Developing fluency and endurance in a child diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
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We examined the effect of a teaching method on skill fluency and on-task endurance of a 9-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. An academic task that occurred at low fluency during 10-min baseline sessions was taught to fluency. When responding was not yet fluent, brief reversals to baseline showed that the learner's rate of responding decreased and that he did not spend entire sessions on task. However, once a fluency goal had been reached, responding remained fluent and he remained on task in the third reversal condition. (+info)
National Research Service Awards. Final rule.
(18/698)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is amending the regulations governing National Research Service Awards (NRSA) in order to incorporate changes necessitated by enactment of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) Reorganization Act of 1992, Public Law 102-321, and the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993, Public Law 103-43. (+info)
Effects of maternal employment and prematurity on child outcomes in single parent families.
(19/698)
BACKGROUND: Effects of maternal employment for preschool children vary based on specific characteristics of the mother's employment, the family's economic status, and the mother's attitudes about employment. However, there is limited research on a growing group of children at developmental risk-those born prematurely and living in a single-parent family. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of maternal employment and prematurity on child cognition and behavior in single-parent families. METHODS: Sixty preterm and 61 full-term preschool children were recruited through NICU admission records and birth records. Data were collected with the Kaufmann Assessment Battery for Children, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Child Behavior Checklist, Parenting Stress Index, and the Life History Calendar. RESULTS: Greater hours employed was related to higher achievement and mental processing scores only. Less discrepancy between actual and desired employment was related to higher achievement, mental processing, and language scores and lower behavior scores. Prematurity was not related to child cognitive and behavioral performance. Only the relationship between discrepancy and language remained after statistical control. CONCLUSIONS: The concerns about negative effects of maternal employment on young children may be overstated, especially in low-income, single-mother families. These findings are especially important in the context of welfare reform. (+info)
Introducing a reward system in assessment in histology: a comment on the learning strategies it might engender.
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BACKGROUND: Assessment, as an inextricable component of the curriculum, is an important factor influencing student approaches to learning. If assessment is to drive learning, then it must assess the desired outcomes. In an effort to alleviate some of the anxiety associated with a traditional discipline-based second year of medical studies, a bonus system was introduced into the Histology assessment. Students obtaining a year mark of 70% were rewarded with full marks for some tests, resulting in many requiring only a few percentage points in the final examination to pass Histology. METHODS: In order to ascertain whether this bonus system might be impacting positively on student learning, thirty-two second year medical students (non-randomly selected, representing four academic groups based on their mid-year results) were interviewed in 1997 and, in 1999, the entire second year class completed a questionnaire (n = 189). Both groups were asked their opinions of the bonus system. RESULTS: Both groups overwhelming voted in favour of the bonus system, despite less than 45% of students failing to achieve it. Students commented that it relieved some of the stress of the year-end examinations, and was generally motivating with regard to their work commitment. CONCLUSIONS: Being satisfied with how and what we assess in Histology, we are of the opinion that this reward system may contribute to engendering appropriate learning approaches (i.e. for understanding) in students. As a result of its apparent positive influence on learning and attitudes towards learning, this bonus system will continue to operate until the traditional programme is phased out. It is hoped that other educators, believing that their assessment is a reflection of the intended outcomes, might recognise merit in rewarding students for consistent achievement. (+info)
Longevity of screenwriters who win an academy award: longitudinal study.
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OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the link between high success and longevity extends to academy award winning screenwriters. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort analysis. PARTICIPANTS: All screenwriters ever nominated for an academy award. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Life expectancy and all cause mortality. RESULTS: A total of 850 writers were nominated; the median duration of follow up from birth was 68 years; and 428 writers died. On average, winners were more successful than nominees, as indicated by a 14% longer career (27.7 v 24.2, P=0.004), 34% more total films (23.2 v 17.3, P<0.001), 58% more four star films (4.8 v 3.1, P<0.001), and 62% more nominations (2.1 v 1.3, P<0.001). However, life expectancy was 3.6 years shorter for winners than for nominees (74.1 v 77.7 years, P=0.004), equivalent to a 37% relative increase in death rates (95% confidence interval 10 to 70). After adjustment for year of birth, sex, and other factors, a 35% relative increase in death rates was found (7% to 70%). Additional wins were associated with a 22% relative increase in death rates (3% to 44%). Additional nominations and additional other films in a career otherwise caused no significant increase in death rates. CONCLUSION: The link between occupational achievement and longevity is reversed in screenwriters who win academy awards. Doubt is cast on simple biological theories for the survival gradients found for other members of society. (+info)
Which measure of adolescent psychiatric disorder--diagnosis, number of symptoms, or adaptive functioning--best predicts adverse young adult outcomes?
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OBJECTIVE: To test the ability of psychiatric diagnosis, symptom count, and adaptive functioning in adolescence to predict failure to complete secondary school and criminal involvement in young adulthood. DESIGN: Community-based cohort study. SETTING: Two counties in upstate New York, USA. PARTICIPANTS: 181 adolescents interviewed in 1983 and 1985-86 who were randomly selected in 1975 from a probability area sampling of representative families with 1-10 year old children. MAIN RESULTS: Compared with adolescents without psychiatric disorders, adolescents with depressive, anxiety, disruptive, and substance abuse disorders were 2.86-9.21 times more likely to fail to complete secondary school. Compared with adolescents without disruptive disorders, adolescents with disruptive disorders were 4.04 (1.96-8.32) times more likely to get in trouble with police during young adulthood. The positive predictive value of each measure of adolescent psychiatric disorder for school non-completion was higher in the lowest SES stratum and for young adult criminal involvement was higher for boys. Combining knowledge of symptom counts, age, gender, and social class in a logistic regression model yielded 89% sensitivity and 87% specificity for predicting future school non-completion at the p >or= 0.13 cut off. The optimal cut off value in a model incorporating knowledge of disruptive symptoms and demographic characteristics yielded 75% sensitivity and 76% specificity for predicting future criminal involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Screening children and adolescents for psychiatric disorders can identify those at high risk of adverse young adult outcomes. Future school and community adjustment can be predicted as easily and accurately on the basis of a simple count of psychiatric symptoms as by applying more complex diagnostic algorithms. Screening youth for psychiatric symptoms in neighbourhood, school, or primary care settings is a logical first step for early intervention to promote increased school completion and decreased criminal activity in young adulthood. (+info)
Career escalation training. Five-year follow-up.
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A study has been reported on 5 years of experience in a community mental health center with a career escalation training program for indigenous workers in a ghetto community. More than one-half entered the program during the 5-year period and about one-third had either achieved a degree or were still active in the Program at the time of this study. Although it is too early to assess the full impact of the program on career advancement, the authors believe that at least a master's degree is required for true upward and lateral mobility. The most striking finding was the high retention rate in the mental health field of those workers who entered the program in contrast to those who didn't. A number of suggestions have been made to improve the effectiveness of a career escalation training program. It is too early to tell whether the long term benefits for individuals, the Center, and the mental health field at large justify the cost and the continuation of such educational release time programs. (+info)
Performance of students in the final examination in paediatrics: importance of the "short cases".
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AIMS: To determine which component of the final examination in paediatrics at Kuwait University best predicted the final outcome. METHODS: The performance of 356 medical students in the short cases, the long case, multiple choice questions (MCQs), and the essay components of the final examination in paediatrics at Kuwait University was correlated with the final grade, and the mean difference between each component and the final score calculated. RESULTS: The correlation was highest for the short cases, followed by MCQs, the long case, and essays. The mean difference between the final score and that of short cases was not significant, but was highly significant for the other components. CONCLUSION: Results show that performance in the short cases component of the final examination in paediatrics is a better discriminator of competence than that in the long case. (+info)