Showing papers on "Verbal reasoning published in 2009"

Learning and Scientific Reasoning

Abstract: Comparisons of Chinese and U.S. students show that content knowledge and reasoning skills diverge.

Pragmatic inferences in high-functioning adults with autism and Asperger syndrome

Abstract: Although people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have severe problems with pragmatic aspects of language, little is known about their pragmatic reasoning. We carried out a behavioral study on high-functioning adults with autistic disorder (n = 11) and Asperger syndrome (n = 17) and matched controls (n = 28) to investigate whether they are capable of deriving scalar implicatures, which are generally considered to be pragmatic inferences. Participants were presented with underinformative sentences like “Some sparrows are birds”. This sentence is logically true, but pragmatically inappropriate if the scalar implicature “Not all sparrows are birds” is derived. The present findings indicate that the combined ASD group was just as likely as controls to derive scalar implicatures, yet there was a difference between participants with autistic disorder and Asperger syndrome, suggesting a potential differentiation between these disorders in pragmatic reasoning. Moreover, our results suggest that verbal intelligence is a constraint for task performance in autistic disorder but not in Asperger syndrome.

Neonatal watershed brain injury on magnetic resonance imaging correlates with verbal IQ at 4 years.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE We have previously described patterns of neonatal brain injury that correlate with global cognitive and motor outcomes. We now examine, in survivors of neonatal encephalopathy (presumed secondary to hypoxia-ischemia) without functional motor deficits, whether the severity and neuroanatomical involvement on neonatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are associated with domain-specific cognitive outcomes, verbal (VIQ) and performance IQ (PIQ), at four years of age.

Listening comprehension in preschoolers: the role of memory

Abstract: The current study analyzed the relationship between text comprehension and memory skills in preschoolers. We were interested in verifying the hypothesis that memory is a specific contributor to listening comprehension in preschool children after controlling for verbal abilities. We were also interested in analyzing the developmental path of the relationship between memory skills and listening comprehension in the age range considered. Forty-four, 4-year-olds (mean age = 4 years and 6 months, SD = 4 months) and 40, 5-year-olds (mean age = 5 years and 4 months, SD = 5 months) participated in the study. The children were administered measures to evaluate listening comprehension ability (story comprehension), short-term and working memory skills (forward and backward word span), verbal intelligence and receptive vocabulary. Results showed that both short-term and working memory predicted unique and independent variance in listening comprehension after controlling for verbal abilities, with working memory explaining additional variance over and above short-term memory. The predictive power of memory skills was stable in the age range considered. Results also confirm a strong relation between verbal abilities and listening comprehension in 4- and 5-year-old children.

Helping Students Develop Statistical Reasoning: Implementing a Statistical Reasoning Learning Environment.

Abstract: Summary This article describes a model for an interactive, introductory secondary- or tertiary-level statistics course that is designed to develop students’ statistical reasoning. This model is called a ‘Statistical Reasoning Learning Environment’ and is built on the constructivist theory of learning. test_363 72..77

Working Memory and Cognitive Skills in Individuals with Down Syndrome

Abstract: This work is aimed at analyzing working memory (WM) components and their relationships with other cognitive processes in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Particular attention is given to examine whether a verbal WM deficit is due to difficulties in verbal abilities often showed by individuals with DS, or whether it is a deficit per se. A group of 20 individuals with DS was compared to a group of 20 typically developing (TD) children matched on vocabulary comprehension and to a group of 20 TD children matched on general verbal intelligence. The groups received a battery of 3 verbal and 3 visuospatial WM tasks requiring different degrees of control, and tests assessing verbal abilities (WPPSI verbal scale, PPVT), nonverbal skills (WPPSI performance scale), and logical thinking (LO). The results revealed that individuals with DS have deficits in both central executive (control) and verbal components of the WM system, and the latter one is independent of the general verbal abilities deficit. The data suggest that the development of central executive proceeds at a slower rate in individuals with DS and differently from TD children with comparable verbal abilities. The performance of individuals with DS on high-control WM tasks requires additional general resources that are strictly linked to intelligence.

Modes of reasoning in explanations in Australian eighth-grade mathematics textbooks

Abstract: Understanding that mathematics is founded on reasoning and is not just a collection of rules to apply is an important message to convey to students. Here we examined the reasoning presented in seven topics in nine Australian eighth-grade textbooks. Focusing on explanatory text that introduced new mathematical rules or relationships, we classified explanations according to the mode of reasoning used. Seven modes were identified, making a classification scheme which both refined and extended previous schemes. Most textbooks provided explanations for most topics rather than presenting “rules without reasons” but the main purpose appeared to be rule derivation or justification in preparation for practise exercises, rather than using explanations as thinking tools. Textbooks generally did not distinguish between the legitimacies of deductive and other modes of reasoning.

Are language and social communication intact in children with congenital visual impairment at school age

Abstract: Background: Development of children with congenital visual impairment (VI) has been associated with vulnerable socio-communicative outcomes often bearing striking similarities to those of sighted children with autism.1 To date, very little is known about language and social communication in children with VI of normal intelligence. Methods: We examined the presentation of language and social communication of 15 children with VI and normal-range verbal intelligence, age 6–12 years, using a standardised language assessment and parental reports of everyday social and communicative behaviours. Their profiles were compared to those of typically developing sighted children of similar age and verbal ability. Results: Compared to their sighted peers, and relative to their own good and potentially superior structural language skills, children with VI showed significantly poorer use of language for social purposes. Pragmatic language weaknesses were a part of a broader socio-communicative profile of difficulties, present in a substantial proportion of these children and consistent with the pattern found in sighted children with autism. Conclusions: There are ongoing socio-communicative and pragmatic language difficulties in children with congenital VI at school age, despite their good intellectual abilities and advanced linguistic skills. Further research is required to unpack the underlying causes and factors maintaining this vulnerability in such children.

Analogical Reasoning Ability in Autistic and Typically Developing Children.

Abstract: Recent studies (e.g. Dawson et al., 2007) have reported that autistic people perform in the normal range on the Raven Progressive Matrices test, a formal reasoning test that requires integration of relations as well as the ability to infer rules and form high-level abstractions. Here we compared autistic and typically developing children, matched on age, IQ, and verbal and non-verbal working memory, using both the Raven test and pictorial tests of analogical reasoning. Whereas the Raven test requires only formal analogical reasoning, the other analogy tests require use of real-world knowledge, as well as inhibition of salient distractors. We found that autistic children performed as well as controls on all these tests of reasoning with relations. Our findings indicate that the basic ability to reason systematically with relations, for both abstract and thematic materials, is intact in autism.

A Neuro-Cognitive Theory of Deductive Relational Reasoning with Mental Models and Visual Images

Abstract: Many neuro-imaging studies have provided evidence that the parietal cortex plays a key role in reasoning based on mental models, which are supposed to be of abstract spatial nature. However, these studies have also shown concurrent activation in vision-related cortical areas which have often been interpreted as evidence for the role of visual mental imagery in reasoning. The aim of the paper is to resolve the inconsistencies in the previous literature on reasoning and imagery and to develop a neurally and cognitively plausible theory of human relational reasoning. The main assumption is that visual brain areas are only involved if the problem information is easy to visualize and when this information must be processed and maintained in visual working memory. A regular reasoning process, however, does not involve visual images but more abstract spatial representations—spatial mental models—held in parietal cortices. Only these spatial representations are crucial for the genuine reasoning processes.

Enhancing Eight Grade Students' Scientific Conceptual Change and Scientific Reasoning through a Web-Based Learning Program

Abstract: This study reports the impacts of the Scientific Concept Construction and Reconstruction (SCCR) digital learning system on eighth grade students’ concept construction, conceptual change, and scientific reasoning involving the topic of “atoms”. A two-factorial experimental design was carried out to investigate the effects of the approach of instruction and students’ level of scientific reasoning on their pre-, post-, and retention-Atomic Achievement Test, Atomic Dependent Reasoning Test, and Scientific Reasoning Test. The control group (N=100) received conventional instruction whereas the experimental group (N=111) received an SCCR Webbased course. Results indicate that the experimental group significantly outperformed the conventional group on post- and retention-Atomic Achievement Test and Atomic Dependent Reasoning Test scores, and retentionScientific Reasoning Test scores. Moreover, students with a higher level of scientific reasoning significantly performed better than students with a lower level of scientific reasoning, regardless of their scores on post- and retention-Atomic Achievement Test and Atomic Dependent Reasoning Test. This study successfully demonstrates that the experimental group students outperformed the conventional group students in the domains of concept construction, conceptual change and scientific reasoning. Moreover, students with a higher level of scientific reasoning were more able to successfully change their alternative conceptions.

Body Size and Intelligence in 6-year-olds: Are Offspring of Teenage Mothers at Risk?

Abstract: Objectives Children born to teenage mothers are at risk for more physical and cognitive problems than those born to adult mothers. Our objective was to examine differences in size and intelligence between two cohorts of offspring born to adolescent (n = 357) and adult mothers (n = 668) who attended the same prenatal clinic. Methods Two prospective study cohorts assessed children from gestation through age 6 years. The adult cohort was studied in the mid-1980’s and the teen cohort was evaluated in the mid-1990’s. Both samples were of low socio-economic status. The same study design and measures allowed us to adjust for the covariates of size and IQ. Results Offspring of adolescent mothers had a significantly smaller mean head circumference (5 mm) (HC) and higher body mass index (BMI) than offspring of adult mothers. Offspring of adolescent mothers scored significantly lower than the offspring of adult mothers on the Stanford-Binet (SBIS) composite score (4 points), and the quantitative (6.2 points), verbal reasoning (4.8 points), and short-term memory (3.9 points) area scores. Additional predictors of child IQ were maternal IQ, home environment, race, and number of siblings. When child HC was entered into our final regression model for the SBIS, maternal age and HC significantly predicted the composite score, the verbal reasoning, and short-term memory area scores. A 1 cm decrease in HC predicted a 1 point decrease in the SBIS composite score. Conclusions Compared to offspring of adult women, children of adolescent mothers have lower mean scores on cognitive measures, smaller head circumference, and higher BMI. These differences were significant after adjusting for differences between the two groups. Adolescent mothers and their children would benefit from interventions such as parenting support, education about nutritional needs, and advice on enriching the environments of their children.

Associations Between Verbal Reasoning, Normative Beliefs About Aggression, and Different Forms of Aggression

Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of sex, verbal reasoning, and normative beliefs on direct and indirect forms of aggression. Three scales from the Peer Estimated Conflict Behavior Questionnaire, Verbal Reasoning tests, and an extended version of Normative Beliefs About Aggression Scale were administered to 663 Estonian students (289 boys and 374 girls; 150 fifth, 264 seventh, and 249 ninth graders; ages 11–16). Self- and same-sex peer ratings were used to assess the frequency of aggression. Associations between study variables were examined using structural equation modeling. Results showed that boys had higher levels of physical and verbal aggression in all the grades and higher levels of indirect aggression in Grade 7. Verbal reasoning predicted negatively all the forms of aggression, except for indirect aggression in Grade 7. Normative beliefs had a positive effect on all three forms of aggression in Grade 7 and Grade 9. Several studies have shown that aggression is widely used during middle childhood and adolescence. As a rule, boys are more aggressive than girls,

Focus in High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Sense Making in Statistics and Probability

Abstract: Reasoning about and making sense of statistics and probability are essential to students' future success. This volume belongs to a series that supports NCTM's Focus in High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Sense Making by providing additional guidance for making reasoning and sense making part of the mathematics experiences of all high school students every day. Six investigations illustrate how to help high school students develop their skills in working with data. The investigations emphasise the roles of reasoning and sense making in defining a statistical question and collecting, analysing and interpreting data to answer it. The authors examine the key elements of statistical reasoning identified in Focus in High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Sense Making and elaborate on the associated reasoning habits. The investigations show how students can use these habits in analysing data sets, constructing and comparing representations of data and using samples and simulations to gather data. They reason about distributions of data and how to use measures of centre, lines of best fit and other tools and techniques to detect trends, make predictions and determine the allowable scope of conclusions. The development of statistical reasoning must be a high priority for school mathematics. This book offers a blueprint for emphasising statistical reasoning and sense making in the high school curriculum.

Chapter 7 Development and Dual Processes in Moral Reasoning: A Fuzzy‐trace Theory Approach

Abstract: Fuzzy‐trace theory is used to explain: paradoxical reversals in moral reasoning (e.g., for trolley vs. footbridge scenarios); insensitivity to quantitative differences in outcomes, especially for protected values (and variations due to response formats); effects of dual opposing processes, such as emotion and cognitive control (inhibition); and the role of moral values in adolescents' risky decision making. Fuzzy‐trace theory is contrasted with standard dual‐process approaches, and unique predictions are derived (e.g., about activation of specific brain areas). Evidence supports the conclusions that people tend to rely on fuzzy, gist‐based intuition in reasoning generally; that this tendency is exacerbated for moral reasoning about protected values; that moral intuitions spring from a developmentally advanced semantic system in which the qualitative gist of decisions is processed, as opposed to an evolutionarily primitive “system 1” as standard dual‐process theories assume; and that, ironically, such reasoning makes it more likely that people achieve the very utilitarian outcomes that this reasoning eschews.

New directions in evaluating social problem solving in childhood: early precursors and links to adolescent social competence.

Abstract: A major objective of this chapter is to present a novel, ecologically sensitive social problem-solving task for school-aged children that captures the complexity of social and cognitive demands placed on children in naturalistic situations. Competence on this task correlates with a range of skills including executive functions, verbal reasoning, and attention. Children able to successfully carry out this task in middle school were more competent in early adolescence in collaborating in joint problem-solving tasks with peers and solving conflicts with parents.

Predictors of Success on the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between 403 counseling graduate students' scores on the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE; Center for Credentialing and Education, n.d.) and 3 admissions requirements used as predictor variables: undergraduate grade point average (UGPA), Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test Verbal Reasoning (GRE-V) score, and GRE General Test Quantitative Reasoning (GRE-Q) score. Multiple regression analyses revealed that all predictor variables accounted for somewhat limited, yet significant variations in the CPCE-Total scores (R2 = .21). Results indicated that UGPAs, GRE-V scores, and GRE-Q scores are valid criteria for determining counseling graduate student success on the CPCE.

The Capacity to Vote of Persons With Serious Mental Illness

Abstract: Objective: Despite legal protections, persons with mental illness continue to experience discrimination that limits their access to voting in elections. In response, a number of states have adopted individualized functional determinations of mental capacity to vote. A 2001 federal court decision offered clear criteria for determining voting capacity that are based on understanding the nature and effect of voting (“the Doe standard”). This study explored the performance on these criteria by a sample of individuals with serious mental illness. Methods: The Doe standard has been operationalized with the Competency Assessment Tool for Voting (CAT-V) along with measures of reasoning and appreciation. Performance was assessed with the CAT-V in a sample of 52 community-dwelling persons with serious mental illness and then compared on measures of cognition, verbal IQ, and symptom severity. Results: The interview questions were scored with good interrater reliability and took an average of less than five minutes to administer. Performance was high, with 92% scoring a 5 or 6 out of 6 possible points on the Doe-standard criteria. Performance did not correlate with cognition, verbal IQ, or symptom severity. Conclusions: The CAT-V is an easy and efficient method of determining voting capacity according to the Doe standard. Assuming that the high scores in this sample are confirmed in other groups, in general it may be appropriate to assume that even persons with serious mental illness are capable of voting. When a person’s capacity to vote is called into question, screening instruments such as the CAT-V may be useful to guide an assessment. (Psychiatric Services 60:624–628, 2009)

The Johns Hopkins Talent Search Model for Identifying and Developing Exceptional Mathematical and Verbal Abilities

Abstract: The Johns Hopkins Talent Search model, which was pioneered in the early 1970s by Professor Julian Stanley, has now spread to countries around the world. Also known as the MVT:D4 model of talent development, the power and efficacy of this approach for identifying and serving students with above-grade-level mathematical and/or verbal reasoning abilities have been well validated. Researchers at Johns Hopkins, as well as at other universities who use this model, have contributed greatly to our knowledge and understanding of the needs of gifted students. They have also developed and evaluated numerous strategies for meeting the educational needs of students with advanced abilities. This chapter summarizes the history of the Talent Search, its principles and practices, and the research that has been done on Talent Search students.

Performance intelligence, sexual offending and psychopathy

Abstract: Previous studies have suggested that offenders have lowered verbal intelligence compared to their performance intelligence. This phenomenon has been linked traditionally to childhood risk factors (e.g. deficient education, abuse and neglect). Substantial discrepancies between performance intelligence quotients (PIQ) and verbal intelligence quotients (VIQ), however, might also point to neurobiological impairments which may be associated with specific types of criminal behaviour. From the files of 133 male hospitalized offenders, PIQ, VIQ, full scale IQ (FSIQ) scores and Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) scores were derived, along with information about their criminal histories. PIQ over VIQ discrepancies were most pronounced in sexual offenders, particularly in those who had committed sexual crimes against adult victims. Furthermore, PIQ as well as PIQ higher than VIQ discrepancies correlated modestly, but significantly, with PCL-R scores. The results suggest that lower verbal compared to visual and spatial abilities may be connected specifically to egocentric and narcissistic personality traits which, in turn, may be involved in raising the risk of sexual offending.

Assessing pupils’ intelligence through self, parental, and teacher estimates

Abstract: This study examined the accuracy of self‐ and other‐estimated intelligence in relation to tested cognitive ability and gender. Three groups of raters were examined: 187 (102 male, 85 female; mean age 14.33 years, SD = .32) pupils of single‐sex comprehensive schools, 109 (55 mothers and 54 fathers) parents, and six teachers of the pupils. Pupils estimated their own overall IQ, while their parents and teachers estimated the pupils’ overall, mathematical, spatial, and verbal abilities. Self‐ and other‐estimates were compared to each other, and to the child’s psychometric test scores in verbal, quantitative, and figural/non‐verbal reasoning ability. Results suggested that participants were reasonably accurate at estimating pupils’ intelligence – teachers significantly more so than parents, and pupils significantly more so than fathers. Although both parents significantly overestimated their child’s IQ, this overestimation was more pronounced in fathers.

The Linear Logistic Test Model (LLTM) as the methodological foundation of item generating rules for a new verbal reasoning test

Abstract: Based on the demand for new verbal reasoning tests to enrich psychological test inventory, a pilot version of a new test was analysed: the 'Family Relation Reasoning Test' (FRRT; Poinstingl, Kubinger, Skoda & Schechtner, forthcoming), in which several basic cognitive operations (logical rules) have been embedded/implemented. Given family relationships of varying complexity embedded in short stories, testees had to logically conclude the correct relationship between two individuals within a family. Using empirical data, the linear logistic test model (LLTM; Fischer, 1972), a special case of the Rasch model, was used to test the construct validity of the test: The hypothetically assumed basic cognitive operations had to explain the Rasch model's item difficulty parameters. After being shaped in LLTM's matrices of weights ((qij)), none of these operations were corroborated by means of the Andersen's Likelihood Ratio Test.

Estimating verbal intelligence in unipolar depression: Comparison of word definition and word recognition

Abstract: Depression is known to be associated with deficits in effortful processing and word fluency. Automatic processes, instead, appear largely intact in depressed patients. It was investigated whether active word definition could be a less appropriate method than passive word recognition as a measure of verbal intelligence in depression. The valid assessment of premorbid IQ is important for correct comparison with current cognitive efficiency of depressed individuals, since premorbid IQ serves as baseline or control parameter to estimate the extent and severity of acquired cognitive impairments, both in the clinical and the research context. Two vocabulary tests were administered to 90 patients (31 women) with unipolar depression and 30 control subjects (15 women): a word definition task [the vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R)] and a word recognition task [the Multiple choice vocabulary test (MWT)]. In the depressed sample, scores of the MWT tended to be higher than WAIS-R scores. For depressed women, the MWT score was significantly higher than the WAIS-R score. In the control sample, no differences between MWT and WAIS-R scores were observed. Our findings indicate that word definition tasks could underestimate verbal intelligence especially in depressed women. For depressed women, it could be more appropriate to administer word recognition than word definition as an estimate of premorbid or verbal intelligence.

Clinical reasoning: new challenges

Abstract: This article is an introduction to a special issue of Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics on clinical reasoning. Clinical reasoning encompasses the gamut of thinking about clinical medical practice—the evaluation and management of patients’ medical problems. Theories of clinical reasoning may be normative or descriptive; that is, they may offer recommendations on how clinicians ought to think or they may simply attempt to describe how clinicians actually do think. This article briefly surveys these approaches in order to show the complexity of clinical reasoning and the inadequacy of any one theory for capturing the full richness of clinical reasoning. The authors of this issue offer both normative and descriptive elements in their accounts. Topics discussed include the importance for clinical reasoning of tacit knowing, risk assessment, narrative and hermeneutics, wisdom, and virtue epistemology.