Children with epilepsy risk numerous problems at school, including those related to attention and memory. Crucially, attention and memory are central to academic success. Consequently, it can be argued that school psychologists should conduct comprehensive evaluations that intentionally measure attention and memory when assessing children with epilepsy. The sparse existing research, however, suggests that school psychologists often leave these important domains unassessed. Even less known is why attention and memory might be left unassessed, although school psychologists' limited awareness of epilepsy's threat to specific cognitive processes and/or doubt that attention and memory tests are indeed feasible to use in school settings are candidate explanations. This study concerns school psychologists and their assessment practices for students with epilepsy. It investigates whether unawareness of epilepsy's risk to attention and memory and/or doubt about the feasibility of school-based attention and memory tests may be partial explanations of their restrictive practices. Each of 237 participating school psychologists read about a hypothetical student with epilepsy and was randomly assigned to one of four conditions: neutral information (control); information about the feasibility of attention and memory tests (Feasibility information only); information about risk for attention and memory problems in children with epilepsy (Risk information only); or information about both feasibility and risk (Risk + Feasibility information). Participants were then provided with a list of standardized assessments (i.e., cognitive, academic, social-emotional, attention, and memory) and other (non-psychometric) techniques and practices (i.e., formal behavioral observation, pediatrician contact, interviews) for potential use. Subsequently, participants rated their attitudes (perceived value and likelihood of use) and ranked the importance of each assessment/practice regarding the hypothetical student with epilepsy. There were four predictions: 1) school psychologists in the control condition will endorse the least favorable attitudes and importance rankings of attention and memory tests; 2) school psychologists' provided with information about either Risk or Feasibility will have higher attitude ratings and importance rankings of these tests than those in the control condition; 3) those provided with both Risk and Feasibility information will have the highest attitude ratings and highest importance rankings of attention and memory tests. Findings suggest that Risk information alone was associated with higher attitude ratings and importance rankings of attention and memory tests, and that Feasibility information had no effect on school psychologists' attitude ratings or importance ranking of these assessment tools. Study limitations, implications for practice, and future directions for research are discussed.

The presence of stress is normative for individuals, and it is how one copes with stress that is important towards a person's well-being. In stressful situations, one's cognitive appraisal of and emotional reactions to a challenge are based on whether it is perceived as a threat to one's beliefs and goals. Mindfulness meditation training (MMT) is a set of coping strategies that has demonstrated beneficial effects for adults in reducing stress, enhancing wellbeing, and promoting cognitive efficiency. This procedure incorporates breathing techniques to regulate physiological responses and teaches the person to appraise moment to moment sensations, feelings and events as transitory, positive or neutral to assist in emotional regulation. In the past decade, research has suggested that MMT is appropriate and effective for children and adolescents, although most studies have been with clinical populations. The present study examined the relative effectiveness of MMT in stress reduction, and in promoting the mindfulness and well-being of adolescents enrolled in an International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Twelfth-grade students self-selected to participate in either an eight-week MMT course or to complete surveys as part of a no-treatment control group. Ratings for perceived stress, mindfulness, and well-being were collected from the MMT and the control groups at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at one week prior to admission of high stakes IB exams. A repeated measures 2 X 2 ANOVA was conducted for each of the three scales. Within the repeated measures ANOVA, the interaction between the factor of treatment/no treatment and the within-subjects variable "point in time" (before training, after training, and prior to the exam) was found to be statistically significant. Subsequent post hoc testing showed that the significant interaction effects occurred only at pre-test for the three measures of perceived stress, mindfulness and well-being, indicating that the groups were very different to begin with. These findings were discussed with respect to the current literature on MMT. Future directions for research in this area were also discussed, as were the limitations of the study.

This study investigated the important question of whether pupils' executive functions (EF) predict early academic achievement. Current conceptualizations suggest that developmental trends in EF can be measured in young children and that EF may play an important role in predicting academic achievement and school readiness. To date, however, there is little empirical support for this assertion. This study explored EF skills of 3- to 5 year-olds using the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task (DCCS). The first objective was to determine if EF indeed predicts math, reading, and writing achievement in 3- to 5-year-olds. The second objective was to determine if EF's prediction of academics occurs independent of the contribution made by general ability (e.g., Battelle motor and language subdomains). The third objective was to determine if the contribution of EF remains uniform across the age span. Consequently, existing data from 969 participants between 54 to 71 months was used. This consisted of scores on the DCCS as well as the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) to measure early reading and writing skills, the Test of Early Math Ability -Third Edition (TEMA-3) to measure early math skills, and sections of the Battelle Developmental Inventory 2nd Edition (BDI- 2) to measure general development. A positive relationship between EF and early math, reading, and writing skills was found. Also EF, as measured by the DCCS, contributed a significant portion of variance in early math, reading, and writing skills after accounting for general development, age, and socioeconomic status. Finally, the contribution of EF to early reading and writing skills remained stable between 3 and 5 years old. In contrast, EF was a stronger predictor of early math skills among 3-year-olds when compared to 5- year-olds.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between anxious/depressed and withdrawn symptoms and performance on a variety of cognitive and academic achievement measures. The sample included 343 subjects, drawn from a pool of subjects aged 6 to 11 years who were part of a sleep apnea study. A comprehensive battery of selected tests that measured cognitive and academic achievement function was administered to all sampled subjects. Parents of the subjects were given an instrument to complete in order to assess behavior function.The obtained data were analyzed by using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient analyses, T test procedures, and chi-square analyses. A significant negative correlation was found between anxious/depressed and withdrawn symptoms and the following cognitive and academic measures: general intelligence including verbal and nonverbal abilities, language, specific executive function skills, attention and processing speed, psychomotor speed and coordination with the dominant hand trial, and a subtest assessing math problem solving skills.There were statistically significant differences found between those subjects who obtained approaching borderline and clinically significant anxious/depressed, withdrawn, and both anxious/depressed and withdrawn symptoms on the following cognitive and academic measures: general intelligence including verbal and nonverbal abilities, language, specific executive function skills, attention and processing speed, psychomotor speed and coordination with the dominant hand, the interference and/or delayed recall trial of a memory task, and basic reading, math problem solving, and early spelling/writing skills.There was a significant difference found with regard to parent education level for children identified with withdrawn symptoms as compared to children without these symptoms but there were no other differences with regard to age, gender, ethnicity, or parent education level for children identified with anxious/depressed or withdrawn symptoms as compared to children without these symptoms. Additionally, Caucasian children performed significantly better than Hispanic children on a variety of the cognitive and academic measures.Overall, these findings support the hypotheses that depressive symptomatology does impact performance on cognitive and academic measures. Additionally, methodological problems for exercising caution in the interpretation of obtained findings were discussed. The implications of these findings for psychological practitioners, educators, and physicians were described.

No description available.

School Psychologists spend a disproportionate amount of time assessing students despite a stated desire to be recognized as performing a broader role. One approach to ameliorating this discrepancy is by facilitating the professional identity development of individual School Psychologists, since those with a strong professional identity are likely to advocate and elicit change. To this end, it is necessary to look beyond the narrow confines of the profession for models of professional identity development. An existing network development model that has identity-building potential is explored, and two existing professional networking mechanisms, one from the field of Veterinary Medicine and the other from School Psychology, are examined. The resulting School Psychology Professional Identity Development (SPPID) Framework provides a basis for a future professional collaboration mechanism that specifically assists school psychologists in professional identity building and eliciting change. Limitations and future directions for research are also discussed. / Psychological Studies in Education

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (DPsych) -- School of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, 2009. / Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology in the Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, 2009". Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-189)

Thesis (Psy.D.)--Rutgers University, 2010. / "Graduate Program in School Psychology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-222).