Memory differences between subtypes of disabled learners

Memory for verbal and nonverbal stimuli was evaluated in normally achieving children and two groups of disabled learners: (1) arithmetic disabled (A);and (2) reading-spelling-arithmetic disabled (R-S-A). Each child received a free-list verbal memory task consisting of twelve unrelated words (6 high imagery, 6 low imagery) and a free list nonverbal memory task consisting of organized dot patterns. Both of these tasks were administered using selective reminding procedures that permit the calculation of separate scores representing storage and retrieval memory processes. In addition, a visual recognition and reconstruction task consisting of an organized and unorganized scene was also administered. Each child was required to identify the objects viewed on a slide presented for 15 seconds. Following this they were instructed to place the correct objects in the same arrangement as that viewed in the slide. After administration of all the tasks (approximately 20 minutes) each child was asked to recall as many words as possible from the list after which, a multiple choice recognition task was administered. The results from the verbal selective reminding task revealed that the R- S-A children differed from the controls and A children on both retrieval and storage indices derived from the low imagery words. The R-S-A children also differed from the controls on the retrieval and storage indices derived from the high imagery words. [...]Psychology, Department o

Connections Community Structure in Multi-Mode Networks: Applying an Eigenspectrum Approach

We combine the logic of multi-mode networks developed in Fararo and Doreian (1984) with Newman’s (2006) spectral partitioning of graphs into communities. The resulting generalization of spectral partitioning provides a simple, elegant, and useful tool for discovering the community structure of multi-mode graphs. We apply the generalized procedure to a published three-mode network and find that the results of the algorithm are consistent with existing substantive knowledge. We also report the results of extensive simulations, which reveal that the generalization becomes more effective as the networks become denser

Precluding rare outcomes by predicting their absence

Forecasting extremely rare events is a pressing problem, but efforts to model such outcomes are often limited by the presence of multiple causes within classes of events, insufficient observations of the outcome to assess fit, and biased estimates due to insufficient observations of the outcome. We introduce a novel approach for analyzing rare event data that addresses these challenges by turning attention to the conditions under which rare outcomes do not occur. We detail how configurational methods can be used to identify conditions or sets of conditions that would preclude the occurrence of a rare outcome. Results from Monte Carlo experiments show that our approach can be used to systematically preclude up to 78.6% of observations, and application to ground-truth data coupled with a boot-strap inferential test illustrates how our approach can also yield novel substantive insights that are obscured by standard statistical analyses.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Neurocognition in early-onset schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders

OBJECTIVE: We examined the neuropsychological functioning of youth enrolled in the NIMH funded trial, Treatment of Early-Onset Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (TEOSS). We compared the baseline neuropsychological functioning of youth with schizophrenia (SZ, n = 79) to those with schizoaffective disorder (SA, n = 40), and examined the relationship of different variables of illness severity and adaptive behavior to neuropsychological functioning. METHOD: Participants ranged in age from 8 to 19 years. Diagnostic status was confirmed via structured interview over multiple time points. Domains of neuropsychological functioning included fine-motor, attention, working memory, problem-solving efficiency, inhibitory control, and social cognition. Other variables included intelligence (IQ), academic achievement skills, adaptive behavior, and different measures of illness severity. RESULTS: The two groups did not differ on IQ or on any of the neuropsychological domains. The SZ group performed significantly lower in spelling. A high proportion of individuals in both groups reflected significant intellectual and academic achievement skill deficits. Significant correlations were found between the neurocognitive domains and both illness severity and adaptive behavior variables. CONCLUSIONS: There were few differences between the SZ and SA groups on IQ, achievement, or neuropsychological functioning; however, both groups showed significantly high rates of deficits in IQ and basic academic skills. Correlations of the neurocognitive functions with illness severity and adaptive behavior were small to moderate in magnitude. These findings continue to implicate the importance of neurocognitive functioning as a key area of vulnerability in the study of youth with schizophrenia spectrum disorders