Late-Talking Toddlers: MLU and IPSyn Outcomes at 3;0 and 4;0

Expressive language outcomes measured by MLU and the Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn) at ages 3;0 and 4;0 were investigated in 34 late talkers with normal receptive language identified between 2;0 to 2;7 and 16 typically developing comparison children matched on age, SES, and nonverbal ability. Late talkers made greater gains than comparison children between 3;0 and 4;0 in both MLU and IPSyn raw score. However, when age-standardized x-scores were analysed, the late talkers were about 2.5 Standard deviations below comparison children on both measures at both ages. At 3;0, 41 % of the late talkers had MLUs above the 10th percentile based on Scarborough\u27s (1990) benchmark sample; by 4;0, 71 % did so. Using the IPSyn, a more stringent measure, 34% scored above the 10th percentile at 3;0 and only 29 % did so at 4;0. MLU was significantly correlated with the IPSyn at both ages for the late talkers, but only at 3;0 for the comparison children. A converging set of regression analyses indicated no group differences in the predictive relationship between MLU and IPSyn, suggesting that the late talkers were delayed on both measures but not deviant in their development

Late-Talking Toddlers: MLU and IPSyn Outcomes at 3;0 and 4;0

Expressive language outcomes measured by MLU and the Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn) at ages 3;0 and 4;0 were investigated in 34 late talkers with normal receptive language identified between 2;0 to 2;7 and 16 typically developing comparison children matched on age, SES, and nonverbal ability. Late talkers made greater gains than comparison children between 3;0 and 4;0 in both MLU and IPSyn raw score. However, when age-standardized x-scores were analysed, the late talkers were about 2.5 Standard deviations below comparison children on both measures at both ages. At 3;0, 41 % of the late talkers had MLUs above the 10th percentile based on Scarborough\u27s (1990) benchmark sample; by 4;0, 71 % did so. Using the IPSyn, a more stringent measure, 34% scored above the 10th percentile at 3;0 and only 29 % did so at 4;0. MLU was significantly correlated with the IPSyn at both ages for the late talkers, but only at 3;0 for the comparison children. A converging set of regression analyses indicated no group differences in the predictive relationship between MLU and IPSyn, suggesting that the late talkers were delayed on both measures but not deviant in their development

Estland i sommersol

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b1736232~S1*es

Academic, Social and Self-Advocacy Goals for College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

We present two studies that examine the needs of college students with ASD from the student perspective. First we report on the types of self-determined goals students with ASD create, alongside peer mentors, to help them reach social, academic and self-advocacy goals. Our focus here is to determine if there is close a correspondence between students\u27 perceived needs, and needs as determined by standardized measures and the perceptions of the peer mentors. In addition we will present real life narratives from students with ASD about their social experiences and successes in college and their choices around the issue of self-disclosure/self-advocacy

Character strengths in organizations

Character refers to qualities within individuals that lead them to desire and to pursue the good. We propose that strengths of character are a neglected but critically important resource for organizations. Character matters because it leads people to do the right thing, and the right thing can be productive and profitable. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55841/1/398_ftp.pd

Are virtues national, supranational, or universal?

Many studies investigated cultural differences in values, most notably by Hofstede and Schwarz. Relatively few have focused on virtues, a related and important concept in contemporary social science. The present paper examines the similarities and differences between nations, or blocks of - culturally related - nations on the perceived importance of virtues. Adults (N = 2.809 students) from 14 countries were asked to freely mention which virtues they found important to practice in daily life, and next to rate a list of 15 virtues, which reflect the most frequently mentioned categories in The Netherlands, as found in a previous study. The 14 nations included the United States, Mexico, nine European and three Asian nations. For the free-listed virtues, we compared the top-ten lists of most frequently mentioned virtues across the nations. We used a correspondence analysis on the frequency table to assess the relationships between the virtues and nations. For the 15 virtues ratings, a MANOVA, and follow-up ANOVA’s were used to examine effects of nation, age, gender and religion. We found strong evidence for relationships between nations and blocks of culturally related nations and the importance attached to various virtues. There appear to be some country specific virtues, such as generosity in France, but also some relatively universal virtues, most notably honesty, respect, and kindness

Co-occurrence Patterns of Character Strengths and Measured Core Virtues in German-Speaking Adults

No embargo required.The VIA Classification on character strengths and virtues suggests 24 character strengths clustered into six core virtues (wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence). Three recent studies employed different methods for testing the assignment of character strengths to virtues (e.g., expert and layperson ratings), and generally supported the VIA classification. However, the co-occurrence of character strengths and virtues within individuals has not been examined yet. Another untested assumption is that an individual’s composition of character strengths is related to being considered of “good character.” Thus, the present study addresses three research questions: (1) How do character strengths and measured virtues co-occur within individuals? (2.1) How does the number of character strengths an individual possesses within a virtue cluster relate to their level of the respective virtue? (2.2) How does the composition of an individual’s character strengths relate to being considered of “good character”? We combined data from different studies to obtain a sample of N = 1,241 participants (n = 897 self-raters, n = 344 informant-raters, 70.1% female) aged 18 to 92 years (M = 30.64). All participants completed assessments of character strengths and virtues. Regarding (1), we found a high convergence of the correlations between strengths and virtues and the VIA Classification: 22 out of 24 character strengths correlated with the assigned virtue (exceptions were hope, which correlated highest with courage, and humor, which correlated highest with humanity). Also, 15 character strengths showed the numerically highest correlation with their assigned virtue. Regarding (2.1), overall, we found a linear trend between the number of strengths within one cluster and the virtue level. Regarding (2.2), we found higher levels of reported “good character” in those who possessed either (a) at least one character strength in each virtue cluster or (b) all character strengths in at least one virtue compared to those who did not. The present results contribute to the discussion regarding the structure of character: individuals’ character strengths relate to differences in virtues, across different measures and data sources. Relationships were mostly as expected, and deviations were consistent with results obtained using other approaches.</jats:p

Defining Contemplative Science : The Metacognitive Self-Regulatory Capacity of the Mind, Context of Meditation Practice and Modes of Existential Awareness

The term 'contemplative' is now frequently used in the fast growing field of meditation research. Yet, there is no consensus regarding the definition of contemplative science. Meditation studies commonly imply that contemplative practices such as mindfulness or compassion are the subject of contemplative science. Such approach, arguably, contributes to terminological confusions in the field, is not conducive to the development of an overarching theory in contemplative science, and overshadows its unique methodological features. This paper outlines an alternative approach to defining contemplative science which aims to focus the research on the core capacities, processes and states of the mind modified by contemplative practices. It is proposed that contemplative science is an interdisciplinary study of the metacognitive self-regulatory capacity (MSRC) of the mind and associated modes of existential awareness (MEA) modulated by motivational/intentional and contextual factors of contemplative practices. The MSRC is a natural propensity of the mind which enables introspective awareness of mental processes and behavior, and is a necessary pre-requisite for effective self-regulation supporting well-being. Depending on the motivational/intentional and contextual factors of meditation practice, changes in the metacognitive self-regulatory processes enable shifts in MEA which determine our sense of self and reality. It is hypothesized that changes in conceptual processing are essential mediators between the MSRC, motivational/intentional factors, context of meditation practice, and the modulations in MEA. Meditation training fosters and fine-tunes the MSRC of the mind and supports development of motivational/intentional factors with the ultimate aim of facilitating increasingly advanced MEA. Implications of the proposed framework for definitions of mindfulness and for future systematic research across contemplative traditions and practices are discussed. It is suggested that the proposed definition of contemplative science may reduce terminological challenges in the field and make it more inclusive of varied contemplative practices. Importantly, this approach may encourage development of a more comprehensive contemplative science theory recognizing the essential importance of first- and second-person methods to its inquiry, thus uniquely contributing to our understanding of the mind