Delayed development of basic numerical skills in children with developmental dyscalculia

Research suggests that children with developmental dyscalculia (DD) have deficits in basic numerical skills. However, there is conflicting evidence on whether basic numerical skills in children with DD are qualitatively different from those in typically developing children (TD) or whether basic numerical skills development in children with DD is simply delayed. In addition, there are also competing hypotheses about deficits in basic numerical skills, assuming (1) a general deficit in representing numerosities (Approximate Number System, ANS), (2) specific deficits in an object-based attentional system (Object Tracking System, OTS), or (3) deficits in accessing numerosities from symbols (Access Deficit, AD). Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether deficits in basic numerical skills in children with DD are more indicative of a developmental delay or a dyscalculia-specific qualitative deviation and whether these deficits result from (selective) impairment of core cognitive systems involved in numerical processing. To address this, we tested 480 children (68 DD and 412 TD) in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades with different paradigms for basic numerical skills (subitizing, counting, magnitude comparison tasks, number sets, and number line estimation tasks). The results revealed that DD children’s impairments did not indicate qualitatively different basic numerical skills but instead pointed to a specific developmental delay, with the exception of dot enumeration. This result was corroborated when comparing mathematical profiles of DD children in 4th grade and TD children in 2nd grade, suggesting that DD children were developmentally delayed and not qualitatively different. In addition, specific deficits in core markers of numeracy in children with DD supported the ANS deficit rather than the AD and OTS deficit hypothesis

Reasoning ability and working memory capacity in children

Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden Ergebnisse aus drei Studien berichtet, die sich mit dem Zusammenhang von Arbeitsgedächtnis und schlussfolgerndem Denken bei Kindern befassen. Das Arbeitsgedächtnis hat sich bei komplexen Denkprozessen oft als ein kritischer Faktor erwiesen. In der ersten Studie konnte gezeigt werden, dass das Arbeitsgedächtnis sich vom Kurzzeitgedächtnis separieren lässt und dass die Bedeutung des Kurzzeitgedächtnisses zur Vorhersage von Intelligenzleistungen mit zunehmendem Alter der Kinder abnimmt. In einer zweiten Studie zum algebraischen Denken ergab sich, dass eine konkurrente Gedächtnisbelastung zu einer Erhöhung der Aufgabenschwierigkeit führt, während die Größe der zu verarbeitenden Zahlen keine Auswirkungen hatte. In einer dritten Studie zeigte sich, dass die relationale Komplexität ein entscheidender Prädiktor für die Aufgabenschwierigkeit war, ebenso wie eine konkurrente Gedächtnisbelastung. Die Größe der zu verarbeitenden Chunks war jedoch vernachlässigbar

Usability-Analysen von Wissensmanagementsystemen

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Stress and perceived partnership quality of parents to children with autism spectrum disorder: a random intercept cross-lagged panel approach

Parents to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience increased levels of stress compared to other parents. However, it has been difficult to clarify how this parental stress affects the quality of parent partnership, and how stress and partnership quality predict each other longitudinally. Stress and perceived partnership quality of 160 parents to children with ASD who started therapy in an autism therapy center were surveyed at three measurement points. To find out about within-person effects, a random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used. The results showed that a decrease in stress level over the course of therapy led to a decrease in partnership quality. The theory of the parenting alliance can be used to explain these results: coping with demands in parenthood during stressful times seems to tie parents together and strengthen their relationship. Implications for therapeutic practice, such as the use of marriage and family counselors to support the parents’ partnership during their child's autism therapy are presented

Webbasierte Evaluation eines Wissensmanagementsystems

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Coping resources and stress due to demands in parents to children with autism spectrum disorder

Introduction: Parents to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are exposed to numerous demands in their daily lives and exhibit high levels of stress. The present study aims to find out which coping resources are mediators that help parents cope with these demands and which of those coping resources amplify or reduce stress arising from the demands. Studies often only focus on the connection between coping resources and stress without taking the demands into account at the same time. Methods: For this reason, a mediation model was set up to answer the research question. Data from a German questionnaire survey with N = 266 parents who have children with ASD (two to 23 years old) were used. Subjectively perceived demands in everyday life (scale “Parental demands in everyday life”), parental stress (“Parental Stress Inventory”, based on Abidin's parenting stress model) and the following coping resources were collected: parental self-efficacy beliefs (“Parents’ sense of competence questionnaire”), available social support of parents (scale “Availability of social support”) and parental coping strategies (German version of the Brief COPE). Results: An exploratory factor analysis revealed four mediators: dysfunctional coping, functional coping, social support, and self-efficacy. The use of dysfunctional behavior and parental self-efficacy were found to be significant mediators that mediated between daily demands and parental stress. A direct effect of demands on parental stress was also found, implying partial mediation. The two factors of functional coping and support were not found to be significant mediators. Discussion: Key findings indicate that parental stress resulting from the daily demands of parenting children with ASD can be reduced by high parental self-efficacy and increased by dysfunctional coping. For practice, it can be deduced that dysfunctional coping strategies of parents to children with ASD should be reduced and parental self-efficacy should be strengthened in order to reduce stress which arises from the multiple demands in everyday life

Verlaufsdiagnostik arithmetischer Grundkompetenzen. Messen verschiedene Booklets die gleiche Fähigkeit?

An important prerequisite of progress monitoring as one source to support instructional decision-making is the existence of equivalent booklets. This study assesses this prerequisite with respect to a German elementary school math curriculum-based measurement instrument (LVD-M 2-4; Strathmann & Klauer, 2012). Every second week of a 19-weeks period, n = 108 third and n = 109 fourth graders (regular instruction) completed one of ten parallel booklets, each containing 24 arithmetic tasks. Analyses with (generalized) linear mixed models showed that in both grades the between-booklet variance was so small in relation to the between student variance that it was practically irrelevant. This corresponds to the key assumption of the binomial model that equivalent scores from different booklets reflect the same ability. While item difficulty varied within some of the tasks, the effect was insubstantial in comparison with the variance between students. These findings were replicated in two intervention samples of an RTI study. The parallel booklets can therefore be regarded as equivalent for typical applied purposes. Implications of these findings for curriculum-based measurement and booklet design are discussed. An important prerequisite of progress monitoring as one source to support instructional decision-making is the existence of equivalent booklets. This study assesses this prerequisite with respect to a German elementary school math curriculum-based measurement instrument (LVD-M 2-4; Strathmann & Klauer, 2012). Every second week of a 19-weeks period, n = 108 third and n = 109 fourth graders (regular instruction) completed one of ten parallel booklets, each containing 24 arithmetic tasks. Analyses with (generalized) linear mixed models showed that in both grades the between-booklet variance was so small in relation to the between student variance that it was practically irrelevant. This corresponds to the key assumption of the binomial model that equivalent scores from different booklets reflect the same ability. While item difficulty varied within some of the tasks, the effect was insubstantial in comparison with the variance between students. These findings were replicated in two intervention samples of an RTI study. The parallel booklets can therefore be regarded as equivalent for typical applied purposes. Implications of these findings for curriculum-based measurement and booklet design are discussed. (DIPF/Orig.)Eine wichtige Voraussetzung dafür, Lernverlaufsdiagnostik für instruktionale Entscheidungen nutzen zu können, sind äquivalente Testbooklets. Diese Studie prüft diese Voraussetzung für die „Lernverlaufsdiagnostik – Mathematik 2-4“ (LVD-M 2-4; Strathmann & Klauer, 2012). Über 19 Wochen hinweg bearbeiteten n = 108 Drittklässler:innen und n = 109 Viertklässler:innen in zweiwöchigem Abstand zehn verschiedene Paralleltests mit je 24 arithmetischen Aufgaben. Mithilfe (generalisierter) gemischter linearer Modelle wurden Booklet-Effekte in Relation zur Leistungsvarianz zwischen den Kindern gesetzt. Damit wurde die Kernannahme des Binomial-Modells geprüft, dass gleiche Scores aus verschiedenen zufallsgenerierten Booklets die gleiche latente Fähigkeit abbilden sollten. In beiden Klassenstufen fiel die Between-Booklet-Varianz in Relation zur Varianz zwischen den Kindern sehr gering aus. Für einige Aufgabentypen variierte die Schwierigkeit zwar zwischen den Booklets, war verglichen mit der Varianz der Schülerleistung aber nicht substanziell. Die Befunde ließen sich in zwei Interventionsgruppen einer RTI-Studie replizieren. Die Booklets können also für typische Anwendungszwecke als äquivalent angesehen werden. Die Implikationen dieser Befunde werden vor dem Hintergrund von Lernverlaufsdiagnostik und der Konstruktion äquivalenter Testbooklets diskutiert. (DIPF/Orig.