11
May 2012: A
mind shift is taking place which views autism not as a deficit,
needing a cure, but simply a different, but valid pathway
within human diversity. This "neurodiversity movement"
challenges our traditional medical model which sees autism
as a separate entity from the person and something needing
a cure Kapp, S. et al. (2012, Apr 30). "Deficit, Difference,
or Both? Autism and Neurodiversity." Developmental Psychology,
preview, nps.
4 May
2012: Substance use increases in African American teens
as a result of feelings of racial discrimination. However,
the effect is only seen in youth who endorse substance use
as a coping mechanism. Gerrard, M. (2012, April 30). "Coping
With Racial Discrimination: The Role of Substance Use."
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, preview, nps.
2 May
2012: Diets high is saturated fats are not only bad for
your physical health, they cause impairment of cognitive function
and now researchers also link it to learning and relearning
of tasks. Asem, J. et al. (2012). "The Effect of High-Fat
Diet on Extinction and Renewal." Behavioral Neuroscience,
(Apr 30), preview nps.
1 May
2012: The positive feedback bias refers to previous studies
showing that white teachers give more positive feeback to
minority students. New research indicates this may be tempered
by stronger support systems from colleagues and administration.
In the new study, white teachers were less prone to the positive
feedback bias in high-support schools. The support system
though tempered the effect only on the feedback given to Black
students. White teachers show the bias toward Hispanic students,
regardless of school support network.
Harber, K. et al. (2012). "Students'
Race and Teachers' Social Support Affect the Positive Feedback
Bias in Public Schools." Journal of Educational Psychology,
Apr 30., preview, nps.
20
April 2012: Preschool / elementary students who come
from harsh home environments with punitive discipline practices,
and/or exposure to violence show declines in academic performance
and function. This decline is greatly exacerbated if the students
also experience victimization. Schwartz, D. et al. (2012,
Apr 16). The Link Between Harsh Home Environments and Negative
Academic Trajectories Is Exacerbated by "Victimization
in the Elementary School Peer Group." Developmental Psychology,
preview, nps.
14
April 2012: Adding traditional paper-based study aids
(especially those prompting key ideas) does increase learning
via computer and game-based applications. Providing a list
of main ideas to look for seemed to benefit all learners,
whereas have a paper the students had to fill out as they
went along only favored some learners. Fiorella, L. &
Mayer, R. (2012, Apr 9). "Paper-Based Aids for Learning
With a Computer-Based Game." Journal of Educational Psychology,
preview, nps.
10
April 2012: Adolescents who use fitness supplements are
at greater risk of later using illicit perfomance enhancing
substances such as anabolic-androgenic steroids. Other risk
indicators include body image disturbance, compulsive exercise,
and perfectionism.Hildebrandt, T, Harty, S.; Langenbucher,
J. (2012, Apr 9). "Fitness Supplements as a Gateway Substance
for Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use". Psychology of Addictive
Behaviors, preview, nps.
6 April
2012: Pre-adolescent girls with ADHD were measured for
Executive Function (planning, organization, attention, working
memory, etc) and then tracked for 10 years into adulthood.
Regardless of whether or not the ADHD symptoms continued,
the girls continued to show problems with Exectuve Function
into adulthood compared to the control group of girls without
ADHD. Miller, M.; Ho, J.; Hinshaw S. (2012, April 2) "Executive
Functions in Girls With ADHD Followed Prospectively Into Young
Adulthood." Neuropsychology, preview nps.
28
Mar 2012: There is a reciprocal relationship between
math interest and math ability that begins before school even
starts. Researchers have found that preschooler's interest
in math predict their math performance later and preschoolers
math skills also predict interest in math later. Fisher, P.
et al. (2012, March 26). "Early Math Interest and the
Development of Math Skills.". Journal of Educational
Psychology, preview, nps.
25
Mar 2012: Research on rats shows that stress during adolescence
causes an increase in depression and anxiety in adulthood.
New research shows that WHERE in adolescence the stress occurs
has an effect too. Stress in early adolescence causes an increase
in both depression and anxiety problems in adulthood, whereas
stress in mid-adolescence did not cause an increase in axiety
related issues but did tend to increase risk-taking behavior.
Wilkin, M., et al. (2012, April). "Intermittent physical
stress during early- and mid-adolescence differentially alters
rats' anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in adulthood."
Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol 126(2), 344-360.
23
Mar 2012: Researchers used a large pool of elementary
children from diverse ethnic backgrounds who were below average
in both literacy and math at the end of first grade. Half
the students were retained a year and half were promoted onto
the next grade. They then tracked the students through elementary
grades using the Woodcock Johnson test annually. The retained
students received a one year boost in achievement early on,
however that boost had completely disappeared by the end of
the elementary grades. Moser, S.;West, S.;Hughes, J. (2012).
" Trajectories of Math and Reading Achievement in Low-Achieving
Children in Elementary School: Effects of Early and Later
Retention in Grade. Journal of Educational Psychology, Mar
19 preview, nps. .
21
Mar 2012: If you work with traditionally gifted, or high
achieving students, you may be aware of the "Big Fish
Little Pond" effect which suggests students may suffer
a decline in their academic self concept if put in groups
with higher achieving students. New reserach indicates that
may not be the case - often times it just depends on the educational
environment. When high achieving students were pulled out
to attend supplemental summer programs, not only did their
self concept not deminsh, many of them had a higher academic
self concept upon completion. Makel, M. et al (2012). "Changing
the Pond, Not the Fish: Following High-Ability Students Across
Different Educational Environments." Journal of Educational
Psychology, Mar 19 preview, nps.
19
Mar 2012: People of all ages who suffer from social anxiety
are much more likely to use marijuana to cope in social situations.
In fact, they are more likely to avoid any social situation
if marijuana is unavailable. Heimberg, J. et al. (2012). "Marijuana-related
problems and social anxiety: The role of marijuana behaviors
in social situations".Psychology of Addictive Behaviors,
Vol 26(1), 151-156 .
12
Mar 2012: Are you an "owl" or a "lark"?
It may make a difference in your mood and health. While most
adolescents are "owls" the fewer "larks"
or morning-type adolescents have more positive overall affect
and better subjective health. The greater the "morningness"
of an inidividual, the greater the positive affect. This may
be the reason older people in general report being happier.
Biss, R. & Hasher, L. (2012, Feb 6). "Happy as a
lark: Morning-type younger and older adults are higher in
positive affect." Emotion, preview nps.
6 Mar
2012: The emotional climate of the classroom makes a big
difference in academic performance among middle school students.
Regardless of teaching style or instruction, a positive emotion
classroom creates more student engagement and results in better
academic performance. Reyes, M. et al (2012, Mar 5). "Classroom
Emotional Climate, Student Engagement, and Academic Achievement".Journal
of Educational Psychology, nps.
3 Mar
2012: Literacy and Language competenance are very strongly
correlated with emotional competance in elementary aged children.
Children with strong receptive vocabulary, strong verbal fluency,
and understanding of narrative structure tend to better at
recognizing emotion on facial expressions, have a keen awareness
of emotion and are able to express emotion better. Beck, L.
et al. (2011, Dec 12) "Relationship between language
competence and emotional competence in middle childhood."
Emotion, preview, nps.
26
Feb 2012: When working with students at-risk for reading
problem and /or students with ADHD, reading comprehension
can be improved with more novel stories. Stories which contained
actived and vivid words and had surprising endings are particulary
effective with at-risk readers. The novel stories increased
student attention and reading activation. Beike, S. et al.
(2012, Feb 13). "The Snake Raised Its Head": Content Novelty
Alters the Reading Performance of Students At Risk for Reading
Disabilities and ADHD. Journal of Educational Psychology,
Feb 13 , 2012, preview nps.
