The causes of aggressive behavior in children with autism are poorly understood, which limits treatment options. Therefore, this study used behavioral testing and parent reports of 60 children with autism to investigate the interplay of emotion misinterpretation and hostile attribution bias in the prediction of different aggressive behaviors.…

The Student Oral Language Observation Matrix (SOLOM) is an assessment of oral language skills. The aim of this study was to examine psychometric properties of the SOLOM for preschoolers through (a) use of internal consistency methods to assess the reliability of the scores from the SOLOM and (b) examination of criterion-related validity by…

When conducting classroom observations, researchers are often confronted with the decision of whether to conduct observations live or by using pre-recorded video. The present study focuses on comparing and contrasting observations of live and video administrations of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System-PreK (CLASS-PreK). Associations between…

Previous research has demonstrated that writing instruction can support reading achievement (Graham & Hebert, 2011); however much of this work involved carefully designed interventions. In this study, we evaluated a conceptual framework of the direct and indirect effects of typical writing instruction and student writing practice on reading…

Previous research has demonstrated that writing instruction can support reading achievement (Graham & Hebert, 2011); however much of this work involved carefully designed interventions. In this study, we evaluated a conceptual framework of the direct and indirect effects of typical writing instruction and student writing practice on reading…

Attending preferentially to social information in the environment is important in developing socio-communicative skills and language. Research using eye tracking to explore how individuals with autism spectrum disorder deploy visual attention has increased exponentially in the past decade; however, studies have typically not included minimally…

Models are central to the practice and teaching of science. Yet people often fail to grasp how scientific models explain their observations of the world. Realizing the explanatory power of a model may require aligning its relational structure to that of the observable phenomena. The present research tested whether "relational…

We investigated "scalar implicature" in adolescents and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to test whether theory of mind deficits associated with autism affect pragmatic inferences in language. We tested scalar implicature computation in adolescents with ASD (12-18 years) and asked whether they reason about mental states when…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently exhibit generalization errors, but many instructional programs fail to address this deficit. Generalization errors encompass when the learner should extend the use of a newly taught behavior to other contexts but does not (under-generalization), as well as when he or she should not use the…

Differences in the social limitations of girls compared to boys on the autism spectrum are still poorly understood. Impaired social-emotional reciprocity is a core diagnostic criterion for an autism spectrum disorder. This study compares sex differences in reciprocal behaviour in children with autism spectrum disorder (32 girls, 114 boys) and in…

There is a virtual consensus regarding the types of language processes, interactions, and material supports that are central for young children to become proficient readers and writers (Shanahan et al., 2008). In this study, we examine these supports in both home and school contexts during children's critical transitional kindergarten year.…

Research Findings: A growing emphasis in the literature on children's self-regulation signals the need for increased understanding of the ways in which young children become active players in the acquisition of knowledge. In particular, self-regulation may be linked to subsequent academic achievement through greater engagement with the learning…

This study aimed to assess physiological arousal and behavioral regulation of emotion in the context of frustration in 29 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and 45 typically developing children (41-81 months). Heart rate was continuously measured and emotion strategies were coded, during a locked-box task. Results revealed increases in…

There is an ongoing need for literature that identifies the effects of broad contextual risk on school readiness outcomes via family mediating mechanisms. This is especially true amongst diverse and urban samples characterized by variability in immigration history. To address this limitation, family profiles of sociodemographic and contextual risk…

We evaluated two experimenter-delivered, small-group word reading programs among at-risk poor readers in Grade 1 classes of regular elementary schools using a two-arm, dual-site-matched control trial intervention. At-risk poor word readers (n = 201) were allocated to either (a) Direct Mapping and Set-for-Variability (DMSfV) or (b) Current or…