Investigative interviews of alleged sexual abuse victims with and without anatomical dolls

Verbal and nonverbal responses by alleged victims of child sexual abuse were coded for length, amount of information, and the manner in which they were elicited by the interviewer. In 16 of the interviews, anatomical dolls were employed for the purposes of demonstration, whereas they were not used in another eight cases matched with respect to other characteristics of the children and the alleged events. Children interviewed with dolls provided an equivalent number of details and spoke as many words in the substantive portion of the interview as did children interviewed without dolls, and interviewers in the two groups used similar probes to elicit information. However, the average responses by the children were significantly longer and more detailed when dolls were not used. Children gave longer and more detailed responses to open-ended invitations when dolls were not used. Caution is necessary when interpreting these findings.     

Generated meanings in the comprehension of word problems in mathematics

A Generative-Predicational Model is proposed and applied to the generation of meanings of simple mathematical word-problems. The model suggests that a fundamental property of cognition is a generative process that takes arguments and that produces results, such as events, answers and inferences. This fundamental property, called predication, generates a task-environment i.e., a problem and its corresponding problem-space i.e., its solution. More precisely, a task-environment is a predication consisting of a written mathematical problem and a writer's life experience. A problem-space is a predication consisting of a leamer's problem solving schema and of the meaning that the learmer generates for the text.The case with which relations can be established between a task-environment and a problem-space depends on the problem's coherence and complexity and the leamer's experiences and thought processes. Faceted definitions of task-environment and problem-space are used to analyze talk-aloud protocols of fifty Israeli sixth-graders tested with thirty word-problems. The empirical results support the proposed model.     

Perception of suprasegmental features of speech by children with cochlear implants and children with hearing AIDS

This study assessed perception of suprasegmental features of speech by 30 prelingual children with sensorineural hearing loss. Ten children had cochlear implants (CIs), and 20 children wore hearing aids (HA): 10 with severe hearing loss and 10 with profound hearing loss. Perception of intonation, syllable stress, word emphasis, and word pattern was assessed. Results revealed that the two HA groups significantly outperformed the CI group in perceiving both intonation and stress. Within each group, word pattern was perceived best, and then intonation and emphasis, with syllable stress perceived poorest. No significant correlation emerged between age at implantation and perception of the various suprasegmental features, possibly due to participants' relatively late age at implantation. Results indicated that CI use did not show an advantage over HA use in the perception of suprasegmental features of speech. Future research should continue to explore variables that might improve this perception.     

A structured forensic interview protocol improves the quality and informativeness of investigative interviews with children: a review of research using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol

OBJECTIVE: To show how the results of research on children's memory, communicative skills, social knowledge, and social tendencies can be translated into guidelines that improve the quality of forensic interviews of children. METHOD: We review studies designed to evaluate children's capacities as witnesses, explain the development of the structured NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol, and discuss studies designed to assess whether use of the Protocol enhances the quality of investigative interviews. RESULTS: Controlled studies have repeatedly shown that the quality of interviewing reliably and dramatically improves when interviewers employ the NICHD Protocol. No other technique has been proven to be similarly effective. CONCLUSIONS: Use of the structured NICHD Protocol improves the quality of information obtained from alleged victims by investigators, thereby increasing the likelihood that interventions will be appropriate.     

Improving credibility assessment in child sexual abuse allegations: the role of the NICHD investigative interview protocol

OBJECTIVES: The study was designed to explore whether the credibility of children's statements regarding their alleged experiences of child sexual abuse could be assessed in a more valid and reliable way when investigative interviews were conducted using the NICHD protocol rather than in an unstructured manner. METHODS: Forty-two experienced Israeli youth investigators each assessed the credibility of allegations of sexual abuse made by alleged victims of sexual abuse when interviewed either with or without the protocol. Half of the alleged incidents were judged likely to have happened ("plausible") on the basis of independent evidence, while half were deemed unlikely to have happened ("implausible"). RESULTS: More non-protocol than protocol interviews were rated as "No judgment possible" rather than either credible or incredible. Allegations made in protocol interviews were more accurately rated as credible or incredible when they were either plausible or implausible, respectively, than those made in non-protocol statements. Levels of inter-rater reliability were also higher when protocol interviews were rated. The differences were significant only for plausible cases, however. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the NICHD protocol facilitated the assessment of credibility by child investigators although incredible allegations (those describing incidents that were unlikely to have happened) remained difficult to detect, even when the protocol was used.     

Silicatescape – preserving building materials in the old urban center landscape: The case of the silicate brick and urban planning in Tel Aviv-Jaffa

In November 20th 2007 Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality confirmed its list of buildings earmarked for conservation. The confirmation was related only to Tel Aviv cultural heritage, the city that was founded in 1909, along the Mediterranean seashore, next to old Jaffa. The list was published 4 years after part of the old urban center of Tel Aviv was nominated as World Heritage Site for its architectural uniqueness (Tel Aviv the White City). The list and the nomination were focused on architectural styles, which are based on building material, the silicate brick, used in Israel throughout the years 1918–1948. This building material and technology left its imprint on Tel Aviv's landscape and is also a part of Tel Aviv's history and development. In spite of its importance, all concerned in Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality and urban planning, have totally ignored this phenomenon.The thrust of this discussion is that the silicate bricks phenomenon, a building material and technology, due to its importance to Tel Aviv heritage and its vast distribution in Tel Aviv landscape, should be integrated into the current urban renewal development process in the old city of Tel Aviv. The discovery of its history and its role in Tel Aviv cultural heritage will change the attitudes of Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality to this building material; instead of a vernacular phenomena, a common brick or a frequent building technology, it will get a better appreciation. Urban landscapes of many cities around the world are based on vernacular phenomena, which are ignored by the urban municipalities. The silicate case should serve as an example of the role of a vernacular heritage, and in this case a common building material, in the urban renewal and conservation process.     

The Relations Between Early Working Memory Abilities and Later Developing Reading Skills: A Longitudinal Study From Kindergarten to Fifth Grade

This study investigated the relations of early working‐memory abilities (phonological and visual‐spatial short‐term memory [STM] and complex memory and episodic buffer memory) and later developing reading skills. Sixty Hebrew‐speaking children were followed from kindergarten through Grade 5. Working memory was tested in kindergarten and reading in Grades 1, 2, and 5. All memory measures, but phonological STM, correlated with reading up to Grade 5. Regression analyses (with intelligence quotient controlled) demonstrated that phonological complex memory predicted all reading skills in Grade 1, and accuracy in Grade 2. The rather understudied visual‐spatial memory predicted comprehension in Grades 2 (STM) and 5 (complex memory). The results point to an important role of the phonological complex memory in early assessment, and suggest a long‐lasting role of early visual‐spatial memory in predicting variance in reading. Whether this role of the visual‐spatial memory is unique to the Hebrew orthography because of its visual features requires, however, further investigation.     

Postsecondary Students with LD/ADHD Facing a Sudden Shift to Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Emotional Costs and Implications

This study examined the emotional costs and well-being of postsecondary students with learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who faced a sudden shift to emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted with 237 postsecondary students in Israel from June to July 2020. With regard to online learning, the LD/ADHD subjects reported significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression and lower well-being than their neurotypical counterparts. However, no significant differences were found in emotional costs and well-being when the same students had experienced online learning prior to the pandemic. These findings have practical implications for policymakers in academia with regard to the emotional toll of online learning among students with LD/ADHD and their specific needs when facing ERT during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the contribution of previous online learning when facing ERT.     

The effects of abuse history on sexually intrusive behavior by children: An analysis of child justice records

Objectives

A commonly cited risk factor for sexually intrusive behavior (SIB) among children and adolescents is a history of abuse. Based on a large and non-clinical nationwide sample of children who were investigated as abuse victims and suspects of SIBs in Israel over a decade, the present study examines the rate of abuse history among child suspects who have admitted SIBs. In addition, this study compares some personal and family characteristics as well as selected aspects of SIBs reported by children with and without a history of abuse. Abuse history is then used to predict the nature of SIBs after controlling for other predictors.

Methods

National data files of the investigation of alleged child victims and child suspects aged 14 or under were electronically merged, allowing the identification of a sub-group of suspects, out of all suspects, who had a record of child abuse. Using only confirmed cases of boys with SIBs, child suspects with a record of abuse were compared to the larger group of child suspects with no record of abuse.

Results

Of 3,554 child suspects of SIBs, 345 or 9.7% had a formal record of abuse. Boys with a record of abuse engaged in SIBs at a younger age; were more likely to display mental disabilities; more often belonged to large size, single-parent, low SES, and immigrant families and were more likely to be removed from home to alternative care than boys with no record of abuse. The nature of SIBs varied across the groups, with victim-suspects more likely than their counterparts to act repeatedly, and to do so alone rather than in the presence of others. Victim-suspects were more likely to involve in SIBs with younger children, with siblings, and with unrelated children. Most aspects of SIBs were predicted by abuse history after controlling for other predictors, with some differences between age groups being evident.

Conclusions

Although abuse history is uncommon among children displaying SIBs in this sample, it seems to affect the involvement of children at a younger age in more severe SIBs, posing a higher risk to other children.

Practical implications

The low rate of abuse history among boys with SIBs suggests that clinical assessors of SIBs in children should not assume that these children have been victims of abuse or that abuse is a necessary component in the development of SIBs. This implies that the exploration of past abuse in the assessment of children with SIBs is not always relevant and that trauma-related components in the treatment of these children should be selective. As past-abuse is less related to SIB's for older children, the clinical focus on abuse is even less relevant for older children. However, when boys with SIBs have been past-victims, they seem to be in greater need for treatment than other boys with SIBs. Moreover, the dynamics of SIBs by past victims should raise more concern for older than for younger children.     

Innovative learning spaces: class management and universal design for learning

Learning Environments Research - Recent and important changes in pedagogy design include flexible learning methods that address student diversity (universal design for learning–UDL) and...