Nightmare disorder is a prevalent parasomnia characterized by vivid and highly unpleasant dream experiences during night time sleep. The neural background of disturbed dreaming was proposed to be associated with impaired prefrontal and fronto-limbic functioning during REM sleep. We hypothesized that the impaired prefrontal and fronto-limbic…

The aim of this paper is to discuss executive functions and playing games, considering Piaget's work (1967) and the neuropsychological framework (Barkley, 1997, 2000; Cypel, 2007). Two questions guide the discussion: What are the intersections between playing games and the development of executive functions? Can we stimulate children with learning…

An important issue for understanding visual perception in autism concerns whether individuals with this neurodevelopmental disorder possess an advantage in processing local visual information, and if so, what is the nature of this advantage. Perception of movement speed is a visual process that relies on computation of local spatiotemporal signals…

Onset of psychosis may be associated with abnormal adolescent neurodevelopment. Here we examined the neurocognitive profile of first-episode, adolescent onset psychosis (AOP) as compared to typically developing adolescents, and asked whether neurocognitive performance varied differentially as a function of age in the cases compared with controls.…

Adolescents face numerous challenges associated with increasing instructional curricular demands at the secondary level. Exacerbating an already difficult time for students with high-incidence disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, emotional disabilities) is the fact that the majority spend at least some part of the day in general education…

Objective: Deficits in cognitive flexibility and response inhibition have been linked to perturbations in cortico-striatal-thalamic circuitry in adult obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Although similar cognitive deficits have been identified in pediatric OCD, few neuroimaging studies have been conducted to examine its neural correlates in the…

Aim: Cognitive visual dysfunctions (CVDs) reflect an impairment of the capacity to process visual information. The question of whether CVDs might be classifiable according to the nature and distribution of the underlying brain damage is an intriguing one in child neuropsychology. Method: We studied 22 children born preterm (12 males, 10 females;…

The author offers clinical examples of ways in which the attainment of formal operations in adolescents both exacerbates chronic disabilities and contributes to the etiology of new disabilities (such as in teenage obesity, anorexia nervosa, and depression). He suggests treatment guidelines. (CL)

Reading difficulties and disabilities present serious and potentially lifelong challenges. Children who do not read well are more likely to be retained a grade in school, drop out of high school, become a teen parent, or enter the juvenile justice system. Building on the extant research and seminal studies, including the National Reading Panel and…

Using a sample of resident fathers in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (9-month Father Study), this study examined how father involvement is associated with infant cognitive outcomes in two domains (babbling and exploring objects with a purpose). Results from a series of logistic regression models indicate that varied aspects of…

The article provides a rationale for the consideration of the processing differences of exceptional learners and discusses how these differences influence the development of the skills necessary for normal school achievement. (PHR)

The paper reviews theories of Lev Vygotsky, founder of the Soviet school of cognitive developmental psychology and an architect of Soviet defectology, the discipline concerned with physically and mentally handicapped children. Three of his basic concepts are explained: (1) "cultural" versus "natural" mental functions; (2)…

The article examines the reflective versus the impulsive cognitive styles and the implications of these styles for special education teachers. (PHR)

The author reviews the contributions of the previous authors (EC 124 952-960) who emphasized self-instruction, self-assessment, and the more complex problem solving cognitive skills in teaching exceptional children. (PHR)

Intended for graduate students in special education, the text presents seven author contributed papers dealing with theoretical issues in the field. M. Faust and W. Faust ("Cognitive Constructing: Levels of Processing and Developmental Change") consider cognitive processing from a developmental perspective. In "Memory Processes in Exceptional…