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Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) tend to interpret noncanonical sentences like passives using event probability (EP) information regardless of structure (e.g., by interpreting "The dog was chased by the squirrel" as "The dog chased the squirrel"). Verbs are a major source of EP information in adults and children with typical development (TD), who know that "chase" implies an unequal relationship among participants. Individuals with DLD have poor verb knowledge and verb-based sentence processing. Yet, they also appear to rely more on EP information than their peers. This paradox raises two questions: (a) How do children with DLD use verb-based EP information alongside other information in online passive sentence interpretation? (b) How does verb vocabulary knowledge support EP information use? Method: We created novel EP biases by showing animations of agents with consistent action tendencies (e.g., clumsy vs. helpful actions). We then used eye tracking to examine how this EP information was used during online passive sentence processing. Participants were 4- to 5-year-old children with DLD (n = 20) and same-age peers with TD (n = 20). Results: In Experiment 1, children with DLD quickly integrated verb-based EP information with morphosyntax close to the verb but failed to do so with distant morphosyntax. In Experiment 2, the quality of children's sentence-specific verb vocabulary knowledge was positively associated with the use of EP information in both groups. Conclusion: Depending on the morphosyntactic context, children with DLD and TD used EP information differently, but verb vocabulary knowledge aided its use.

Introduction: This study investigated the possible existence of differences in several domains or traits of the general construct of emotional intelligence between highly able children and their normotypically developing peers. Method: A group of children with high abilities and a group of children with average intellectual development completed at two different times an emotional quotient assessment scale EQ-i:YV. BarOn Emotional Intelligence Inventory: youth version. The total sample consisted of 187 Spanish minors, aged between 8 and 17 years. Of these, 118 participants belonged to the high ability group, 38 females and 80 males, with a mean age of 11.2 years. The normotypical development group consisted of 69 participants, of whom 23 were female and 46 were male, with an average age of 11.7 years. Results: On the one hand, it was found that children with high abilities had higher scores than their peers in the Adaptability subscale, and at the same time showed lower scores in Intrapersonal Intelligence and Mood. No differences were found in either Stress Management or Interpersonal Intelligence. Importantly, when the results were analysed from a general perspective without delving into each trait, the polarity of these differences (some being positive and others negative) cancelled out the overall appearance of differences, giving rise to the erroneous consideration of the absence of differences between groups. Discussion or Conclusion: These findings provide great value for breaking myths about high abilities and for guiding educational practice towards the development of useful educational and social programmes for the affective development of the population with high abilities, taking into account emotional strengths and weaknesses.

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.

People with intellectual disability (ID) generally tend to have difficulties expressing their thoughts and feelings verbally. Art-based therapies rely less on cognitive ability and verbal skills and aim to promote mental health. Drama therapy provides a playful framework to communicate problematic issues and to foster social skills. Improvisational theatre (improv) methods applied in therapy settings were reported to show positive effects on social competences and self-esteem. This pilot study investigates the feasibility (N = 24) and appropriateness (n = 12) of an intervention using improv methods in people with mild to moderate ID. Feasibility was measured on the basis of the average participation period, while appropriateness was assessed through a standardised patient satisfaction questionnaire (CSQ-8) and a self-developed questionnaire. The frequency of the applied methods was compared in two subgroups with participants requiring different support. The average participation rate of 19 months indicated a good feasibility. High CSQ-8 scores (M = 27.6/max. 32) and positive feedback on the self-developed questionnaire indicated the overall appropriateness. The frequency analysis of the applied methods reflected the adaptive nature of the intervention. Further research on the efficacy of improv methods contributing to mental health in people with ID is recommended.

Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have well-documented verb learning difficulties. In this study, we asked whether the inclusion of retrieval practice during the learning period would facilitate these children's verb learning relative to a similar procedure that provided no retrieval opportunities. Method: Eleven children with DLD (M[subscript age] = 60.09 months) and 12 children with typical language development (TD; M[subscript age] = 59.92 months) learned four novel verbs in a repeated spaced retrieval (RSR) condition and four novel verbs in a repeated study (RS) condition. The words in the two conditions were heard an equal number of times, in the context of video-recorded actors performing novel actions. Results: Recall testing immediately after the learning period and 1 week later revealed greater recall for novel verbs in the RSR condition than for novel verbs in the RS condition. This was true for both groups, and for immediate as well as 1-week testing. The RSR advantage remained when children had to recall the novel verbs while watching new actors perform the novel actions. However, when tested in contexts requiring the children to inflect the novel verbs with "--ing" for the first time, the children with DLD were much less likely to do so than their peers with TD. Even words in the RSR condition were only inconsistently inflected. Conclusions: Retrieval practice provides benefits to verb learning--an important finding given the challenges that verbs present to children with DLD. However, these benefits do not appear to automatically translate to the process of adding inflections to newly learned verbs but rather appear to be limited to the operations of learning the verbs' phonetic forms and mapping these forms onto associated actions.

Research has indicated that school aged (6-16 years) versions of cognitive assessment instruments have varying levels of linguistic demand, which could impact assessment results for placement purposes. However, a significant limitation to this research is the fact that it has not been replicated with cognitive assessment instruments used in preschool populations. As such, the purpose of this study is to address this gap in the research literature by examining linguistic demands of cognitive test batteries used for preschool aged children. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II), Woodcock Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities Fourth Edition (WJ Cog-IV), and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Fourth Edition were used for this examination. Overall results demonstrated that the oral directions of preschool assessments have relatively low linguistic demands. However, several subtests on WJ Cog-IV have high Complexity, Verbosity, and Total Demand indices, which can pose difficulty for students with limited word knowledge. Furthermore, the KABC-II was the least demanding assessment from a linguistic standpoint. Implications are discussed in terms of the assessment of early childhood populations.

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.

Social participation of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in natural environments can be enhanced by teaching them to communicate spontaneously, at least in situations where they have the motivation to access specific items or activities by controlling the amount of access for these stimuli. The purpose of this study was to determine if mand training, using a stimulus control transfer procedure would promote acquisition and generalization of mands for specific activities or objects evoked by motivating operations. Measurement variables included the frequency of motivation controlled (MO) versus multiply controlled mands during discrete trial training on a variety of verbal operants. Using a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants, visual analysis indicated that MO mands for out-of-view items increased substantially with generalization across targets, staff, and environments for three of the four participants. One participant did not respond to intervention to the same extent as others.

Purpose: Oral narrative, or storytelling, skills may constitute a linguistic strength for African American children, with implications for academic and social well-being. Despite this possibility, few studies have examined individual differences in oral narrative skill among African American children. To address this gap in the literature, this study examined how children's linguistic and cognitive skills predicted their competence in structuring oral stories, both on average and for children with different levels of narrative skill. Method: Fictional oral narratives were elicited from a sample of 144 typically developing African American children, aged 4-8 years, using a wordless picture book as the stimulus. The effects of children's vocabulary, complex syntax, and nonverbal cognitive skills on macrostructural performance were assessed using linear regression to test average effects and simultaneous quantile regression to test effects across different levels of narrative skill. Results: Children's competence in using complex syntax and nonverbal cognition, but not vocabulary, was predictive of narrative production, on average and as a function of narrative skill. Syntactic complexity appeared increasingly more relevant as children's narrative skill increased, whereas nonverbal cognition emerged as the most important for children at the lower to moderate ends of the narrative skill distribution. Conclusions: Both linguistic and cognitive skills help explain individual differences in African American children's macrostructural competence. Promoting children's development of complex syntax and nonverbal reasoning may provide potential mechanisms for supporting oral narrative skill development.

The effects of learning to sing with and without Curwen hand signs on singing accuracy in kindergarten-age children were compared. Participants comprised an experimental group (Curwen signs) and a control group (without signs), each containing 33 children aged 5 to 6 years. All participants took 30 music lessons centered on learning songs. The experimental group learned songs using Curwen signs and the control group learned the same songs without signs. Before and after instruction, all participants were tested on singing accuracy and melodic perception. Short-term memory was assessed to ensure between-group equivalence. Complementary data were gathered from a parent-completed questionnaire on the home music environment. Results showed significantly improved singing accuracy and melodic perception from pretest to post-test for all participants. However, no significant difference in singing accuracy was found between the Curwen group compared with controls, or between boys and girls. In addition, the home music environment appeared to foster melodic perception, more specifically, recognition of a four-note melody, but with no significant effect on singing accuracy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use an established model of working memory in children to predict an established model of word learning to determine whether working memory explained word learning variance over and above the contributions of expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ. Method: One hundred sixty-seven English-speaking second graders (7- to 8-year-olds) with typical development from two states participated. They completed a comprehensive battery of working memory assessments and six word learning tasks that assessed the creation, storage, retrieval, and production of phonological and semantic representations of novel nouns and verbs and the ability to link those representations. Results: A structural equation model with expressive vocabulary, nonverbal IQ, and three working memory factors predicting two word learning factors fit the data well. When working memory factors were entered as predictors after expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ, they explained 45% of the variance in the phonological word learning factor and 17% of the variance in the semantic word learning factor. Thus, working memory explained a significant amount of word learning variance over and above expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ. Conclusion: Results show that working memory is a significant predictor of dynamic word learning over and above the contributions of expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ, suggesting that a comprehensive working memory assessment has the potential to identify sources of word learning difficulties and to tailor word learning interventions to a child's working memory strengths and weaknesses.

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.

Background and Aims: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) benefit from word learning procedures that include a mix of immediate retrieval and spaced retrieval trials. In this study, we examine the relative contribution of these two types of retrieval. Methods: We examine data from Haebig et al. (2019) in their study that compared an immediate retrieval condition and a condition of spaced retrieval that also included immediate retrieval trials. Participants were 4- and 5-year old children with DLD and same-age peers with typical language development. Each child learned novel (made-up) words referring to unusual plants and animals in both conditions. We examined the phonetic accuracy of the novel words used during the final learning trial and during recall tests 5 min and 1 week after learning. Results: On the final learning trial, the children were more phonetically accurate in using the novel words learned in the immediate retrieval condition. However, recall tests after the learning trials revealed a decrease in accuracy, especially for the children with DLD. After one week, accuracy was much lower for words in the immediate retrieval condition than for words in the mixed spaced-plus-immediate retrieval condition. For words learned in the mixed spaced-plus-immediate retrieval condition, accuracy was very stable across time for both groups. Conclusions: Immediate retrieval boosts the phonetic accuracy of new words in the short term but spaced retrieval promotes stability and increases the likelihood that short-term gains are maintained. Implications: When novel word learning is assessed at the level of phonetic accuracy, children with DLD can show declines over time not characteristic of children with typical language development. Spaced retrieval procedures augmented by immediate retrieval opportunities during learning appear to prevent such declines, leading to longer-lasting gains.

The purpose of the present study was to clarify comprehensively how and to what extent inhibition, spatial working memory (WM), and auditory WM influence agility, balance, and dexterity of motor coordination and comprehensive physical ability in kindergarteners. Participants were 43 children between the ages of 4 and 5 years old. The children performed executive function (inhibition and WM) and motor coordination tasks, and a teacher evaluated their comprehensive physical abilities. Results showed that spatial WM was significantly related to auditory WM, executive functions were significantly related to agility, and agility was significantly related to comprehensive physical ability. Furthermore, using structural equation modelling, we investigated whether executive functions influenced comprehensive physical ability via motor coordination. Results showed a significant correlation between spatial WM and auditory WM. Executive functions, including inhibition, spatial WM, and auditory WM, predicted comprehensive physical ability via agility of motor coordination in the kindergarteners.

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.

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a multicomponent peer-mediated intervention (PMI) on teaching adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) how to show interest in peer conversation partners by asking partner-focused questions about the person, their interests, or their experiences and by making partner-focused comments that positively affirm peer statements or express concern. Method: A multiple-baseline design across three verbally fluent high school students with ASD was used to assess the effects of the PMI, which involved training peers (n = 10) to support conversation and the students' use of target skills, and training the students to use partner-focused skills with the aid of a self-reflection cue sheet during conversation with trained peers in a high school cafeteria. Ten-minute samples of student--peer conversations were transcribed and analyzed. Generalization with untrained peers was assessed. Results: The PMI was highly effective in increasing all students' use of partner-focused skills. Gains were maintained by two students in a return-to-baseline condition. Generalization was evident for all students with varied results. Peers and students with ASD perceived the intervention to be beneficial. Conclusions: This study adds to the limited research showing that PMI can be used in high school settings to improve target conversational skills and provides preliminary evidence that PMI can successfully address an underresearched pragmatic language difficulty (i.e., introducing and maintaining topics of conversation of relevance and interest to conversation partners) common among adolescents with ASD. These findings invite replication to extend generality and assess the impact of the intervention on peer relationships.

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.

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.

Purpose: Recent behavioral studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of implementing retrieval practice into learning tasks for children. Such approaches have revealed that repeated spaced retrieval (RSR) is particularly effective in promoting children's learning of word form and meaning information. This study further examines how retrieval practice enhances learning of word meaning information at the behavioral and neural levels. Method: Twenty typically developing preschool children were taught novel words using an RSR learning schedule for some words and an immediate retrieval (IR) learning schedule for other words. In addition to the label, children were taught two arbitrary semantic features for each item. Following the teaching phase, children's learning was tested using recall tests. In addition, during the 1-week follow-up, children were presented with pictures and an auditory sentence that correctly labeled the item but stated correct or incorrect semantic information. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were time locked to the onset of the words noting the semantic feature. Children provided verbal judgments of whether the semantic feature was correctly paired with the item. Results: Children recalled more labels and semantic features for items that had been taught in the RSR learning schedule relative to the IR learning schedule. ERPs also differentiated the learning schedules. Mismatching label--meaning pairings elicited an N400 and late positive component (LPC) for both learning conditions; however, mismatching RSR pairs elicited an N400 with an earlier onset and an LPC with a longer duration, relative to IR mismatching label--meaning pairings. These ERP timing differences indicated that the children were more efficient in processing words that were taught in the RSR schedule relative to the IR learning schedule. Conclusions: Spaced retrieval practice promotes learning of both word form and meaning information. The findings lay the necessary groundwork for better understanding of processing newly learned semantic information in preschool children.

Purpose: This study investigated the auditory comprehension of Japanese sentences including relative clauses (RCs) by 52 Japanese-speaking children with typical development (TD) and 16 children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method: A picture-pointing task measured RC and main clause (MC) comprehension for object and subject relatives in sentences with varying lengths. The accuracy of RC only, MC only, and combined comprehension (RC and MC) was analyzed with linear mixed-effects (logistic) models to examine accuracy and the effects of the deep gap-filler distance (structural complexity), the surface linear distance, and sentence length for the two participant groups. Six language tests and two working memory tests were administered to determine language and working memory status. A factor analysis grouped them into two factors that were examined as predictors of comprehension performance. Results: Initial models indicated that children with SLI performed more poorly than their peers with TD. Working memory abilities predicted the comprehension of subject and object relative sentences, but language abilities other than a general measure of sentence comprehension were only limited predictors. In a series of pairwise comparisons, children with SLI did not exhibit comprehension facilitation for RC sentences with lower structural complexity, nor did they exhibit comprehension facilitation when the linear distance between the gap and the filler was shorter, perhaps because of their overall lower performance. Children with TD made more errors on sentences with higher structural complexity but did not exhibit any linear distance effects. Neither group exhibited effects of noun phrase or sentence length. Conclusions: Japanese-speaking children with TD exhibited negative comprehension effects of increased deep structure complexity, but not of linear surface distance or sentence noun phrase length. The children with SLI face challenges in comprehending both subject and object relative sentences compared to their typically developing peers. Their poorer working memory abilities are the primary factor that constrains their performance.

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.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to examine online and off-line sentence processing using Korean language relative clause sentences between children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with typical development (TD). Method: Twenty-four children with TD and 19 children with SLI participated in this study. Children completed online and off-line sentence-processing tasks using relative clause sentences. The response time (RT) data obtained from the online processing task were analyzed at each word position and between adjacent words for items answered both correctly and incorrectly on the off-line comprehension task. A linear mixed-effects model and a generalized linear mixed effects model were used to analyze the performances on the online/off-line sentence-processing task between the two groups. Results: The results revealed that the processing pattern of RTs on the online processing task differed between the two groups, such that the SLI group did not show the predicted RT increase while the TD group did. Also, the SLI group processed each word with comparable or faster reading rates than the TD group. On the off-line comprehension task, the SLI group performed poorly compared to the TD group. Conclusions: Processing of syntactically complex sentences differed between the TD and SLI groups, such that the SLI group had lower accuracy on the off-line comprehension task and was less efficient on the online processing task as compared to the TD group. These results mainly support the syntactic deficit account in children with SLI.

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.

Students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are being educated in general education content classrooms that use lessons directed to whole groups of students which limit use of visually presented material. For some students with ASD, having limited visual support hinders their abilities to process and comprehend material. Research shows promising results associated with the use of a graphic organizer to increase comprehension accuracy. The purpose of this study was to document the relationship between using a graphic organizer and increasing reading comprehension for students with ASD. The study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline design across participants to evaluate whether the use of a graphic organizer impacted the accuracy of answering "wh"-questions for grade-level social studies content. Participants included four eighth-grade students with ASD in an urban public school. Results supported current research by showing an increase in comprehension skills with the use of a graphic organizer.

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.

Purpose: In this article, we review the role of retrieval practice on the word learning and retention of children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Following a brief review of earlier findings on word learning in children with SLI and the assumptions behind retrieval practice, four experiments are described that compared novel words learned in a repeated spaced retrieval condition and those learned in either a repeated study condition or a repeated immediate retrieval condition. Preschool-age children with SLI and their same-age peers with typical language development were the participants in all experiments. The effects of repeated spaced retrieval were assessed through measures of recall of word form and meaning and, receptively, through both picture-pointing and electrophysiological measures. Results: Repeated spaced retrieval resulted in greater recall of word form and meaning across the experiments. This advantage was seen not only for word-picture pairs used during the learning period but also when generalization of the word to new pictures was required. Receptive testing through picture pointing showed similar results, though in some experiments, ceiling effects rendered this measure less sensitive to differences. An alternative receptive measure--the N400 elicited during picture-word mismatches--showed evidence at the neural level favoring repeated spaced retrieval. The advantages of repeated spaced retrieval were seen in both children with SLI and their typically developing age mates. Conclusion: Future efforts are warranted to refine and extend the experiments reviewed here. If these efforts prove successful, procedures that incorporate repeated spaced retrieval into more naturalistic clinical and educational activities might be an appropriate next step.

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.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between executive functioning and word learning among preschoolers with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). Method: Forty-one preschool-age children with DLD were matched to typically developing children on age and sex. Participants were exposed to 10 novel pseudowords, half of which referred to familiar objects and half of which referred to unfamiliar objects. Their ability to produce, recognize, and comprehend the novel words was tested, and they completed executive function tasks measuring sustained selective attention, short-term memory, working memory, inhibition, and shifting. Results: Preschoolers with DLD performed worse compared to typically developing peers on all measures of executive function and novel word learning. Both groups showed a relative weakness in producing pseudowords that corresponded with familiar objects versus pseudowords for unknown objects. Executive function accounted for statistically significant variance in word learning beyond group membership, with inhibition as a significant predictor of all word learning outcomes and short-term memory as a significant predictor of novel word comprehension. Executive function explained significant variance in novel word production and recognition even after accounting for variance explained by group differences in IQ and receptive vocabulary. Conclusion: Findings replicate previous research reporting deficits in word learning and executive function in children with DLD, indicate that preschoolers are disadvantaged in learning new words for familiar objects, and support a relationship between executive function and word learning for children with and without DLD. Future research should examine the directionality of the relationship between these variables.

Perinatal HIV infection is associated with delayed neurocognitive development, but less is known about children perinatally HIV-exposed but uninfected (CHEU). We compared cognitive and language outcomes in 4-6-year old CHEU versus children HIV-unexposed and uninfected (CHUU) and children living with HIV (CLHIV). We enrolled 1,581 children (77% of the child population) in five communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Children completed: Grover-Counter Scale of cognitive development, sub-scales of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Reynell Developmental Language Scales. HIV status of children and primary caregivers was determined by repeated rapid tests or report of prior testing. We conducted a cross-sectional multivariable linear regression on 922 dyads with complete data (257 CHEU, 627 CHUU, 38 CLHIV). On all outcome measures, CHEU and CHUU groups had comparable scores; CLHIV scored significantly lower. Emerging global progress toward the elimination of vertical HIV transmission may not only reduce mortality, but also positively impact child development.

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.

Labels for scores stemming from intelligence tests have been employed since their inception in the United States. The purpose of this study was to systematically identify and document score labels for IQs used during the past 102 years. Using pairs of reviewers, score labels from 40 tests were reviewed, and 61 unique labels were identified. Comparative analyses by score range and decade were completed. Results indicate a paradigm shift beginning in the 1980s that has slowly resulted in more common, but not universal, use of terminology that focuses on the statistical aspect of scores, rather than employing value-laden and potentially stigmatizing terms. A universal score label system would help to avoid confusion, miscommunication, and biased decision making.

This study evaluated the effects of progressive time delay (PTD) to teach four elementary students with intellectual disability on how to self-instruct using a video activity schedule. A single-case multiple probe across participants design with a multiple probe across environments design for each participant was used to assess the generalization of the self-instruction behavior to novel environments. All participants acquired the self-instruction behavior in their target environments. One participant generalized this behavior to a novel environment by the completion of the study, and the other three participants required introduction of the independent variable (PTD) to master acquisition in the two generalization environments. Implications for practitioners and suggestions for effective programming of generalization in future research are discussed.

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.