Cicchetti's organizational-developmental perspective of Down syndrome: Contributions to the emergence of developmental psychopathology and the study of persons with neurodevelopmental conditions.

Dante Cicchetti's earliest work, his studies of social-emotional development in infants and children with Down syndrome, set the stage for the emergence of the larger field of developmental psychopathology. By applying basic developmental principles, methodologies, and questions to the study of persons with Down syndrome, Dante took on the challenge of searching for patterns in atypical development. In doing so, he extended traditional developmental theory and introduced a more "liberal" approach that both continues to guide developmentally based research with persons with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs), including Down syndrome.

Autism and sexual and gender minority identity in college students: Examination of self-reported rates, functional outcomes, and treatment engagement.

Autistic individuals and those who identify with a sexual and/or gender minority are both at risk for various mental health concerns and related impairments. However, the connection between autism and sexual and/or gender minorities and mental health and functional outcomes is not clear. Here, we provide evidence of these connections by analyzing data from a large nationally representative dataset from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment III.

Barriers to an Autistic Identity: How RRBs may Contribute to the Underdiagnosis of Females.

Background: Autistic females are frequently underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and/or diagnosed later in life. Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors (RRBs) are increasingly critical for diagnosis and yet are commonly rated lower in females. Whether this reflects genuinely lower levels of these traits, or if female-typical RRBs have a different phenotypic presentation that may not register on current quantitative measurement tools is unclear.

Brief Report: Sensory Features Associated with Autism After Controlling for ADHD Symptoms.

Background: Sensory processing differences are reported both in children with ADHD and in children with autism. Given the substantial overlap between autism and ADHD, the current study examined which sensory features were uniquely predictive of autistic traits after controlling for ADHD symptoms, age, IQ, and sex in a sample of children and adolescents with autism aged 6-17 years.

Methods: The sample included 61 children and adolescents with autism.

Investigating the Structure of the CESD-R and DASS-21 Across Adults with Low and High Levels of Autistic Traits.

The current study examined factorial invariance of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) using a convenience sample of 434 adults surveyed though Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were sorted into two groups based on their score on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. Results indicated that the CESD-R did not demonstrate configural invariance.

Brain Signatures of Early and Late Neural Measures of Auditory Habituation and Discrimination in Autism and Their Relationship to Autistic Traits and Sensory Overresponsivity.

Sensory differences are included in the DSM-5 criteria of autism for the first time, yet it is unclear how they relate to neural indicators of perception. We studied early brain signatures of perception and examined their relationship to sensory behaviors and autistic traits. Thirteen autistic children and 13 Typically Developing (TD) children matched on age and nonverbal IQ participated in a passive oddball task, during which P1 habituation and P1 and MMN discrimination were evoked by pure tones.

A Preliminary Study Characterizing Subcortical and Cortical Auditory Processing and Their Relation to Autistic Traits and Sensory Features.

This study characterizes the subcortical auditory brainstem response (speech-ABR) and cortical auditory processing (P1 and Mismatch Negativity; MMN) to speech sounds and their relationship to autistic traits and sensory features within the same group of autistic children (n = 10) matched on age and non-verbal IQ to their typically developing (TD) peers (n = 21). No speech-ABR differences were noted, but autistic individuals had larger P1 and faster MMN responses. Correlations revealed that larger P1 amplitudes and MMN responses were associated with greater autistic traits and more sensory features.

A Randomized Feasibility Trial of a Fundamental Motor Skill Parent-Mediated Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility of a fundamental motor skills (FMS) intervention with two groups on the acquisition of FMS of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We randomly assigned families ( = 15) of children with ASD aged 4-11 years into two groups (a workshop or a home-based group) focused on FMS development. Both groups participated in a 10-week intervention and were given the same instructional manual and adapted physical activity equipment.

Pathways of perceptual primacy: ERP evidence for relationships between autism traits and enhanced perceptual functioning.

Autistic individuals show enhanced perceptual functioning on many behavioral tasks. Neurophysiological evidence also supports the conclusion that autistic individuals utilize perceptual processes to a greater extent than neurotypical comparisons to support problem solving and reasoning; however, how atypicalities in early perceptual processing influence subsequent cognitive processes remains to be elucidated. The goals of the present study were to test the relationship between early perceptual and subsequent cognitive event related potentials (ERPs) and their relationship to levels of autism traits.

Longitudinal stability of salivary microRNA biomarkers in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurological condition with increasing prevalence. Few tools accurately predict the developmental trajectory of children with ASD. Such tools would allow clinicians to provide accurate prognoses and track the efficacy of therapeutic interventions.

The science of humanity and the humanity of science: Perspectives on Ed Zigler's contributions to developmental psychopathology and the study of all children.

We present this article as a testament to Ed Zigler's commitment to science in the service of humanity and to policy based on conceptually compelling theory and methodologically rigorous science. In doing so, we highlight ways that Ed's universal and inclusive developmental world view, early training as a behaviorist, exacting scientific standards, concern for others, and appreciation of his own roots and upbringing all transformed the way that many different groups of people of all ages and backgrounds are studied, viewed, and intervened with by researchers, policy makers, and society at large. Ed's narrative of development rather than defect, universality rather than difference, and holistic rather than reductionist continues to compel us in the quest for a kinder, more inclusive, and enabling society.

Developmental Perspectives on the Study of Persons with Intellectual Disability.

Developmental approaches provide inclusive, universal, and methodologically rigorous frameworks for studying persons with intellectual disability (ID). This is an exceptionally heterogeneous group with regard to etiology, genotype, and phenotype that simply shares the traditional diagnostic criteria, typically a score of two standard deviations below the population mean of 100 on standardized IQ tests and deficits in adaptive behavior. We trace the foundational, conceptual, and methodological roots of developmental approaches and highlight ways that these and more recent iterations continue to be central to advances in the increasingly nuanced study of persons with ID.

Examining the Temporal Limits of Enhanced Visual Feature Detection in Children With Autism.

The enhanced perceptual processing of visual features in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is supported by an abundance of evidence in the spatial domain, with less robust evidence regarding whether this extends to information presented across time. The current study aimed to replicate and extend previous work finding that children with an ASD demonstrated enhanced perceptual accuracy in detecting feature-based (but not categorically defined) targets in time, when these were presented quickly, at a stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 50 ms per item. Specifically, we extend the range of SOAs to examine the temporal boundaries of this enhanced accuracy and examine whether there is a relationship between ASD-related traits and detection accuracy on temporal visual search tasks.

Forensic Interviewers' Difficulty With Invitations: Faux Invitations and Negative Recasting.

An ongoing challenge for forensic interviewers is to maximize their use of invitations, such as requests that the child "tell me more about" details mentioned by the child. Examining 434 interviews with 4- to 12-year-old children questioned about abuse, this study analyzed (1) faux invitations, in which interviewers prefaced questions with "tell me" but then asked a noninvitation, (2) negative recasts, in which interviewers started to ask an invitation but then recast the question as a wh- or option-posing question, and (3) other aspects of questions that may relate to productivity independent of their status as invitations. About one fourth of "tell me" questions were faux invitations, and over 80% of recasts were negative.

Autism Spectrum Disorders and ADHD: Overlapping Phenomenology, Diagnostic Issues, and Treatment Considerations.

Purpose Of Review: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are both increasing in prevalence and commonly co-occur with each other. The goal of this review is to outline what has been published recently on the topics of ASD, ADHD, and the comorbid state (ASD+ADHD) with a particular focus on shared phenomenology, differential diagnosis, and treatment considerations.

Recent Findings: ASD and ADHD have shared genetic heritability and are both associated with shared impairments in social functioning and executive functioning.

Specific differences in temporal binding aspects of the attentional blink in Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome.

Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) is a genetic syndrome characterized by a variety of cognitive impairments, including difficulty with attention. 22q11DS is the strongest known genetic risk factor for developing schizophrenia, a disorder characterized by impairments in visual attention and temporal binding processes.

Validation of the C.A.R.E. stimulus set of 640 animal pictures: Name agreement and quality ratings.

Stimulus sets are valuable tools that can facilitate the work of researchers designing experiments. Images of faces, and line drawings of objects have been developed and validated, however, pictures of animals, that do not contain backgrounds, have not been made available. Here we present image agreement and quality ratings for a set of 640 color images of animals on a transparent background, across 60 different basic categories (e.

Brief Report: Physical Activity, Body Mass Index and Arterial Stiffness in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Preliminary Findings.

We examined the association between physical activity (PA), body mass index (BMI) and novel measures of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 15 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (mean age 7 ± 2 years, 2 girls). PA was objectively assessed using accelerometry as time spent in moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Arterial stiffness was measured via aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) and taken as a marker of subclinical CVD risk.

Developmental changes in feature detection across time: Evidence from the attentional blink.

The ability to select targets from an ongoing stream of visual information is critical to the successful management of visual attention. The attentional blink (AB), a phenomenon elicited using rapid serial visual presentation, allows for the assessment of the limits of the temporal visual system, and is reflected in a decrease in accuracy in the detection of the second of two targets when it occurs within 200-500ms of a first target. Evidence regarding the development of the AB is mixed and appears to be dependent on the task demands.

Atypical perception in autism: A failure of perceptual specialization?

We examined whether reduced perceptual specialization underlies atypical perception in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) testing classifications of stimuli that differ either along integral dimensions (prototypical integral dimensions of value and chroma), or along separable dimensions (prototypical separable dimensions of value and size). Current models of the perception of individuals with an ASD would suggest that on these tasks, individuals with ASD would be as, or more, likely to process dimensions as separable, regardless of whether they represented separable or integrated dimensions. In contrast, reduced specialization would propose that individuals with ASD would respond in a more integral manner to stimuli that differ along separable dimensions, and at the same time, respond in a more separable manner to stimuli that differ along integral dimensions.

Use of sonic tomography to detect and quantify wood decay in living trees.

Premise Of The Study: Field methodology and image analysis protocols using acoustic tomography were developed and evaluated as a tool to estimate the amount of internal decay and damage of living trees, with special attention to tropical rainforest trees with irregular trunk shapes.

Methods And Results: Living trunks of a diversity of tree species in tropical rainforests in the Republic of Panama were scanned using an Argus Electronic PiCUS 3 Sonic Tomograph and evaluated for the amount and patterns of internal decay. A protocol using ImageJ analysis software was used to quantify the proportions of intact and compromised wood.