Long -term episodic memory in children with Attention -Deficit /Hyperactivity Disorder

Research on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has indicated that diagnosed children show considerable memory deficits. The majority of tasks that have supported such deficits have focused on working memory and school/semantic-related abilities. Although there is a small body of literature related to long-term memory in children with ADHD, no studies appear to focus on long-term episodic memory, including personal-event memory. This is the case despite clinical and anecdotal evidence suggesting that children with ADHD might show enhanced long-term episodic memory abilities in comparison to those without. Twenty-one children with ADHD (5 females and 16 males) and 31 children without ADHD (14 females and 17 males) in the 4th--8 th grades (mean age 12.1 years) were administered five memory tasks assessing short-term, working memory and long-term episodic memory. Additionally, one parent for each child completed a 22-item questionnaire assessing their child\u27s memory abilities. The following main questions were addressed: (1) do children with ADHD exhibit superior long-term episodic memory performance when compared with controls, (2) among ADHD children, is performance on long-term episodic memory tasks superior to performance on short-term working memory tasks, and (3) how do parents perceive their child\u27s memory abilities? Although parents rated children with ADHD as having poor memory abilities for a number of factors, parents believed their children with ADHD had the best memories in the family for past experiences. Consistent with this profile, children with ADHD showed deficits in working memory compared to controls but showed equal or enhanced performance on long-term episodic tasks. When discussing a special-event in their life, children with ADHD provided lengthier and more descriptive narratives. These results provide the first empirical support for anecdotal evidence suggesting children with ADHD have more elaborate episodic memory ability compared to controls. This is the first study to document strengths in children with ADHD, where weaknesses have always been the focus. Although replication is needed, these results may shed some light on the memory processes of children with ADHD and may be used to help these children succeed both in and out of the classroom. Future directions and limitations are discussed

Developing a Statistically Valid AND Practically Useful Student Evaluation Instrument

The current article presents the findings on the development of a student evaluation instrument in which course evaluation is directly tied to student learning outcomes. With a committee consisting of instructors from six distinct disciplines brought together as part of a working group for this purpose, the instrument was developed utilizing research on the components of effective teaching and how these components impacted student learning. The instrument was tested at two time points, once via pen and paper (n=340 students) and the other online (n=2636 students). Factor Analysis resulted in one latent factor both times. The instrument also had high internal consistency reliability. Comparisons of individual student factors revealed a few variables significantly predicted ratings, but effect sizes were small. This work suggests an instrument has been created that assesses components of effective teaching, via the impact on student learning, and the ratings obtained are not highly influenced by individual factors

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

Long-Term Episodic Memory in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Twenty-nine grade-matched 4th–8th-grade males, 12 with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (age M= 12.2 years, SD= 1.48), and 17 without (age M= 11.5, SD= 1.59), completed two working memory tasks (digit span and the Simon game) and three long-term episodic memory tasks (a personal event memory task, story memory task, and picture recognition task). In line with clinical observations, children with ADHD performed worse than peers on all working memory tasks, but performed as well as or better than peers on long-term episodic tasks, demonstrating particularly detailed memory for personally experienced past events. Participants\u27 parents also completed questionnaires about their children\u27s memories in daily life. Parents rated children with ADHD lower than children without ADHD on working and semantic memory (e.g., remembering names, spelling, and math), but rated them as high or higher on memory for events. Implications for theory and educational practice are discussed

N-terminal Dbl domain of the RhoGEF, Kalirin.

Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEF) promote the release of GDP from GTPases, thus allowing the free GTPase molecule to bind the more abundant GTP molecule. In the GTP-bound state, the GTPase elicits signal transduction by acting on its effector proteins. Spontaneous release of GDP is a slow process and the catalysis of the GDP release by a GEF is generally a prerequisite for efficient signaling (Vetter and Wittinghofer 2001). The structurally related GEFs form subfamilies that regulate a specific family of GTPase proteins. GEFs that activate Rho GTPases have been implicated in cancer and mental retardation. RhoGEFs are a relatively large family, and many of the *69 human RhoGEFs were discovered based on their oncogenic activation in cancer and cancer models. The catalytic components of RhoGEFs are referred to as Dbl homology domains, after the screen that identified the protein Dbl encoded by the diffuse B-cell lymphoma (dbl) oncogene (Eva and Aaronson 1985). Thus the RhoGEF family is a potential target for treating tumors and cancer