Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis activity is related to negative mental health outcomes, including depression. Most developmental research uses salivary cortisol to index HPA activity; however, hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) reflect cortisol production over extended periods of time. While HCCs have been linked to adult depression,…

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and compare alternative modalities and stimuli used to measure receptive vocabulary skills in autistic children who are minimally verbal. This study systematically compared participants' outcomes on three different receptive vocabulary assessment conditions: a low-tech assessment that used a stimulus…

This study aims to investigate the linguistic organisation and coherence of personal narratives among children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) to provide insight into their communication skills in everyday contexts. A cohort of 10-year-old Croatian-speaking children diagnosed with DLD (n = 50, M = 10;8) and their gender-matched…

This research addresses the challenges of assessing receptive language abilities in minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder by comparing several adapted measurement tools: a standardized direct assessment of receptive vocabulary (i.e. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4); caregiver report measures including scores on the Vineland-II…

In an attempt to restore the symmetry and balance between the study of person and item variation, this paper presents a novel methodology construct specification equations, which allows one to ascertain from the lawful behavior of items what an instrument is measuring. (Author/PN)

The study employs a discriminant analysis with several instruments extensively utilized by researchers. Results indicated most of the measures employed were potentially capable of discriminating behavior disordered from learning disabled children and their normal peers. A high percentage of children in each group were appropriately classified by…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors in preschool educational television that engage and sustain children's attention. The method used to measure the children's attention was decided on in a pilot study of three measurement techniques, and consisted of an observer rating scale with the periodic introduction of a kaleidoscopic…

The project's purpose was to determine whether attention to the task during testing was a confounding variable in measures of visual perception ability. Samples of 30 perceptually handicapped (PH) and 30 normal subjects (N) were randomly selected from children so classified on the Frostig DTVP, providing they had IQ scores between 85 and 115 on…

A meta-analysis was performed on the 133 cognitive and behavioral papers in autism using comparison groups in the 1999-2002 period. High-functioning (average IQ: 84.7), adolescents (average, 14.4 years) are largely dominant. IQ is the most frequent matching variable in use (51.2%). The instruments that are most frequently used to determine IQ or…

Teachers' ratings of children's competencies may in part reflect characteristics and perspectives of teachers who assigned the ratings, which compromises their validity as a measure of child attributes. The purposes of this study were to use multilevel modeling to (a) estimate between-rater variance in teachers' ratings of children's social…

Four tests--PPVT, ITPA, MRT, WPPSI--commonly used to measure language development in young children are evaluated by four criteria: (1) what development aspects do they claim to tap; (2) what do they actually tap; (3) what linguistic knowledge is presupposed; (4) what special problems face a non-standard English speaker. These tests are considered…

This study attempted to develop a valid instrument for the assessment of attitudes in kindergarten children and to evaluate two potential curriculum procedures for facilitating attitude growth. One experimental treatment evolved from role-theory and emphasized perceptual awareness and the ability to put oneself in the place of another; the other…