ADHD
~~ 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
Executive 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.
~~ When working with students at-risk for
reading problems
and /or students with ADHD, reading comprehension can be improved by
using stories with novel and exciting vocabulary and themes. Stories
which contain
active and vivid words and those with surprising endings are
particularly effective with at-risk readers. The novel stories
increased student attention and increased 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.
~~ New research indicates that
persons with Attention Deficit Disorder(ADD) may have a shortened
perception of the time span of temporal events - particularly in
working memory. This is suspected to be the result of an impaired
dopamine system involving the prefrontal cortex. They tested this
theory by checking what was the minimum tempo that rhythmic movement
can be sustained in both persons with and without ADD. It turns out
that those with ADD have a rhythm cut-off that was much sooner than
those without. Apparently these problems with dopamine delivery have
recalibrated the internal clock that sets the time scale for our
subjective thought process. Gilden, D. & Marusich, L. (2009).
Neuropsychology. Vol 23(2), 265-269.
~~ Is ADHD over-diagnosed? Possibly. Is there
a gender bias in the diagnosing? Apparently so, according to new
research released this month. Researchers sent made-up case
descriptions to over 1,000 child psychologists and therapist for
diagnosing. Some had missing key diagnostic criteria and other varied
only in the gender of the child being described. The professionals
mis-diagnosed ADHD in16% of the cases, but more disturbing is that they
diagnosed ADHD in boys twice as often as in girls - even when the
descriptions were identical. Bruchmüller, K. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed
in accord with diagnostic criteria? Overdiagnosis and influence of
client gender on diagnosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, Vol 80(1), 128-138.
~~ Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD/CD) can be diagnosed with
some accuracy at age 3. Researchers looked at 168, 3-year-olds with
behavior problems. They assessed them for ADHD and ODD and then
followed them for the next several years. The diagnosis of ADHD in a 3
year old was accurate in 75% of the children and the diagnosis of ODD
was accurate in 66% of the children. So while many 3 years old with
behavior problems do grow out of the behaviors, early diagnosis may
allow children to be watched and perhaps provided with early
intervention strategies. Harvey, E. (2009) Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology. Vol 77(2), 349-354.
~~ Traditionally, researchers
considered that the brains of children with ADHD were just developing
differently than the brains of children without ADHD. But new
MRI research show the condition may actually be a brain delay, rather
than just abnormal development. Normally, a child's cortex thickens
slowly up to around age 7, then thins out. It turns out that
the cortex of a brain with ADHD doesn't reach its peak thickness until
around age 10. This delay, coupled with an early motor cortex
maturity may explain some of the symptoms of ADHD. Price, M
(2008) Monitor on Psychology, Vol 39(2), pg 12.
AGING
BRAIN
~~ Need another reason to get out there and
exercise? A new study out this month shows that older adults who stay
fit, preserve the volume of their hippocampus which is associated with
more accurate and faster spatial memory and fewer episodes of
forgetting. So physical fitness does lead to mental fitness -
especially in the area of memory. Szabo, A., et al. (2011).
"Cardiorespiratory fitness, hippocampal volume, and frequency of
forgetting in older adults." Neuropsychology, Vol 25(5), 545-553
~~ As promised, a bit of research on the
"aging brain"..... Many women are aware of the cognitive decline and
poor spatial memory that correlates with menopause. The research as to
whether or not hormone treatments help prevent the cognitive decline
have been mixed. New research now indicates that may be due to a short
window of opportunity for hormone treatment to begin. Tracking the
hippocampus and amygdala volume of women pre and post menopause,
researchers found that women who began hormone treatment at the time of
menopause or shortly thereafter ended up with larger hippocampus
volumes than those women who began later, after the so-called "critical
period." The results were independent of age, years of education and
duration of hormone treatment. However, the larger hippocampal volumes
did not necessarily translate into improved spatial memory performance.
More research to come. Erickson, K. et al (2010). "A cross-sectional
study of hormone treatment and hippocampal volume in postmenopausal
women: Evidence for a limited window of opportunity." Neuropsychology.
Vol 24(1), 68-76.
~~ At last - some positive news from science
seeking help for spatial learning and working memory problems
associated with aging. While so far, it's only been tested on rats, a
common vascular drug appears to affect a gene called KIBRA which is
involved in learning and memory tasks in the hippocampus of young and
middle-aged brains. The drug dilates blood vessels in the brain and
appears to be a significant cognitive enhancer. At least in rats.
Huentelman, M. et al. (2009) Behavior Neuroscience. Vol 123(1), 218-223
ALCOHOL
~~ How do you define binge drinking? Your
answer depends upon your age, gender and drinking experience. College
students were asked to define and describe "binge drinking". When asked
how many drinks comprise binge drinking, answers indicated they thought
you could consume more beers without it being considered a binge than
wine or drinks with hard liquor. Also males gave higher numbers overall
than females did. Definitions of binge drinking interestingly included
more references to the motivation and consequences of drinking in
addition to just the number or amount of consumption. Students said
they developed their own definitions based on their experiences and
what friends did more so than school-based or media-based information
on binge drinking. Bonar. E. et al. (2011). "Quantitative and
qualitative assessment of university students' definitions of binge
drinking." Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Nov 28, preview, nps.
ALZHEIMER'S
ANXIETY
Most people associate adolescence as a period
of social anxiety. In fact, it is a key period for the development of
serious anxiety problems. Researchers have studied the relationship
between pubertal timing and social anxiety in 12 - 17 year olds. Early
maturing girls had the highest levels of social anxiety. Early maturing
boys and on-time maturing girls had lower levels. Blumenthal, H. et al.
(2011). Developmental Psychology, Vol 47(4), 133-1140.
~~ Can
children have anxiety disorders? The question has created
much debate in recent years in the medical and psychological
community. Researchers at the University of Illinois - Urbana
have used a technique known as "voxel-based morphometry" to compare the
brains of children diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder and a group of
"normal" children. It turns out that the children with Anxiety Disorder
had significantly reduced gray matter volume in their left amygdala (an
area very much involved in emotional response.) Milham, M. et al.
(2005). Biological Psychiatry, Vol 57(9), 961-966.
ARTS
AUTISM/ASPERGER'S
~~ We predict another person's behavior by
looking at the logic of their action within the situation, make
assumptions based on their gaze direction and read emotional cues in
facial and body expressions. Children with autism have trouble
understanding and predicting the behaviors or intent of others, yet it
was not known which inference or extracting cue they were missing. A
new study compared typically developing children with children with
autism and how they watch and gaze at others. The researchers found
that actually children with autism are quite typical in considering the
logic of situational constraints and in reading the emotional
expressions to infer intent. Where they struggle is in correctly
interpreting a persons direction of gaze and misinterpret, or do not
understand referential cues like a head turn. Vivanti, G. et al.
(2011). Intact and impaired mechanisms of action understanding in
autism. Developmental Psychology, Vol 47 (March)
~~ Autism? Aspergers? PDD-NOS? Which does a
child have? It turns out that this varies wildly based on where the
child was diagnosed. When surveying clinics and diagnostics sites
around the US, researchers have found a very troubling variety in how
lines are drawn between these 3 diagnoses. Many clinics are in clear
contrast with each other, and often times the ONLY determining factor
of a diagnosis is the diagnostic site itself. Because there is no
uniform criteria, this makes scientific validity for separation very
poor. Catherine Lord, PhD, University of Michigan. "Diagnosis of Autism
Spectrum Disorders: From research to practice". Presented August 13,
2010. APA Annual Convention, San Diego, CA.
~~ There are some simple things one can look
for in diagnosing autism in a very young toddler: Eye contact and
gesturing using other people’s bodies are the first things to note.
Also watch for what the infant does when ignored. A toddler without
autism, when ignored in the room, will seek out attention within 7 – 11
seconds. A toddler with autism will go for long periods of time.
Catherine Lord, PhD, University of Michigan. Diagnosis of Autism
Spectrum disorders: From research to practice. August 13, 2010. APA
Annual Convention, San Diego, CA.
~~ Children with autism have 3 areas of
atypical cognitive function - Theory of Mind (awareness and
understanding that other people have a different view point and mind
perspective),Central Coherence (a local rather than global information
processing system or a focus on the parts of the system rather than the
whole) and Executive Function (planning and organization).
Traditionally these issues have been viewed and studied independent of
each other. New research however, shows that these functions are
actually quite interwoven. Tests for Executive Function and Central
Coherence in young people with autism, can positively predict changes
in the development of their Theory of Mind as they grow older. Thus the
3 areas are in fact dependent and intertwined in autism. Pellicano, E.
(2010). Individual differences in executive function and central
coherence predict developmental changes in theory of mind in autism.
"Developmental Psychology". Vol 46(2), Mar 2010, 530-544.
~~ A review of the literature on communication
intervention strategies shows us there is no accepted standard for
teaching language to children with autism. Common practices are widely
in place, but they have rarely been adequately tested and / or show
limited effectiveness. We need methodologically sophisticated research
in this field, given the prevalence of autism and the history of its
study. Dr Connie Kasari, "Social Communication Interventions for
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." APA Conference, Toronto,
August 8, 2009.
~~ A diagnosis of autism still comes too late
for most children. Despite most parent's concern for their child
starting at around 18 months and good established diagnosis techniques
available for children at 24 months, most kids are not diagnosed with
autism until between the ages of 3 and 4. This is primarily because
parents tend to use pediatricians as their first point of inquiry and
they, as a group, are ill prepared for early detection. Elmensdorp, S.
"Identification of Autism-Specific Impairments Through Behavioral
Observation." Presented at APA National Conference, Boston, MA Aug. 16,
2008.
BRAIN
REGIONS/FUNCTION
~~ In case you need one more reason to get rid
of plastic water bottles in your school, here new research on
Bisphenol-A (BPA), which is found in many food grade plastics. It is a
serious endocrine disruptor. For a long time, researchers have
suspected it causes brain development problems in children, but new
research shows even a very small amount (well below the FDA's safe
daily limit estimate of 50 g/kg/day)can impair both visual and spatial
memory in people of all ages as it reduces the actual spine density on
dendrites in the prefrontal cortex, and has an effect on the
hippocampus. . Eilam-Stock, T. et al. (2011). "Bisphenol-A impairs
memory and reduces dendritic spine density in adult male rats."
Behavioral Neuroscience, Oct 17 issue preview. No pagination specified.
~~ Your ability to find your way around your
house and your world is a function of your hippocampus. That's the
brain area that makes our spatial maps. Ever wonder how these are
actually made? As you move around, muscle movements fire as a function
of both your speed and direction. These muscle movements fire theta
cells in the lower brain. These rapidly and rhythmically firing cells
create a sort of oscillator. Your brain looks for places the
oscillators overlap and a "place neuron" fires every time that overlap
occurs. These place neurons and neuron fields then become our internal
maps of the world. Fear and stress can alter our hippocampal code for
space and distort learning. Hugh Blair, PhD. University of California –
Los Angles. "Spacial Memory for Fear and Reward: Scary Places: Fear,
Stress and the Hippocampal Code for Space". Presented August 13, 2010.
APA Annual Convention, San Diego, CA.
~~ Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is the number
one cause of childhood death and disability in the US. In young
children, TBI usually stems from either child abuse or sports injuries.
In adolescents, it's generally car accidents. When working with
children of any age with TBI, you need to address all areas of social
competence including social interactions, peer group entry and
relationships in social adjustment. Kids with TBI frequently lose their
friends which can lead to serious social issues including suicide
attempt. Keith Yeates, PhD. Nationwide Children’s Hospital. "Social
Outcomes of Traumatic Brain Injury in Children." Presented August 14,
2010, American Psychological Association Annual Conference, San Diego.
~~ Researchers studying the visuomotor process
development in preterm babies as they grow, discovered some surprises
about non preterm children as well. It's been established that preterm
children often have poor visuomotor and visuospatial skills as they
grow. Tracking preterm and non preterm children for 11 years,
researchers found that the development of preterm children's skills are
not delayed, just different. They also found that in non preterm
children there is a regression in movement control around 8 years of
age (maybe we should rethink what we introduce to children in school
during this time period??) This regression was interestingly NOT found
in preterm children. However they do continue to have less efficient
and less accurate visuomotor skills throughout childhood (at least
until age 11). Van Braeckel, K. (2010). "Difference rather than delay
in development of elementary visuomotor processes in children born
preterm without cerebral palsy: A quasi-longitudinal study."
Neuropsychology. Vol 24(1), 90-100.
BULLYING
~~ A fascinating, yet alarming study on school
bullying was released last month showing us that "witnessing" bullying
events is more damaging that actually being the victim. In a large
study of 12-16 year olds, the researchers found that those who witness
bullying events report more depression, anxiety, hostility and feelings
of inferiority than both the victims and the bullies themselves.
Rivers, I. et. al (2009). Observing bullying at school: The mental
health implications of witness status. School Psychology Quarterly. Vol
24(4), 211-223.
~~ Middle schoolers who feel victimized by
their peers, perform poorly academically. Researchers found a similar
relationship between perceived victimization and poor academic
achievement across all ethnic races of children. The poor academics
results from the child's lower global self-esteem and their perception
of themselves as less competent. Thijs, J. & Verkuyten, M.
(2008). Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol 100(4), 754-764.
~~ New research on bullying coming out this
month. This time researchers looked at ways students respond to being
bullying by their peers. They collected observations on over 4000
middle and high school students who were victimized by bullying. They
found responses could be categorized into 4 groups: passive, active
(support seeking), aggressive and undifferentiated. Each group had its
own unique internal and external symptoms. The children in the
undifferentiated group were the most likely to experience
social-emotional problems. Waasdorp, T & Bradshaw, C. (2011).
"Examining student responses to frequent bullying: A laten class
approach." Journal of Educational Psychology. (Mar 28 - upcoming issue)
~~ Schools always encourage parents to notify
them if their children are bullied at school so that everyone can work
together to resolve the situation. A new research study just released
sheds more light on parents' response and perception of their child
being the victim of bullying. If parents have a favorable perception of
their child's school climate, they are less likely to contact the
school and are also less likely to talk to their child about their
victimization. While much of what contributes to a parents response is
the age of the child and the form of bullying, a parent's perception of
their school is a large influence. Waasdorp, T.; Bradshaw, C; &
Duong, J. (2010). The link between parents' perceptions of the school
and their responses to school bullying: Variation by child
characteristics and the forms of victimization. Journal of Educational
Psychology, Vol 103 (2),
EMOTION
~~ 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.
~~ Be happy and not just because it's summer,
but make it a habit. Researchers have been studying happiness.
Happiness is a combination of life satisfaction, coping effectiveness
and positive emotions. Happy people have more desirable life outcomes
in general. And it's not enough to just have a general positive view of
your life, you need in-the-moment positive emotions. These build
resilience and help you develop resources for an overall satisfying
life. Cohn, M et al. (2009). Emotion. Vol 9(3), 361-368.
~~ Mothers with depression tend to raise
daughters with depression. These daughters with depression by age 15
are at greater risk for interpersonal difficulties and early
childrearing. Early childrearing (before age 20) predicts further
depression and parenting dysfunction. It's a perpetuating
intergenerational depression problem that should fuel the need for
intervention in young women. We need to design programs to to prevent
the recurrence and help break the cycle of parenting dysfunction.
Hammen, C et al. (2011). Youth depression and early childrearing:
Stress generation and intergenerational transmission of depression.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Apr 25 issue, preview no
pagination pecified.
~~ If you find the new research on happiness
of interest, then you may want to check out a new study released this
month in the journal, Emotion. It turns out that placing a high value
on happiness may not be such a good thing. In fact, it may reduce your
actual feelings of happiness when good things come your way.
Researchers discovered that the more people value happiness, the more
likely they will feel disappointed at their own feelings of happiness.
Mauss, I; Tamir, M; & Anderson, C. (2011). Can seeking
happiness make people happy? Paradoxical effects of valuing happiness.
Emotion, Apr 25 issue, preview, no pagination specified.
~~ If you are using the online program MoodGYM
you may be interested in new research out of Australia. The program is
an online, self-directed cognitive–behavioral therapy program aimed at
reducing anxiety and depression in adolescents. Comparing nearly 1500
adolescents using the program vs those who were wait-listed, the
researchers found that the program was effective in reducing anxiety
even through a 6-month follow-up. However it was not very effective in
reducing depression, although male participants had a slight reduction
in depression. Calear, A.; et al. (2009). The YouthMood Project: A
cluster randomized controlled trial of an online cognitive behavioral
program with adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology. Vol 77(6), 1021-1032.
~~ PTSD -doesn't have to be depressing. In
reality, most people come out of a trauma with resilience, strength and
a new positive outlook on life - something now termed "Post Traumatic
Optimism". Post war and inservice armed forces education will now focus
on the positive, resilient aspects of the experience. This new field of
post traumatic growth, called resilience training, is now coming to the
Armed Forces. A new comprehensive soldier fitness program will focus on
family fitness, spiritual fitness, emotional fitness and social
fitness. Positive education prevents depression and anxiety. Dr Martin
Seligman, " Positive Psychology/Education/Health and Neuroscience: A
conversation with Martin E.P. Seligman and Frank H. Farley". APA
Conference, Toronto, August 8, 2009.
DIABETES
DYSLEXIA
~~ Students with dyslexia understand the
semantics (meaning) of a word, but struggle with phonological deficits.
This is the conclusion of new research that used Tip-of-the-tongue
responses on a picture naming task with upper elementary aged children
with and without dyslexia. Children with dyslexia made more TOT errors
in the phonological portion of word retrieval but not the semantic
portion. The results indicated that dyslexia is a text- independent
phonological processing deficit. Hanly, S. & Vandenberg, B.
(2010). Journal of Learning Disabilities. Vol 43(1), 15-23.
~~ In a related study, new research shows
that the phonological processing weakness found with dyslexia also
gives children an uneven profile of mathematical skills. Math
impairments are seen in children and adolescents with dyslexia in terms
of slower and less accurate number fact recall, and slower counting.
They do not seem to show impairment in place value understanding.
Because of their difficulty recalling arithmetic facts, mental math
activities and assessments can cause them significant disadvantage.
Simmons, F. & Singleton, C. (2009). Journal of Research in
Special Educational Needs. Vol 9(3), 154-163.
~~ Some children with dyslexia may
find benefit in using colored overlays and glasses for
reading. Researchers at the University of Melbourne have
found that this is due to "attentional gating" problems that may occur
in the primary visual cortex. The processing mechanism known
as the visual magnocellular pathway is designed to perform a sequential
gating of visual information as it comes into the visual cortex for
ordering. Children with impairments in this system may
benefit from the use of colored overlays. V
EXERCISE
/ OBESITY
~~ Schools and all facets of society need to
work on changing the current obesogenic environment we've created for
kids. To help fight child obesity, we have to do more than just
increase exercise. We have to work on portion size, soda consumption
and finding alternatives to food as reinforcers. (The average person in
America, consumes 45 gallons of soda per year. That's enough to put on
20 pounds of weight.) Yes, increasing exercise at school does help, but
a child would have to run for 3 and a half hours just to burn off the
calories consumed in a kids' meal consisting of a burger and fries with
a 20 ounce soda! Research shows us that building social relationships
with children helps prevent obesity. In treating obesity, both
Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Interpersonal psychotherapy have proven
to be effective. Denise Wilfley, “Beyond Willpower: A Multilevel
Framework for Understanding , Treating and Preventing Obesity.
Presented at the American Psychological Association's National
Conference, Washington DC. August 5, 2011
~~ Middle school students who engage in
physical activity, can increase their overall feelings of
self-efficacy. In a new study, researchers outfitted 6th grade girls
with accelerometers which measured their physical activity over the
course of a couple of years. By 8th grade, self-efficacy and perceived
social support were both positively correlated with physical activity.
Dishman, R., et al. (2010). Social-cognitive correlates of physical
activity in a multi-ethnic cohort of middle-school girls: Two-year
prospective study. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. Vol 35(2), 188-198.
~~ Regular exercise improves
cognitive function, improves blood flow to the prefrontal cortex,
improves attention and reduces depression. Exercise can also
undo much of the damage done to the hippocampus by cortisol as a result
of chronic stress. Bruce McEwen,PhD. Rockefeller University.
"Of Molecules and Mind:Integrating the psychology and biology of stress
and adaptation. Address presented at the APA convention,
August 18, 2007, San Francisco.
~~ I am frequently asked for research
supporting the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive
function. For those of you keen on that research, you may want to look
at a new study coming out this month that compared cognitive
variability and aerobic fitness in preadolescent children. The
researchers found that children who were more physically fit performed
better on some cognitive tasks, particularly those that varied
cognitive control demands. Wu, C. et al. (2011). Aerobic fitness and
response variability in preadolescent children performing a cognitive
control task. Neuropsychology, Mar 28 issue.
GENDER
DIFFERENCES
~~ While woman have been blaming all sorts of
cognitive impairments on hormones and cycles, here's some research that
may have us re-thinking that old excuse. Research has long shown that
stress and the resulting cortisol increase, causes problems in memory
retrieval. However, new research shows that .the gonadal steroids
produced during a woman's luteal phase (the day after ovulation through
the end of the cycle) negates the stress-effect on memory. So
apparently only men and women during the pre-ovulation stage of their
cycle have stress-related memory deficits. Schoofs, D. & Wolf,
O. (2009). Behavioral Neuroscience. Vol 123(3), 547-554.
~~ A new study investigated middle school
(grades 6 - 8) student's perception of the social support they receive
in all aspects of their lives (teachers, friends, parents). Using
various measures, researchers found significant gender differences.
Girls perceive quite a bit more support from friends and classmates
than boys do. In fact, while girls report that friends provide the most
social support, boys report that they get less support from their
friends than any other source. Since there is a strong relationship
between student's perception of social support and student adjustment,
schools may want to consider this new research in planning support
systems. Rueger, S. et al. (2008). School Psychology Quarterly, Vol
23(4), 496-514.
~~ Despite rumors to the contrary, there does
not appear to be any difference between the way male and female brains
process words in reading. Using over 200 subjects and MRI scans,
researchers found no difference in the involvement or asymmetry of
either Broca's and Wernicke's areas. Chiarello, C. et al. (2009).
Neuropsychology. Vol 23(2), Mar 2009, 210-222.
HEAD/BRAIN INJURY
~~ For years, we've trusted the "Kennard
Principle" - the idea that children return from Traumatic Brain Injury
(TBI) better than adults. New research is now showing that is not true.
Some brain regions, when damaged, become as plastic in an old brain as
a young brain. Actually, some regions of the brain are just more prone
plasticity while some are extremely stable. Each age has different
plastic and stable areas. After damage, at any point in life,
plasticity increases. Maureen Dennis, PhD. "Plasticity and the Immature
Brain: Historical and current Ideas." Presented at the American
Psychological Association's National Conference, Washington DC. August
6, 2011.
~~ Researchers
in New South Wales have investigated the relationship between severe
head trauma and an impairment of theory of mind. (Theory of
Mind is the ability to understand the perspective of other
people. For example one of the big differences between
persons with Autism and Asperger's is that those with Autism really
struggle with theory of mind tasks). These researchers found
that people who had sustained serious brain trauma did struggle with
theory of mind and other tasks that require making
inferences. This, in addition to working memory limitations
associated with TBI and linguistic problems leads to poor performance
on a multitude of tasks. Bibby, H. & McDonald, S.
(2005). Neuropsychologia, Vol 43(1), 99-114.
~~ Ohio State University
released a longitudinal follow-up study on pediatric Traumatic Brain
Injury. They followed children (under the age of 12) with
moderate to severe TBI for several years. Residual problems include
executive functioning issues, pragmatic language, and social problem
solving. Yeates, K. et al. (2004).Journal of the International
Neuropsychological Society. Vol 10(3), 412-426.
HEARING
IMPAIRMENT
~~ A study out of Germany shows
that early detection of hearing impairment is possible by listening to
a baby's cry. "Expert listeners" can detect hearing impairment and its
severity through melody, perceived sound, and rhythm of the cry.
Moller, et. al, (1999). Speech and Communication. vol. 28(3), 175-193.
HOMEWORK
~~ Homework done "at home" has a significant
effect on high school grades and achievement test scores. Homework done
'in school" does not. So research suggests that student complete
homework at home. Keith, T. et al. (2004). "Longitudinal Effects of
In-School and Out-of-School Homework on High School Grades". School
Psychology Quarterly, Vol 19(3),187-211.
~~ A study out of Ohio State
University shows students do better with more frequent testing. Weekly
spot quizzes tended to have a greater effect on exam improvement than
homework. Kass, S. 1999. APA Monitor, vol. 30(9).
INTELLIGENCE
~~ Research released this past summer shows
that elementary teachers believe that shy / quiet children are less
intelligent and assume they will do more poorly academically than their
more talkative peers. In a study involving hundreds of elementary
teachers, researchers found these attitudes among teachers lead to
different teaching strategies as well. Teachers tend to use more
high-powered and social learning strategies with talkative / exuberant
children and more indirect teaching strategies with quiet children.
Coplan, R. et al. (2011). "Is silence golden? Elementary school
teachers' strategies and beliefs regarding hypothetical shy/quiet and
exuberant/talkative children." Journal of Educational Psychology, Jul
11 edition.
~~ Gifted children must learn that
to remain gifted after school years will take a lot of work.
It is estimated that it takes over 10,000 hours of study or practice to
be gifted outside of the school environment. It takes hard,
hard work over time and consistent and deliberate practice.
Students need to understand that ability alone does not make a person
gifted. It takes self regulation, single-mindedness, drive,
and ability to concentrate for long periods of time and commitment. It
also requires social, cultural and financial capital.
Finally, gifted performance does not occur without an effective teacher
or coach. Frank Worrell, PhD, University of California –
Berkeley. “Giftedness: Endowment, Context, Timing,
Development, or Performance? Does it Mater?"
Presented August 13, 2010 at the APA Annual Convention, San
Diego, CA.
~~ Music lessons make children
smarter. So says brand new research out this month from the University
of Toronto. Researchers found that children's IQ scores increase an
average of 1 point per 6 months of lessons. So, in theory, a child
taking music lessons from age 7 to age 12 would have an increase of 10
points in their IQ due to the music. We will be watching this research
as details are released. Schellenberg, G. et al (2006) Journal of
Educational Psychology, Vol 98, (2).
LANGUAGE
Literacy and Language competence are very
strongly correlated with
emotional competence in elementary-aged children. Researchers found
that children who had a strong receptive vocabulary, strong verbal
fluency, and better understanding of narrative structure tend to be
better at recognizing emotion
on facial expressions, and have a keen awareness of emotion and are
able to express their own emotions better. Beck, L. et al. (2011, Dec
12) "Relationship between language competence and emotional competence
in middle childhood." Emotion, preview, nps.
~~ More new research on the advantages of
bilingualism out this month. Most of us have trouble understanding
other people's beliefs due to our own egocentric bias. But people who
are bilingual have less interference from their own perspective and
score higher on executive control and false-belief tasks. Bilinguals
are simply better at reasoning about other people's beliefs.
Rubio-Fernandez, P. & Glucksberg, S. (2012) "Reasoning about
other people's beliefs: Bilinguals have an advantage", Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, Vol 38(1),
211-217.
~~ When learning a foreign language, pictures
help. That's true as long as the student is not too over-confident in
the power of the picture to help. Researchers had students learn new
foreign vocabulary from words, from pictures and from pictures paired
with words. The pictures were helpful in the learning process except
for those students who were overconfident in their view of depending on
the picture. Carpenter, S. & Olson, K. (2011). " Are pictures
good for learning new vocabulary in a foreign language? Only if you
think they are not." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning,
Memory, and Cognition, Jul 25 issue.
~~ There has been much research on how
bilingual visual word recognition is handled in terms of lexical access
in the brain. Most research has shown that access is not
language selective. However, until now, not much has been
studied on the lexical access for auditory word recognition.
It turns out that listening to a second language is in fact, influenced
by the knowledge of your first language. When attempting to recognize
homophones, bilingual listeners recognized any that were common to both
their languages much slower than monolingual listeners. So
lexical access in listening, is not language specific,in bilingual
individuals. Lagrou, E. et al. (2010). Knowledge of
a second language influences auditory word recognition in the native
language. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and
Cognition, April 18t issue (No Pagination, preview)
~~ Children who are bilingual appear to have
better executive processing skills, stronger problem solving skills and
are faster at switching between mental tasks. Bialystok, Ellen. (2010).
"Global-local and trail-making tasks by monolingual and bilingual
children: Beyond inhibition". Developmental Psychology, Vol 46(1),
93-105
~~ Some people acquire partial aphasia due to
head trauma or other neurological damage. This partial aphasia results
in their inability to speak certain grammatical categories, such as
nouns, or verbs, or certain tenses of verbs. Interestingly, when this
event happens with persons who are bilingual, they lose the ability to
speak in both languages. Hence we can now see some overlap in lexicon
grouping in persons who are bilingual. Miozzo, M.; Costa, A.;
Hernández, M; Rapp, B. (2010). Lexical processing in the bilingual
brain: Evidence from grammatical/morphological deficits. Aphasiology,
Vol 24(2), 262-287
LEARNING
~~ 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. But simply having a paper sheet for the
students to fill out as they went along only favored a few learners.
Fiorella, L. & Mayer, R. (2012, Apr 9). "Paper-Based Aids for
Learning With
a Computer-Based Game." Journal of Educational Psychology, preview, nps.
~~ 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.
~~ In helping students prepare for tests,
remember that performance deficits usually arise from failures of
retrieval, not failure of storage or encoding. Simply encoding
information is not learning it - retrieval and expression is what
demonstrates learning. Testing enhances Long Term Memory much more so
than just further study, unless the study time actually involves
retrieval. So tell your students that "effortful retrieval" is the
strongest learning tool. Self testing opportunities should be plentiful
in test preparation. Remind your students, "don't just review,
retrieve, retrieve, retrieve". Ralph Miller, PhD. Binghamton
University- SUNY. "Functional Analysis of Learning and Its Failures:
The Benefits of Imperfect Retrieval." Presented August 14, 2010 APA
Annual Convention, San Diego, CA
~~ Want a better study tool for your
students? Test them! Or have them test themselves, over and over. Tests
are a very good learning devise and testing, testing, testing seems to
be a better study tool than just restudying the material (especially
for recall vs recognition material). The more you retrieve, the easier
it is to retrieve - makes sense. Halamish, V & Bjork, R. (2011)
When does testing enhance retention? A distribution-based
interpretation of retrieval as a memory modifier. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, Vol 37(4),
801-812.
~~ If you are involved in creating online
courses, you may be interested in this new study out this month showing
that it's the synchronicity of the learning experience that matters,
more so than face-to-face vs online. Researchers compared face-to-face
learning with computer-mediated learning, If the mediated learning
involved synchronous social interaction, there was no difference in
cooperation, motivation, interest and achievement from the face-to-face
learning. In asynchronous courses, there was a decline in motivation,
interest and completion rates compared to face-to-face learning.
Roseth, C, Saltarelli, A. and Glass, C. (2011). Effects of face-to-face
and computer- mediated constructive controversy on social
interdependence, motivation, and achievement. Journal of Educational
Psychology, Jul 4, 2011, (preview) No Pagination Specified
~~ As I've reported before, recall of
information is one of the best study tools, so practice tests are a
good learning aid. But, does guessing wrong on a practice test engrain
the incorrect answer for the real test? Apparently not, according to
new research out this month. In practice tests, some students were
encouraged not to guess and others were required to guess (in order to
advance to the next question). Some groups were given immediate
feedback, others had delayed feedback on their answers. Guessing wrong
had no effect on their test performance when given a week later. Kang,
S. et al. 2011. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 103(1), 48 - 59.
~~ Trying to encourage your students or your
children to pursue STEM areas? Most parents and teachers try to
encourage young people by talking about how math and science has helped
them in their life or career. But research shows that when teachers and
parents speak to children about how math and science may be relevant to
the child, we see an increase in enrollment in those types of courses.
Relevance plus value leads to motivation. Help the child see how STEM
courses are relevant to THEIR personal interests and would produce
value in THEIR life, not yours. Chris Hulleman, PhD, James Madison
University. "Relevance and Motivation: Using Theory, and Research to
Make a Difference in the Real World. Presented August 14, 2010 APA
Annual Convention, San Diego, CA
~~ While "discovery-based" instructional
strategies may have enjoyed a resurgence, they have recently come under
scrutiny, particularly those strategies which provide no teacher
assistance in the learning process. A new study compared unassisted
discover to explicit instruction and then compared assisted discovery
techniques to explicit instruction and other teaching methods. They
found in the 580 classroom comparisons, that unassisted discovery does
not benefit learners. Classrooms which allowed enhanced discovery,
using feedback, worked examples, scaffolding and some explanation were
most successful in learning outcomes. Alfieri, L et al. (2010). Does
discovery-based instruction enhance learning? Journal of Educational
Psychology, (Nov issue preview).
~~ There is a lot of discussion today on how
to best encourage adolescents who appear highly talented in the areas
of math and science, to pursue successful adult endeavors in the STEM
areas (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). A new longitudinal
study released last month tracked high-ability adolescents from early
adolescence through mid-life. As one might expect, those mathematically
talented youth whose schools provided both richer and deeper density of
advanced educational experiences were more successful in STEM areas as
adults. Richness includes things such as AP courses, college math
courses offered in high school, etc. Deeper density includes things
such as science and math fair opportunities, research, etc.
Interestingly, it doesn't appear to make a difference as to whether
these talented students get a lot of opportunity or just a little, but
that opportunity is present. If you work with high gifted math
students, you may want to take a look at this new study. Wai, J.,
Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P. & Steiger, J. H. (2010).
Accomplishment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) and its relation to STEM educational dose: A 25-year
longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(4), 860-871.
~~ If you've ever questioned the value of
having students draw or sketch a concept while learning about it,
and/or the value of actually grading the drawing, you might be
interested in another study out this month. The study involved 9th
graders learning a chemistry lesson. Some students were asked to draw
the process while learning about it. Some just read the text. The
quality and accuracy of the drawings were also evaluated. On later
testing for understanding, the students were drew pictures of the
concepts scored higher than those who just read the text. And the
better / more accurate and detailed the drawings, the better the test
score. Schwamborn, A., Mayer, R. E., Thillmann, H., Leopold, C.,
& Leutner, D. (2010). Drawing as a generative activity and
drawing as a prognostic activity. Journal of Educational Psychology,
102(4), 872-879
~~ The research in recent years on the process
of teaching fractions in math has had conflicting advice. Some research
indicates that children should learn the conceptual process before
procedural process and some has indicated exactly the opposite. There
have also been studies indicating students develop both simultaneously.
Well, researchers in Canada and England now propose that the conflict
is the result of variation in children. Their new study looked at grade
4 and 5 students and how they learned fractions. They identified 5
distinct clusters in which children draw on conceptual and procedural
knowledge. Children who rely on conceptual knowledge seem to have an
advantage over children who rely more heavily on procedural knowledge.
Hallett, D.; Nunes, T.; Bryant, P. (2010). Individual differences in
conceptual and procedural knowledge when learning fractions. Journal of
Educational Psychology, Vol 102(2), May 2010, 395-406.
~~ Excellent article in Gifted Child Quarterly
this month discussing students referred to as twice-exceptional. These
are gifted students who also have a specific learning disability and
are among the most underserved students in our school system. Students
with very high Verbal IQs (+120) and low or average written language
scores are easily overlooked because their academic performance is not
failing enough to be noticed. The author accused the system of doing
great disservice to these students who are "not only waiting to fail,
but are failing to thrive" and additional efforts should be made to
support gifted students with specific learning disabilities. Assouline,
S. et al. (2010). "Cognitive and psychosocial characteristics of gifted
students with written language disability." Gifted Child Quarterly. Vol
54(2),102-115.
LEARNING
DISABILITY
MEMORY
~~ Good news for those of us looking to
shore-up our memory function as we get older - Older adults with higher
levels of cardiorespiratory fitness maintain larger hippocampus volumes
as we age. This results in more accurate and faster memory
retrieval and less forgetting. What is not yet known is
whether or not, simply improving fitness in older adults will lead to
improvements in failing memory systems. But at least we can
see a path for preservation! Szabo, A. et al. (2011).
Cardiorespiratory fitness, hippocampal volume, and frequency of
forgetting in older adults. Neuropsychology, April 18 issue, preview,
no page specified.
~~ "Serial Order" Short Term Memory (STM)
refers to our ability to remember a particular sequence of items, such
as a phone number. This skill is different than just "Item" Short Term
Memory which remembers items irrespective of sequence order. A new
study shows a strong correlation between serial order STM and
vocabulary acquisition in young children. Children between the ages of
4 and 5 who were provided tasks which increase serial STM, had a
greater vocabulary development during that time period than did the
children who were simply presented with item STM. Leclercq, A.
& Majerus, S. (2010). Serial-order short-term memory predicts
vocabulary development: Evidence from a longitudinal study.
"Developmental Psychology", Vol 46(2), 417-427.
~~ Every event we experience binds to our
memory in 3 separate ways. (1) The Context - the event and its
surroundings (2) the series Episode - how the experience unfolds in
time (3) a Link to common elements. Our "Memories" then are all 3 of
these networked together in a recollection. But recollection is
separate from familiarity. In facts they may involve separate brain
areas. We know that the hippocampus is involved in recollection, but
also that if the hippocampus is removed, an animal can still have
familiarity. This networking of the memory systems allows us to
associate. For example, if A is linked to B, and B is linked to C, our
brains can associate C and A. Eichenbaum, H. "Neurobiology of
Recollection". Invited Address presented at APA National Conference,
Boston, MA Aug. 16, 2008.
MISCELLANEOUS
~~ Watching online videos and media
multi-tasking is strongly associated with negative social well-being
among 8 - 12 year old girls. Researchers studied how interpersonal
media use such as emailing, texting, posting on social media sites as
well as non-interpersoanl media use (video watching, music, etc)
affected pre-adolescent girls. All types of media use correlated with
more negative social well being - though the video watching was
strongest. Face-to-face social interaction, however was associated with
positive social well-being. Pea, R. (2010) Media use, face-to-face
communication, media multitasking, and social well-being among 8- to
12-year-old girls. Developmental Psychology, Jan 23.
~~ New research adds support to the fact that
fathers make a significant contributions to their children's cognitive
and behavioral development. Researchers in Quebec tracked families of
lower and middle income over children's adolescent period and beyond.
Both boys and girls with a father's positive presence and parental
control had higher IQ's and fewer behavioral problems. For girls, a
father's presence also predicted few problems in preadolescence.
Pougnet, E. et al. (2011). Fathers' influence on children's cognitive
and behavioural functioning: A longitudinal study of Canadian families.
Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue, Vol 43(3), 173-182.
~~ Also out of Canada this month - new
research on the effectiveness of homeschooling. Researchers compared
the academic achievements of homeschooled children with children
attending traditional public school. Homeschooled children, who
followed a structured organized lesson plan had higher scores on
standardized tests than children attending public school. However,
homeschoolers in unstructured homeschool programs scored the lowest.
Martin-Chang, S.; Gould, O.; Meuse, R. (2011) The impact of schooling
on academic achievement: Evidence from homeschooled and traditionally
schooled students. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue. Vol
43(3), 195-202.
~~ We've all heard the expression "90% of
success is just showing up and not knowing when to quit".
Well research now supports that old expression. It turns out that task
persistence in young adolescents is extremely predictive of their
income and occupational levels as adults. In males, it's actually more
predictive than even intelligence. Researchers
measured task persistence in 13 year olds and found that high task
persistence predicted higher grades throughout high school and higher
educational attainment in adulthood. Andersson, H. &
Bergman, L. (2010). "The role oftask persistence in young
adolescence for successful educational and occupational attainment in
middle adulthood." Developmental Psychology, May 30, preview
(no pagination specified).
~~ Girls with a strong hand preference as
toddlers, tend to have higher verbal IQ's as young adults and higher
reading scores. Researchers measured the strength of hand preference in
18 - 42 month old preschoolers and then tracked them through high
school. Girls who had early and consistent hand preference, had early
and strong left hemispheric language specialization. This resulted in
higher cognitive functioning and better reading achievement. Wilbourn,
M, et al (2011). Consistency of hand-preference across the early years:
Long-term relationship to verbal intelligence and reading achievement
in girls. Developmental Psychology, No pagination specified (May 16
edition preview)
~~ Children with Developmental Disabilities
(DD) can exhibit a variety of behavior problem when they start school
which can hamper their success. Researchers have found that many of
these behavior problems are predicted by the number of stressful events
experienced within the child's family during those few preschool years.
Early intervention education programs need to also address how to
create a positive climate for the families. Mitchell, D. &
Hauser-Cram, P. (2009). Early predictors of behavior problems: Two
years after early intervention. "Journal of Early Intervention". Vol
32(1), 3-16.
~~ In a new study, just released today,
researchers have found that almost 50 years after Stanley Milgram's
original study, people are still just as willing to obey an authority
figure. You may remember studying Milgram's famous, "Blind Obedience to
Authority" experiment at Yale, where persons were asked to administer
what they thought were shocks to a stranger in another room. The study
has now been replicated by Jerry Burger and like Milgram, he found
people today just as willing to shock a perfect stranger, simply
because a person in authority asks them to. There was again, no
difference in rates between the genders. Burger, J. (2008). American
Psychologist, Vol 63(1).
NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS
~~ New Research is linking near
sightedness to sleeping with some light present. It seems that children
under the age of two who sleep with a night light or regular room light
on have an significantly higher chance of developing nearsightedness.
In fact 55% of children who slept with the light on as infants are
nearsighted and 33% of children with nightlight are nearsighted.
(University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine).
OCD
~~ New studies out of Australia
and the US (New York) are linking obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
in adolescents as a predictor to other problems such as eating
disorders and suicide. Zaider, T. et.al, (2000) International Journal
of Eating Disorders, Vol 28(1), 58-67. AND Haliburn, J. (2000). J. of
the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, vol
39(1), 13-14.
ODD
PROBLEM
SOLVING
~~ Smart people may have more
efficient brains. An Austrian study used PET scans to watch people
"think." Persons with a higher IQ actually used less area of their
cortex when thinking through a problem and had brains that were more
focused, than persons with lower IQs. The researchers also saw
differences between genders. Females showed greater efficiency on
verbal tasks and males on tasks involving figures. Neubauer, A. et al.
(2002). Intelligence. Vol 30(6), 515-536.
~~ I always enjoy research that
supports more "A Layer" activities in our Layered Curriculum®
classrooms. Here's a new study that suggests affective
strategies for decision making may be equally as effective as
deliberative decision strategies. The researchers put people
under a variety of conditions where they had to make a decision based
either by focusing on their feelings or the objective
details. Both types of decision making allowed complex
problem solving and good decisions The feeling-focused approach did
result in somewhat reduced quality, but the research supports the use
of both "gut feeling" and "hard facts" in decision making.
Mikels, J. et al. (2011). "Should I go with my gut?
Investigating the benefits of emotion-focused decision
making." Emotion. May 30, preview - No pagination specified.
READING
~~ More research out this month on which brain
areas are affected by reading difficulties. Using a whole-head
neuromagnetometer, researchers compared the brain activity of children
with reading difficulties (RD), nonreading impaired children (NI) and
readers with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They
measured cortical activity while naming letter sounds and while reading
pseudowords. No difference was found in letter naming activities, but
while reading pseudowords, children with RD had decreased cortical
activity in both left and right superior temporal gyri and the left
supramarginal and angular gyri. There was no difference in brain
activity areas between NI and ADHD children. So, as we've seen in
previous studies, the temporoparietal cortices of the left hemisphere
and the fusiform gyrus play a most crucial role in basic reading
skills. Simos, P et al. (2011). Functional disruption of the brain
mechanism for reading: Effects of comorbidity and task difficulty among
children with developmental learning problems.Neuropsychology, No
pagination specified (May 16th preview)
~~ Four and five-year olds can benefit from
computerized reading games, but only when given individualized feedback
and correction. A Dutch study had a large group of low SES children use
a computerized tutoring program to play games designed to improve
literacy skills. Half the children received individualized feedback
including oral corrections from the computer. Those children's
code-related literacy skills increased as a result. The children who
played the games without the individualized feedback did not have skill
improvement. It's also interesting to note that children with
inhibitory control problems scored disproportionately low when working
in a computer environment without personalized feedback. Kegel, C.
& Bus, A. (2011). "Online tutoring as a pivotal quality of
web-based early literacy programs." Journal of Educational Psychology,
preview, n.p.s.
~~ For those of you working with struggling
readers at the middle school level - you will want to take a look at
the research out this month on the program Learning Strategies
Curriculum (LSC), which targets adolescents needing reading
intervention. Daily instruction in LSC strategies made a significant
difference for struggling readers in grades 6, 7,and 8. When used in
grade 9, there was no difference at the end of the year for treatment
versus control groups. Cantrell, S. et al. (2010). The impact of a
strategy-based intervention on the comprehension and strategy use of
struggling adolescent readers Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol
102(2), 257-280.
~~ Those of you who support summer home
literacy programs may want to look at a piece of research out in this
month's J. or Ed Psych. The research involved 4th graders from language
minority families. They randomly divided almost 400 students into 3
groups. Group 1 children each selected 10 books to read over summer
vacation. Group 2 children each selected 10 books to read and their
families were involved in a family literacy program over the summer as
well. Group 3 children were the control group with no reading
suggestion. While the first two groups did read more over the summer,
the researchers found no significant effect on reading comprehension or
vocabulary between the groups. The researchers give suggestion on
making summer reading more beneficial. Kim, J. & Guryan, J.
(2010). The efficacy of a voluntary summer book reading intervention
for low-income Latino children from language minority families. Journal
of Educational Psychology. Vol 102(1),20-31.
~~ If you have poor readers in your
elementary classrooms, you may interested in new research out this
month. Traditionally we've thought that it is best to improve reading
by having students read text that was very easy for them. This new
research shows that in 2nd - 4th grade, poor readers can improve
reading rates by reading either at their independent reading level
(92-100% accuracy) or even slightly difficult text (80 - 90% accuracy).
However, be warned that practice reading alone, in elementary grades,
did not make any improvements in students' ability to decipher unknown
words or on passage comprehension. Thus poor readers still need
well-rounded reading interventions. O"Connor, R., et al (2010).
Improvement in reading rate under independent and difficult text
levels: Influences on word and comprehension skills. Journal of
Educational Psychology, Vol 102(1), 1-19.
~~ Simply adding 20 additional minutes of
reading to the school day will not significantly increase reading
scores in elementary aged children. So says new research out this
month. The researchers also found that the traditional lesson of
reading, followed by teacher directed instruction involving workbook
practice or additional teacher-chosen reading, individualized for
reading levels, also is rather ineffective in increasing reading
scores. After analysing the most popular types of reading instruction,
the researchers found that the top 3 in terms of effectiveness were:
(1) allowing student choice of books for guided independent reading (2)
reading of more than 7 pages of continuous text from classroom books
(fiction or non) and (3) 15 -20 min of silent reading with teacher
monitoring, requiring 2 or more books on the same subject, reading
applied to a global theme and follow-up open ended discussion. Block,
C. et al. (2009). Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 101 (2),
262-281
~~ One way to increase the amount of class
time spent on literacy is to embed reading comprehension training into
content area instruction. This can be effective even in the primary
grades as researchers at Columbia University have found. Teachers were
trained to include instruction about structure, compare / contrast
expository text, finding clue words, use of graphic organizers and
analysis of text in their 2nd grade Science instruction. At the end of
the study, there was no loss in the amount of science content acquired
and the students had better performance on reading assessments.
Williams, J. et al (2009). Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 101,
1-20.
~~ Brain-imaging can assist in the
detection of reading problems in elementary aged children.
Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University have teamed up to
look at how fMRI scans can assist educators in early detection of
reading problems. Standard literacy tests can detect reading
problems about 68% of the time and they've found that fMRI scans can
find reading problems about 50% of the time, but when you combine both
the tests and the scans, you can successfully find children at-risk for
reading difficulties over 80% of the time. APA press release,
June 10, 2007 available at apa.org or through APA Public Affairs.
~~ Some remedial reading programs
tout the benefits of alternating the presentation of words to a child's
left and right visual field. Research out of the Netherlands set up
programs in which 2 groups of children repeatedly practiced reading
words presented in either the left or right visual field, or just to
the central visual field. While both groups improved in speed and
accuracy, an improvement the researchers attributed to simply the
reading repetition, the lateral group's improvement was no better than
the central visual field's improvement. Berends, I. &
Reitsma, P.(2005). Journal of Clinical and Experimental
Neuropsychology, Vol 27(7), 886-896.
REWARDS
~~ Trying to decide whether to use incentives
in your school or classroom? The latest research sheds some light on
when, what and how. Using incentives to reward "input" seems to work
much better than incentives for "output". For example, offering rewards
for reading can be productive whereas offering rewards for good grades
doesn't seem to work. And remember that rewards only work if people
know what they need to do or change - merit incentives rarely work if
the person is doing their best already. David Bergin: Use and MisUse of
Incentives in School Settings. Presented at the American Psychological
Association's National Conference, Washington DC. August 5, 2011
~~ From the same research team - Incentives
can make a difference in behavior and learning, but can also be
counterproductive. If an incentive causes a person to try something
they may not otherwise have, and it ties them into the natural flow of
intrinsic reward, then it is worthwhile. As one researcher put it, "If
you've never eaten an artichoke and I pay you $5 to eat one - and you
then discover you love artichokes and eat them often for life, that was
a good incentive." Robert Slavin. Use and MisUse of Incentives in
School Settings. Presented at the American Psychological Association's
National Conference, Washington DC. August 5, 2011
~~ Interested in the psychology of time? You
may want to look at Phil Zimbardo's new work on how life is all about
temptation. Can you delay gratification or do you have to have things
now? Are you filled with regret or looking forward? According to
Zimbardo, we can all be characterized as either present-oriented,
past-oriented, or future-oriented people. His new research shows that
whether or not a child can delay gratification at the age of 4, is the
best predictor of success in life. The famous "marshmallow experiment"
in the 1970's involved offering a child a marshmallow now, or if they
could wait a few minutes, get 2 marshmallows instead. They tracked
those children for 30+ years. Those that could wait (at the age of 4)
did better in all grades of schooling, were more confident and had an
overall higher quality of life as adults. Dr Philip Zimbard, "A
Conversation with Philip Zimbardo and Frank Farley" APA Conference,
August 8, 2009, Toronto, ON.
~~ We are all familiar with trying to decide
if something is worth the effort. The decision of should you work that
hard or give up now and take a smaller reward is based on dopamine
levels in the brain. New research now is going further to dissect which
specific dopamine receptors are involved. Neurons can contain up to 5
variations of dopamine receptors (D1,D2, D3, D4,D5) each triggered by
different components in dopamine and each responsible for different
proteins and responses. In training rats to work harder and harder to
reach a large reward treat (vs a small, easy to get reward), when
blocking D1 and D2 receptors, the rats gave up much quicker. Simulating
D1 and D2 resulted in the rats working harder for longer periods to
reach the reward. The other subtype receptors showed no effect. This
new research may lead to a new understanding of how to help people who
give up too easily. Bardgett, M. et al. (2009). Behavioral
Neuroscience. Vol 123(2), 242-251
SCHOOL
ISSUES
~~The positive feedback bias refers to previous studies showing that
white teachers give more positive feedback 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.
~~ 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.
~~ More college students are seeking
counseling and psychological help at campus centers than at any other
time. A national survey shows that one in 10 college students are now
seeking help on campus for serious problems such as severe depression,
anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Psychologists theorize the increase is
due to the fact that modern psychiatric medications are now allowing a
population of students to attend college who previously may not and a
reduction in the perceived stigma of seeking psychological help.
Munsey, C. (2010). "More student with more serious psychological issues
are showing up at campus counseling centers." Monitor on Psychology,
Vol 41(4), pg 19.
~~ Students who perceive racism in their
school, have lower grades, more defiant behavior and act out. African
American youth have lower achievement scores than their classmates.
While we can attribute half of that achievement gap to family and SES
issues, the other half is due strictly to racism in the school. Black
youth who can "dissemble" the situation (either through withdrawal or
resistance) can be resilient to the racism present in their school and
have higher achievement scores. Curtis, C. (2011) "African American
Youth Responding to Racism in the Classroom." Presented at the American
Psychological Association's National Conference, Washington DC. August
6, 2011
~~ The disproportionate out-of-school
suspension rates between black students and white students is quite
serious and may in fact be driving the continuation of the large
achievement gap in academic performance. Low- supportive and
low-structured school have the highest suspension rates for both black
and white students and have the highest academic achievement gap
between the races. The higher the overall suspension rate is at a
school, the higher the achievement gap. Improved school climate,
structure and support lead to the smallest achievement gap between
races. Dewey Cornell, PhD. "Relationship of School Structure and
Support to Suspension Rates for Black and White High School Students."
August 6, 2011, APA National Conference, Washington, DC.
~~ It has been well documented for the last
several decades that minority males from low socio-economic homes are
more likely to be removed from school for disruptive behavior. However,
it's been unclear as to whether this is due to a perceived or actual
disparity in aggressive behavior among the group. An interesting new
study measured aggressive behavior in children beginning in grade 1 and
then tracked them through grade 7. They found that even when
controlling for individual levels of aggression in first grade, African
Americans from poverty environments were still far more likely to be
removed from school. Petras, H. et al. (2011). Who is most at risk for
school removal? Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(1), 223 - 237.
~~ Thus far, high stakes testing has not been
shown to improve achievement and has been found to be somewhat
detrimental to student motivation. But, does the testing actually harm
students? While many teachers report anecdotally that it does, we have
no empirical evidence to support that. Research is lacking. Researchers
from Northern Illinois University attempted to study the stress-effect
on students of high stakes testing, but ran into design problems in
that no school would allow the team to come in sooner than one month
prior to testing. Until we get research to indicate otherwise, we can
continue to assume that while they may not do any good, high stakes
testings may also not be doing any harm. Stephen M Tonks, PhD, Northern
Illinois University. "Investigating High-Stakes Testing, Motivation,
Test Anxiety, and Engagement in Children". Presented August 13, 2010.
APA Annual Convention, San Diego, CA.
~~ Most research on procrastination has been
on “passive” procrastination. This has been linked to avoidance
behavior, low self-efficacy, poor quality and poor grades. However,
researchers are now looking at “active” procrastination - students who
intentionally procrastinate because they recognize that they work
better under pressure. This can actually be linked to strong feelings
of self-efficacy, motivation and improved quality of work. Danya M
Corkin, PhD Med. University of Houston. “Role of Self-Regulated
Learning on Active and passive Procrastination”. August 13, 2010. APA
Annual convention, San Diego, CA
~~ More college students are seeking
counseling and psychological help at campus centers than at any other
time. A national survey shows that one in 10 college students are now
seeking help on campus for serious problems such as severe depression,
anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Psychologists theorize the increase is
due to the fact that modern psychiatric medications are now allowing a
population of students to attend college who previously may not and a
reduction in the perceived stigma of seeking psychological help.
Munsey, C. (2010). "More student with more serious psychological issues
are showing up at campus counseling centers." Monitor on Psychology,
Vol 41(4), pg 19.
~~ High School students' academic self-concept
is influenced not only by the achievement levels of other students in
their class (so called, "frame of reference" effect) but also by the
prestige or standings of the school they attend (so called, "reflected
glory" effect). In a large study, researchers found that among equally
achieving students, those placed in high-achieving learning groups had
lower academic self-concepts than their peers. But, the negative
effects of being placed in high-achieving learning groups were weaker
for high-achieving students. For both groups, academic self-concept was
positively influenced by their perceived school standings in the
community. Trautwein, U., et al. (2009). Within-school social
comparison: How students perceive the standing of their class predicts
academic self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(4),
853-866.
~~ As students transition through middle
school, they may be greatly influenced by what until recently has not
been studied - the older sibling. Can an older brother or sister have a
strong positive effect on a middle schooler? Absolutely, says new
research in this month's J or Ed Psych. But the influence is complex.
If the sibling is of the same gender, then a high achieving older
sibling is a strong positive role model. However, with mixed gender
siblings, a high achieving older sibling may be a negative role model
as the younger sibling tries to be "not like" their older brother or
sister. The research suggests schools may want to gather information on
siblings in making a complete picture of the middle school student.
Bouchey, H., et al (2010). Longitudinal links between older sibling
features and younger siblings' academic adjustment during early
adolescence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(1), 197-211.
~~ A study started in 1993 with 1st-graders in
Baltimore compared 2 preventive intervention programs and tracked the
children through their high school graduation. One set of 1st
graders were exposed to a classroom-centered (CC)
intervention which used a combination of teacher instruction
and curriculum improvements along with the Good Behavior Game to reduce
aggressive behaviors and improve academic performance. The
second group used a Family-School Partnership program promoting parent
involvement based on the work of Canter & Canter.
After tracking the students through all their school years, the CC
intervention was associated with higher scores on achievement tests,
increased high school graduation and college attendance, and reduced
odds of special education service use. Bradshaw, C. et al
(2009). Longitudinal impact of two universal preventive
interventions in first grade on educational outcomes in high school.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 926-937.
~~ Pre-K students who have more play time do
better in both academic outcomes and performance throughout their later
school years. Why is play, particularly social pretend play,
so important? It helps to develop "Executive Function"
(EF). Current research has found that EF is more important
for school readiness than vocabulary and IQ. In fact, EF is
the most predictive factor of school success. Leading
researcher, Adele Diamond says "Improving EF skills in preschool would
actual reduce the academic disparity seen now between SES classes, by
improving both reading and math." EF skill can be improved in
pre-K programs by using social pretend play to increase a child's
ability to inhibit internal and external distractions. Play and story
telling can also be used to develop strong working memory, which will
be used for things that unfold over time, such as reading and mental
math. Working memory and inhibition strategies work together to become
"Executive Function". Dr Adele Diamond, "Strategies and
Programs that Help to Improve Executive Functions in Young
Children. APA conference, August 7, 2009 Toronto
SLEEP
~~ 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 individual, 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.
~~ High-stress events cause negative affect in
just about everyone -
sleep deprived or not. But even the smallest-stress daily events can
cause high negative affect in people who have sleep-deprivation. Small
stress events can impact cognitive function, decision making and
learning. Minkel, J. et al (2012 Feb) "Sleep deprivation and stressors:
Evidence for elevated negative affect in response to mild stressors
when sleep deprived." Emotion, nps.
~~ Naps are excellent for consolidation of
information learned. Sleep before learning prepares the brain better
for learning. Learning capacity of the brain decreases across the day
and a nap can restore it. A nap refreshes the hippocampus and allows
more learning. Matthew Walker, PhD. UC Berkeley. “To Sleep, Perchance
to Remodel the Brain and Improve Memory”. August 13, 2010. APA Annual
convention, San Diego, CA.
~~ Sleep is biological creativity. The
difference in how the brain handles learned information before and
after sleep is the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Learning
involves 3 steps for memory formation – 1. encoding 2. consolidation
and integration 3. recall. Sleep is vital for the 2nd stage. The last 2
hours of our sleep is most critical for consolidation and yet our sleep
is often cut short. Sleep physically changes the geography of memories.
After sleep the location in the brain of our learning has actually
moved. Matthew Walker, PhD. UC Berkeley. "To sleep, Perchance to
Remodel the Brain and Improve Memory." August 13, 2010 APA Annual
Convention, San Diego, CA
~~ While 90% of Americans drink caffeinated
product, caffeine is not effective in improving task performance. In
fact, it makes it worse. In a study, people were taught a task in the
morning and tested for performance. Then then they let 10 hours pass.
During that 10 hours, one group was given caffeine, one was given a
placebo and one was given a nap. Then all groups were retested. The nap
group performed the best. The placebo group did a little worse than the
nap group. The lowest performing group was that which had caffeine.
Apparently, caffeine increases Acetylcholine levels which block
hippocampus consolidation, thus leading to poor memory formation and
recall. Sara Mednick, PhD, UC-San Diego. "What can Sleep stages tell us
about the mechanisms of memory consolidation?" presented at the APA
national conference, San Diego, April 13, 2010.
~~ Dr Mednick's research also indicated that a
night of sleep coupled with a nap equals the best learning. If you
learn a task and then are tested later that day, before sleep, your
performance is worse – you have regressed. If you get a 60 minute nap
(little REM) there is less regression, but still not peak performance.
If you get a full night sleep or 90 minute nap (more REM) this equals
your best performance. Any mini-nap will give you better learning,
especially with perceptual tasks. Short-wave, nRem sleep protects
memory and provides perceptual maintenance. REM sleep aids in
perceptual learning and restructure neural networks. Sleep rich in REM
allows more creative ideas and insight. After good REM sleep periods a
person is better able to utilize information in abstract areas. Sara
Mednick, PhD, UC-San Diego. "What can Sleep stages tell us about the
mechanisms of memory consolidation?" presented at the APA national
conference, San Diego, April 13, 2010.
~~ Sleep deprived brains do 40% worse on
encoding new information. Memory networks fail under sleep deprivation.
The hippocampus simply cannot lay down any new information. Matthew
Walker, PhD. UC Berkeley. “To Sleep, Perchance to Remodel the Brain and
Improve Memory”. August 13, 2010. APA Annual convention, San Diego, CA
~~ Motor skills improve 35% after sleep. The
last 2 hours of our sleep is most critical for consolidation and yet is
the piece most often cut short. Sleep physically changes the geography
of memories. After sleep, the location in the brain of our learning has
actually moved. Matthew Walker, PhD. UC Berkeley. “To Sleep, Perchance
to Remodel the Brain and Improve Memory”. August 13, 2010. APA Annual
convention, San Diego, CA
~~ Ever heard of orexin neurons? These
neurons, found only in the hypothalamus of the brain, secrete a unique
protein called orexin. These proteins regulate, sleep, wakefulness, and
food seeking. Problems with orexins can lead to things like narcolepsy
and obesity. (for more info on this see the article by Denis Burdakov
in the June 1, 2006 issue of "Neuron.") Psychologists though now have
found these neurons also play a major role in reward processing and
alcohol, nicotine and cocaine addiction. All 3 of these drugs activate
these unique neurons and a better understanding of how they are
regulated should lead to improved help for persons with substance abuse
issues. Dr Gary Aston-Jones, "Orexin Neurons, Reward SEeking and
Addiction." APA Conference, August 8, 2009, Toronto, ON.
~~ By now, most of us are familiar with the
relationship between neural plasticity, memory consolidation and sleep.
New research shows that the effectiveness of sleep's role in these may
in part be determined by prenatal influences - in particular a mother's
diet and alcohol consumption. These influence how much and when the
mother's system delivers choline to the developing child. High choline
delivery equals brains that run more efficient during sleep (high gamma
waves). Lower choline levels equals slower memory, particularly spatial
memory. Meck, W.. "Prenatal Choline Supplementation Facilitates
Hippocampal Activity During Adult REM Sleep". Symposium:
Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation and Neural Plasticity. Presented
at APA National Conference, Boston, MA Aug. 16, 2008.
~~ Most of us know that sleep is a vital part
of the learning process. Humans and other primates are unique in that
we have 4 stages of non-REM sleep allowing a more detailed process.
Stage 1 sleep is a "consolidation" period where the brain sorts through
the events from the day and weeds out those that it deems not important
enough for long term storage. Stage 2 sleep is a time for "pruning".
Most memory systems remain silent while the brain prunes out unneeded
dendrites. Our REM period is for synaptic strengthening. By far, the
biggest beneficiary of sleep is our brain. Datta, S. "Common Switch for
Dreaming and Memory Processing During Sleep": Symposium:
Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation and Neural Plasticity. Presented
at APA National Conference, Boston, MA Aug. 16, 2008.
~~ More fMRI research on how the
sleepy brain works (or doesn't). Researchers at the Univ of
PA had subjects take various visual tests while scanning their brains
with a fMRI. Half the subjects were well rested, half were
sleep deprived. In the sleepy brains, regions in the frontal, parietal,
visual sensory and thalamic cortices all showed reduced
activity. Occasionally though, the sleepy brains looked and
functioned just like the well rested brains. Apparently a
sleepy brain alternates between normal activity and an involuntary
sleep impulse - a sort of "zoning out" sensation when trying
to complete a task while sleepy. Dinges, D. (2008). Journal of
Neuroscience, Vol 28, (21), 5519-5528.
SMOKING
~~ Nicotine degenerates certain
neurons in the central regions of the brain. As with other drugs, grey
matter neurons appear to degenerate faster than white matter.
(Apparently the "white" fatty cover offers some protection). Carlson,
J. Neuropharmacology. 2000. vol 39(13), 2792-2798.
STRESS
~~ In case you need one more piece of research
to tell you that the cortisol levels associated with acute stress
sabotage a learning environment and hinder memory retrieval - here's
another piece released this month from the neuroscience world. They
subjected people to stress conditions and then had them try to learn
social aspects of people (names, birthdays, favorites, etc). They also
subjected another group to the same learning trials but without the
stress. As predicted, social memory retrieval is significantly impaired
when the items were learned under, or right after acute stress. Merz,
C.; Wolf, O.; Hennig, J. (2010). "Stress Impairs Retrieval of Socially
Relevant Information". Behavioral Neuroscience. Vol 124(2), 288-293.
~~ The right amygdala (RA) is responsible for
recognizing interpersonal emotions. It begins functioning
around 6 months gestation. Prenatal drug use or severe depression in
the third trimester, or early neglect can hijack the RA. A
child with such a tainted RA cannot self-regulate. They are in
perpetual stress, the RA is running free and the child cannot
participate in the bonding event. They have difficulty
reading others. This creates the “attachment
disorders”. Steven Gray, PhD, University of the
Rockies. “Amygdala and Attachment: Existential
Implications.” Presented August 13, 2010. APA Annual
Convention, San Diego, CA.
~~ New research on treating trauma in children
is starting to surface
now that psychologists have had 5 years to follow thousands of children
affected by Hurricane Katrina. There is now better understanding of how
to deal with children after any traumatic event. The majority
of children are resilient, but some do need a long time to
recover. Keys to helping children after a trauma:
- Acknowledge the distress - something
parents tend to underestimate.
- Different ages need different
intervention. Adolescents, in particular are often ignored,
when this is a time to focus on their strength and involve them in
community recovery.
- Turn your local school into a community and
family resource center.
- Be aware and prepared for ancillary
consequences such as lack of a safe place for regular play and
recreation.
- Be aware of cultural differences and
prepare to have a variety of cultural intervention strategies. Clay, R.
(2010). Treating traumatized children." Monitor on
Psychology, Vol. 41(7), 36-39.
~~In case you need one more piece of research
to tell you that the cortisol levels associated with acute stress
sabotage a learning environment and hinder memory retrieval - here's
another piece released this month from the neuroscience world. They
subjected people to stress conditions and then had them try to learn
social aspects of people (names, birthdays, favorites, etc). They also
subjected another group to the same learning trials but without the
stress. As predicted, social memory retrieval is significantly impaired
when the items were learned under, or right after acute stress. Merz,
C.; Wolf, O.; Hennig, J. (2010). "Stress Impairs Retrieval of Socially
Relevant Information". Behavioral Neuroscience. Vol 124(2), 288-293.
STUDENT-CENTERED
CLASSROOMS
~~ More research now out supporting the
perception of student choice in classroom assignments. In this study,
half the classes received a choice in their homework options, half did
not. In the following unit of study, the options were reversed. Results
show that when students received a choice of homework activities, they
reported higher intrinsic motivation to do the homework, were more
likely to complete the homework, felt more competent in the work, and
performed better on the unit test. Patall, E. et al. (2010). The
effectiveness and relative importance of choice in the classroom.
Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol 102(4), 896-915
~~ Teachers are constantly warned
against using sarcasm with students due to the ease with which it can
be misinterpreted. New research on how the brain processes
sarcasm shows just how complex it is. While the left
hemisphere is primarily responsible for the literal interpretation of
what you hear, the right hemisphere, along with areas of the frontal
lobes interpret the social and emotional aspects of what you
hear. A specific region in the right ventromedial area of the
prefrontal cortex puts these two pieces together. Damage to
any of these areas affects a person's ability to understand
sarcasm. Shamay-Tsoory, S. & Tomer,
R.(2005). Neuropsychology, Vol 19(3)
~~ A team of psychologists has
compiled the data on
cooperative vs individual classroom models from the last several
decades. The culmination included research involving more than 17,000
adolescents aged 12 - 15 years from 11 countries. Their
findings: students in classrooms that supported cooperative
learning (group projects, group study, group prep for exams) not only
had better peer relationships, they scored higher on academic tests and
scored higher on tests for problem-solving, reasoning and critical
thinking. Students from classrooms that supported individual and / or
competitive work, still maintained their social friendships but their
academic scores were lower and scores on problem solving and
critical-thinking were poorer. Roseth, C., et al. (2008) Psychological
Bulletin, Vol 134(2).
STUTTERING
~~ If you are looking for medical
treatments for stuttering you may want to check a new study out of the
University of California at Irvine Medical center. Although in the
past, medications have had limited effect on stuttering, they have
found some success with Haloperidol and Risperidone. Lavid, Franklin
& Maguire. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 1999. Vol 11(4),
233-236.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
~~ Marijuana users of all ages perform more
poorly than non-users on cognitive tasks, especially those that require
executive function. New research shows that early users (people who
began marijuana use prior to age 16) have more difficulty than late
onset users. Age of onset, frequency of use and amount of use were all
factors in poor cognitive performance. Onset of marijuana use during
adolescence is now also linked to altered brain development leading to
long-term cognitive impairment. Gruber, S. et al. (2011). "Age of onset
of marijuana use and executive function" Psychology of Addictive
Behaviors, Nov 21 issue.
~~ Interesting new research out on risk
factors for initiating use of alcohol and other drugs during middle
school years. There appears a significant correlation between emotional
stress and initiating substance use. Children who experience stressful
life events in grade 6 were at a higher risk for initiating an illicit
substance by grade 8. (Children who initiate use before grade 6 had
significantly higher symptoms of depression). Children with high levels
of separation anxiety / panic symptoms were at a very low risk for
alcohol initiation. And those middle-schoolers who strongly perceived
teacher support in school were at a significantly lower risk of alcohol
initiation. McCarty, C. et al (2011). "Emotional health predictors of
substance use initiation during middle school." Psychology of Addictive
Behaviors. preview n.p.s.
~~ Marijuana use is associated with violence
and weapon use in teens. This is associated more so with boys.
Marijuana, in isolation of any alcohol use, has a definite correlation
with peer violence. Renee Johnson, PhD, Boston University.
"Co-Occurring Marijuana Use and Violence Among Black Adolescents."
Presented August 14, 2010 APA Annual Convention, San Diego, CA
~~ Marijuana use among African American males
has been linked to poor relationships, conduct problems and problems
lingering into adulthood. Data collected regarding African American
males who have been suspended or expelled from school indicate that
only 7% of non-users fall into this category, whereas 23% of users are
among those who have been suspended or expelled. Dr April Harris-Britt,
"Pathways to Chronic Substance Use for African American Adolescent
Males". APA conference, August 8, 2009 Toronto.
~~ African American girls report less
substance use than other girl counterparts. Positive youth development
including "the 5 C's" - competence, confidence, connections, character,
caring have been successful in reducing substance use with this
population. The most significant factor is a good relationship with
their father, though having an available mentor and positive school
climate were also associated with less substance use in girls. Shauna
Cooper, PhD. "Positive Youth Development Among African American Girls:
Implications for Prevention". APA conference, August 8, 2009 Toronto
~~ The National Institutes of
Health has funded a couple of studies through SUNY showing a possible
cause for the high risk of substance abuse during adolescence by those
children whose mothers used alcohol during pregnancy.
Apparently, the brain of a developing child learns what is "good to
consume" based significantly on what flavors and chemicals it finds in
the amniotic fluid and breast milk. The learned taste fades
somewhat as the person ages, but is still fairly strong in adolescence.
The good news is that if these teens are steered away from alcohol use
during teen years, they may not be so at risk for abuse as adults.
Chamberlin, J. (2008). Monitor on Psychology, Vol 39(3), 12.
~~ More than half of all 8th
graders have experience with alcohol. Studies show that
children who drink prior to age 13, increase their chances of having an
alcohol dependence as adults by 38%. Alcohol use in
adolescence is a serious problem. Besides contributing to
thousands of deaths each year, alcohol use is blamed for an increase in
other at-risk behaviors. Prevention is tricky due to the
differences in the way adolescents' brains operate.
Successful prevention comes from parent- school cooperative projects
which monitor behavior and provide alternative activities.
Meyers, L (2008). Monitor on Psychology, Vol 39(1), 14.
SUICIDE
~~When working with adolescents who hurt
themselves, it is important to separate the four categories / levels:
(1) Non-suicidal self injury (NSSI) – self injury with no intent to
die. (2) Suicide Ideation – has thought about suicide, but no specific
plan. (3) Suicide Plan – has made a specific plan. (4) Suicide Attempt
– actually tried to kill oneself. 9% of adolescents have had suicide
ideation, 3% have planned it, and 2.7% have attempted suicide. Of those
that have attempted, 60% of them make their 1st attempt within a year
of ideation. The longer they plan, the less likely they are to attempt.
Matthew Nock, PhD. Harvard University. “Why Adolescents and Young
Adults Hurt Themselves: Advances in the Understanding of Suicidal and
Non suicidal Self-Injury." Presented August 13, 2010 APA Annual
Convention, San Diego, CA
~~ Adolescents who engage in non-suicidal self
injury (hurt themselves intentionally, with no intent to die, (NSSI)
tend to have a poor ability to tolerate distress. They also tend to
make poor choices in problem solution strategies. There are 4 reasons
why youth may use self-injury: (1) to stop bad feelings (2) to feel
something (3) to get attention (a means of communicating) (4) to avoid
having to do something else. Why do they engage in NSSI? Social
modeling of peers / media, a form of self punishment, or for pragmatic
reasons - research shows self-inflicted pain is an effective and
immediate distractor. It is a very effective way to de-arouse Matthew
Nock, PhD. Harvard University. “Why Adolescents and Young Adults Hurt
Themselves: Advances in the Understanding of Suicidal and Non suicidal
Self-Injury." Presented August 13, 2010, American Psychological
Association Annual Conference, San Diego.
~~ Both adolescents and their parents
recognize that teen suicide is a major problem, but most don't
acknowledge that it's a problem in their own community. In a survey
carried out by a research group for pediatricians, adolescents reported
that certain behaviors such as drug and alcohol use would predict teen
suicide. Interestingly, the parents reported that they saw drug and
alcohol use as normal adolescent behavior. The researchers concluded
that adolescents and their parents need help in understanding the true
risks and prevalence of teen suicide in their own community. Schwartz,
K. et al. (2010). Attitudes and Beliefs of Adolescent and Parents
Regarding Adolescent Suicide. Pediatrics, Vol.125 (2) pp. 221-227.
~~ Teen suicide among American Indians is
three times the national average. If you look at American Indians in
remote regions the picture is worse - ten times the national average!
In fact, the Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota has the highest
suicide rate in the world. Fortunately this has caught the attention of
native and non-native mental health professionals. They have teamed up
to blend both traditional Native spiritual teachings with modern
psychological practice to try to address the poverty, isolation and
years of oppressive conditions which all lead to the high incidence of
depression in these areas. DeAngelis, T. (2009). "Natural Healing"
Monitor on Psychology, Vol 40(10), pag 48 - 50.
TEENAGERS
~~ Do you know where your children are?
Apparently that is very
important for parents of teens Research continues to support the idea
that parent's knowledge of their teen's whereabout and their activities
is the strongest prevention for adolescent substance use and
delinquency. A new study out this month shows that this relationship is
even stronger in adolescents with ADHD. So, despite the difficulty in
parenting teens with ADHD, knowing where they are and what they are
doing is your best protection against risky behavior. Walther, C. et al
(2012, Feb 13). "Substance Use and Delinquency Among Adolescents With
Childhood ADHD: The Protective Role of Parenting. Psychology of
Addictive Behaviors, preview, no page specified.
~~ Most people have some type of significant
life-changing event happen to them at some point. Whether you are able
to make meaning out of that event or not can lead to better adjustment
and overall well-being. According to new research, this is true of
adolescents as well. In a study of high school students, those in grade
12 who had been able to make meaning out of a significant life turning
point were better adjusted psychologically than those who were not.
Tavernier, R. & Willoughby, T. (2011). "Adolescent turning
points: The association between meaning-making and psychological
well-being." Developmental Psychology, Nov 28 preview, no page
specified
~~ Students during early adolescence often
struggle academically due to help avoidance and diminished interaction
with the classroom teachers. Help avoidance varies for both
gender and race. A recent study compared boys and girls of European
American and African American race. All groups increased in
help avoidance as they transitioned to middle school.
European American girls were less likely to avoid help than E. A.
boys. Researchers found no difference in help avoidance
between genders of African American students. Ryan, A. et
al. (2009) Developmental Psychology. Vol 45(4), 1152-1163.
~~ Social stress during adolescence has long
been associated with psychopathology in adults. Researchers are using
rats to try to link specific types of stress (in this case "social
defeat" stress) during mid-adolescence to adult behavior problems in
males. Rats who experienced social defeat in adolescence were more
anxious as adults, more excitable in novelty situation and had
significant altered monoamine levels in the limbic areas of their
brains - dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin levels were all changed
compared to the rats in the control group. Watt, M. et al (2009).
Behavioral Neuroscience. Vol 123(3), 564-576.
~~ Academic performance often begins to
decline during middle school - a most critical time of adolescent
development. Parental involvement has long been studied as a major
factor in middle school student achievement. New research now looks to
see specifically, what factors of parent involvement make the biggest
difference on achievement. Of the many factors examined, "Academic
socialization" (emotional support and parents view of academic study)
had the greatest effect on achievement. Nearly all types of parental
involvement had a positive effect. The lone factor that did NOT
positively effect achievement? - parental help with homework. Hill, N.
& Tyson, D. (2009). Developmental Psychology. Vol 45(3),
740-763.
~~ Girls born to teenage mothers are at
greater risk for becoming teenage mothers themselves. A new study
tracked 1500 young adolescent girls (some born to teenage mothers and
some to older mothers) for 6 years. The results - girls born to teenage
mothers were 66% more likely to also become a teenage mother, even
after factoring out other influences such as school performance, family
status, and race. The risk factors associated with teenage mothers
include deviant peer norms, low parental monitoring, Hispanic race and
poverty. Meade, C. et al (2008). Health Psychology. Vol 27(4), 419-429.
TOURETTE'S
~~ Gordon Millichap at
Northwestern U Medical school has published documentation which accues
methylphenidate as a possible cause of tourettes syndrome. Among other
studies, Millichap shows the strong correlation between Methyphenidate
(ritalin) and the increase in tourettes. Developmental Medicine
& Child Neurology, 1999,vol 41(5), 356.
VIOLENCE
~~ 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, no page specified.
~~ While we've been hearing for the past
decade that playing violent video games can make children aggressive,
the latest research is shedding a more focused light on the situation.
Recent research on the effects of violent video gaming has had mixed
results because they appear to be dependent on the individual
personalities of the children. Children who have pre-existing
aggressive personalities and who seem to be less disturbed by violence
in general, are the ones most susceptible to violent video games. As
one researcher put it - think of violent video games like we do peanut
butter. For most of us, peanut butter is a tasty treat, but for a
select group of individuals it can be very damaging. Patrick Markey,
PhD. "The Hand That Holds the Controller: The Moderating Effect of
Personality on Violent Video Games."August 5, 2011, APA National
Conference, Washington, DC.
~~ Moral Disengagement is a term psychologists
use to denote what can happen when a young person is raised in an
environment with exposure to a lot of trauma. It is associated with
frequent aggressive and violent behavior. Apparently it is easier to
rationalize violent or aggressiveness if your surrounding seem to
indicate it is the “norm” and still allows you to consider yourself a
moral person. Higher trauma = poor social problem solving = higher
moral disengagement. Inner-city adolescents are exposed to a lot of
trauma. Interventions that only address or treat only the child are
ineffective because they just return to the same traumatic environment.
Kedel L Coker, PhD, Nova Souteastern University. T"rauma and Violence
in Adolescent Populations: Linking Trauma and Moral Disengagement in
African American Inner-city Youth". August 12, 2010. APA Annual
Convention, San Diego, CA.
~~ While serious school violence in this
country is rare, its presence is frightening to students, teachers and
community. Unsettling are the statistics that show in 81% of school
shooting events, the attacker told someone about his plans - usually a
friend, peer or sibling. Yet these confidants chose not to disclose the
information. Researchers at Penn State and Missouri State have given
adolescents various hypothetical situations about a peer's plan to "do
something dangerous" at school to see what factors influence this
so-called "code of silence". Most students were more likely to take
action on their own over confiding in a teacher or principal. High
school students were less likely than middle schoolers to say they
would report the information to someone. Students from schools with
positive relationships between teachers and students and fellow
classmates were more likely to take some action (their perception of a
democratic school structure). The study shows how important it is for
schools to take serious the relationships between all the people in the
building as one of the strongest preventions of school violence.
Syvertsen, A., Flanagan, C., Stout, M. (2009). Journal of Educational
Psychology, Vol 101(1), 219-232.
~~ Lead exposure in childhood continues to be
a social problem in many arenas. New research indicates that lead
exposure prenatally as well as in early childhood can lead to a
significant decrease in the brain's gray matter in early adulthood.
Lead exposure, in males in particular caused reduced volume in the
prefrontal cortex. Other research links early lead exposure to
antisocial behavior in adulthood as well. Exposure to lead before age 6
increases a person's chance of being arrested for a violent crime in
adulthood. Bellinger, D. (2008). Neurological and Behavioral
Consequences of Childhood Lead Exposure. PLoS Med, 5(5), e115.
~~ One little-known expectation of our Global
Warming is an increase in violent crime. Every 2 degree (F) increase in
global temperature equals an increase of 30,000 more victims of violent
crime, per year in the US alone. Anderson, C. "Global Warming and
Violence." Presented at APA National Conference, Boston, MA Aug. 16,
2008.
Dr Kathie Nunley