Infants born to families at risk of malnutrition were studied prospectively from the beginning of the 3rd trimester of the mother's pregnancy until the child reached 3 yr of age to ascertain the effects of nutritional supplementation and/or a maternal education program on their cognitive development. Four hundred thirty-three families were assigned randomly to six groups: group A served as a control; group B received the supplement from the age of 6 months to 3 yr; group C received the supplement during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and the first 6 months of the child's life; and group D received the supplement throughout the entire study period. In addition, group A1 was enrolled in a maternal education program but received no nutritional supplement and group B1 received both treatments. The Griffiths test of infant development was administered at 4, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age, and the Corman-Escalona Einstein scale was administered at each age up to 18 months. Children who received food supplementation performed better than those who did not, especially on subtests that were primarily motoric. The effect of food supplementation on behavior appeared to be contemporaneous. In addition, the treatment effects were more pronounced for girls than for boys in this sample. Although these interventions reduced the gap in cognitive performance between lower and upper socioeconomic classes, a disparity nevertheless remained by the end of the study.

No abstract

Males consistently show a more field-independent cognitive style than do females. Studies that have related this sex difference to social environmental variables have yielded equivocal results. Evidence that the sex difference in spatial ability reflects a constellation of genetic, endocrinological, and neurological factors is discussed. Since perceptual field dependence is strongly correlated with spatial ability, these biological factors probably figure in that sex difference as well. Data are also reviewed that suggest that (physically) early maturers are field dependent and late maturers are field independent, on the basis of both cognitive and personality measures. Thus, maturational rate may be an important intervening variable in the field dependence construct. Finally, interpretations of field dependence that integrate personality, cognition, and physiology are offered, and the implications for Witkin's differentiation hypothesis are discussed.

The Diagnostic Rating Scale (DRS) was completed by the parents and teachers of 82 children referred for clinical evaluations, 73 referred children seen twice, and 218 non-referred children from the community. The DRS, which uses a categorical rather than a dimensional rating approach, was 70% to 90% sensitive to diagnoses of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) made by blind clinical teams. In research and clinical applications, the DRS could improve screening efficiency, especially in situations where it would be desirable to exclude all children who might have ADHD or identify all children with Hyperactive-Impulsive symptoms. Because of its objectivity and consistency with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-IV criteria, the DRS could facilitate comparison of participant samples across studies.