Heidi Flores

Constructions and Deconstructions of Risk, Resilience and Wellbeing: A Model for Understanding the Development of Aboriginal Adolescents

A developmental framework for understanding issues of risk, resilience, and wellness among Aboriginal adolescents in Canada and elsewhere is presented. As these constructs are not monolithic, simplistic linear risk models of a specific predictor to a specific outcome are inadequate to conceptually capture the complexities of real-life patterns. Accordingly, the conceptual focus is on ideal constructions of competence within the context of continually ongoing transactions in which the adolescents effect and are effected by the various layers and components of the environment. However, the pragmatics of empirical research necessitate simpler approaches in which outcomes are predicted from specific factors. Nonetheless, in keeping with the notion of the complexity of all individuals, competence and wellness are viewed within the framework of the ‘whole child’ across domains of academic success, behavioural competence and appropriateness, social adaptation, and emotional health within the context of the specific community. Although Aboriginal communities within Quebec, across Canada, the United States and elsewhere, differ considerably with regard to history, culture, language, and priorities for its youth, this approach allows for the universal application of a framework, for which specifics can be modified in relation to the unique and changing aspects of societies, communities, and the individuals within.

Cognitive Flexibility Among Individuals With Down Syndrome: Assessing the Influence of Verbal and Nonverbal Abilities

The influences of verbal mental age (VMA) and performance mental age (PMA) on cognitive flexibility were examined among a group of participants with Down syndrome (DS), in order to disentangle the relative contributions of each. The impaired cognitive flexibility typically observed among individuals with DS in combination with uneven VMA and PMA development suggests an opportunity to further understand the developmental relationship between VMA, PMA, and cognitive flexibility. We examined the performance of 22 participants with DS on the Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST), used for measuring cognitive flexibility among preschoolers. Partial correlations revealed that only VMA was related to the FIST after controlling for PMA, highlighting the role of verbal abilities in the development of cognitive flexibility.

Time Estimation Among Low-Functioning Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Evidence of Poor Sensitivity to Variability of Short Durations

Time estimation of short durations (under 1 sec) was examined in low‐functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children matched on mental age. Temporal bisection and generalization tasks were used to examine basic perceptual timing mechanisms. For both tasks, the participants with ASD demonstrated less sensitivity to variability in short durations than the TD children, adding to a growing body of literature suggesting deficits in timing exist for longer durations. The results highlight the need to examine multiple levels of processing of time‐related information from basic perceptual mechanisms to higher level cognitive mechanisms. Autism Res 2014, 7: 237–244.

Multiple-object tracking among individuals with Down syndrome and typically developing children

We investigated differences in multiple-object tracking among individuals with Down syndrome (DS) as compared to typically developing children matched on a visual-spatial mental age of approximately 5.5 years. In order to ensure that these effects did not originate in differences in encoding or reporting the positions of targets in distracters after a delay, immediate and delayed report were measured for static items. Although their immediate and delayed report for multiple static items was comparable to that of the typically developing children, the participants with DS performed as if they were only capable of tracking a single item at a time regardless of the number of targets that needed to be tracked. This finding is surprising because the operations used in multiple-object tracking are thought to be necessary for visuospatial tasks, which are an area of relative strength among persons with DS. These results call into question the idea that abilities or deficits in multiple-object tracking predict visuospatial performance, and highlight ways that atypical development can inform our understanding of typical development.