The behavioral phenotype of Williams syndrome (WS) is characterized by difficulties with establishment and maintenance of friendships despite high levels of interest in social interaction. Here, parents and teachers rated 84 children with WS ages 4-16 years using two commonly-used measures assessing aspects of social functioning: the Social Skills…

This study was aimed at investigating the semantic integration ability of people with WS in building up a coherent and gist theme from the context of presented sentences. Previous studies have indicated rich lexical semantic knowledge and typical semantic priming in this clinical group, but atypical brainwave patterns have been reported in studies…

Not all biology students get to experience scientific research firsthand, but the National Genomics Research Initiative (NGRI) is working to change that. The NGRI is the first initiative to spring from Howard Hughes Medical Institute's (HHMI) new Science Education Alliance (SEA). At present, a competitive application process determines which…

This study aimed to evaluate spatial function in subjects with Williams syndrome (WS) by using a large-scale task with multiple rewards and comparing the spatial abilities of WS subjects with those of mental age-matched control children. In the present spatial task, WS participants had to explore an open space to search nine rewards placed in…

Two-way active avoidance (2WAA) involves learning Pavlovian (association of a sound cue with a foot shock) and instrumental (shock avoidance) contingencies. To identify regions where dopamine (DA) is involved in mediating 2WAA, we restored DA signaling in specific brain areas of dopamine-deficient (DD) mice by local reactivation of conditionally…

My purpose in this paper is to consider the relationship between, on the one hand, critical social science and, on the other hand, existing and emerging sciences of the body. Taking my lead from the sociologist, Steve Fuller, I discuss the ways in which some social scientists, both within and outside physical education and sport, have engaged with…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are gaining increasing responsibility for the instruction of undergraduate science students, yet little is known about their beliefs about science pedagogy or subsequent classroom practices. This study looked at six GTAs who were primary instructors in an introductory biology laboratory course. Teaching…

Twin and family studies have established that there is a strong genetic basis for autism spectrum disorders. To facilitate the identification of susceptibility genes and to study pathways from gene-brain to cognition a more refined endophenotype-based approach may be useful. The purpose of the present study was to examine the neurocognitive…

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have reported to have impairments in face, recognition and face memory, but intact object recognition and object memory. Potential abnormalities, in these fields at the family level of high-functioning children with ASD remains understudied despite, the ever-mounting evidence that ASDs are genetic and…

The aims of this article are to review the multiple relations between creativity and personality, exploring the measurement instruments that have been used to identify them. Specific personality characteristics and traits found in highly creative individuals and the interaction of these traits with the creative process are described. In addition,…

Case-based teaching and learning strategies can offer instructors effective pedagogical tools to scaffold student learning through activities designed to fulfill teaching objectives and desired student learning outcomes. In science disciplines, programs strive to impart knowledge in addition to providing students environments through which they…

This paper considers the coercive sterilization of Aboriginal women in legislated and non-legislated form in Canada. I provide an historical and materialist critique of coercive sterilization. I argue for coercive sterilization to be understood as one of many policies employed to undermine Aboriginal women, to separate Aboriginal peoples from…

Chapter 1: The role of cell division in protein expression is important to understand in order to guide the development of better nonviral gene delivery materials that can transport DNA to the nucleus with high efficiency for a variety of cell types, particularly when nondividing cells are targets of gene therapy. We evaluated the relationship…

Attention and working memory are fundamental for selecting and maintaining behaviorally relevant information. Not only do both processes closely intertwine at the cognitive level, but they implicate similar functional brain circuitries, namely the frontoparietal and the frontostriatal networks, which are innervated by cholinergic and dopaminergic…

This study examines students' understanding of the normative connections between key concepts of cell division, including both mitosis and meiosis, and underlying biological principles that are critical for an in-depth understanding of genetic inheritance. Using a structural equation modeling method, we examine middle school students'…