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Previous literature has suggested the existence of a close relationship between individuals' intellectual abilities and their cognitive profile, understood as their performance in tasks tapping into the different cognitive domains. This relationship has typically been discussed in populations characterized as having high intellectual abilities, as is the case of gifted children and adolescents. In this study, the cognitive profile in domains of memory, attention, coordination, perception, and reasoning of a group of gifted children and adolescents was contrasted with a control group similar in age distribution, gender and socioeconomic level but with normotypical development. The results indicated that participants in the gifted group scored higher than those in the control group in all cognitive domains. The differences in cognitive abilities were not consistent across all areas, meaning that some cognitive abilities did not show significant differences, while others did. These results help to identify a more precise cognitive profile of gifted individuals, yielding a better understanding of the relationship between intelligence and cognitive abilities. The study provides evidence that allows delving into the most differential and characteristic aspects of giftedness.

The present study examined whether learning disabilities (LD) in reading and/or math (i.e., reading disability [RD], math disability [MD], and RD+MD) co-occur with other diagnoses. The data comprised a clinical sample (n = 430) with LD identified in childhood and a sample of matched controls (n = 2,140). Their medical diagnoses (according to the "International Classification of Diseases" nosology) until adulthood (20-39 years) were analyzed. The co-occurrence of LD with neurodevelopmental disorders was considered a homotypic comorbidity, and co-occurrence with disorders or diseases from the other diagnostic categories (i.e., mental and behavioral disorders, diseases of the nervous system, injuries, other medical or physical diagnoses) was considered a heterotypic comorbidity. Both homotypic and heterotypic comorbidity were more common in the LD group. Co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorders were the most prominent comorbid disorders, but mental and behavioral disorders, diseases of the nervous system, and injuries were also pronounced in the LD group. Accumulation of diagnoses across the diagnostic categories was more common in the LD group. No differences were found among the RD, MD, and RD+MD subgroups. The findings are relevant from the theoretical perspective, as well as for clinical and educational practice, as they provide understanding regarding individual distress and guiding for the planning of support.

This project tested the effects of adding instruction of trios of children in patterning, mathematics, early literacy, or social studies to ongoing instruction in kindergartens. Children were randomly assigned to trios which were randomly assigned to one of four kinds of instruction. A quarter of the trios received patterning instruction with a mixture of repeating and growing patterns. Another quarter of the trios were taught number recognition, number order, counting, comparing quantities and related early mathematics. Another quarter were taught letter recognition and sounds, simple words, and other subject matter in early literacy. The remaining quarter of the trios were taught social studies, including recognition of important figures in history and important city and federal services. The children taught patterning outscored the others on a test of patterning, but there were no other significant differences. Implications for patterning instruction as a support for early mathematics or literacy were discussed.

The Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ IV COG) is a comprehensive assessment battery designed to assess broad and narrow cognitive abilities, as defined by the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligence. Previous studies examined the invariance of the WJ assessments across sex and age groups using factor analytic methods. Psychometric network modeling is an alternative methodology that can address both direct and indirect relationships among the observed variables. In this study, we employed psychometric network modeling to examine the invariance of the WJ IV COG across sex and age groups. Using a normative sample (n = 4212 participants) representative of the United States population, we tested the extent to which the factorial structure of the WJ IV COG aligned with CHC theory for the school-aged sample. Next, we used psychometric network modeling as a data-driven method to investigate whether the network structure of the WJ IV COG remains similar across different sex and age (age 6 to 19, inclusively) groups. Our results showed that the WJ IV COG maintained the same network structure across all age and sex groups, although the network structure at younger ages indicated weaker relationships among some subtests. Overall, the results provide construct validity evidence for the WJ IV COG, based on both theoretical and data-driven methods.

When and how do children develop an understanding of the subjectivity of intentions? Intentions are subjective mental states in many ways. One way concerns their aspectuality: Whether or not a given behavior constitutes an intentional action depends on how, under which aspect, the agent represents it. Oedipus, for example, intended to marry Yocasta, but did not intend to marry his mother (even though in fact, but unbeknownst to him, Yocasta was his mother). In the present study, we investigated the trajectories and determinants of children's developing understanding of (less dramatic forms of) the aspectuality of intentions. In two studies, children aged 3-9 observed an agent who acted intentionally but based on some mis-representation regarding the target of her action. The agent grasped a box that contained A and B while believing that it only contained A but not B. Children were asked about the aspectuality of the agent's intention (in particular, whether she intended to grasp B). When asked to do so spontaneously, children younger than 8 failed (falsely claiming that the agent intended to grasp B). In contrast, in a simplified format in which children were scaffolded through the required inferential chains, children from age 6 succeeded. Children's general capacity for meta-representation appeared to be necessary but not sufficient by itself for understanding the aspectuality of intentions. The present findings suggest that the appreciation of the aspectuality of intentions is part of an advanced theory of mind that develops in much more protracted ways than basic theory of mind.

Our purpose was to study the frequency of behavioral-emotional problems among children identified with a learning disability (LD). The data were obtained for 579 Finnish children (8-15 years) with reading disability (RD-only), math disability (MD-only), or both (RDMD) assessed at a specialized clinic between 1985 and 2017. We analyzed percentages of children with behavioral-emotional symptoms reaching clinical range (i.e., z score [greater than or equal to]1.5 SDs) and the effects of the LD type, gender, and context (home vs. school) on them. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of the severity of LD and gender on the amount of behavioral-emotional symptoms reported by teachers and parents. Alarmingly high percentages of children, irrespective of LD type, demonstrated behavioral-emotional problems: more than 37% in Affective, Anxiety, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) problems. Contextual variation was large, as more problems were reported by teachers than by mothers. The unique effects of gender and LD type were rare, but the results raised concern for those with MD-only, especially boys. The results underscore the need to draw attention to the importance of assessing children with LD for behavioral-emotional problems and emphasize the importance of teachers' awareness of behavioral-emotional problems among students with LD and cooperation among child, teacher, and parents in assessment and support planning.

The school adjustment of children is the cornerstone of their development, and has been known to be influenced by a variety of factors. This study investigated the effects of peer relationships, theory of mind (ToM), hot executive function (hot EF), and cognitive ability on young children's school adjustment. Participants were 183 children with a mean age of 62.6 months attending ten kindergartens in Korea. Data was collected using the Preschool Adjustment Questionnaire, the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale, three theory of mind tasks, two hot executive function tasks, and the Korean version of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. School adjustment was found to correlate with peer relationships, cognitive ability, hot EF, and ToM. Using Hierarchical Regression analyses, hot EF was found to contribute unique variance in predicting school adjustment, even when variance due to peer relationships and cognitive abilities was excluded. This study has implications for identifying relevant variables that affect the school adjustment of young children, which can have a significant impact on future research on school adaptation.

The purpose of this study is to construct and evaluate diagnostic battery tests of verbal and non-verbal learning disabilities for students in the Arabic schools. 612 students were in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades of primary school were involved, mostly from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Their ages ranged from 7.94-10.98 with mean age = 9.62 and SD = ±0.93. The Diagnostic Battery Tests (DBT) of VLD and NVLD for the primary school students was developed in accordance with the Arabic environment. The Battery includes seven subtests divided into two fields; the verbal learning disabilities and the non-verbal learning disabilities. The tests are developed in accordance with the ages of students and their academic grades. With the help of results, it has been found that DBT of VLD and NVLD have shown good reliability and validity indictors. Additionally, DBT showed the ability to distinguish between neurotypical students and those with learning difficulties. With increasing grades from three to five, the increase in performance level, decrease in performance time and standard deviations were noticeable, which can be attributed to the improvement in learning, experience, maturity and cognitive growth level with the progress of grades.

The Sustainable Development Goals mandate that by 2030, all children should have access to quality early child development opportunities, healthcare and pre-primary education. Yet validated measures of ECD in low and middle income countries (LMICs) are rare. To address this gap, a Systematic Review (SR) of measures available to profile the development of children between the ages of 0-5 years in LMICs was undertaken. Drawing on education, psychology and health databases, we identified reliable, valid or measures adapted for use in LMICs for either assessments of children's development or their learning environments. The inclusion criteria were (1) peer reviewed papers published between January 2009 and May 2019; (2) assessment tools used to measure cognitive/language development or the early years or home environment in at least one LMIC; (3) report of the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the tool, and/or description of the cultural adaptability/translation process undertaken before applying it to a LMIC. Two hundred and forty-nine available records published in the last decade in peer-review journals and nine relevant systematic literature reviews were identified. Fifty-seven records were qualitatively synthesised based on their psychometric properties and cultural adaptation. Forty-three tools were reviewed utilising 12 criteria. Five elements of analysis present in Tables 2 and 3 (study, population tested, validity, reliability and cultural adaptability/translation) focused on the tools' psychometric properties and previous application in LMICs. A further seven dimensions outlined in Tables 4 and 5 identified specific characteristics of the tools from target age, administration method, domains, battery, accessibility, language and country/institution. We suggest these 12 key considerations for the selection of measurement tools that are applicable to effectively assess ECD in LMICs.

This follow-up study investigated the associations of childhood learning disabilities (LDs) with adult-age anxiety, depression, and unemployment. Psychosocial problems in childhood and psychiatric diagnoses and lack of education in adolescence were studied as potential mediators, and gender and mother's education were studied as potential moderators of these associations. Data on childhood clinical neuropsychological assessments and lifelong register data on individuals with childhood LD (n = 430; 301 [70%] males; 20-39 years of age) and matched controls (n = 2,149) were applied. Mediation analyses were performed using structural equation modeling. Childhood LDs exerted a significant, but relatively small effect on psychiatric diagnoses in adolescence, which predicted adult-age depression and anxiety. Learning disabilities were related to unemployment both directly and via psychiatric diagnoses in adolescence. Examination of differences in the effects on adult-age outcomes of subtypes of LDs revealed mathematical disability to be more strongly associated with psychosocial problems in childhood and psychiatric problems in adolescence and adulthood than reading disability. Our findings show that LD has small and mostly indirect effects on the risk for later well-being problems. The findings emphasize the importance of adolescence in predicting adult-age psychiatric and employment problems and call for more holistic support for individuals with LDs.

Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder sometimes spontaneously repeat clinician models of morphemes targeted for treatment. We examine how spontaneous repeating of clinician models in the form of recasts associates with improved child production of those emerging morphemes. Method: Forty-seven preschool children with developmental language disorder participated in Enhanced Conversational Recast therapy and were monitored for spontaneous repetitions of morphemes modeled by the clinician through conversational recasting. We calculated proportion of correct and incorrect productions elicited during treatment and for generalization probes as well as treatment effect sizes. We then used odds ratios to determine the probability that a spontaneous repetition may precede treatment gains and calculated correlations of correct repetitions with correct in-treatment productions of targets and treatment effect sizes. Results: Spontaneous repetitions were highly likely to happen just prior to meaningful treatment progress. Children with higher frequencies of correct spontaneous repetitions of morpheme targets also showed higher frequencies of correct productions of these forms during the course of treatment. Furthermore, children with an earlier onset of repetitions and higher frequencies of correct repetitions showed overall larger effect sizes at the end of treatment. Conclusions: Children's use of correct forms in their repetitions may serve as a self-scaffold for mastering productions of the correct form via structural priming mechanisms. Tracking spontaneously repeated targets may be a useful milestone for identifying response to treatment.

Atypical learning and memory in early life can promote atypical behaviors in later life. Less relational learning and inflexible retrieval in childhood may enhance restricted and repeated behaviors in patients with autism spectrum disorder. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms of atypical memory in children with autism spectrum disorder. We conducted picture-name pair learning and delayed-recognition tests with two groups: one group with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder children (aged 7-16, n = 41) and one group with typically developing children (n = 82) that matched the first group's age, sex, and IQ. We assessed correlations between successful recognition scores and seed-to-whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity. Although both learning and retrieval performances were comparable between the two groups, we observed slightly lower category learning and significantly fewer memory gains in the autism spectrum disorder group than in the typically developing group. The right canonical anterior hippocampal network was involved in successful memory in youths with typically developing, while other memory systems may be involved in successful memory in youths with autism spectrum disorder. Context-independent and less relational memory processing may be associated with fewer memory gains in autism spectrum disorder. These atypical memory characteristics in autism spectrum disorder may accentuate their inflexible behaviors in some situations.

Surveys reveal that many school psychologists continue to employ cognitive profile analysis despite the long-standing history of negative research results from this class of practice. This begets the question: why do questionable assessment practices persist in school psychology? To provide insight on this dilemma, this article presents the results of a content analyses of available interpretive resources in the clinical assessment literature that may shed insight on this issue. Although previous reviews have evaluated the content of individual assessment courses, this is the first systematic review of pedagogical resources frequently adopted in reading lists by course instructors. The interpretive guidance offered across tests within these texts was largely homogenous emphasizing the primary interpretation of subscale scores, de-emphasizing interpretation of global composites (i.e., FSIQ), and advocating for the use of some variant of profile analysis to interpret scores and score profiles. Implications for advancing evidence-based assessment in school psychology training and guarding against unwarranted unsupported claims in clinical assessment is discussed.

This study examined accuracy on syllable-final (coda) consonants in newly-learned English-like nonwords to determine whether school-aged bilingual children may be more vulnerable to making errors on English-only codas than their monolingual, English-speaking peers, even at a stage in development when phonological accuracy in productions of familiar words is high. Bilingual Spanish-English-speaking second-graders (age 7-9) with typical development (n = 40) were matched individually with monolingual peers on age, sex, and speech skills. Participants learned to name sea monsters as part of five computerized word learning tasks. Dependent t-tests revealed bilingual children were less accurate than monolingual children in producing codas unique to English; however, the groups demonstrated equivalent levels of accuracy on codas that occur in both Spanish and English. Results suggest that, even at high levels of English proficiency, bilingual Spanish-English-speaking children may demonstrate lower accuracy than their monolingual English-speaking peers on targets that pattern differently in their two languages. Differences between a bilingual's two languages can be used to reveal targets that may be more vulnerable to error, which could be a result of cross-linguistic effects or more limited practice with English phonology.

This study investigates cognitive abilities of pre/primary school children without and with spina bifida in Uganda. Qualitative semi structured interviews and quantitative functioning scales measurements were combined and conducted with 133 parents, 133 children with spina bifida, and 35 siblings. ANCOVA was used to test for differences in cognitive scores between children and siblings. Logistic regression analyses were used to study predictive demographic, impairment specific, and environmental factors of cognitive functioning. Children with spina bifida in Uganda had lower cognitive outcomes compared to their siblings. Cognitive outcomes were predicted by age, household income, motor functioning, and schooling. Better motor functioning was predicted by age, the presence of hydrocephalus, and parental support. Continence management was predicted by parental support and household income. Schooling was predicted by age, household income, and motor functioning. Limited access to neurosurgery and rehabilitative care, and schooling had a negative effect on cognitive functioning. Children of parents who have support had better motor functioning, and continence management. A holistic approach for children with spina bifida and their families, including community based rehabilitation; ensuring social support and livelihoods for parents; and access to health and education services can contribute to better cognitive outcomes.

This study investigated the affects of cognitive ability, creativity, and self-esteem on kindergartners' problem behaviour. Participants were 203 children (mean age = 65.8 months) attending kindergartens in Korea. Data collection used the Korean version of Child Behaviour Checklist, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, and the Children's Sense of Self-Esteem Inventory. Pearson's correlations and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. There were four primary outcomes. First, there were negative correlations between children's problem behaviour (internalising and externalising problems) and cognitive ability. Second, there was a negative correlation between internalising problems and fluency in creativity. No correlation was found between children's externalising problems and creativity. Third, there were negative correlations between children's problem behaviour (internalising and externalising problems) and self-esteem. Fourth, sequential processing, emotional competence, and fluency were revealed to be predictors of children's internalising problems. Social competency and sequential processing were found to be predictors of children's externalising problems.

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) represent a large proportion of those receiving special education services in U.S. schools, but the relationship between student-level variables and SLD identification is still not well understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which data collected as part of a comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation were associated with SLD identification status. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine how response to intervention (RtI) slope (i.e., growth rate), academic achievement, global cognitive ability, and demographic variables (i.e., race/ethnicity, gender, and free/reduced-price lunch [FRL] status) were related to SLD identification. Academic achievement (B = -0.13, OR = 0.88), race/ethnicity (B = -1.35, OR = 0.26; 0 = white student, 1 = student of color), and FRL (B = 0.94, OR = 2.57) were related to SLD status, but global cognitive ability and RtI slope were not, even though the RtI method was reported to be used during the special education decision-making process. Implications for practice, particularly related to the use of RtI, are discussed.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of a system of least prompts procedure and use of a graphic organizer to teach the academic literacy standard of comparing characters in text for elementary students with moderate and severe intellectual disability. A multiple probe across participants design was used to evaluate the results. The results indicated the system of least prompts and graphic organizer intervention was effective in teaching the skill to one student. The intervention, with modifications, was effective for two additional students. All participants maintained and generalized the skill. Directions for future research and practical implications are discussed.

Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often have difficulty with word learning. Recent studies have shown that incorporating retrieval practice provides a significant benefit to this learning. However, we have not yet discovered the best balance between the amount of retrieval and the amount of study (hearing the word in the presence of the referent) that is provided. In this investigation, we compared a word learning procedure using more retrieval and less study with a procedure that used more study and less retrieval. Method: Participants were 13 children with DLD and 13 same-age peers with typical language development (TD). Both groups ranged in age from 4 to 6 years. The children learned two sets of novel words, with each set taught in two sessions. During an initial criterion period, the children had the opportunity to retrieve all of the words. Following this period, the words were either retrieved without further study or studied without additional retrieval. Recall and recognition testing immediately followed the second learning session and was repeated 1 week later. Testing assessed the children's retention of both the word forms and their meanings. Results: Better recall both immediately after learning and after 1 week was seen for the more retrieval/less study condition. This was seen for both groups of children for word form recall and for children with DLD for meaning. Group differences were not found. Conclusion: This study served as a stringent test of the benefits of retrieval to children's word learning. Continued retrieval after initial retrieval practice appeared to be helpful even when further study was discontinued and when the comparison study condition had also provided retrieval practice in the initial stages. Further refinement of retrieval procedures might lead to the development of useful clinical tools to promote word learning.

The present study examined the factor structure of the Kaufman assessment battery for children-second edition normative update with normative sample participants aged 7-18 years (N = 500) using confirmatory factor analysis with maximum likelihood estimation and multidimensional scaling procedures. For the 10 subtest Cattell-Horn-Carroll core battery configuration, an alternative hierarchical model with four group-specific factors (crystallized ability, perceptual reasoning, short-term memory, and long-term storage and retrieval) provided the best fit to the normative data for both age groups. These results suggest caution for interpreting the visual processing and fluid reasoning index scores in isolation given the inability to locate those constructs independently at school-age. Implications for the clinical interpretation of the measurement instrument moving forward are discussed.

As K-12 mathematics standards shift toward emphasizing both conceptual and procedural knowledge in secondary courses such as algebra and geometry, the struggles for students with disabilities become more pronounced. To address these challenges, research has commonly explored the use of technology to aid in the teaching of students with disabilities. One such technology with a growing research base for instruction in the field of special education is the use of video modeling. Despite documented success for students with moderate to severe disabilities, the application of video modeling for instruction with students with a learning disability is largely unknown. This study sought to explore the benefits of video modeling to teach geometry word problems to three secondary students with a learning disability in mathematics. Across a single subject multiple baseline design, all three students demonstrated improved problem-solving performance across all dependent variables measured. The results and their implications for the field of mathematics are discussed.

The purpose of this article is to understand the decision-making processes by assessment personnel when choosing instruments to evaluate students with learning disabilities. Eight school personnel responsible for the evaluation of students in Texas participated in face-to-face, semistructured interviews. The instruments chosen were based on a variety of factors including the personnel's basic knowledge and training on the use of the instruments, the culture and climate of the district, and the overall characteristics of the child being tested. The findings of this study suggested that assessment personnel encounter many decisions when evaluating children with learning disabilities. Implications from this study include the need for frequent support in encouraging reflective thinking and assessment training for those responsible for the important decisions regarding the identification and placement of students who are learning disabled.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of variability in teaching prepositions to preschoolers with typical development (TD) and developmental language disorder (DLD). Input variability during teaching can enhance learning, but is target dependent. We hypothesized that high variability of objects would improve preposition learning. We also examined other characteristics (e.g. vocabulary skills) of children who responded to treatment. We used a case series design, repeated across children (n = 18) to contrast how preschoolers learned prepositions in conditions that manipulated variability of objects and labels across three treatment sessions. We contrasted a high versus low variability condition for objects and labels for one group of typically-developing (TD) children (n = 6). In other groups (TD, n = 6; DLD, n = 6), we contrasted high versus low object variability only. Visual inspection and descriptive statistics were used to characterize gains. Half (n = 3) of TD participants showed a low variability advantage for the condition that combined object and label variability. In the condition that only contrasted object variability, the majority (n = 4) of TD participants showed a high variability advantage, compared to only two participants with DLD. In the high object variability condition, high receptive vocabulary scores were significantly correlated with high performance of learning prepositions (r[subscript s] = 0.71, p < 0.05). Combining high variability for objects and labels when teaching prepositions was not effective. However, high variability for objects can create a learning advantage for learning prepositions for children with typically developing language, but not all learners. Characteristics of different learners (e.g. receptive vocabulary scores) and language status (impaired or unimpaired) should be taken into consideration for future studies.

Identifying the cognitive capacities associated with the development of school readiness is indispensable to support children's successful school transition. It has been shown that executive function (EF) in preschoolers is associated with both concurrent preacademic and subsequent academic skills. However, most research has controlled for the effect of general cognitive ability (GCA), and little research has examined non-English speaking children, which hinders the understanding of the development of school readiness in culturally diverse contexts. In addition, behavioral genetic research on the genetic and environmental influences on this association has been conducted with school-age children. Thus, the genetic and environmental influences on associations between GCA, EF, and preacademic skills during preschool age are unknown. We conducted multivariate behavioral genetic analyses on two waves of longitudinal data at 42 and 60 months of age from 171 and 135 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic Japanese twins. The findings suggested that a genetic factor influenced GCA at 42 months and mediated preacademic ability at 60 months. In addition, another genetic factor emerged by 60 months that genetically mediated EF and math ability, independent of GCA. Preacademic ability at 60 months was affected by shared environments that influenced EF, rather than GCA, at 42 months. Moreover, shared environments that influenced preacademic ability at 42 months affected later GCA at 60 months. Finally, nonshared environments that had emerged by 60 months mediated these relationships, though the magnitude of this effect was modest.

We studied the impact of diverse subtypes of learning disabilities (LD) on adult-age mental health, education, and employment by comparing the LD group (n = 430) with a matched control group without a known history of LD (n = 2,149). The clinical archived data were merged with lifelong register data on sickness allowances/disability pensions granted on the basis of psychiatric illnesses, reimbursements for psychoactive medication, having a degree after compulsory education, and having received unemployment allowances. Differences emerged between the LD and control groups in all outcomes, suggesting that a higher proportion of individuals with LD had mental health problems compared to the control group, and a notable share of them had not attained a degree after compulsory education and had been unemployed for an extended period. Subgroup comparisons indicated that math disability (MD) was associated with antidepressant use and unemployment, whereas the reading disability (RD) group showed the least problems with employment. Interactions between subgroup and gender suggested that MD (with/without RD) may pose a higher risk than RD for females, whereas RD seemed to pose a risk for males. The findings suggest the need for researchers, clinicians, and those involved with adult education to consider mental health and educational problems among individuals with LD.

The relationship among bodily movements, cognitive abilities, and academic achievement in children is receiving considerable attention in the research community. The embodied learning approach is based on the idea of an inseparable link between body and mind in learning, aiming for teaching methods that promote children's active engagement in the classroom. This study implements embodied learning as a part of the classroom curriculum in a real classroom environment using motion-based games. A total of 52 elementary students engaged in embodied learning in-class activities for four months. The data-set included standardized pre-post testing for children's cognitive and academic performance, general learning analytics from games' usage, interviews, and observations from the teachers involved. Findings showed significant effects both on children's cognitive abilities (i.e., short-memory skills) and academic performance (i.e., expressive vocabulary). This article contributes to the educational technology community by providing an example of implementing embodied learning via use of motion-based technologies in a real classroom environment.

Individual differences in Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) cognitive abilities are related to individual differences in math problem solving. However, it is less clear whether cognitive abilities are associated with math problem solving directly or indirectly via math component skills and whether these relations differ across grade levels. We used multigroup structural equation models to examine direct and indirect CHC-based cognitive ability relations with math problem solving across six grade-level groups using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition and the Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement, Second Edition co-normed standardization sample data (N = 2,117). After testing factorial invariance of the cognitive constructs across grade levels, we assessed whether the main findings were similar across higher-order and bifactor models. In the higher-order model, the Crystallized Ability, Visual Processing, and Short-Term Memory constucts had direct and indirect relations with math problem solving, whereas the Learning Efficiency and Retrieval Fluency constructs had only indirect relations with math problem solving via math computation. The integrated cognitive ability and math achievement relations were generally consistent across the CHC models of intelligence. In the higher-order model, the g factor operated indirectly on math computation and math problem solving, whereas in the bifactor model, the first-order G factor had direct relations with math computation and math problem solving. In both models, g/G was the most consistent and largest cognitive predictor of math skills. Last, the relation of math computation with math problem solving increased as grade level increased. Theoretical implications for math development and considerations for school psychologists are discussed.

A vast array of studies has demonstrated that stimulating activities within the family (e.g., reading to child, singing together) positively affect children's development in various domains. However, this influence is less established for children of immigrants. This paper analyses the impact of familial activities on non-verbal cognitive skills and German-language skills of six-year-old children of Turkish immigrants in Germany. It is argued that not only the frequency of familial activities but also the language use during these activities needs to be considered in immigrant families which has rarely been done in the previous literature. Not taking into account the language use during these activities might be especially problematic in the domain of verbal skills. The empirical results show that the frequency of stimulating familial activities is positively associated with children's verbal and non-verbal skills. In contrast, the language use during these activities only affects children's language skills but not their non-verbal cognitive skills. It is concluded that the language use during familial activities needs to be taken into account in the case of verbal skills.

This study compares Spanish morphosyntax error types and magnitude in monolingual Spanish and Spanish-English bilingual children with typical language development (TD) and language impairment (LI). Performance across groups was compared using cloze tasks that targeted articles, clitics, subjunctives, and derivational morphemes in 57 children. Significant differences were observed between bilingual TD and LI groups on all tasks; however, no differences were observed between bilinguals with TD and monolinguals with LI except on a sum-score across all tasks. There were no observed differences between bilinguals and monolinguals with TD; however, 60% of bilinguals with TD were misclassified as LI when using a cut score derived from monolingual-only data. Results support evidence that Spanish morphosyntax is vulnerable to error in monolingual and bilingual Spanish-English children with LI. However, the grammatical deficit seems clinically relevant only when children are compared to the same language peer group (i.e., bilinguals compared to bilinguals).

Traditional IQ technology, crystallized by the seminal work of Binet and Wechsler as well as others, has played a critical and profound role in psychology, making intelligence testing among the most important contributions psychology has made to society (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). But this technology has limits; it has not had the advantage of increased understanding of specific human abilities. There has been a significant movement toward measuring specific abilities as alternatives to traditional IQ tests (Naglieri, 1997). This new breeds of tests include the CAS (Naglieri & Das, 1997), Differential Ability scales (DAS; Elliott, 1990),Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT; Kaufman & Kaufman,1993), K-ABC (Kaufman & Kaufman,1983), and Woodcock-Johnson Revised Test of Cognitive Ability (WJ-R; Woodcock and Johnson,1989). The authors of these tests have made efforts to modernize the traditional IQ test technology that has dominated most of the 20th century. This paper discusses about the IQ tests, history and its evolution. The latter half focuses on Cognitive Assessment System which is based on PASS theory of cognitive processing and its educational Implications.

The factor structure of the 16 core and supplementary Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model subtests for the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (KABC-II; Kaufman and Kaufman, 2004a) standardization sample samples aged 7-18 (N = 2025) was examined using exploratory factor analytic techniques (EFA) not included in the KABC-II manual (Kaufman and Kaufman, 2004b). The present results failed to replicate the five-factor CHC-based structure posited by the test publisher at school age. Factor extraction for the core battery suggested four factors, whereas five factors were supported for the total battery configuration. When these structures were transformed with the Schmid and Leiman ("Psychometrika," 22, 53-61, 1957) orthgonalization procedure, the second-order general factor accounted for larger portions of total and common variance when compared to the reliable variance accounted for by the resulting four and five first-order factors. Users are encouraged to interpret the KABC-II primarily at the level of the Fluid-Crystallized Index (FCI), with additional consideration of the factor-based scores employed with more caution. Implications for clinical interpretation are discussed.

Within the professional literature, it is frequently suggested that interpretation of cognitive profile scatter may be useful for generating a host of clinical inferences. To wit, Hale et al. ("Psychology in the Schools," 45, 838-858, (2008)) posit that cognitive scatter is a defining characteristic of specific learning disability and that individuals with learning disabilities may have higher levels of scatter compared to normal controls. To investigate the tenability of this claim, the present study employed diagnostic efficiency statistics and other recommended psychometric methods (e.g., receiver operative characteristic curve, Bayesian nomogram) to test whether cognitive scatter could accurately distinguish between individuals with and without a known learning disability (LD) diagnosis in the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition KABC-II; Kaufman and Kaufman (2004a) normative sample. Results indicated that increasing levels of cognitive profile scatter identified individuals with LD at no better than chance levels. The current negative results add to a growing corpus of research questioning the utility of many of the interpretive procedures that are utilized by school psychologists for commercial ability measures. In particular, it is suggested that clinicians who interpret cognitive profile scatter may risk diagnostic overconfidence and in the case of LD identification, unacceptable levels of false positive decisions attributable to error. Implications for evidence-based assessment in school psychology are discussed.

The selection and interpretation of individually administered norm-referenced cognitive tests that are administered to culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students continue to be an important consideration within the psychoeducational assessment process. Understanding test directions during the assessment of cognitive abilities is important, considering the high-stakes nature of these assessments. Therefore, the linguistic demand of spoken test directions from the following commonly used cognitive test batteries was examined and compared: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V), Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ IV COG), Cognitive Assessment System, Second Edition (CAS2), and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II). On average, the linguistic demand of the standard test directions was greater than the linguistic demand of the supplementary test directions. When examining individual test characteristics, very few individual tests were identified as outliers with respect to the linguistic demand of their test directions. This finding differs from previous research and suggests that the linguistic demand of the required directions for most tests included in commonly used cognitive batteries is similar. Implications for future research and test development are discussed.

Oral language and word reading skills have important effects on reading comprehension. The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition (WIAT-III) measures both skill sets, but little is known about their specific effects on reading comprehension within this battery. Path analysis was used to evaluate the collective effects of reading and oral language measures on reading comprehension in a total of 456 students referred for special education evaluations. Students were split randomly into two groups (calibration and validation) for model construction and testing. Results indicate that these measures demonstrate a number of effects on reading measures that go beyond the expressive/receptive distinction in the test manual and add to the validity evidence for the WIAT-III. Implications for practice and study limitations are discussed.

This study used a multiple probe across participants design to (a) evaluate the use of system of least prompts to teach students to self-instruct and (b) evaluate the use of a mobile device for a video activity schedule of a functional daily living skill. In baseline, the classroom teacher asked participants to make a snack and collected performance data. In the technology training condition, the teacher implemented a system of least prompts procedure to teach participants to initiate use of the mobile device, navigate to a training video activity schedule, pause/play videos of training tasks, and perform the modeled training tasks. After meeting criterion in technology training, the classroom teacher evaluated participant performance making a snack following use of a mobile device to self-instruct using a video activity schedule. Participant technology use was still assessed but not included in criterion. All four participants learned to independently initiate and navigate the mobile device during technology training. Three participants self-instructed using the video activity schedule to independently make a snack.

The present study sought to determine if systematically teaching the use of visual supports to three students identified as having moderate to severe disabilities resulted in improved task completion and independence in general education settings. For each participant, a visual support system delineated a multi-step task, which prior to the implementation of the intervention, required extensive prompting. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design across participants demonstrated that the use of visual supports paired with systematically teaching use of the visual support increased independent task completion for each student. Results, analyzed through visual analysis and calculating effect size through Tau-U, showed intervention of visual supports paired with systematic teaching of the supports was highly effective for the participants. Social validity data gathered after the completion of the study revealed that teachers and support staff viewed the visual support intervention as an effective strategy in aiding the participants' independent task completion.

The study examined the psychometric properties of the German version of the Creative Thinking-Drawing Production Test (TCT-DP). This test evaluates creative potential with 14 content-related criteria, constituting a total score. Age norms exist for children from 4-16 years. A total of 269 children with predominantly migrant background, aged 36-71 months, from German preschools participated. Total scores of 4- and 5-year-old children were significantly below the German age norms published in the test manual, but did not differ with the degree of the migrant background (both vs. one or none migrant parents). In contrast to boys, scores from girls were slightly higher. Discriminant validity could be confirmed: Total scores did correlate neither with intelligence, nor with gender, fine motor skill, educational, or socio-economic status of the parents. The German TCT-DP respectively revealed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's a = 0.69-0.73). For the first time, cumulative percentages for 3-year-olds are provided as a kind of preliminary age norm. The German TCT-DP proved to be applicable in 3-year-old children with migrant background, albeit not all content-related criteria can be interpreted. Its psychometric properties support its use for research rather than for clinical purposes.

Cognitive ability and spelling predictors of written expression were examined between gender groups as well as across age and writing skill levels using quantile regression with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children--Second Edition and the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement--Second Edition conormed standardization sample data (N = 2,117). Quantile regression is an analytic tool that allows for examination of predictors at different levels of the achievement distribution. Spelling predicted differing levels of writing competency for both genders. For girls, retrieval fluency and crystallized ability predicted lower and higher levels of writing competency, respectively. From a bifactor model interpretation, general intelligence was the largest and most consistent predictor of writing competency. Using a higher order model interpretation, learning efficiency predicted lower to average writing competency for girls, whereas for boys, visual processing predicted all levels of writing competency, and retrieval fluency predicted average to higher levels of writing competency. Although results are preliminary, researchers and practitioners are encouraged to consider that predictors of writing competency may differ markedly in strength across the continuum of writing achievement.

Within the school psychology literature, it is frequently asserted that deficits in cognitive processing are a defining characteristic of children with academic dysfunction, and establishing links between relevant cognitive and academic weaknesses is a core pillar of patterns of strengths and weaknesses assessment models. Accordingly, the present study employed diagnostic utility statistics to determine whether the presence of a significant cognitive weakness accurately distinguishes between participants with and without academic weaknesses ages 7 years 0 months to 18 years 11 months in the linked Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children--Second Edition (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004a) and Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement--Second Edition (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004b) normative sample. Sensitivity and positive predictive values for the CHC-related broad abilities ranged from low to moderate, indicating that a cognitive weakness may not be robust a rule-in indicator for the presence of an academic weakness. Conversely, specificity and negative predictive values were consistently high, indicating that, absent a cognitive weakness, it is unlikely that an individual will present with an academic weakness. Potential implications for clinical assessment are discussed.

Objectives: The aim of the study is to help identify the nature of impaired executive functioning (EF) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is also argued that participant sampling by age alone should inform experimental research on EF, as selection through IQ matching may weaken any experimental effects. Methods: Sixteen children with ASD across a wide range of Nonverbal IQ (NVIQ) and 16 neurotypical control children matched on age alone were given two different types of computerized sequencing game. Both required top-down organization, but in one case the sequence had to be self-generated while in the second it had to be learned and strictly followed. Measures of learning success in relation to NVIQ, and information processing demands were made. Results: Children with ASD were significantly impaired on the first task only, especially when the processing demands were increased. The effects were particularly pronounced for children with below average NVIQ. Conclusions: The study indicates a selective problem with self-organized sequencing in ASD with implications for certain real world contexts, but also points to a need for more inclusive sampling of children in order to fully expose specific executive impairments in autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Ethnic educational inequality is present in almost all Western societies. One possible explanation for the persisting disadvantages of children from immigrant family backgrounds is discrimination. Individual ethnic discrimination has been reported in the form of ethnic bias in school teachers' evaluations and recommendations. Children of immigrant families tend to be disadvantaged with regard to both school teachers' evaluations of their competencies as well as to recommendations of further steps in their educational career. Purpose: The aim of this research paper is to analyse whether ethnic bias is also present at earlier stages of the educational career, in kindergarten teachers' recommendations. The study, conducted in Germany, investigated (a) whether kindergartens' recommendations of school entry (early, regular or delayed school entry) differed with respect to whether the child had a Turkish migration background or was a child of German origin and (b) whether these potential differences can be explained by children's individual skill levels and family background characteristics. Design, sample and methods: The research was carried out from a quantitative secondary analysis, using data from the longitudinal project "Preschool education and educational careers among migrant children", conducted in Germany since 2006. The sample consists of 742 children, with around half of the sample being children of Turkish origin and half being children of German origin, and their parents. Parents were interviewed and children's individual skills were tested using standardised instruments from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. The effect of Turkish origin on kindergarten teachers' school entry recommendations is analysed, controlling for children's social background, individual skills (non-verbal cognition, German language, mathematics) and children's social behaviour, using a stepwise multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results: The analysis indicated that, although kindergarten teachers' school entry recommendations differed according to a child's ethnic background, there was no ethnic bias evident. Children of Turkish origin were significantly less frequently recommended for early school entry than children of German origin and significantly more often for delayed school entry, but these differences vanished when the parents' educational level was controlled and disappeared when children's individual skills and social behaviour were additionally considered in the model. Conclusions: We conclude that, in the sample studied, there was no ethnic bias in kindergarten teachers' school entry recommendations. The disadvantage of children of Turkish origin as compared to the children of German origin can be fully explained by differences in parental educational level and children's individual skills and social behaviour. The remaining effect of social background, however, should be studied further to clarify whether this effect captures other characteristics such as unobserved skills of the children and differences in parental engagement.

This article is an overview of identification of intellectual disabilities (ID), with a focus on meeting legal and ethical requirements when assessing children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and those living in poverty. Specific procedures and recommended instruments will be reviewed.

Peer support arrangements are an evidence-based practice for increasing interactions between students with severe disabilities and their peers in general education classrooms, but it is unclear how interactions vary across instructional formats or generalize outside the classroom. In this single-case design study, we tested the efficacy of peer support arrangements with three middle school students with severe disabilities, and focused on variability across instructional formats and generalization to the cafeteria and recess yard. We replicated previous findings of increased interactions and extended the literature by demonstrating positive effects across instructional formats with the largest gains during small group instruction and independent work time. We found no evidence of generalization; interactions only increased in nonclassroom settings after we directly targeted those settings. We recommend educators to implement peer support arrangements in general education classrooms, increase opportunities for small group instruction when appropriate, and purposefully target social interactions across settings.

The present study examined the factor structure of the Luria interpretive model for the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (KABC-II) with normative sample participants aged 7-18 (N = 2,025) using confirmatory factor analysis with maximum-likelihood estimation. For the eight subtest Luria configuration, an alternative higher-order model with Pattern Reasoning being permitted to cross-load on the Planning and Simultaneous Processing factors provided the best fit to the normative sample data. Variance apportionment suggests that additional consideration, beyond the omnibus Mental Processing Index, of the contribution of the first-order factor-based scores (i.e., SQ, SM, P, and L), and in some cases the individual subtests themselves, may be warranted. Implications for clinical interpretation and the anticipated normative update of the measurement instrument are discussed.

The conceptualization of giftedness continues to be a widely debated topic within the field. Recently, there has been a shift from a psychometric view of giftedness to inclusion of conative and contextual factors. How one defines and conceptualizes "gifted" drives assessment and identification practices. Conceptualization also guides the development of measures used in gifted assessment; however, the perceptions of giftedness held by test authors have not yet been explored empirically. The aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of giftedness held by authors of the leading tests in gifted assessment. Test authors provided their views on topics, including gifted identification, use of cutoff scores, and how their tests serve the needs of this unique population. Findings indicate that there are varying opinions and views of giftedness, although most test authors in the sample embrace a multi-dimensional approach to gifted assessment. This article includes a discussion of clinical implications and future directions.

The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model is a comprehensive model of the major dimensions of individual differences that underlie performance on cognitive tests. Studies evaluating the generality of the CHC model across test batteries, age, gender, and culture were reviewed and found to be overwhelmingly supportive. However, less research is available to evaluate the CHC model for clinical assessment. The CHC model was shown to provide good to excellent fit in nine high-quality data sets involving popular neuropsychological tests, across a range of clinically relevant populations. Executive function tests were found to be well represented by the CHC constructs, and a discrete executive function factor was found not to be necessary. The CHC model could not be simplified without significant loss of fit. The CHC model was supported as a paradigm for cognitive assessment, across both healthy and clinical populations and across both nonclinical and neuropsychological tests. The results have important implications for theoretical modeling of cognitive abilities, providing further evidence for the value of the CHC model as a basis for a common taxonomy across test batteries and across areas of assessment.