Decision-making involves the ability to choose between competing actions that are associated with uncertain benefits and penalties. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), which mimics real-life decision-making, involves learning a reward-punishment rule over multiple trials. Patients with damage to ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) show deficits…

Progressive developments in scanning technologies over the last decade have led to a surge of new research into the structure and function of the brain and into differences between the brains of teenagers and other adults. This work has not been free of controversy, notably around the question of deficits in the capacity of young people concerning…

Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Modules 1-3 item and domain total distributions were reviewed for 1,630 assessments of children aged 14 months to 16 years with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or with heterogeneous non-spectrum disorders. Children were divided by language level and age to yield more homogeneous cells. Items were…

Individuals with developmental disability (n=400) were assessed with the "Dyskinesia Identification System: Condensed User Scale" (DISCUS), a 15-item tardive dyskinesia rating scale shortened from the "Dyskinesia Identification System-Coldwater." Based on interrater reliability, 2-week stability, and other analyses, DISCUS is…

The effectiveness of using earliest school recollections as a diagnostic device for classifying different types of gifted and talented students with social adjustment problems at school was evaluated. Significant agreement was found between classification on the basis of earliest recollections and classification on the basis of observable behavior…

Studying normal infant development is a challenge for cognitive scientists in general and for neuroscientists in particular because: (1) physiological indices of infant cognition are generally noisy and technically difficult to obtain; and (2) interindividual variability and a paucity of established results make data interpretation very complex,…

Provides recommendations for improving the accuracy of diagnosing Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder using rating scales of procedures. Outlines strategies for managing the error intrinsic to the use of diagnostic measures, specifically behavior rating scales. Recommends a multiple stage procedure involving one or more levels of screening…

A self-report measure for the Type A subcomponent of time urgency and perpetual activation (TUPA) was developed using 10 coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and validated with another 48 CHD patients. The internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities indicate that the instrument has clinical and research applications. (SLD)

The use of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III) and its interpretation in educational use are discussed. To measure intelligence, Wechsler believed one must measure the various aptitudes that contribute to the total behavior of the individual. The WISC-III has six verbal subtests and seven performance subtests.…