Spline growth modelling is a popular tool to model change processes with distinct phases and change points in longitudinal studies. Focusing on linear spline growth models with two phases and a fixed change point (the transition point from one phase to the other), we detail how to find optimal data collection designs that maximize the efficiency…

This article discusses changes with respect to university governance structures in six comprehensive universities in Europe. We present an analytical framework on the basis of which we conduct a comparative analysis of the university governance structures along four different dimensions: (a) the internal democratic nature of the governance…

The frequency of occurrence of words and sounds has a pervasive influence on typically developing children's language acquisition. For instance, highly frequent words appear earliest in a child's lexicon, and highly frequent phonemes are produced more accurately. This study evaluates (a) whether word frequency influences word accuracy and (b)…

Background: In the last decade, a large number of children with cleft lip and palate have been adopted to Sweden. A majority of the children were born in China and they usually arrive in Sweden with an unoperated palate. There is currently a lack of knowledge regarding speech and articulation development in this group of children, who also have to…

Research shows that teachers interpret small differences in student evaluations of teaching as meaningful even when available statistical information indicates that the differences are not reliable. The current research explored the effect of statistical training on college teachers' tendency to over-interpret student evaluation differences. A…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the aging effect on the categorical perception of Mandarin Chinese tones with varied fundamental frequency (F0) contours and signal duration. Method: Both younger and older native Chinese listeners with normal hearing were recruited in 2 experiments--tone identification and tone discrimination…

Language development is a significant milestone in the infant/toddler years; vocabulary by 2 years of age is predictive of later school success. It has been recognized within the bioecological systems theoretical framework that language develops as a result of an interplay between characteristics of the child, features of the setting, and…

The purpose of this study was to compare the motor skill performance of preschool children from low socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds to their age matched typically developing peers using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2). Sixty-eight children (34 low SES and 34 typically developing; ages 3-5) performed the PDMS-2. Standard scores…

Purpose: We compared copula and auxiliary verb BE use by African American English-speaking children with and without a creole heritage, using Gullah/Geechee as the creole criterion, to determine if differences exist, the nature of the differences, and the impact of the differences on interpretations of ability. Method: Data came from 38 children,…

Purpose: The purpose of this preliminary study was to (a) compare the pattern of reading subtypes among a clinical sample of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with typical language and (b) evaluate phonological and nonphonological language deficits within each reading impairment subtype. Method: Participants were 32…

There is a long held view that chunks play a crucial role in artificial grammar learning performance. We compared chunk strength influences on performance, in high and low topological entropy (a measure of complexity) grammar systems, with dyslexic children, age-matched and reading-level-matched control participants. Findings show that age-matched…

Previous research has shown that check-all-that-apply (CATA) and forced-choice (FC) question formats do not produce comparable results. The cognitive processes underlying respondents' answers to both types of formats still require clarification. This study contributes to filling this gap by using eye-tracking data. Both formats are compared by…

Purpose: Childhood stuttering is common but is often outgrown. Children whose stuttering persists experience significant life impacts, calling for a better understanding of what factors may underlie eventual recovery. In previous research, language ability has been shown to differentiate children who stutter (CWS) from children who do not stutter,…

Purpose: This study examined whether college students with developmental language disorder (DLD) could use distributional information in an artificial language to learn about grammatical category membership in a way similar to their typically developing (TD) peers. Method: Seventeen college students with DLD and 17 TD college students participated…

An alternative to null hypothesis significance testing is presented and discussed. This approach, referred to as observation-oriented modeling, is centered on model building in an effort to explicate the structures and processes believed to generate a set of observations. In terms of analysis, this novel approach complements traditional methods…