Quantifying social skill deficits and strengths profiles in autistic youth

While social difficulties in autism are well-established, questions remain regarding whether these represent challenges in acquiring or performing such skills, reduced social strengths, or a unique distribution across these domains (i.e., social profile). This study empirically derived social profiles of 211 autistic and non-autistic youth (M_age = 13.50; Autistic N = 150; Male N = 151; 85.3% White). Assessments occurred between 2016 and 2020. Results showed that autistic youth exhibit significantly more social acquisition and performance deficits and fewer strengths than nonautistic youth (ds = −.44 to .65). Performance deficits were most—and acquisition deficits least—prominent within autistic profiles, potentially implicating longstanding theoretical models of social difficulties in autism, and supporting new, idiographic approaches for conceptualizing, assessing, and treating social challenges.     

‘Marketization’ of higher education in Peru: Who attends private institutions and what are the perceived advantages (disadvantages)?

Debate continues on the effects of the global proliferation of private higher-educational institutions, especially for-profit institutions. We examine two related questions for Peru using mixed methods: Who attends private institutions and what are their perceived advantages/disadvantages? Longitudinal quantitative data suggest higher-educational segmentation starting early in life, whereby young people from wealthier households attended private institutions and those from poorer households attended public ones. Interviews with teachers, students, and staff provide insights on perceived strengths and drawbacks of higher-educational marketization and highlight the importance of family background in higher-educational choices, governmental regulation, and close monitoring of higher-educational quality.     

Hidden structure: Using network methods to map system architecture

In this paper, we describe an operational methodology for characterizing the architecture of complex technical systems and demonstrate its application to a large sample of software releases. Our methodology is based upon directed network graphs, which allows us to identify all of the direct and indirect linkages between the components in a system. We use this approach to define three fundamental architectural patterns, which we label core–periphery, multi-core, and hierarchical. Applying our methodology to a sample of 1286 software releases from 17 applications, we find that the majority of releases possess a “core–periphery” structure. This architecture is characterized by a single dominant cyclic group of components (the “Core”) that is large relative to the system as a whole as well as to other cyclic groups in the system. We show that the size of the Core varies widely, even for systems that perform the same function. These differences appear to be associated with different models of development – open, distributed organizations develop systems with smaller Cores, while closed, co-located organizations develop systems with larger Cores. Our findings establish some “stylized facts” about the fine-grained structure of large, real-world technical systems, serving as a point of departure for future empirical work.     

Understanding Early Elementary Children's Conceptual Knowledge of Plant Structure and Function through Drawings

This study examined children''s drawings to explain children''s conceptual understanding of plant structure and function. The study explored whether the children''s drawings accurately reflect their conceptual understanding about plants in a manner that can be interpreted by others. Drawing, survey, interview, and observational data were collected from 182 students in grades K and 1 in rural southeastern United States. Results demonstrated the children held a wide range of conceptions concerning plant structure and function. These young children held very simple ideas about plants with respect to both their structure and function. Consistent with the drawings, the interviews presented similar findings.