Short-term trends in Dutch children's attention problems.

Changes in the prevalence of attention problems in Dutch children were examined by a comparison of prevalence rates in 1988 and 1993. On both occasions a representative sample of fourth grade children from 82 regular elementary schools participated in the study. Both teacher reports and scores on an attention test indicated a small decrease in attention problems. We also found that the prevalence of other behavioral/emotional and reading problems had decreased or had remained unchanged. Subject to the limitations of the study, we concluded that the attention problems of fourth-grade Dutch children are not worsening

The validity of WISC-V profiles of strengths and weaknesses

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V; Wechsler, 2014) provides a general intelligence score, representing g, and five index scores, reflecting underlying broad factors. Within person differences between the overall performance across subtests and index scores, denoted as index difference scores, are often used to examine profiles of strengths and weaknesses. In this study, the validity of such profiles was examined for the Dutch WISC-V. In line with previous studies, broad factors explained little variance in index scores. A simulation study showed that variation in index difference scores also reflected little broad factor variance. The simulation study further revealed that, as a consequence, a significant discrepancy between an index score and overall performance was accompanied in only 40%–74% of the cases by a discrepancy on the underlying broad factor. Overall, these results provide little support for the validity and thereby clinical use of WISC-V profiles.</p

Enhancement of degradation of fallen apple leaves

Leaves from organic apple trees were dipped with different organic materials and leaves were placed on the orchard floor in autumn. Leaf area and the amount of ascospores of Venturia inaequalis were measured in spring. The objective of this research was to find alternatives for urea that simulate the decomposition of apple leaves and reduces the asco-spore production. In both years urea gave an increase of the leaf degradation and a significant reduction of the number of ascospores. The antagonist Coniothyrium minitans had no significant effect on the ascospore production in both years but decreased the leaf degradation. Beet pulp showed a significant reduction of the number of spores but reduced the leaf degradation rate. Applying extra earthworms increased the degradation

REPCO contribution to the development of products for apple scab control

Natural compounds were sprayed according the RimPro scab warning system from start of bud break until the mid of June. Scab incidence was measured on the leaves and the fruit. Phytotoxicitiy and russet-ing was assessed. The natural compounds were sprayed together with sulphur and were compared with the standard biological fungicides copper hy-droxide and sulphur alone. Compound E73 + sulphur was the most effective on fruit. Armicarb and Resis-tim both sprayed with sulphur were comparable in efficacy with Funguran-OH. In our study laminarin (GL 32) did not shown any effect on the control of scab on apple

Reducing russeting of organically grown Elstar to increase quality

Sales organisations indicated that opportunities for organic apples sales can increase when quality increases, in particular reducing the amount of russeting. The use of copper is probably the most important factor for russeting. Therefore a worst case scheme was compared with a scheme with reduced copper application. Furthermore, there was a particular interest in the effects on russeting of potassium bicarbonate (Armicarb) because this product might be an important element in a copper free fungicide scheme. Application of Armicarb was investigated on wet or dry canopy and effects of two different dosages were studied. All the schemes were compared with a worst case organic fungicide scheme with copper. The experiment was done on two year old Elstar trees because Elstar is the most important organically grown cultivar in the Netherlands. Effects of the schedules on russet and scab control were evaluated. At harvest no effects were found on scab. Between the different schemes with copper no differences were found in amount of russet. Only the highest dosage of Armicarb (10 kg/ha) and the schedules with Armicarb on a wet canopy gave more russet compared with the worst case scheme. Also effects on fruit rot were evaluated

The effects of updating ability and knowledge of reading strategies on reading comprehesion

Updating ability and reading strategies are considered as important factors in the buildup of a mental model of a text. However, only few studies examined the relation of updating and knowledge of reading strategies with reading comprehension. The aim of the current study was to investigate the specific effects of updating ability and knowledge of reading strategies on reading comprehension, controlling for reading speed, vocabulary, and short-term memory. One-hundred-and-ninety-five Dutch fourth graders were administered two standard Dutch reading comprehension tests, and measures of updating ability, knowledge of reading strategies, reading speed, vocabulary, and verbal short term memory. The results showed that updating ability did not contribute to reading comprehension, when other predictors were controlled, whereas knowledge of reading strategies had an independent effect on reading comprehension. The relations of updating ability and knowledge of reading strategies, as well as those of other predictors, with reading comprehension were similar across the two reading comprehension tests. Keywords Reading comprehension; Updating; Reading strategie

The Star Counting Test: An attention test for children.

The Star Counting Test (SCT), an attention test for children, is presented. The test is suitable for groupwise administration. It was developed within a clear theoretical framework and focuses, in contrast to many current attention tests, on accuracy rather than speed. The test requires the control and alternation of two simple processes: forward and backward counting. In a prestudy, the reliability of the test appeared satisfactory. Substantial correlations were found with the Hyperactivity scale of the Conners Teacher Rating Scale and with grades for language and arithmetic. For the main study, a large scale assessment study of attentional deficits in Dutch elementary schools, three versions of the test were constructed. All versions of the test appeared reliable and substantial correlations were observed with the Attentional Behavior Scale of the Amsterdam Child Behavior Scale, a rating scale for teachers. Furthermore, the test was able to discriminate between various childhood disorders as rated by teachers. It was concluded that the SCT exhibits some essential characteristics that are needed for the measurement of individual differences in attention. The test can be used in large scale assessment studies and might be useful as a first screening device for attentional deficits

Het meten van aandacht: Principes en methoden.

Vijfentwintig jaar geleden eindigde Moray (1969) zijn boek over aandacht met de woorden van Külpe: "The discovery of a reliable measure of the attention would appear to be one of the most important problems that await solution by the experimental psychology of the future". Het is jammer te moeten constateren dat na het verstrijken van een eeuw deze woorden nog steeds actueel zijn. Veel van de beschikbare instrumenten voor het meten van aandacht zijn slechts gebaseerd op een vage notie van wat aandacht inhoudt. Voor mensen die in de praktijk te maken hebben met het beoordelen van de kwaliteit van de aandachtsfunctie vormt dit een groot probleem. Een meetinstrument hoort gebaseerd te zijn op een duidelijk concept van het te meten verschijnsel. Het ontwikkelen van een goede theoretische achtergrond, "waarin de verschillende dimensies van aandacht zijn verdisconteerd, is daarom van het grootste belang. De omschrijving van aandacht in termen van de controlefunctie en de koppeling daarvan aan het werkgeheugen lijkt hiertoe een goede aanzet. Met name het verband met het snelheidsaspect blijft hier echter nog onduidelijk en behoeft nadere uitwerking. Zoals in dit hoofdstuk is uiteengezet, lijkt het vooralsnog zinvol om bij het meten van aandacht globaal onderscheid te maken tussen verwerkingssnelheid en werkgeheugencapaciteit, met binnen elk aspect een onderverdeling in respectievelijk snelheid van benoemen en visueel zoeken, en opslag- en CE-capaciteit