Understanding cognitive development: automaticity and the early years child

In recent years a growing body of evidence has implicated deficits in the automaticity of fundamental facts such as word and number recognition in a range of disorders: including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, apraxia and autism. Variously described as habits, fluency, chunking and over learning, automatic processes are best understood in terms of their distinctive properties. While typically identified as fast, parallel, attention-free processes, a commonly agreed definition of automaticity continues to elude theorists investigating this concept. Most theorists would, however, agree that since attentional resources are finite, automaticity of basic facts serves to free sufficient mental resources for a learner to focus their attention on the novel or more complex aspects of a task. Yet despite the importance of automaticity to the learner, the term remains largely unfamiliar to most educationalists and early years practitioners. In order to address this issue, the present paper seeks to review several influential theories of automaticity, to describe the problems associated with defining a process as automatic and to draw from relevant research to demonstrate how the early years environment can be organised to promote automaticity in the young learner.     

Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The importance of heightened awareness.

Left untreated, deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism have a high rate of mortality and long-term morbidity. Physicians therefore must maintain a high index of suspicion for these conditions. Accurate diagnosis is facilitated by knowing the most common sites of thrombus formation, the likelihood of propagation, which patients are at greatest risk, signs and symptoms, and which tests to order. Prompt administration of anticoagulants and, in some cases, thrombolytic agents can minimize the consequences of these diseases. Interruption of the inferior vena cava, thrombectomy, and thromboembolectomy are other treatment options.