The influence of morphological awareness on the literacy development of first-grade children.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was twofold. First, we investigated whether first-grade children evidenced morphological awareness and whether they used their knowledge of morphological relations to guide their spelling. Second, we sought to determine whether children's morphological awareness abilities were predictive of their performance on word-level reading and spelling measures. METHOD: At the beginning of the academic school year, 43 first-grade children were administered an oral morphological awareness production task, a series of single-word morphological spelling tasks, and a battery of language and literacy tasks. RESULTS: The first-grade children were able to generate words reflecting morphological relations before they received explicit instruction regarding morphological relations between words. In addition, the children used morphological information to guide their spelling of single words, as evidenced by a difference in patterns of spellings between 1- and 2-morpheme words. Regression analyses revealed that the children's performance on the oral morphological production task explained unique variance on their reading and spelling measures above and beyond the variance that was accounted for by phonological awareness. CONCLUSION: Children as young as first graders evidenced morphological awareness, and morphological awareness influenced the children's literacy development. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Mt. Whitney: determinants of summit success and acute mountain sickness.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of summit success and acute mountain sickness (AMS) on Mt. Whitney (4419 m) and to identify variables that contribute to both. METHODS: Hikers (N = 886) attempting the summit were interviewed at the trailhead upon their descent. Questionnaires included demographic and descriptive data, acclimatization and altitude history, and information specific to the ascent. The Lake Louise Self-Assessment Score was used to make a determination about the occurrence of AMS. Logistic regression techniques were used to calculate odds ratios (OR) for AMS and summit success. RESULTS: Forty-three percent of the sample met the criteria for AMS, and 81% reached the summit. The odds of experiencing AMS were reduced with increases in age (adjusted 10-yr OR = 0.78; P < 0.001), number of hours spent above 3000 m in the 2 wk preceding the ascent (adjusted 24-h OR = 0.71; P < 0.001), and for females (OR = 0.68; P = 0.02). Climbers who had a history of AMS (OR = 1.41; P = 0.02) and those taking analgesics (OR = 2.39; P < 0.001) were more likely to experience AMS. As climber age increased, the odds of reaching the summit decreased (adjusted 10-yr OR = 0.75; P < 0.001). However, increases in the number of hours per week spent training (adjusted 5-h OR = 1.24; P = 0.05), rate of ascent (adjusted 50 m x h(-1) OR = 1.13; P = 0.04), and previous high-altitude record (adjusted 500 m OR = 1.26; P < 0.001) were all associated with increased odds for summit success. CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of trekkers reached the summit despite having symptoms of AMS.