The relation between language and theory of mind (ToM) has been debated for more than two decades. In a similar vein, ToM has been examined in children with specific language impairment (SLI), albeit with inconsistent results. This meta-analysis of 17 studies with 745 children between the ages of 4 and 12 found that children with SLI had substantially lower ToM performance compared to age-matched typically developing children (d = .98). This effect size was not moderated by age and gender. By revealing that children with SLI have ToM impairments, this finding emphasizes the need for further investigation into the developmental interface between language and ToM as well as the extended consequences of atypical language development.

The argument that Working Memory (WM) is especially important for reading comprehension has been supported in previous research. The aim of this study was to test a non-computerized WM training method to improve children's reading comprehension in a longitudinal design. 38 Danish children in 3 rd and 4 th grade (M ¼ 112.9 months, SD ¼ 7.90 months) were divided into a training group (N ¼ 18) and a control group (N ¼ 20). Assessments of sentence reading comprehension and WM were administered at pre-and post-test, half-year and one-year follow-up. Verbal WM and reading comprehension were not improved following training. Visuo-spatial WM improved at post-training, but the effect did not last into the one-year follow up. The role of WM in reading comprehension and the pedagogical implications for teaching are discussed.

Multiple cognitive skills support the acquisition of proficient reading skills. Higher order processing abilities allowing the engagement and integration of multiple ideas collectively referred to as executive functions may be particularly important in reading comprehension. In the present study, 39 Danish school age children completed executive function tasks tapping cognitive flexibility and working memory, as well as measures of reading comprehension, nonword reading, receptive language and nonverbal intelligence. Results revealed that unique variance in children's sentence reading comprehension was explained by their abilities in the cognitive flexibility tasks even after differences in age, decoding, naming speed, receptive language, working memory and nonverbal intelligence were taken into account. The results are discussed in relation to the generalisability of the relationship between cognitive flexibility and reading comprehension across different languages and future research investigating the potential of these findings for reading intervention.

Background and aims: Language abilities vary greatly across children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In the present study, we investigate passive sentence comprehension, which has been underexplored among individuals with autism spectrum disorders and found to be delayed among other clinical populations. This study is the first to assess grammatical comprehension among Danish-speaking adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Methods: Fifteen Danish-speaking adolescents with autism (mean age: 14.9 years; age range: 13-18 years) participated in a picture selection task assessing comprehension of passive sentences relative to active sentences. We compared our findings for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders to those of 15 typically developing Danish-speaking adolescents matched for age and nonverbal reasoning as measured by the Matrix subtest of the WISC-IV/WAIS-IV. We also analyzed associations between passive comprehension and nonverbal reasoning. Results: The results showed ceiling effects for both groups on all sentence types indicating that Danish adolescents with autism spectrum disorders do not face problems comprehending passive sentences. However, when considering variation within the autism spectrum disorder group, correct passive comprehension was highly significantly associated with nonverbal reasoning for the autism spectrum disorder group (r ¼.75), while this was not the case for the typically developing adolescents. Analyses of the few errors produced showed a preference for Theta-role reversal errors in the autism spectrum disorder and the typically developing groups. Conclusions: Danish-speaking adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders do not show impairment in passive sentence comprehension. Correlation analyses however show that for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders, passive sentence comprehension is associated with nonverbal reasoning. We discuss how these results can be viewed as consistent with the few previous studies on passive comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Implications: Our study provides additional cross-linguistic evidence that passive comprehension is not problematic for individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. The finding of the relationship between nonverbal reasoning and passive sentence comprehension may inform clinical best practices as children with autism spectrum disorders who underperform in measures of nonverbal reasoning may benefit from additional receptive language screening.

This article contributes as a commentary to Min's critical evaluation of the challenges and resistances that have presented themselves during the recent process of changing the pedagogical practices ofChinese preschools to more closely resemble those seen in Scandinavian. The focus is on how decisions of how to structure the particular environment in preschool settings have direct and indirect implications for children's learning and learning possibilities, and the importance of understanding these as mediated signifiers of the particular culture values. The discussions stress the importance of weighing cross-cultural pedagogical practices in terms of the functions they each serve in themselves, and in regard to the sociocultural history from which they have emerged and serve within. This means enculturation of new didactic practices should be understood as a gradual, smooth processes that allows itself to merge useful aspects of new educational models and practices with existing practices and cultural values.

This study explores the communicative production of gestural and vocal modalities by 8 normally developing children in two different cultures (Danish and Zapotec; Mexican indigenous) (16 to 20 months). We analyzed spontaneous production of gestures and words in children's transition to the two-word stage as well as interaction between children and their respective caretakers' use of gestural communication. Consistent with previous studies the results showed that all children used the gestural modality extensively across the two cultures. Two subgroups of children were identified regarding whether the children showed an early preference for the gestural or the vocal modality. Through Analyzes of two-element combinations of words and/or gestures, we observed a relative increase in cross-modal (gesture-word and two-word) combinations. The results are discussed in terms understanding gestures as a transition period and in relation to the degree to which gestures can be understood as a universal communicative device applied by children.

Baggrund: Forskning i risikofaktorer for kompliceret sorg er et centralt anliggende i sorgpsykologien, da det har implikationer for forebyggende og tidlig indsats overfor særligt udsatte sørgende. Inden for sorgforskningen har forskellige typer af studier undersøgt faktorer, der relaterer sig til kompliceret sorg. Det er dog primært prospektive studier, som igennem etablering af en tidsmæssig sammenhæng kan give indsigt i risikofaktorer, bidrager til udvikling af kompliceret sorg. Nærværende review blev udført med det formål at afdække den eksisterende viden om risikofaktorer for kompliceret sorg igennem en systematisk gennemgang af den empiriske litteratur. Metode: Søgninger efter relevante studier blev udført i databaserne PsycNET og PubMed. Relevante studier blev inkluderet, hvis de undersøgte mindst én risikofaktor for kompliceret sorg, anvendte et prospektivt forskningsdesign samt benyttede standardiserede assessmentmetoder til måling af kompliceret sorg. Resultater: I alt blev 18 studier inkluderet. En syntese af disse studier viste, at risikofaktorer for kompliceret sorg relaterer sig til følgende temaer: involvering i  sygdomsforløbet, mangel på social støtte i sygdomsforløbet, depression eller sorgsymptomer før tabet, oplevelsen af tabet som uventet eller traumatisk,relationen til afdøde, afhængighed til afdøde, usikker tilknytning, uvirkelighedsfølelse, rumination og oplevelsen af tabet som centralt for den sørgendes identitet og livshistorie. Konklusion: Nærværende gennemgang af den empiriske litteratur giver indblik i hvilke sørgende, der særligt er i risiko for at udvikle kompliceret sorg. Denne viden kan bidrage til muligheden for en tidlig opsporing af udsatte sørgende, som potentielt vil kunne profitere af psykologiske behandlingsformer.

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