Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Understanding, educating, and supporting children with specific learning disabilities: 50 years of science and practice. - PsycNET

https://psycnet-apa-org.ezp2.lib.umn.edu/record/2019-25332-001

Grigorenko, E. L., Compton, D. L., Fuchs, L. S., Wagner, R. K., Willcutt, E. G., & Fletcher, J. M. (2020). Understanding, educating, and supporting children with specific learning disabilities: 50 years of science and practice. American Psychologist, 75(1), 37–51. https://doi-org.ezp2.lib.umn.edu/10.1037/amp0000452

Abstract

Specific learning disabilities (SLDs) are highly relevant to the science and practice of psychology, both historically and currently, exemplifying the integration of interdisciplinary approaches to human conditions. They can be manifested as primary conditions—as difficulties in acquiring specific academic skills—or as secondary conditions, comorbid to other developmental disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In this synthesis of historical and contemporary trends in research and practice, we mark the 50th anniversary of the recognition of SLDs as a disability in the United States. Specifically, we address the manifestations, occurrence, identification, comorbidity, etiology, and treatment of SLDs, emphasizing the integration of information from the interdisciplinary fields of psychology, education, psychiatry, genetics, and cognitive neuroscience. SLDs, exemplified here by specific word reading, reading comprehension, mathematics, and written expression disabilities, represent spectrum disorders, each occurring in approximately 5% to 15% of the school-aged population. In addition to risk for academic deficiencies and related functional social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties, those with SLDs often have poorer long-term social and vocational outcomes. Given the high rate of occurrence of SLDs and their lifelong negative impact on functioning if not treated, it is important to establish and maintain effective prevention, surveillance, and treatment systems involving professionals from various disciplines trained to minimize the risk and maximize the protective factors for SLDs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)


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Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
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The Neglected Intelligence Course: Needs and Suggested Solutions - Jared Z. Burton, Russell T. Warne,



The Neglected Intelligence Course: Needs and Suggested Solutions - Jared Z. Burton, Russell T. Warne,
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0098628320901381

Intelligence is a well-studied construct in psychology that has correlational relationships with many educational, employment, and health outcomes. However, prior research indicates that incorrect beliefs about intelligence are widespread. In an effort to discern the degree to which the psychology curriculum is responsible for these inaccuracies, we collected course descriptions and catalog information from 303 American colleges and universities. We found that college courses dedicated to mainstream intelligence science are rare. Because the lack of intelligence education within psychology is a plausible contributor to incorrect beliefs about intelligence, we present an outline for a college-level course on intelligence. We also provide advice for implementing a course, including course readings and advice for handling controversies.


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Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
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Saturday, January 25, 2020

Measuring emotional and personal intelligence. - PsycNET


https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-20160-015

Citation

Caruso, D. R., Mayer, J. D., Bryan, V., Phillips, K. G., & Salovey, P. (2019). Measuring emotional and personal intelligence. In M. W. Gallagher & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Positive psychological assessment: A handbook of models and measures (p. 233–245). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000138-015

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe two types of intelligence centered on reasoning about people that we regard as important elements of individuals' positive psychology. Emotional intelligence and personal intelligence are mental abilities related to but partially distinct from general mental ability (i.e., IQ). People use their emotional intelligence (EI) to understand people's emotions and the emotional information around them and their personal intelligence (PI) to understand personality-related information. We begin by placing EI and PI within the pantheon of other forms of intelligence and at the same time distinguish them from other forms of intelligence, such as spatial or quantitative. We classify EI and PI as "people-centered" intelligences versus more traditional "thing-oriented" intelligences (Mayer, 2018; Mayer & Skimmyhorn, 2017). We also explore how EI and PI are measured and provide examples of how they can be applied in our lives. EI and PI—defined and measured as an ability—may be considered to be broad intelligences along with other intelligences such as verbal or spatial. These new intelligences can assist us in identifying abilities that are related to "people" outcomes such as relationship quality and well-being. The future of people-centered intelligence holds a great deal of promise as the concept is developed further and advances in measurement are achieved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)



Sent from my iPhone

Convergent creative thinking performance is associated with white matter structures: Evidence from a large sample study - ScienceDirect



Convergent creative thinking performance is associated with white matter structures: Evidence from a large sample study - ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811920300641

Abstract

In laboratory settings, creativity is measured using tasks of divergent as well as convergent thinking. It has been suggested that brain connectivity is important for creativity. In the present study, we investigated the associations of convergent thinking performance of compound Remote Associates Test (CRAT) with fractional anisotropy (FA) in diffusion tensor imaging and regional white matter (WM) volume (rWMV) in voxel-based morphometry in a large sample of healthy young adults (360 males and 280 females; mean age: 20.9 years, SD = 1.6). We showed that CRAT performance was positively correlated with WM pathway property (i.e., FA) in the left fronto-occipital fasciculus and the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus, which play important roles in processing of language and concept. Further, CRAT performance was negatively correlated with rWMV in the widespread frontal temporal subcortical and cerebellar WM areas, suggesting the unique association of convergent thinking with WM connectivity.

Keywords

Convergent thinking
Remote associates
Structural connectivity
Voxel-based morphometry
Diffusion tensor imaging

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Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
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Thursday, January 23, 2020

General mental ability and specific abilities: Their relative importance for extrinsic career success. - PsycNET

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-78958-001

Citation

Lang, J. W. B., & Kell, H. J. (2019). General mental ability and specific abilities: Their relative importance for extrinsic career success. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000472

Abstract

Recent research on the role of general mental ability (GMA) and specific abilities in work-related outcomes has shown that the results differ depending on the theoretical and conceptual approach that researchers use. While earlier research has typically assumed that GMA causes the specific abilities and has thus used incremental validity analysis, more recent research has explored the implications of treating GMA and specific abilities as equals (differing only in breadth and not subordination) and has used relative importance analysis. In this article, we extend this work to the prediction of extrinsic career success operationalized as pay, income, and the attainment of jobs with high prestige. Results, based on a large national sample, revealed that GMA and specific abilities measured in school were good predictors of job prestige measured after 11 years, pay measured after 11 years, and income 51 years later toward the end of the participants' work lives. With 1 exception, GMA was a dominant predictor in incremental validity analyses. However, in relative importance analyses, the majority of the explained variance was explained by specific abilities, and GMA was not more important than single specific abilities in relative importance analyses. Visuospatial, verbal, and mathematical abilities all had substantial variance shares and were also more important than GMA in some of the analyses. Implications for the interpretation of cognitive ability data and facilitating people's success in their careers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)



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Kevin S. McGrew,  PhD
Educational Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
www.themindhub.com
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Thursday, January 16, 2020

This is your child's brain on books: Scans show benefit of reading vs. screen time

This is your child's brain on books: Scans show benefit of reading vs. screen time
https://flip.it/rrjPv7

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Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
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Thursday, January 09, 2020

Default network contributions to episodic and semantic processing during divergent creative thinking: A representational similarity analysis



Default network contributions to episodic and semantic processing during divergent creative thinking: A representational similarity analysis
https://flip.it/PkSmQI

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Kevin S. McGrew,  PhD
Educational Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
www.themindhub.com
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