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Although previous research helped to define differences in intelligence between neurotypicals and those with ASD, results were limited by small sample sizes or restricted subtests. Using data from the NIMH Data Archive, this study examined the intelligence of children with ASD (N = 671). Results demonstrate an average standard deviation of 25.75, which is 1.72 times greater than that of the normative sample for the WISC-III. Moreover, students with ASD are 12 times more likely than the general population of students to score within the intellectual disability range, but are also 1.5 times more likely to score in the superior range, suggesting that more students with ASD should be considered for giftedness. Determining the diversity of intelligence among those with ASD has implications for research, clinical practice, and neurological understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Flynn Effect (FE) among child and adolescent populations indicates that intelligence scores improve by about three points per decade. Using nine years of data from the National Database for Autism Research, this study examined whether general intelligence changed significantly for nine cohorts with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N = 671). Analyses demonstrated a downward trend such that Cohen's d from 1998 to 2006 was − 0.27. The mean IQ is 92.74 for years 1–3, 91.54 for years 4–6, and 87.34 for years 7–9, indicating a reverse FE of 5.4 points per decade. A linear regression revealed a significant negative FE comparable to the positive effect of age on IQ among those with ASD. Implications for research, practice, and law are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents' beliefs about school readiness have been linked to their involvement practices and children's achievement. However, there is some evidence to suggest associations among parental beliefs, practices, and children's outcomes may vary by families' racial and ethnic background. This study examines the associations among African American parents' beliefs about school readiness, home-based involvement, and measures of school readiness for children during the transition to kindergarten. Drawing upon data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten cohort: 2011 (N = 1716) a structural equation model was estimated and results show that African American parents' school readiness beliefs were positively associated with children's beginning achievement. In addition, parents' home-based involvement was positively associated with children's academic achievement and social skills. The most salient finding is that parents' school readiness beliefs positively predicted their home-based involvement, which in turn was positively associated with children's academic achievement and social skills. These findings have practical implications for educators and policymakers who aim to enhance home-school partnerships and parent education programs serving African American families. Results suggest that early interventions focused on encouraging parental involvement should consider parents' beliefs about the importance of literacy, numeracy, paying attention, and behaving well, as they promote resilience among African American students. Highlights: The relationship among African American parents' school readiness beliefs, home-based involvement, and school readiness. African American parents' school readiness beliefs were positively associated with children's beginning achievement. African American parents' home-based involvement was positively associated with children's achievement and social skills. African American school readiness beliefs were more strongly associated with achievement than home-based involvement. African American parents' school readiness beliefs are an important target for enhancing children's readiness for school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Social perception is an important aspect of emotional intelligence that affects adolescent functioning at school and in everyday life. This study examined the relationship between Social Perception (affect labeling, matching prosody with facial expressions, and understanding the motives of a speaker) and Reading Comprehension, as well as Listening Comprehension. This is important to consider because understanding emotions, social expressions of emotion, and the motives of others may play a significant role in understanding conversations and stories. Methods: Hierarchical linear regressions involving 40 diverse adolescents from across the United States were utilized to see if Social Perception tests administered by psychologists predicted Reading Comprehension and Listening Comprehension above and beyond education level, gender, and ethnicity. Results: Social Perception predicted Listening Comprehension and Reading Comprehension on the Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests, Second Edition (WIAT-II), when controlling for education level, gender and ethnicity. The model explained 36% of the variance in reading comprehension and 54% of the variance in listening comprehension. Conclusions: The implications for research and educational practice are considered. For instance, future studies should examine whether listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and emotional intelligence can be increased as part of the same intervention package. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classroom management systems emphasizing rewards and consequences have long existed in schools within the US, but parental perceptions of the effects of these systems have largely been ignored. This survey study examined the ways in which 99 parents observed their children responding to various elementary classroom management systems. Regression results showed that behavior chart systems were negatively associated with student autonomous motivation to learn, whereas parent–school relationships and teacher autonomy support were positively associated with autonomous motivation. In hierarchical regression models, the frequency of students receiving rewards was negatively related to parent–school relationships. However, when teacher autonomy support (a strong positive predictor) was added to the model, the effects of reward frequency became non-significant. Parents' open-ended responses revealed frustrations with systems that caused student anxiety, encouraged dependence on rewards, and oppressed students' personalities. Implications include consideration of classroom management styles that better promote student autonomous motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities are increasingly offering positive psychology courses; however, very few studies have been conducted to see if they enhance positive psychology outcomes for students. This study, conducted at a Western university in the U.S., examined the effects of a semester long positive psychology course on 26 undergraduate students’ gratitude and emotions toward studying. The course included broad aspects of positive psychology, such as gratitude, mindfulness, autonomy supportive communication, intrinsic life goals, intrinsic learning goals, acts of kindness, and identifying strengths. Using a retrospective pretest-posttest design, paired sample t tests revealed that students improved significantly on both gratitude and homework feelings. The effect size (Cohen’s d) for homework feelings was 1.03, indicating that students experienced a strong improvement in positive emotions toward studying and homework. The effect size for gratitude was.76, indicating a moderate to large positive effect on thankfulness. Percentage of classes attended was moderately positively associated with pre- to post-course improvement in gratitude and emotions, indicating that students with higher attendance were more likely to experience greater personal growth. Students of minority background (e.g., Latino) improved more than European American students on gratitude, whereas they improved equally well on positive emotions. Implications for universities, professors, and others interested in the positive psychological development of young adults are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although parental autonomy support has been linked to children's intrinsic motivation to learn and positive emotions in numerous studies, there has been little research on interventions to promote parental autonomy support, especially in the realm of homework and school related learning. Furthermore, there are relatively few qualitative studies dealing with parent autonomy support and children's emotional responses. This qualitative study examined the weekly journals of 15 parents who were learning how to promote autonomous motivation and academic enjoyment among their 4th and 5th grade children via autonomy supportive communication. Four themes emerged: generalization beyond homework and school-related learning; parents occasionally misinterpreting what it means to be autonomy supportive; strong positive responses, such as children enjoying homework and becoming more passionate about learning; and parent-child shared enjoyment and persistence in the educational games that were provided as a way to practice the autonomy supportive parenting style during each week of the intervention. This study provides insight into how parents actually apply autonomy supportive parenting techniques in the home environment. Future related parent education may benefit from these findings; for instance, parents may be provided with more examples of how autonomy support can generalize to learning in various domains of life, such as mastering a musical instrument, attending a museum exhibit, ordering books for reading pleasure and learning how to operate a boat safely. Interventions that promote children's autonomous motivation to learn and enjoyment of learning through parental autonomy support should be further developed and studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a seven week quasi-experimental study, parents ( n = 15) of elementary school students ( n = 15) learned autonomy supportive communication techniques that included helping their children set learning goals for homework assignments. Treatment vs. comparison group ( n = 30) ANCOVA analyses revealed that the parents in the treatment group perceived their children as becoming more autonomously motivated relative to the comparison group, F(1, 26) = 7.69, p < .05. Children in the treatment group reported increased positive affect toward homework relative to the comparison group, F(1,26) = 5.35, p < .05. Children did not significantly improve on general measures of self reported academic intrinsic motivation or relative autonomy. These preliminary findings suggest that autonomy supportive parenting styles may improve parent's perceptions of their children's autonomous motivation and children's subjective experience of positive affect surrounding homework. In order to draw firmer conclusions about the effects of the intervention, more rigorously controlled studies will be needed in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]