Direct and indirect assessment of 5 ability structures underlying 7 categories of childhood psychopathology

这项研究有四个主要目的。首先，我们的目标是获得正常儿童如何发展一系列不同能力的详细知识，包括运动协调、语言技能、理解他人的能力、自我控制能力和一般认知能力。其次，有了这些关于正常发育的知识，我们将能够确定正常发育没有发生的情况，并确定发育异常的确切能力区域。将研究患有以下七种疾病之一的儿童的异常发育模式，包括自闭症、智力残疾和发育协调障碍。第三，我们将评估某些能力的缺陷是否只对应于一种基本心理结构的缺陷（例如，语言缺陷与识别声音的能力缺陷有关），或者它们是否可能是由于几个结构的缺陷（例如，识别面孔的能力或保持注意力的能力）。最后，我们将研究一个或多个基本心理结构的损伤是否以及如何导致一个或多个能力领域的缺陷，这些能力领域是诊断一种或多种发育障碍的基础。这项研究有望提高评估任何特定发育障碍的确切性质的能力，从而提高对儿童的临床护理。

This research has four main aims. First, we aim to obtain detailed knowledge of how normal children develop a range of different abilities, including motor coordination, language skills, the ability to understand other people, self-control, and general cognitive ability. Second, with this knowledge of normal development we will be able to identify cases in which normal development does not occur and to identify the exact ability area(s) in which development is abnormal. Patterns of abnormal development will be studied in children with one of seven disorders, including Autistic Disorder, Intellectual Disability, and Developmental Coordination Disorder. Third, we will assess whether deficits in some ability correspond to impairments in just one basic psychological structure (e.g., language deficits are related to impairment in the ability to recognise sounds) or whether they can be due to impairments in several structures (e.g., the ability to recognise faces or the ability to maintain attention). Finally, we will investigate whether and how impairments in one or more basic psychological structures can result in deficits in one or more of the ability areas that are the basis for the diagnosis of one or more developmental disorders. This research is expected to lead to an enhanced ability to assess the exact nature of any given developmental disorder which, in turn, should enhance clinical care of the child.