Book nook: WJ IV Clinical Use and Interpretion book now available

I'm pleased to report that this WJ IV resource is now available.  I received my copy today.  A link to information regarding the book from publisher is here.  A PDF copy of the book at can be downloaded here.

I am a minor contributor to one chapter in the book.  As per stated conflict of interests, I need to disclose that I am a coauthor of the WJ IV and thus have a potential  indirect financial interest in the success of this book.

Kudos to Dawn and Vinny and all the contributors

Language and Speech in Autism: Annual Review of Linguistics

Language and Speech in Autism

Annual Review of Linguistics

Vol. 2: 413-425 (Volume publication date January 2016)

First published online as a Review in Advance on November 4, 2015

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-linguistics-030514-124824

Morton Ann Gernsbacher,¹ Emily M. Morson,² and Elizabeth J. Grace³

¹Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706; email: MAGernsb@wisc.edu

²Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405; email: emorson@umail.iu.edu

³Department of Special Education, National Louis University, Chicago, Illinois 60603; email: Elizabeth.Grace@nl.edu

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Web of Science ®: Related Records ®

 

ABSTRACT

Autism is a developmental disability characterized by atypical social interaction, interests or body movements, and communication. Our review examines the empirical status of three communication phenomena believed to be unique to autism: pronoun reversal (using the pronoun you when the pronoun I is intended, and vice versa), echolalia (repeating what someone has said), and a reduced or even reversed production-comprehension lag (a reduction or reversal of the well-established finding that speakers produce less sophisticated language than they can comprehend). Each of these three phenomena has been claimed to be unique to autism; therefore, each has been proposed to be diagnostic of autism, and each has been interpreted in autism-centric ways (psychoanalytic interpretations of pronoun reversal, behaviorist interpretations of echolalia, and clinical lore about the production-comprehension lag). However, as our review demonstrates, none of these three phenomena is in fact unique to autism; none can or should serve as diagnostic of autism, and all call into question unwarranted assumptions about autistic persons and their language development and use.

Research Byte: Multivariate Associations of Fluid Intelligence (Gf) and NAA--more P-FIT model support

When it rains--it pours.  Second posting today of research study reinforcing the importance of the P-FIT neuro-model of intelligence.

 

Multivariate Associations of Fluid Intelligence and NAA

1. Aki Nikolaidis1,2,
2. Pauline L. Baniqued1,3,4,
3. Michael B. Kranz1,3,
4. Claire J. Scavuzzo2,5,
5. Aron K. Barbey1,
6. Arthur F. Kramer1,2,3 and
7. Ryan J. Larsen1

+ Author Affiliations

1. ¹Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
2. ²Neuroscience Program and
3. ³Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
4. ⁴Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
5. ⁵Psychology Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

1. Address correspondence to Aki Nikolaidis. Email: g.aki.nikolaidis@gmail.com

Abstract

Understanding the neural and metabolic correlates of fluid intelligence not only aids scientists in characterizing cognitive processes involved in intelligence, but it also offers insight into intervention methods to improve fluid intelligence. Here we use magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) to measure N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), a biochemical marker of neural energy production and efficiency. We use principal components analysis (PCA) to examine how the distribution of NAA in the frontal and parietal lobes relates to fluid intelligence. We find that a left lateralized frontal-parietal component predicts fluid intelligence, and it does so independently of brain size, another significant predictor of fluid intelligence. These results suggest that the left motor regions play a key role in the visualization and planning necessary for spatial cognition and reasoning, and we discuss these findings in the context of the Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory of intelligence.

Research Byte: Frontal and Parietal Cortices Show Different Spatiotemporal Dynamics across Problem-solving Stages--Is the P-FIT it?

Yet another study supporting the P-FIT neuro model of intelligence. Overview of P-FIT here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parieto-frontal_integration_theory

I have previously provided an overview of the P-FIT model of intelligence at the Interactive Metronome-Home blog.

Frontal and Parietal Cortices Show Different Spatiotemporal Dynamics across Problem-solving Stages. - PubMed

Arithmetic problem-solving can be conceptualized as a multistage process ranging from task…

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The 'Brain-Hacking' Wearable That Promises to Recharge Your Mind

Interesting, but this still strikes me as risky and need of considerable research to determine any potential negative side effects.

The 'Brain-Hacking' Wearable That Promises to Recharge Your Mind

From Inc. Magazine on Flipboard

Wearable tech startup Thync says its headband product can reduce stress and give your mood a boost. Electric shock therapy is coming to…

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Not All Mind Wandering Is Created Equal

Mind wandering research has exploded this past decade.  I have oodles of PDF articles in a mind wandering folder that I wish I had time to digest.  Important information being learned about the brain networks involved (default, salience, and central executive networks in particular)

Not All Mind Wandering Is Created Equal

Mind wandering—sometimes seen as daydreaming or "zoning out"—has been shown to facilitate creative thinking and problem solving, but in the wrong context it can…

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Research Byte: Brain Network Adaptability across Task States

Brain Network Adaptability across Task States

Abstract Activity in the human brain moves between diverse functional states to meet the demands of our dynamic environment, but fundamental principles…

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Keith Connors, Father of ADHD, Regrets Its Current Misuse

Keith Connors, Father of ADHD, Regrets Its Current Misuse

Keith Conners can rightly be called the "Father of ADHD". He was there at the birth of the disorder and probably knows more about it than…

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Research Byte: Pathways to Third-Grade Calculation Versus Word-Reading Competence: Are They More Alike or Different? via BrowZine

Pathways to Third-Grade Calculation Versus Word-Reading Competence: Are They More Alike or Different?
Fuchs, Lynn S.; Geary, David C.; Fuchs, Douglas; Compton, Donald L.; Hamlett, Carol L.
Child Development, Vol. 87 Issue 2 – 2016: 558 - 567


10.1111/cdev.12474

University of Minnesota Users:
http://login.ezproxy.lib.umn.edu/login?url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12474/pdf

Non-University of Minnesota Users: (Full text may not be available)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12474/pdf

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Research Byte: A NIT-picking analysis: Abstractness dependence of subtests correlated to their Flynn effect magnitudes via BrowZine

A NIT-picking analysis: Abstractness dependence of subtests correlated to their Flynn effect magnitudes
Armstrong, Elijah L.; te Nijenhuis, Jan; Woodley of Menie, Michael A.; Fernandes, Heitor B.F.; Must, Olev; Must, Aasa
Intelligence, Vol. 57 – 2016: 1 - 6

10.1016/j.intell.2016.02.009

University of Minnesota Users:
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http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289616300812

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Research Byte: Long-Term Effects of an Extensive Cognitive Training on Personality Development - Sander - Journal of Personality

Long-Term Effects of an Extensive Cognitive Training on Personality Development - Sander - Journal of Personality

1 German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), Berlin, Germany 2 Freie…

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******************************************************

Kevin McGrew, PhD

Educational Psychologist

Director, Institute for Applied Psychometrics

IAP

www.themindhub.com

******************************************************

MindMaze Develop Virtual Reality-Based Recovery Programs For Patients With Brain Injury

MindMaze Develop Virtual Reality-Based Recovery Programs For Patients With Brain Injury

By Morten Bjørklund Acquired brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Its complex…

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Back on the scent: the olfactory system in CNS demyelinating diseases - Go in CHC model

Yet another reason why Go (general olfactory abilities) are a good recent addition to the CHC taxonomy of human abilities.   File under Go

Back on the scent: the olfactory system in CNS demyelinating diseases

• Albert Joseph1, • Gabriele C DeLuca2 1Foundation School Offices, St Mary's Hospital, London, UK • 2Nuffield Department of…

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Meditation and Brain Update 2014

Meditation and Brain Update 2014

In the past year considerable research has been done on how meditation increases awareness while, also, increasing physical and mental health. This post will update…

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Researh Byte: Lower social intelligence results in greater brain network activity---when on is not socially confident, ones brain works harder

Contributions of self-report and performance-based individual differences measures of social cognitive ability to large-scale neural network functioning

• Ryan Smith 
• , Anna Alkozei
• , William D. S. Killgore

Download PDF (603 KB)

---

View Article

Abstract

Adaptive social behavior appears to require flexible interaction between multiple large-scale brain networks, including the executive control network (ECN), the default mode network (DMN), and the salience network (SN), as well as interactions with the perceptual processing systems these networks function to modulate. Highly connected cortical “hub” regions are also thought to facilitate interactions between these networks, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and anterior insula (AI). However, less is presently known about the relationship between these network functions and individual differences in social-cognitive abilities. In the present study, 23 healthy adults (12 female) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a visually based social judgment task (requiring the evaluation of social dominance in faces). Participants also completed both self-report and performance-based measures of emotional intelligence (EI), as well as measures of personality and facial perception ability. During scanning, social judgment, relative to a control condition involving simple perceptual judgment of facial features in the same stimuli, activated hub regions associated with each of the networks mentioned above (observed clusters included: bilateral DLPFC, DMPFC/ACC, AI, and ventral visual cortex). Interestingly, self-reported and performance-based measures of social-cognitive ability showed opposing associations with these patterns of activation. Specifically, lower self-reported EI and lower openness in personality both independently predicted greater activation within hub regions of the SN, DMN, and ECN (i.e., the DLPFC, DMPFC/ACC, and AI clusters); in contrast, in the same analyses greater scores on performance-based EI measures and on facial perception tasks independently predicted greater activation within hub regions of the SN and ECN (the DLPFC and AI clusters), and also in the ventral visual cortex. These findings suggest that lower confidence in one’s own social-cognitive abilities may promote the allocation of greater cognitive resources to, and improve the performance of, social-cognitive functions.

Keywords

Social Cognition Large-Scale Neural Networks Individual Differences Emotional Intelligence Social Visual Perception

Austrian CHC-based computer adaptive intelligence test: INSBAT

This past week, while attending and presenting at the 2016 ATP conference, I learned of a CHC-based computer adaptive test system developed in Austria.  It is called the INSBAT (Intelligence Structure Battery).  I have also found an article describing some of the INSBAT test development and psychometrics.

Working memory training (dual n-back) improves white matter tract integrity: White matter matters

White matter matters.  Yes, my readers may be tiring of this common mantra.

But, another new study has again implicated the importance of white matter integrity.  More importantly, the study suggests that a working memory training program (dual n-back) may be effective in increasing white matter integrity, thus increasing the efficiency and synchronization of communication between different brain networks.  Click on the images below to enlarge.

This study is consistent with my hypothesis that the effectiveness of some brain training programs may be due to increased white matter tract integrity.  An explanation, with a link to a MindHub pub white paper outlining this hypothesis, can be found here.  Other white matter related posts can be found here.