In response to the enduring "deficit" approach to the educational attainment of Aboriginal students in North America, we hypothesized that academic underperformance is related to a cultural mismatch between Aboriginal students' cultural background, which emphasizes connectedness and interdependence, and the mainstream White model of education, which focuses on independence and assertiveness. The participants included virtually all the secondary students (N = 115) in the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach, Quebec, Canada. We obtained self-reports of identification with Aboriginal and White culture, teacher reports of assertiveness, and official grades. We found that high identification with either Aboriginal or White culture was related to higher grades, regardless of whether the students were perceived as assertive by their teacher. Conversely, at low levels of cultural identification toward Aboriginal or White culture, being perceived as low in assertiveness by one's teacher predicted lower grades. This suggests that both high cultural identification and assertiveness can contribute to enhancing the educational outcomes of Aboriginal students, but that Aboriginal students with low levels of both cultural identification and assertiveness are at particular risk as they are mismatched with the culture of mainstream schools and do not benefit from the protective effects of identity. The relationships among identity, cultural values, and academic performance point to the need to reject the notion of an inherent deficit in education among Aboriginal youths in favor of a different framework in which success can be attained when alternative ways of being are fostered and nurtured in schools.

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.

The adage “the more you know, the less you know” may best describe the contributions of the developmental approach to the study of persons with intellectual disability. Based on this premise, we trace the development of the approach from its origins in the 19th century, and highlight both the advances and difficulties of an increasingly precise science that involves differentiating among etiological groups and fine-tuned developmental concepts. We also provide an overview of the five sections of the volume.

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.

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.