Visual disengagement has been hypothesized as an endophenotype for autism. In this study we used twin modelling to assess the role of genetics in basic measures of visual disengagement, and tested their putative association to autistic traits in the general population. We used the Gap Overlap task in a sample of 492 twins. Results showed that most…

This short paper describes an ongoing NSF-funded project on enhancing science and engineering education using the latest technology. More specifically, the project aims at developing an interactive learning system with Microsoft Kinect™ and Unity3D game engine. This system promotes active, rather than passive, learning by employing embodied…

Background: Twin studies in children reveal that familial aggregation of anxiety disorders is due to both genetic and environmental factors. Cognitive biases for threat information are considered a robust characteristic of childhood anxiety. However, little is known regarding the underlying aetiology of such biases and their role in anxiety…

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) are two different genetical disorders both characterized, among other features, by muscular hypotonia. Postural control seems to be impaired in both conditions. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively compare postural control in adult PWS and EDS using stabilometric platform…

In this study, we examined the roles of specific cognitive (attentional bias) and genetic ("5-HTTLPR") risk factors in the intergenerational transmission of depression. Focusing first on the link between maternal history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and children's attentional biases, we found that children of mothers with a history…

Several forms of eye movement dysfunction (EMD) are regarded as promising candidate endophenotypes of schizophrenia. Discrepancies in individual study results have led to inconsistent conclusions regarding particular aspects of EMD in relatives of schizophrenia patients. To quantitatively evaluate and compare the candidacy of smooth pursuit,…

The "co-familiality" criterion for an endophenotype has two requirements: (1) clinically unaffected relatives as a group should show both a shift in mean performance and an increase in variance compared with controls; (2) performance scores should be heritable. Performance on the antisaccade task is one of several candidate endophenotypes for…

This study was initiated with twenty Down's syndrome babies to verify whether subjects undergoing social early stimulation would benefit from this type of treatment. An experimental study was designed with two training groups: visual or written instructions. The analyses of the results established statistically significant differences in the…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…