ADHD
~~ 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
~~ 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
~~ 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
~~ 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
~~ 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
~~ 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
~~ 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
~~ 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