β = .072, all p < .001). Additionally, stimulation was significantly associated with language scores and hemoglobin concentration with memory. These findings inform interventions aimed at improving child development in Northern India.