Intelligence tests are used in a variety of settings such as schools, clinics, and courts to assess the intellectual capacity of individuals of all ages. Intelligence tests are used to make high-stakes decisions such as special education placement, employment, eligibility for social security services, and determination of the death penalty.…

Individuals trained in the use of cognitive tests should be able to complete an assessment without making administrative, scoring, or recording errors. However, an examination of 295 Wechsler protocols completed by graduate students and practicing school psychologists revealed that errors are the norm, not the exception. The most common errors…

Memory aids are now frequently provided to elementary and secondary school students to increase their success in achieving provincial curriculum standards. While such an accommodation may meet the immediate goal of improved academic performance it may not be warranted based on an actual long-term memory retrieval impairment and may therefore be…

Background: Assessment of intelligence and executive function (EF) is common in complex neuropsychiatric practice. Although previous studies have shown that EF and intelligence are related, it is unknown whether these constructs relate to one another in a similar manner across different ability groups (mild intellectual disability, borderline…

U.S. Supreme Court justices and other federal judges are, effectively, appointed for life, with no built-in check on their cognitive functioning as they approach old age. There is about a century of research on aging and intelligence that shows the vulnerability of processing speed, fluid reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory to…

Frith's original notion of 'weak central coherence' suggested that increased local processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) resulted from reduced global processing. More recent accounts have emphasised superior local perception and suggested intact global integration. However, tasks often place local and global processing in direct trade-off,…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present difficulties in forming relations among items and context. This capacity for relational binding is also involved in spatial navigation and research on this topic in ASD is scarce and inconclusive. Using a computerised version of the Morris Water Maze task, ASD participants showed particular…

Background: Problematic alcohol use is characterized by disrupted associative processing of environmental clues, where problematic drinkers interpret ambiguous, alcohol-relevant clues in an alcohol-related way. The present study examined the strength of this interpretation bias in a large sample (N = 230) of light and problematic drinkers with and…

Estimation of composite reliability within a hierarchical modeling framework has recently become of particular interest given the growing recognition that the underlying assumptions of coefficient alpha are often untenable. Unfortunately, coefficient alpha remains the prominent estimate of reliability when estimating total scores from a scale with…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder demonstrate narrative (i.e. storytelling) difficulties which can significantly impact their ability to form and maintain social relationships. However, existing research has not comprehensively documented these impairments in more open-ended, emotionally evocative situations common to daily interactions.…

In this study, we examined the accuracy and dynamics of visually guided saccades in 20 adults with autism spectrum disorder, as compared to 20 typically developed adults using the Step/Overlap/Gap paradigms. Performances in participants with autistic spectrum disorder were characterized by preserved Gap/Overlap effect, but reduced gain and peak…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons why Greek young adults with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) seek learning assessments. The study sample consisted of 106 adults meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for SLD. Data were collected through self-report records (clinical interview) of adults…

The effects of extended time on the writing performance of university students with learning disabilities (LD) was examined. Thirty-eight students (19 LD; 19 non-LD) completed a collection of cognitive, linguistic, and literacy measures, and wrote essays under regular and extended time conditions. Limited evidence was found to support the…

This study compared neuropsychological test performance of individuals (n = 18) with an occupational history of pesticide exposure to individuals (n = 35) with no such exposure history. Results showed that a history of pesticide-related occupation exposure led to deficits in only Digit Symbol performance. Additionally, the correlation between…

Children who are iron deficient (ID) or iron-deficient anemic (IDA) have been shown to seek and receive less stimulation from their caregivers, contributing to "functional isolation". Over time, the reduced interactions between child and caregiver are thought to interfere with the acquisition of normative social competencies and…