Motor activity, anticipated motor activity, and young children's associative learning.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether motor activity, previously assumed necessary to induce imagery in young children's associative learning, actually has to be executed. The results of our experiment with kindergartners clearly suggest not: In conditions where subjects simply planned to the potential motor activity (without executing it), learning was enhanced. Further, the temporal proximity of the planning to the potential motor activity did not prove to be important. These results, combined with those from 2 follow-up experiments, give rise to the speculation--among others--that young children can be "tricked" into imagery generation through appropriately worded instructions.     

Early Identification and Intervention: Head Start's Response to Mental Health Challenges

Serving low-income children from birth to age five and their families, Head Start is a primary venue for identification and intervention in the area of child mental health. However, recent research has demonstrated that the knowledge base regarding prevalence, developmental course, and predictive power of child mental health problems is lacking for young children in general and low-income, diverse populations in particular. Head Start's agency-level data is often discrepant from both national estimates and small, intensive studies of similar populations, perhaps for reasons related to availability of community services and professional staff, as well as concerns about stigmatization. Following on recent expert recommendations, new collaborative Federal initiatives are underway to increase our understanding of the types, trajectories, and treatments of mental health problems affecting the vulnerable children served by Head Start. The paper concludes with a call to action for the field in the area of young children's mental health.     

Maltreatment perpetrators: a 54-month analysis of recidivism

OBJECTIVE: This study compared recidivism rates for alleged maltreatment perpetrators whose initial report was substantiated and those whose initial report was not substantiated, to determine whether they returned to the child welfare system at differing rates. METHOD: Statewide administrative child welfare services data over a period of 4 1/2 years was analyzed. The sample included 31,531 perpetrators of intrafamilial maltreatment. Separate analyses were conducted for each type of maltreatment (sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect). RESULTS: Bivariate relationships (substantiation status and recidivism) were analyzed using survival curves, and the study found that recidivism patterns differed by type of maltreatment and by substantiation status at the index event. Multivariate analyses using Cox Proportional Hazards models found that bivariate relationships held true even when controlling for neighborhood mean income, ethnicity, and gender. CONCLUSIONS: The study's finding that perpetrators whose index event was not substantiated return to the child welfare system at a high rate suggests the need to learn how to discriminate those unsubstantiated alleged perpetrators who are most at risk for recidivism. The finding of frequent cross-type recidivism indicates that intervention should focus on common themes across maltreatment types.     

The nexus between college choice and persistence

Initial student commitments have long been considered an influence on persistence, but the reasons why students choose to attend a college have seldom been considered as dimensions of initial commitments that could influence persistence processes and outcomes. This study used NPSAS-87 to examine the influence of finance-related reasons for choosing a college on persistence decisions. The findings include (1) finance-related choices have direct and indirect influences on whether students persist in college; and (2) market-based, monetary measures of financial aid, tuition costs, housing costs, and other living costs have a substantial direct effect on persistence.     

Impact of Anatomy Boot Camp on Students in a Medical Gross Anatomy Course

Lincoln Memorial University‐DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine (LMU‐DCOM) offers an optional three‐week summer Anatomy Boot Camp course (ABC) to facilitate students' transition into medical school and promote retention of anatomy subject matter. The pre‐matriculation program is a supplemental instruction course that utilizes a small group learning format. Boot camp instruction is led by teaching assistants and two anatomy professors. Enrollees gain early exposure to Medical Gross Anatomy (MGA) course subject matter, which is taught in the fall semester, and learn study skills necessary to excel in medical school. No grade is assigned for the course, therefore participants can study without the fear of potentially affecting grades. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the LMU‐DCOM ABC course using data from four consecutive summers. Independent two‐sample t‐tests were used to compare ABC to non‐ABC students for the following variables: incoming grade point average (GPA) and Medical College Admission Test® (MCAT®) scores, MGA written and laboratory practical examination grades, and final MGA course grade. Additionally, a 26‐question survey was administered to 2012–2014 boot camp participants. There were no significant differences in incoming GPA and MCAT scores. However, boot campers scored significantly higher on the first two lecture and laboratory examinations (P < 0.05) for each year of the study. Thereafter scores varied less, suggesting a faster head start for boot camp participants. Mean MGA final grade was on average 3% higher for the boot camp cohort. The survey feedback supports that the ABC course assists with the academic and social transition into medical school. Anat Sci Educ 10: 215–223. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

Cognitive deficits in reading disability and attention deficit disorder

This paper presents data from three studies (a cross-sectional study of school-referred children, a test-retest study of subtypes of reading disabilities, and a study of a large, random sample of first graders) that focus on specifying the cognitive deficits associated with reading difficulties and separating them from those associated with attentional deficits. The cognitive deficits associated with difficulty in reading were consistent across samples, developmental levels, definitions, and subtypes of reading disabilities. With IQ, age, and sex controlled for, poor readers were significantly impaired on measures of naming and phonological awareness. The effects of attentional deficits were more variable and complex but were clearly separate from the reading disability effects.     

BOOK REVIEWS

The Politics of Education in the Local Community. Robert S. Cahill and Stephen P. Hencley, Editors.
The Political Power and Educational Decision-Making. By Ralph B. Kimbrough.     

Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence for Gestational Age Effects in Healthy Preterm and Fullterm Infants Studied Two Weeks after Expected Due Date

We investigated the effects of gestational age at birth on behavioral and electrophysiological measures of 135 medically healthy infants, studied at 42 weeks postconception, and stratified into 3 groups--early-born preterms, 26-32 weeks (n = 55); middle-group preterms, 33-37 weeks (n = 43); and fullterms, 38-41 weeks (n = 37). Subjects were studied behaviorally with the Assessment of Preterm Infants' Behavior (APIB) and electrophysiologically with brain electrical activity mapping (BEAM). Fullterms showed significantly better behavioral function than both preterm groups. Less difference was found between the preterm groups. EEG spectral and photic evoked response were of significantly less amplitude for the preterms than the fullterms. Path analysis showed gestational age effects on behavioral (3 of 6) and electrophysiological (13 of 17) variables due to postnatal complications. We conclude that some differences attributable to gestational age at birth are explained by the cumulative effect of minor but unavoidable complications associated with premature birth. We speculate that remaining effects may result from developmentally inappropriate sensorimotor stimulation consequent to the premature experience of an extrauterine environment.