DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Conners, Frances A."

Browsing by Author "Conners, Frances A."

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The acquisition of survey knowledge across repeated exposures to a novel environment in individuals with down syndrome
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Himmelberger, Zachary Mark; Merrill, Edward C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Down syndrome (DS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with many cognitive weaknesses, including certain aspects of wayfinding. There are several theoretical reasons, such as abnormal brain development and similar weaknesses in smaller scales of space, that these deficits include developing survey knowledge of an environment. However, few studies have directly investigated this ability. The current study compared people with DS to typical adults matched on chronological age and typical children matched on the KBIT-II Matrices Subtest on a measure of survey knowledge. More specifically, an experimenter exposed participants to a novel virtual environment, and then were asked to find a specific target on their own. The total distance traveled and time taken to find the target served as dependent variables. The task was repeated three times, such that the participants navigated to the target after the experimenter showed them the environment once, two additional times, and again after two more times. Participants in both comparison groups demonstrated linear improvement across the three trials, with the children travelling a longer distance and taking longer to find the target at each trial compared to the adults. Participants with DS performed similarly to the typical children after the initial exposure, but did not demonstrate any learning across the trials, thereby resulting in a worse performance than both control groups on subsequent trials. The findings suggest that survey representations are impaired in DS, specifically in the ability to improve these representations over time. This has important implications for developing wayfinding interventions, and for understanding how these individuals learn about new environments.
The Acquisition of Survey Knowledge by Individuals With Down Syndrome
(Frontiers Media, 2020-07-03) Himmelberger, Zachary M.; Merrill, Edward C.; Conners, Frances A.; Roskos, Beverly; Yang, Yingying; Robinson, Trent; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; Montclair State University
People with Down syndrome often exhibit deficiencies in wayfinding activities, particularly route learning (e.g.,Courbois et al., 2013;Davis et al., 2014;Farran et al., 2015). Evidence concerning more sophisticated survey learning has been sparse. In the research reported here, two experiments are reported that evaluated survey learning of youth with DS and typically developing children (TD) matched on mental age. In Experiment 1, participants learned two overlapping routes consisting of three turns each through a virtual environment depicting 9 square city blocks. Following acquisition, they were tested on multiple measures of survey knowledge: finding a shortcut, identifying the direction of landmarks not currently visible from their location in the environment, and recognizing a bird's-eye representation of the overall environment. Under these conditions, which should provide relatively optimal opportunities for survey learning, the participants with DS performed comparably to TD participants matched on non-verbal ability on all of our measures of survey learning. Hence, we concluded that people with DS can acquire some survey knowledge when tasked with learning a small environment and given the opportunity to do so. In Experiment 2, the experimenter navigated participants through a large, relatively complex, virtual environment along a circuitous path, beginning and ending at a target landmark. Then, the participants were placed at a pre-specified location in the environment that they had viewed previously and instructed to navigate to the same target (a door) using the shortest possible path from their current location. They completed the task three times: once after being shown the environment one time, once after three exposures, and once after five exposures. Results indicated that the participants with DS exhibited significantly less skill at identifying the shortcut than did the TD participants, with differences emerging as the number of exposures increased. Participants with DS were also less able to recall landmarks at the end of the experiment. Overall, however, the performance of both groups was relatively poor in both experiments - with the performance of participants with DS being worse as conditions became less optimal. These results were discussed in terms of underlying mechanisms that may account for variations in survey learning as environmental complexity increases.
Addressing phonological memory in language therapy with clients who have Down syndrome: Perspectives of speech-language pathologists
(Wiley, 2016) Faught, Gayle G.; Conners, Frances A.; Barber, Angela B.; Price, Hannah R.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
BackgroundPhonological memory (PM) plays a significant role in language development but is impaired in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Without formal recommendations on how to address PM limitations in clients with DS, it is possible speech-language pathologists (SLPs) find ways to do so in their practices. AimsThis study asked if and how SLPs address PM in language therapy with clients who have DS. It also asked about SLPs' opinions of the importance, practicality and difficulty of addressing PM in clients with DS. Methods & ProceduresSLPs participated in an online survey that asked if they address PM in clients with DS and, if so, how often and with which techniques. The survey also asked SLPs to rate their opinions of addressing PM in clients with DS with Likert scales. To contrast clients with DS, SLPs were asked about their practices and opinions with clients who have specific language impairment (SLI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). SLPs were recruited through e-mails sent from state organizations and researchers. To compare SLPs' practices and opinions across client types, frequency analyses and analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were run. Outcomes & ResultsIn all, 290 SLPs from 28 states completed the survey. Nearly all SLPs were currently practising at the time data were collected, and all worked with at least one of the three client types. Findings indicated SLPs less often addressed PM and used less variety when addressing PM with clients who have DS compared with clients who have SLI or ASD. Further, SLPs considered it less important, less practical and more difficult to address PM in clients who have DS when compared with clients who have SLI, whereas a similar pattern was found with clients who have ASD. Conclusions & ImplicationsSLPs' opinions could be one reason they under-address PM with clients who have DS. Other reasons include there are no evidence-based practice (EBP) guidelines on this topic, and there is not enough familiarity with the DS phenotype among SLPs. Future research on ways to address PM in clients with DS successfully are essential so that EBP guidelines can be established and language therapy can be made more effective.
Anxiety and affective responses to acute bouts of moderate intensity exercise (walking): effects of varying durations
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Geary, Colleen Louise; Richardson, Mark T.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Anxiety affects approximately 40 million American adults each year (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, and Walters, 2005; National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2009). However, the dose-response research investigating the antianxiety and affective benefits of acute bouts of exercise indicates that multiple dose-response issues remain unresolved. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anxiolytic and affective responses following an acute bout of moderate intensity walking of different durations (30, 10 and 5 minutes) on a moderately fit, non-clinically anxious population. This study also sought to test the duration of effect by assessing post-exercise responses immediately and at 20 and 40 minutes post-exercise. This is the first study to include the analysis of four specific covariates (trait anxiety, fitness level, enjoyment of activity, and sex) when examining psychological responses to walking. One of the main findings of the current investigation was that a main effect of time was observed for the majority of variables. While some measures showed favorable (anxiety, tense arousal, calmness, tension, tranquility, physical exhaustion, affective valence, and revitalization) other measures ultimately showed unfavorable (positive affect, perceived activation, energetic arousal, energy, and positive engagement) responses following the cessation of exercise. Secondly, although several measures were affected by exercise duration (tranquility, physical exhaustion, and affective valence), the majority were not. Finally, of the four covariates, only fitness (positive affect, energetic arousal, and energy) and sex (positive affect, revitalization, energy, and calmness) influenced the exercise-affect relationship.
Attentional biases in college-age adults with spider fears
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Rapport, Hannah Frea; Jarrett, Matthew A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
There has been a growing literature on an attentional bias to threat in anxious individuals. This bias has been shown in individuals with social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder, but it is unclear if such a bias appears in other anxiety disorders such as specific phobias (SPs). Initial evidence indicates that individuals with SPs appear to demonstrate an attentional bias towards the object they fear; however, it has not yet been examined if the attentional bias seen in individuals with SPs is limited to the specific feared stimulus or other threatening stimuli. In order to address this question, the current study evaluated college-age adults with elevated spider fears. Participants completed two separate dot-probe tasks. One task involved spider stimuli and the other task involved threatening faces. In addition to within-subject differences in task performance, spider fear severity and social fear severity were examined in relation to biases. It was predicted that participants would show a greater degree of attentional bias towards spiders than threatening faces; however, those with higher levels of social anxiety were expected to show a greater attentional bias towards threatening faces and those with higher spider fear severity were expected to show a greater bias towards spiders. Results from the present study did not support this hypothesis. While results did indicate a significant difference between the spider dot-probe task and the faces dot-probe task and a significant attentional bias towards faces, results indicated that there was not generally an attentional bias towards or away from spiders. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Auditory and visual sustained attention in Down syndrome
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Faught, Gayle Graham; Conners, Frances A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Cognitive deficits are pervasive in youth with Down syndrome (DS) and are likely due to abnormal brain development. Alterations to the prefrontal cortex in particular suggest sustained attention may be a deficit in DS, though some psychological studies found youth with DS performed at developmental level on sustained attention tasks. The current study investigated sustained attention in DS by comparing youth with DS to typically developing (TD) youth matched for cognitive ability. Groups completed visual and auditory sustained attention to response tests (SARTs), as well as tasks to determine if sustained attention predicted their short-term memory. Results indicated groups performed similarly on both SARTs, and sustained attention predicted only a small portion of variance in their short-term memory beyond the influence of cognitive ability. Overall, these findings suggested sustained attention matches developmental level in DS, and it does not predict the pattern of poor auditory relative to visual processing characteristic of DS.
Awareness of rhyme in children and adolescents with Down syndrome
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Moore, Marie; Conners, Frances A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The aim of the present study was to measure rhyme awareness, along with alliteration and final phoneme detection, in a sample of children and adolescents with Down syndrome, compared with typically developing children of similar verbal mental age. Each phonological task was a judgment task requiring participants to decide whether two auditory words rhymed, alliterated, or shared the final phoneme. However, most participants with Down syndrome did not score above chance on a non phonological same different judgment control task. Although it was not possible to test the original hypotheses in this group, this finding is informative for future attempts to measure phonological skills in this population. Also, item analyses of data from typically developing children revealed specific performance patterns on the phonological tasks.
Beyond Atkins: how do the prongs perform during sentencing?
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2016) Wood, Mary E.; Salekin, Karen L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
In Atkins v. Virginia (2002) the High Court categorically excluded individuals with intellectual disability (ID) from a punishment of death due to the limited judgment, poor reasoning, and reduced levels of impulse control inherent in the disability. This research explored the impact of the diagnostic prongs during sentencing for offenders found guilty of a capital crime and who failed to prove ID during an Atkins hearing. The current study used a mock jury deliberation paradigm with a large sample of undergraduate students divided into four-, five-, or six-person mock juries. Two of the three diagnostic prongs, limited intelligence and deficits in adaptive behavior, were manipulated with the goal of identifying how these deficits (or lack thereof) are interpreted independently, and in conjunction with, one another during capital mitigation. The results indicated that both IQ and AB deficits are considered mitigating by death-qualified mock jurors, and information about deficits in one or both of these areas was associated with a 1.8 times greater likelihood of a sentence of life without the possibility of parole relative to the condition in which neither IQ nor AB deficits were present. Consistent with the High Court’s ruling in Atkins v. Virginia (2002), participants who believed the hypothetical defendant had ID were significantly less likely to sentence him to death as opposed to life in prison without the possibility of parole. More broadly speaking, the current study also provided evidence that perceptions of mitigating factors mediate the relationship between individual attitudes and ultimate sentencing determinations, and perceptions of mitigating factors can be understood through the lens of attribution theory. Implications are discussed with a particular emphasis on how this information can be used in the courtroom. Recommendations for research are offered.
Body composition assessment in adults with down syndrome
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2017-12) Russell, Angela R.; Esco, Michael R.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have a high prevalence of obesity and low bone mineral density (BMD), but body composition assessment needs additional study in DS. Three studies examined the agreement between body fat percentage (BF%) from air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), BF% from a four-compartment (4C) model and skinfolds (SF) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and bone mineral content (BMC) from DXA and BIA. Sixty-six adults participated (33 DS, 33 control). In the first study, DXA provided higher BF% than ADP in both DS (t = 5.252, df = 32, p < .000) and controls (t = 7.714, df = 32, p < .000). In the second study, BF% from four BIA equations was not significantly different from 4CBF% in DS (p > .01), but these had a standard error of estimate (SEE) from 4.8 to 6.0 and wide limits of agreement (± 9.5% to ± 11.6%). Two BIA equations were not significantly different than 4CBF% in controls (p < .01), but these had SEE’s of 7.2 and 7.8 and wide limits of agreement (± 24.6% and ± 22.9%). Two SF equations were not significantly different from 4CBF% in DS (p < .007). Two of the SF equations were significantly different from 4CBF% in controls (p < .008). In the third study, BMC from DXA was significantly lower than BIA in DS (t = -5.237, df = 20, p < .000). DXA was significantly higher in controls (t = 3.110, df = 20, p = .006). There was no significant difference in DS males (t = -1.116, df = 7, p = .301) or control females (t = -7.978, df = 12, p = .000). DXA was significantly higher in control males (t = 5.641, df = 7, p = .001) and significantly lower in females with DS (t = -7.978, df = 12, p = .000). In conclusion, many methods of BF% assessment may be acceptable for adults with DS, but only appropriate equations should be selected. BIA should not currently be used to assess BMC in DS.
The bully in my mind: investigating children's negative relationships with imaginary companions
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) McInnis, Melissa Alyse; Gilpin, Ansley T.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Although research has explored the social environments in which imaginary friends are created and their benefits to socioemotional development, no work has specifically explored the role of children's negative interactions with imaginary companions and whether they also provide benefits to socioemotional development. The present study explored the role of these interactions in regards to children's socioemotional development. One hundred seven children between the ages of 3 and 8 were interviewed about their imaginary companions and social skills, with teacher and parent reports on the target child. It was hypothesized that having an imaginary companion--regardless of whether the relationship is negative--is beneficial to socioemotional development because it allows the child to role-play and practice taking different perspectives. However, results suggest that the relationship valence (positive or negative), regardless of friend type (real or imaginary) is most important in terms of socioemotional development. Children with negative relationships had lower overall social competence scores than children with positive relationships.
Characteristics of recalled childhood corporal punishment experiences and young adults' current attachment to mother
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Jordan, Erica Florence; Curtner-Smith, Mary Elizabeth; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The current study uses a correlational design to investigate how young adults' perceptions of their childhood corporal punishment experiences are related to their current Attachment to their mothers, Depressive symptoms in young adulthood, and history of Externalizing behavior problems. Specifically, relations between recalled Parental reliance on corporal punishment, recalled childhood Feelings following the receipt of corporal punishment, current Attachment to mother, Depressive symptoms in young adulthood, and history of Externalizing behavior problems in young adulthood were examined. Participants' Gender and Race were explored as targeted moderators. Results revealed that recalled Parental reliance on corporal punishment was positively related to recalled childhood Feelings following the receipt of corporal punishment. Both recalled Parental reliance on corporal punishment and recalled childhood Feelings following the receipt of corporal punishment were negatively related to current Attachment to mother. Depressive symptoms in young adulthood was positively related to recalled childhood Feelings following the receipt of corporal punishment and negatively related to current Attachment to mother. Greater parental reliance on corporal punishment was positively related to less Externalizing behavior problems in Black male participants but was related to increased Externalizing behavior problems in White male participants. Greater parental reliance on corporal punishment was also related to increased Externalizing behavior problems in Black female participants. However, this effect was not significant for White female participants.
Children's selective attention in contextual cueing
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Yang, Yingying; Merrill, Edward C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
In this thesis, 20 younger children (6-7 years old), 20 older children (9-10 years old) and 20 young adults (18-21 years old) were tested using a modified contextual cueing procedure. They located one particular cartoon character (target) among two sets of other cartoon characters (distracters). The main purpose was to investigate how age interacts with selective attention in contextual cueing. Selective attention was manipulated by varying the degree of similarity between two sets of distracters. Specifically, two levels were used: low heterogeneity (distracters were similar to each other), and high heterogeneity (distracters were different from each other). The results suggested that the younger children exhibited impaired implicit learning in the low heterogeneity condition yet intact implicit learning in the high heterogeneity condition. In contrast, the adults demonstrated robust implicit learning in both conditions. The older children performed at an intermediate level, exhibiting intact implicit learning in both conditions yet at a slower acquisition rate in the low heterogeneity condition than the adults. Therefore a clear transition pattern was observed indicating a developmental difference in selective attention in the acquisition of contextual cueing effects. Older children and adults were more capable of exhibiting contextual cueing effects in the absence of a salient feature difference between distracter sets, suggesting an effective selective attention mechanism based on expectancy. Younger children relied more on salient features than spatial co-occurrences in visual search, suggesting a deficit in the selective attention mechanism. This deficit might be related with factors such as difficulty in perceptual grouping, immature selective attention competence, and limited perceptual and working memory capacities.
A comparison of parenting dimensions between mothers of children with Down syndrome and mothers of typically developing children
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Phillips, Belinda Allyson; Conners, Frances A.; Curtner-Smith, Mary Elizabeth; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Introduction: The purpose of the current study was to compare the parenting styles and dimensions in mothers of children with Down syndrome and mothers of typically developing children. Effective parenting is vital for a child's intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development, and not all parenting techniques are equal in their effectiveness in raising a healthy, well-adjusted child. We expected that parents of children with Down syndrome would display more negative parenting techniques than parents of typically developing children because of their decreased parental well-being and increased caregiving demands. Methods: The sample was comprised of 35 mothers of children with Down syndrome and 47 mothers of typically developing children. The mothers completed nine parent-report questionnaires asking about the way in which they parent their child, their child's cognitive and behavioral abilities, their own well-being, and the expectations and fears they have in relation to their child. Results: We found that mothers of children with Down syndrome use an authoritative parenting style less and a permissive parenting style more than mothers of typically developing children. Additionally, we found that mothers of children with Down syndrome provided their children with less structure but more chaos than mothers of typically developing children. However, these differences between groups on parenting styles and dimensions no longer existed when we included parental stress in the analyses. Finally, we found that within the Down syndrome group negative parenting dimensions were positively correlated with child behavior problems. Conclusion: The results suggested that mothers of children with Down syndrome are overall using similar parenting methods as mothers of typically developing children. All differences that do exist in parenting styles and dimensions can be accounted for by parental stress. As such, parenting interventions for parents of children with Down syndrome should be either focused on reducing parental stress in an effort to improve parenting techniques or on educating parents on how to utilize positive parenting techniques despite their stressful life circumstances.
Competence through cognition: cognitive remediation and restoration of trial competence
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Wilson, Jennifer Kelly; Brodsky, Stanley L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
A new and promising avenue for research into competency restoration treatment is cognitive remediation, which is an empirically-supported set of treatment techniques designed to facilitate cognitive skills development (Medalia, Revheim, & Herlands, 2009). Working with 33 male patients from an inpatient forensic hospital, this randomized control trial was a pilot study to explore the effectiveness of cognitive remediation to improve competence to stand trial. Compared to a control group receiving standard hospital treatment, the treatment group received a supplement of five weeks of cognitive remediation using the NEAR model (Neuropsychological Educational Approach to Cognitive Remediation; Medalia, Revheim, & Herlands, 2009). The researcher compared pre- and post-treatment data for changes in verbal memory, problem-solving, and competence to stand trial, as measured by the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA). Results indicated that cognitive remediation significantly improved the Reasoning ability measured by the MacCAT-CA. Changes on the two other factors of the MacCAT-CA were not significant. No significant changes were found on measures of verbal memory or problem solving. Patients who benefitted most from cognitive remediation were those exhibiting greater need for treatment. Successful treatment participants tended to be more mentally ill, have diagnoses of schizophrenia or another psychosis, and exhibited poor performance on a pre-test measure of competence to stand trial. This pilot investigation provided initial support for the use of cognitive remediation to improve competence to stand trial in individuals with severe mental illness and impaired legal reasoning.
Contextual Cueing Effects Across the Lifespan
(Routledge, 2013) Merrill, Edward C.; Conners, Frances A.; Roskos, Beverly; Klinger, Mark R.; Klinger, Laura Grofer; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
The authors evaluated age-related variations in contextual cueing, which reflects the extent to which visuospatial regularities can facilitate search for a target. Previous research produced inconsistent results regarding contextual cueing effects in young children and in older adults, and no study has investigated the phenomenon across the life span. Three groups (6, 20, and 70years old) were compared. Participants located a designated target stimulus embedded in a context of distractor stimuli. During exposure, the location of the target could be predicted from the location of the distracters in each display. During test, these predictable displays were intermixed with new displays that did not predict the target location. Response times to locating predictable relative to unpredictable targets were compared. All groups exhibited facilitation effects greater than 0 (95% CIs [.02, .11], d = .4; [.01, .12], d = .4; and [.01, .10], d = .4, for the children, young adults, and older adults, respectively) indicating that contextual cueing is robust across a wide age range. The relative magnitude of contextual cueing effects was essentially identical across the age range tested, F(2, 103) = 1.71, (2) = .02. The authors argue that a mechanism that uses environmental covariation is available to all age ranges, but the expression of the contextual cueing may depend on the way it is measured.
Developmental differences in repeated visual search as modulated by signal to noise ratio
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Yang, Yingying; Merrill, Edward C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This dissertation was designed to study developmental differences in the way simultaneous and sequential signal to noise ratios impact contextual cueing effects. Contextual cueing refers to a form of implicit associative learning of the target location and its context. Over repeated exposures, participants typically respond faster to repeated displays than to new displays that are not repeated. Researchers have assumed that this reflected the learning of associations between the location of the target and the locations of the distracters in the repeated displays. Couperus et al. (2011) found that 10 year olds were able to show intact contextual cueing when the ratio between the predictive distracters and the unpredictive distracters within each display was 75:25, but not when the ratio was 50:50. In contrast, adults showed significant contextual cueing effects when the ratio was 50:50. Hence, it seems that children and adults are differentially sensitive to noise (irrelevant distracters) in the displays. The current study incorporated two forms of signal to noise ratio (S/N): simultaneous S/N, defined as the ratio of predictive and unpredictive distracters within each display; and sequential S/N, defined as the ratio of repeated and new displays within each block. It was predicted that low S/N might be more detrimental to the learning of contextual cueing effects for children than it was for adults. Three age groups participated in the study: 6-8 year old children, 10-12 year old children and college students. In the simultaneous condition, 20 participants in each group were included in the final analysis. The results suggested that all three groups demonstrated significant and comparable contextual cueing effects across three S/N ratio conditions. In addition, the analysis of search efficiency suggested that all three groups demonstrated guided search. This was indicated by faster search slopes to the repeated displays than to the new displays as a function of set size. Therefore, no developmental difference was found in the simultaneous condition. In the sequential condition, 22 participants in each group were included in the final analysis. The results suggested that adults demonstrated significant contextual cueing effects across all three ratio conditions. Older children demonstrated significant contextual cueing effects in the high and medium conditions but only marginally significant learning in the low condition. By contrast, younger children only demonstrated significant learning in the high and medium conditions, but they did not show significant contextual learning in the low S/N condition. There was a significant developmental difference in the sequential condition. Explicit memory tests conducted after the experiment suggested no conscious awareness about the repetition for any age group in any condition. First, the results suggested that adults have an intact ability to extract repeated information from the information stream, as long as it is at least 33% predictive. Contextual cueing is hence a relatively robust form of implicit learning. The developmental difference found in the sequential but not in the simultaneous condition suggested that the presentation mode of irrelevant information impacted the acquisition of contextual cueing in children. It is likely that children's intact learning in the simultaneous condition reflected their relatively mature selective attention mechanisms. They were able to selectively attend to the predictive information when the unpredictive information was presented on the same scene. The developmental difference observed in the sequential condition might be due to children's immature working memory, especially as it applies to younger children. The practical and methodological implications of this dissertation were also discussed.
The effects of classification on teacher and parent interpretations of the cognitive performance of children with intellectual disability
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2013) Davis, Megan Benson; Merrill, Edward C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Previous research has indicated that the classification of intellectual disability (ID) may negatively impact interpretations of the cognitive performance of children with ID, especially for general-education teachers. However, there are some findings that suggest that these negative effects of classification may be overcome when competing information is present. The current study examined the effects of classification by having three groups of participants, parents, general-education teachers, and special education teachers, watch a video of a child who was classified as either typically developing or as having an intellectual disability perform a time-telling task. Level of performance was also manipulated such that the child in the video performed either very poorly or very well on the task. The results indicated that level of performance was a more significant predictor of participant judgments than classification, particularly for general-education teachers. Further, parents and special education teachers exhibited a tendency to overestimate the performance of the child in the video, regardless of classification or level of performance. Performance attributions and correlations between the accuracy of judgments and participant variables were also examined.
Effects of fantasy-oriented play on the development of executive functions
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Thibodeau, Rachel Beth; Gilpin, Ansley T.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Although recent correlational studies have found a relationship between fantasy orientation (FO; i.e., a child's propensity to play in a fantastical realm) and higher-order cognitive skills called executive functions (EFs), no work has addressed the causality and directionality of this relationship. The present study experimentally determined the directionality of the observed relationship between FO and EFs through the training of FO in preschool-aged children. One hundred thirteen children between the ages of 2 and 5 were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: fantasy-play, realistic-play, or business-as-usual control. Results revealed that children who participated in a five-week fantasy-play intervention showed consistent improvements in inhibitory control and working memory beyond that of children who participated in realistic-play or business-as-usual control conditions. The data suggest that the relationship between FO play and EF development may be equifinal such that engaging in FO play is one of many ways to directly enhance EF development.
The effects of landmark instruction on wayfinding in persons with Down syndrome
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Benson, Megan Jo; Merrill, Edward C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Previous research has suggested that individuals with Down syndrome experience specific hippocampal dysfunction which may impair their ability to navigate from one environment to another. One strategy used to enhance spatial navigation is the instruction of prominent landmarks along a path. The current study examined the effects of landmark instruction on wayfinding ability in persons with Down syndrome in comparison to typically developing children of the same mental age and individuals with intellectual disability not resulting from Down syndrome of the same chronological age. The results indicated that the participants with Down syndrome performed significantly worse on the wayfinding task than both the typically developing participants and those with mixed-etiology intellectual disability, despite showing an improvement in performance due to landmark instruction. Future research could examine the direct connection between hippocampal dysfunction and impairment in spatial navigation as well as explore the role of prior experience in wayfinding ability.
Evaluation of a clinical assumption: analysis of self-reported adaptive behaviors and acquiescent response style in adults with mild intellectual disability/mental retardation
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Doane, Bridget M.; Salekin, Karen L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Traditionally, adaptive behavior assessments have excluded the opinions and ratings of an individual assessed for intellectual disability/mental retardation (ID/MR). This exclusion has been justified via the clinical assumption that individuals with ID/MR are unable to provide valid reports of their own abilities. The current study directly investigated this assumption. Using the Survey Interview Form of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales--Second Edition (Vineland-II), a standardized adaptive behavior measure, the current study compared the self-reported adaptive abilities of 28 individuals with Mild ID/MR with their direct care providers' (DCPs) ratings. Experimental measures designed to detect response acquiescence (yea-saying) and exaggeration of adaptive functioning deficits were also administered. Results indicated that when using the Vineland-II, resultant standard scores on all major domains of adaptive behavior were not significantly different. Age and sex effects were partially observed. The presence of yea-saying did not significantly predict concordance among dyad members. The experimental measure of response bias demonstrated relatively poor specificity and will require revisions to item content. Preliminary conclusions assert that individuals with Mild ID/MR should not necessarily be excluded from their own adaptive behavior assessments. Limitations and contributions of the study as well as future research directions are discussed.

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