1,720,964 research outputs found
Executive Functioning In Child Survivors of Pediatric Cerebellar Astrocytomas
Get PDFTwenty children who underwent surgery for CPA and were between the ages of eight and 16 years participated in the study. Each child was administered a multidimensional neuropsychological battery of EF, which consisted of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and the subtests comprising the Working Memory Index from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fourth Edition. Parents and teachers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the Behavior Assessment System for Children - Second Edition (BASC-2).
No significant differences were found between the CPA group's performance on the clinical measures and the normative test means. Teacher ratings on the BRIEF showed that the CPA group exhibited significantly more difficulties with working memory, whereas parent ratings showed significantly more difficulties with inhibition, mental flexibility, emotional control, initiation of activities, working memory, planning/organization, and monitoring behavior. In terms of emotional and behavioral functioning on the BASC-2, parents rated the CPA group as exhibiting significantly more difficulties with depression, withdrawal, and overall behavioral problems. Parent ratings on the BASC-2 also showed significantly more problems in several areas of adaptive functioning. This study did not replicate the findings of previous studies on EF in pediatric CPA samples. Although EF impairments were not evident, the CPA sample exhibited subtle and mild EF and behavioral/emotional difficulties
Parent-Reported Anxiety in Children with Secondary Generalized Seizures
Get PDFThis study examined the role of seizure type in determining different levels of parent-reported anxiety, when taking demographic, medically-related, and medication-related variables into account.
One-hundred nineteen children with epilepsy aged 4 to 17 years old underwent a retrospective chart review. Demographic, medically-related, and medication-related variables, such as age, gender, ethnicity, handedness, median household income, age of onset, seizure etiology, lateralization, EEG findings, MRI findings, number of antiepileptic drugs prescribed, side-effect profile of medication, and therapy regimen, were reviewed as well as parent-reported anxiety and depression on the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2).
Findings of the current study replicated previous research suggesting that children with epilepsy have higher average levels of depression and anxiety than the normative population. Children with epilepsy had similar levels of depression, regardless of seizure type. Children with partial seizures with secondary generalization had higher levels of anxiety symptoms compared to children with generalized seizures, but similar levels to those with partial seizures.
The current study’s findings could have occurred due to the possible cueing components associated with having partial seizures with secondary generalization. The findings suggest a negative impact that behavioral symptoms of depression and anxiety may have on seizure-related care.
The current study expanded upon previous research by using a parent-report measure in which both depression and anxiety scales were normed with the same sample of children. Furthermore, the current study focused on children with secondary generalized seizures as a unique subtype and addressed anxiety specifically, which has been less researched than depression
Effect of Extrinsic Motivation on Academic Fluency Outcomes in Survivors of Pediatric Medulloblastoma
Get PDFMedulloblastoma is the most commonly diagnosed malignant pediatric brain tumor. While deficits in processing speed, memory, attention, and IQ are well documented in childhood medulloblastoma survivors, impairments in academic functioning have not been adequately studied in this population, despite the fact that most survivors require long-term special education services and are significantly less likely than their healthy peers to finish high school. The present study is the first to identify fluent academic performance as a significant weakness relative to academic skill development in childhood medulloblastoma survivors-thereby isolating fluency as a major contributing factor to survivors' academic difficulties. The present study is also the first to investigate the effects of enhanced extrinsic motivation on fluent academic performance in pediatric medulloblastoma survivors. As such, this study represents a new direction for research in this population, moving beyond basic documentation of deficits toward intervention-focused research. A previous study indicated that extrinsic motivation enables survivors of childhood medulloblastoma to improve their performance to the normal range on tasks related to processing speed and attention (Riva, Pantaleoni, Milani, & Belani, 1989). However, prior to the present study, there had been no further investigations of this isolated finding. Present results suggest that a performance-based incentive used to enhance extrinsic motivation predicted statistically significant improvement, but not normalization of function, in performance on measures of academic fluency relative to baseline. No demographic, medical, or neuropsychological variables predicted response to incentive. Findings suggest that academic performance of survivors can significantly improve under highly motivating conditions. Recognition of this potential for improvement in light of persisting limitations in fluency, suggesting deficits that cannot be fully overcome, may inform academic supports. Additionally, the findings of this study may provide a rationale for investigations of the effect of varying levels of motivation in other pediatric medical populations and with respect to other areas of neurocognitive functioning. The findings of this study also represent a significant and novel contribution to the debate regarding level of effort and the effect of motivational states on neuropsychological performance
Working Memory Differences in Pediatric Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Get PDFTraumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of disability and impairment in children and adolescents. This study sought to determine the effects of severity on verbal working memory and verbal short-term memory. It was hypothesized that increased severity of injury would be associated with decreased performance on working memory tasks. Participants, aged 6-16 years, were tested 6 to 12 months after injury. The sample was comprised of 12 children and adolescents who had sustained a severe TBI and 11 children and adolescents who had sustained a moderate TBI. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between the moderately injured group and subjects with severe injuries on tasks of verbal working memory or verbal short-term memory. However, inspection of the data indicated that children in the severe group performed in the Low Average range, while children in the moderate group performed in the Average range. Results may be limited by the small sample size
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Symptom Presentation in ADHD and Its Association with Inhibitory Control
No full textAttention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been associated with problems in executive functioning (EF). However, subtype difference in EF may exist between the inattentive type of ADHD and the hyperactive/impulsive and combined types of ADHD. As small number of studies, in fact, have found that inhibitory control is more strongly related to symptoms of inattention than symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity, suggesting that children with the inattentive type of ADHD may have more deficits in inhibition. The D-KEFS Color Word Interference Test (CWIT) was administered to 35 children, ages 8-17 years, diagnosed previously with ADHD, to examine possible differences in inhibition between a Predominantly Inattentive group and a Combined group (Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive and Combined types). Both ADHD group means on the CWIT were within normal limits. Results from a MANOVA showed no differences between groups on the CWIT, except for the word reading condition (Condition 2). Analysis of the CWIT and symptoms of inattention from the Conners Parent Rating Scale-Revised showed no significant relationship between performance on the CWIT and parent report of inattentive behaviors. Contrary to the hypotheses, this study did not provide evidence that children in the Predominantly Inattentive group display more deficits in inhibition than children in the Combined group, or that deficits in inhibition are related to inattentive behaviors
ADHD Subtypes and the Convergent Validity of the Brief Three-Factor Approach and D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Test
No full textDeficits in executive functioning (EF) often translate to significant impairment in real-life situations. EF can be assessed by performance-based tests or through the use of behavior ratings; however, most research has found little to no associations between performance-based EF tests and parent ratings. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by EF deficits, but some studies have found differences on EF measures between subtypes of ADHD. The first aim of this study is to examine the convergent validity between the D-KEFS CWIT, a performance-based EF task, and the recently revised three-factor BRIEF. The second aim of this study is to examine whether there are differences between ADHD-I and ADHD-HI/C subtypes on either of these EF measures. A sample of 49 children with ADHD, aged 6 to 12 years, were administered the D-KEFS CWIT and their parents were given the BRIEF to complete. No significant correlations between Condition 3 of the CWIT and the new Self-Monitor and Inhibit subdomains of the BRIEF were obtained, but the Shift subdomain of the BRIEF significantly correlated with Condition 3. Participants with ADHD-HI/C were rated by parents as having greater executive dysfunction compared to participants with ADHD-I. No significant differences between subtypes were observed on the CWIT after controlling for symptoms of inattention. It would be beneficial to continue developing EF measures with the goal of greater convergent validity between performance-based and informant-report measures. Also, more research should be conducted in identifying differences between ADHD subtypes in their EF profiles as it can potentially aid in improving evaluation and treatment of this disorder
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