Semantic fluency in deaf children who use spoken and signed language, in comparison to hearing peers

Background Deafness has an adverse impact on children’s ability to acquire spoken languages. Signed languages offer a more accessible input for deaf children, but because the vast majority are born to hearing parents who do not sign, their early exposure to sign language is limited. Deaf children as a whole are therefore at high risk of language delays. Aims We compared deaf and hearing children’s performance on a semantic fluency task. Optimal performance on this task requires a systematic search of the mental lexicon, the retrieval of words within a subcategory, and, when that subcategory is exhausted, switching to a new subcategory. We compared retrieval patterns between groups, and also compared the responses of deaf children who used British Sign Language (BSL) to those who used spoken English. We investigated how semantic fluency performance related to children’s expressive vocabulary and executive function skills, and also re-tested semantic fluency in the majority of the children nearly two years later, in order to investigate how much progress they had made in that time. Methods and procedures Participants were deaf children aged 6-11 years (N=106, comprising 69 users of spoken English, 29 users of BSL and 8 users of Sign Supported English) compared to hearing children (N=120) of the same age who used spoken English. Semantic fluency was tested for the category “animals”. We coded for errors, clusters (e.g., “pets”, “farm animals”) and switches. Participants also completed the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test and a battery of six non-verbal executive function tasks. In addition, we collected follow-up semantic fluency data for 70 deaf and 74 hearing children, nearly 2 years after they were first tested. Outcomes and results Deaf children, whether using spoken or signed language, produced fewer items in the semantic fluency task than hearing children, but they showed similar patterns of responses for items most commonly produced, clustering of items into subcategories and switching between subcategories. Both vocabulary and executive function scores predicted the number of correct items produced. Follow-up data from deaf participants showed continuing delays relative to hearing children two years later. Conclusions and implications We conclude that semantic fluency can be used experimentally to investigate lexical organisation in deaf children, and that it potentially has clinical utility across the heterogeneous deaf population. We present normative data to aid clinicians who wish to use this task with deaf children

Clinically feasible brain morphometric similarity network construction approaches with restricted magnetic resonance imaging acquisitions

Morphometric similarity networks (MSNs) estimate organization of the cortex as a biologically meaningful set of similarities between anatomical features at the macro-and microstructural level, derived from multiple structural MRI (sMRI) sequences. These networks are clinically relevant, predicting 40% variance in IQ. However, the sequences required (T1w, T2w, DWI) to produce these networks are longer acquisitions, less feasible in some populations. Thus, estimating MSNs using features from T1w sMRI is attractive to clinical and developmental neuroscience. We studied whether reduced-feature approaches approximate the original MSN model as a potential tool to investigate brain structure. In a large, homogenous dataset of healthy young adults (from the Human Connectome Project, HCP), we extended previous investigations of reduced-feature MSNs by comparing not only T1w-derived networks, but also additional MSNs generated with fewer MR sequences, to their full acquisition counterparts. We produce MSNs that are highly similar at the edge level to those generated with multimodal imaging; however, the nodal topology of the networks differed. These networks had limited predictive validity of generalized cognitive ability. Overall, when multimodal imaging is not available or appropriate, T1w-restricted MSN construction is feasible, provides an appropriate estimate of the MSN, and could be a useful approach to examine outcomes in future studies

Developmental differences in the control of action selection by social information

Our everyday actions are often performed in the context of a social interaction. We previously showed that, in adults, selecting an action on the basis of either social or symbolic cues was associated with activations in the fronto-parietal cognitive control network, whereas the presence and use of social versus symbolic cues was in addition associated with activations in the temporal and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) social brain network. Here we investigated developmental changes in these two networks. Fourteen adults (21–30 years of age) and 14 adolescents (11–16 years) followed instructions to move objects in a set of shelves. Interpretation of the instructions was conditional on the point of view of a visible “director” or the meaning of a symbolic cue (Director Present vs. Director Absent) and the number of potential referent objects in the shelves (3-object vs. 1-object). 3-object trials elicited increased fronto-parietal and temporal activations, with greater left lateral prefrontal cortex and parietal activations in adults than adolescents. Social versus symbolic information led to activations in superior dorsal MPFC, precuneus, and along the superior/middle temporal sulci. Both dorsal MPFC and left temporal clusters exhibited a Director × Object interaction, with greater activation when participants needed to consider the directors' viewpoints. This effect differed with age in dorsal MPFC. Adolescents showed greater activation whenever social information was present, whereas adults showed greater activation only when the directors' viewpoints were relevant to task performance. This study thus shows developmental differences in domain-general and domain-specific PFC activations associated with action selection in a social interaction context

Investigation of Lunar Surface Chemical Contamination by LEM Descent Engine and Associated Equipment

Lunar surface and atmospheric contamination study caused by LEM rocket exhaust and inorganic, organic, and microbiological contaminant

Financial capability and functional financial literacy in young adults with developmental language disorder

Background: Financial capability is an essential feature of the organisation of one’s personal life and engagement with society. Very little is known of how adequately individuals with developmental language disorder (DLD) handle financial matters. It is known that language difficulties place them at a disadvantage in many aspects of their development and during their transition into adulthood, leading to the possibility that financial issues may prove burdensome for them. This study examines the financial capability and functional financial literacy of young adults with DLD and compares them to those of age matched peers (AMPs). We tested the expectation that those with DLD would find financial management more challenging than would their peers, and that they would need to seek greater support from family members or other people. Methods: Participants completed a detailed individual interview, which included items drawn from the British Household Panel Survey and additional measures of financial capability, functional financial literacy and of perceived support. Nonverbal IQ, language, reading and numeracy measures were also collected. Results: Compared to typically developing AMPs, young people with DLD report less extensive engagement with financial products and lower competence in functional financial literacy. A considerably higher proportion of those with DLD (48% vs 16% of AMPs) report that they draw on support, primarily from parents, in various financial tasks, including paying bills, choosing financial products, and taking loans from family or friends. Conclusions: This is the first study to consider the financial capability skills and functional financial literacy of young adults with DLD. We provide novel evidence that some young adults with DLD lack functional financial skills and require support to successfully manage their finances. This has policy implications that relate not only to engaging affected individuals in discussions about financial management but also to wider familial support

Biological cycling of atmospheric trace gases

A detailed critical review was conducted of present knowledge of the influence of biological processes on the cycling of selected atmospheric gas constituents--methane, carbon monoxide, and gaseous compounds of nitrogen (nitrous oxide, ammonia, nitric oxide, and nitrogen dioxide) and sulfur (hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide). The identification was included of biological and other sources of each gas, a survey of abundance measurements reported in the literature, and a review of the atmospheric fate of each contituent. Information is provided on which to base conclusions regarding the importance of biological processes on the atmospheric distribution and surface-atmosphere exchange of each constituent, and a basis for estimating the adequacy of present knowledge of these factors. A preliminary analysis was conducted of the feasibility of monitoring the biologically influenced temporal and spatial variations in abundance of these gases in the atmosphere from satellites

Strengths and Weaknesses in the Intellectual Profile of Different Subtypes of Specific Learning Disorder

The present study analyzes whether and how the most common diagnoses within the specific learning disorder (SLD) category are characterized by different intellectual profiles. The issue is relevant to the current debate on the unitary versus decomposable nature of the SLD category and may help define specific interventions. Intellectual profiles were obtained using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–IV (WISC-IV) on 1,049 children diagnosed with SLD using the ICD-10 codes. Four major subsamples were compared: reading disorder, spelling disorder, disorder of arithmetical skills, and mixed disorder of scholastic skills. The four main WISC-IV indexes (verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed) were considered. Results showed that all SLD subgroups share similar weaknesses in working memory and processing speed, but they also showed that the subgroups are characterized by partly different intellectual profiles. These specificities should be considered in the definition of SLD

Teaching Intelligence Testing in APA-Accredited Programs: A National Survey

We surveyed instructors at APA-accredited clinical and school psychology programs across the United States and Canada to determine typical teaching practices in individual intelligence testing courses. The most recent versions of the Wechsler scales (Wechsler, 1989, 1991, 1997) and the Stanford-Binet (Thorndike, Hagan & Sattler, 1986) remain the primary tests taught in this course. Course instructors emphasized having students administer intelligence tests; however, relatively few instructors reported assessing students' final level of competence with regard to their test administration skills. The intelligence testing course appears quite time-intensive for instructors, and many teach the course with the aid of a teaching assistant. When compared with previous findings, current results suggest a good measure of stability over time regarding the core issues addressed and skills taught in the intelligence testing course.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The unitary ability of IQ and indexes in WAIS-IV

Lichtenberger and Kaufman (2009, p. 167) defined unitary ability as ‘an ability […] that is represented by a cohesive set of scaled scores, each reflecting slightly different or unique aspects of the ability’. Flanagan and Kaufman (2009) and Lichtenberger and Kaufman (2012) used a difference of 23 IQ points between the highest score (Max) and the lowest score (Min) obtained by a subject in the four Indexes of the WAIS-IV to define unitarity of the total IQ score. A similar method has been used to assess the unitary ability of the four Indexes, with a threshold of 5 points. Such difference scores (of 23 for IQ and 5 for Indexes) are considered high and infrequent and the authors therefore conclude that the corresponding Full-Scale IQ score or Index score is uninterpretable. In this paper we argue that these thresholds are inappropriate because they are based on the wrong standard deviation. The main aim of this study was to establish variability thresholds for IQ and the WAIS-IV Indexes for the American standardization sample and to compare these thresholds with those for the Italian standardization sample. We also consider an alternative approach to determining whether an IQ score represents a unitary ability, based on the maximum difference score for the 10 core subtests that contribute to Full-Scale IQ scores