Boys with reading disabilities and/or ADHD: distinctions in early childhood

We examined distinctions in the early childhood characteristics of boys with reading disabilities (RD) and/or attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A four-group mixed design consisting of boys identified at age 11 with reading disabilities only (RD only; n = 46), reading disabilities and ADHD (RD/ADHD; n = 16), ADHD only (n = 20), and a comparison group (n = 281) was utilized. Differences on receptive and expressive language and temperament for ages 3 and 5 were investigated. Analyses indicated that the boys from the RD-only group performed worse on measures of receptive and expressive language. The results also indicated that boys from the RD/ADHD groups consistently performed worse on measures of receptive language and exhibited more behaviors indicative of an undercontrolled temperament. In summary, we suggest that reading disabilities and ADHD represent moderately unique disorders that frequently co-occur and are characterized by distinct developmental pathways.     

Talk with Your Mother or Your Sibling? Developmental Changes in Early Family Conversations about Feelings

Developmental changes in the pattern of family conversations and talk about feelings were examined in a longitudinal study of 50 families observed at home when the second-born children were 33 and 47 months old. Significant increases were noted in the total amount of talk and the frequency of talk about feelings between sibling pairs as well as decreases in the amount of mother-child conversation and references to feelings. Differences in whose feelings were discussed and in the context of references to feelings were found for mother-child and sibling-child dyads. Developmental changes in the children's use of feeling state language co-occurred with the increase in interaction between children and their siblings. The findings contrast the "complementary" nature of mother-child interaction and the "reciprocal" nature of child-sibling interaction and support the argument that the quality of particular relationships influences the use children make of their communicative competence.     

Investigating Differences in Cheating Behaviours of IT Undergraduate and Graduate Students: The maturity and motivation factors

Within the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering of Monash University concerns have been raised about the prevalence of cheating amongst the IT students. Many isolated reports from staff of different cheating incidents collectively present a view of a problem that is widespread and multifaceted. Although indications are that these practices exist across all year levels in both undergraduate and graduate programmes, the actual extent of the problem, and whether any particular groups of students are more inclined to cheating behaviours, is difficult to gauge. Many studies have investigated undergraduate cheating; however, there have been very few studies of graduate students. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of studies of the cheating behaviour of information technology students. In some reporting of student cheating there is a tendency to take a general view of the problem, and preventative or educative measures to address this problem do not differentiate between undergraduate and graduate students. It is of concern that strategies that do not focus on attitudes or behaviours that are exhibited by a particular group are not as effective as they could be. The results of the study reported here show that there are differences between the undergraduate and graduate IT students in regard to their attitudes towards cheating and practice of cheating. The study hypothesises a relationship between maturity and motivation, and cheating behaviour. The possible reasons for this are explored and implications for the design of future education programmes are presented.     

Searching a biomedical bibliographic database from Bulgaria: the ABS database

BACKGROUND: The University of Sofia, Bulgaria, disseminates local biomedical literature (1994 to present) through a free online database, ABS. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to systematically search ABS, identify citations to controlled trials and discover what proportion of these studies are to be found on medline. METHODS: We searched using Bulgarian and English phrases; manually selected citations of controlled trials and sought these citations on medline. Results: Using the two languages, we found a total of 628 unique citations, 47 of which seem to be relevant controlled trials (precision 7.48%, 13% of ABS citations were found on medline). The trials in ABS commonly focused on evaluation of care for people with cardiovascular or urological problems. DISCUSSION: ABS is another source of easily accessed trials not readily available elsewhere.     

The Role of Institutional Motivations in Technological Adoption: Implementation of DeKalb County's Family Technology Resource Centers

The Family Technology Resource Centers (FTRC) Program consists of 14 community technology centers operated by the DeKalb County School System (DCSS) in Atlanta, GA. The model program is an outreach and technology diffusion initiative developed and maintained by the DCSS to encourage the use and awareness of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by underserved populations. A narrative assessment was generated using a qualitative approach based on researchers' direct observations of day-to-day operations, interviews conducted with key stakeholders, and review and analysis of official internal and external documents detailing program elements. The FTRC's successful efforts are tied to a combination of an environment "suitable" for change, the participation and "buy-in" of key stakeholders with a shared set of objectives, and the ability of key change agents both internally and externally to draw upon resources to "leverage" a digital divide policy initiative.     

Public anonymity and the connected world

We defend public anonymity in the light of the threat posed by digital technology. Once people could reasonably assume that they were fairly anonymous when they left the house. They neither drove nor walked around with GPS devices; they paid their highway tolls in cash; they seldom bought on credit; and no cameras marked their strolls in the park or their walks down the street. Times have changed. We begin with a brief discussion of the concept of anonymity. We then argue that public anonymity helps promote privacy in public. Next, we argue that public anonymity is worth protecting insofar as it promotes autonomy. After that we attempt to show how digital technology threatens public anonymity in the context of CCTV and GPS devices. We argue for a significant scaling back of public surveillance. We close with some thoughts on what we take to be the gratuitous costs imposed on those who would attempt to preserve their anonymity in public.