Influence of Structural Disturbance on Stream Function and Macroinvertebrate Communities in Upper Coastal Plain Headwater Streams

Freshwater is a resource under threat due to anthropogenic actions. Stream restoration is a common method for mitigating disturbance. Inconsistent methodologies used for evaluating restorations have drawn criticism. Limited use of baseline data for guiding stream restoration activities is of particular concern. This study was developed to elucidate metrics that differentiate reference and disturbed sites in Upper Coastal Plain streams. This information could improve resource use and successes of restorations. Structural and functional variables were examined in 10 reference and 10 streams that meet the traditional definition of disturbance and would be restoration priorities. Disturbed streams were classified into two regimes, temporal, based on time since disturbance, and categorical, based on disturbance cause. Some metrics of geomorphology, water chemistry and macroinvertebrates differentiated reference from disturbed regimes and while other metrics separated streams within disturbance regimes. Surprisingly, leaf decay rate was not an effective metric for determining disturbance. However, macroinvertebrate leaf pack colonizers were found to be useful for differentiating reference sites and disturbance regimes. Of the 10 disturbed streams this study examined, my data suggests that only three are in immediate need of restoration. This study emphasizes the importance of baseline data and its potential benefits for guiding stream restoration

Test-based age-of-acquisition norms for 44 thousand English word meanings

Age of acquisition (AoA) is an important variable in word recognition research. Up to now, nearly all psychology researchers examining the AoA effect have used ratings obtained from adult participants. An alternative basis for determining AoA is directly testing children's knowledge of word meanings at various ages. In educational research, scholars and teachers have tried to establish the grade at which particular words should be taught by examining the ages at which children know various word meanings. Such a list is available from Dale and O'Rourke's (1981) Living Word Vocabulary for nearly 44 thousand meanings coming from over 31 thousand unique word forms and multiword expressions. The present article relates these test-based AoA estimates to lexical decision times as well as to AoA adult ratings, and reports strong correlations between all of the measures. Therefore, test-based estimates of AoA can be used as an alternative measure

Data_Sheet_1_Word meaning types acquired before vs. after age 5: implications for education.docx

This article concerns two types of word meanings: nonverbal meanings which appear to be associated with neurological representations and verbally-based meanings which appear to depend in part on other words to construct meanings. Using word use data from Hart and Risley’s study of children aged 19 to 36 months, and word meaning knowledge data from Biemiller and Slonim’s studies of children between aged 5 to 11, meanings were classified as nonverbal or verbally-based. Biemiller and Slonim used sampled word meanings reported known from grade levels 2 to 12 reported by Dale and O’Rourke in their Living Word Vocabulary. Virtually all meanings used at age 3 or known at age 5 (preschool) were classified nonverbal. By grade two, and even more by grade five, children had added many verbally-defined meanings, although by grade five the majority of the word meanings known were still nonverbal. Evidence for neurological meaning associates are cited. Implications for vocabulary support and instruction at various ages suggest that for children under 6, supporting larger nonverbal vocabularies while after age 6 should prioritize verbally-defined meanings.</p

A longitudinal study of the effects of the Bridge reading program for children at risk for reading failure

Abstract. The effectiveness of an experimental reading program, Bridge, was compared to &quot;Whole Language &quot; reading instruction in two schools in economically disadvantaged areas. The Bridge program uses icons or picture symbols to facili-tate print word identification. Children who were predicted to be at risk for reading difficulties comprised the Bridge (N = 42) and Whole Language (N = 64) samples. Predictions of at-risk reading status were made using a test of phonemic analysis skills (the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test), Denkla and Rudel&apos;s Rapid Letter Naming Test, and a test of syntactic awareness. The Bridge group performed significantly better on the WRAT Reading test than the Whole Language group at the end of grade 1 and grade 2. The Bridge program appears to be useful for children who are at risk for reading failure. There has been a growing agreement among reading researchers that a crucial step in learning to read consists of mastering the identification o