1,720,989 research outputs found
Learning disorders and difficulties: From a categorical to a dimensional perspective
No full textAccording to the emerging dimensional framework, most neurodevelopmental disorders may be conceptualised as extreme ends of developmental continua that span through the entire population (e.g., Astle et al., 2022; Peters & Ansari, 2019). This framework describes not only learning difficulties, but potentially most neurodiversity as the result of individuals being distributed along a manifold of variously correlated and continuous dimensions, that span from neurotypicality to neurodivergence in a largely seamless way. In this, a heterogeneous range of conditions may easily be reframed as part of the general variability in the population, rather than as segmented subpopulations with qualitatively different features. In the present editorial, we discuss this framework with reference to the field of learning disorders and difficulties. We will repeatedly refer to the suggestions made by Astle et al. (2022) in their review on the “transdiagnostic revolution” of neurodevelopmental disorders. The research program that they advocate has two methodological tenets: investigating underlying continuous dimensions (dimensional framework), and exploring clustering (with an eye to potentially developing new data-driven taxonomies). Here, we mainly endorse adopting a dimensional framework, at least in the field of learning disorders, while we raise some cautionary notes on the risks of clustering. We also discuss open issues related to recruiting participants, improving psychometrics tools, and discovering cognitive and non-cognitive correlates of conditions when it comes to studying learning difficulties and learning disorders
Executive Functions in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Comorbidity Overlaps Between Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and Specific Learning Disorders
Full text linkThe present study examines the comorbidity between specific learning disorders (SLD) and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by comparing the neuropsychological profiles of children with and without this comorbidity. Ninety-seven schoolchildren from 8 to 14 years old were tested: a clinical sample of 49 children with ADHD (n = 18), SLD (n = 18) or SLD in comorbidity with ADHD (n = 13), and 48 typically-developing (TD) children matched for age and intelligence. Participants were administered tasks and questionnaires to confirm their initial diagnosis, and a battery of executive function (EF) tasks testing inhibition, shifting, and verbal and visuospatial updating. Using one-way ANOVAs, our results showed that all children in the clinical samples exhibited impairments on EF measures (inhibition and shifting tasks) when compared with TD children. A more specific pattern only emerged for the updating tasks. Only children with SLD had significant impairment in verbal updating, whereas children with ADHD, and those with SLD in comorbidity with ADHD, had the worst performance in visuospatial updating. The clinical and educational implications of these findings are discussed
Out of the noise: Effects of sound environment on maths performance in middle-school students
No full textThe main goal of the present research is to gain a better understanding of the consequences of background noise on learning, with a specific focus on how noise may impair maths achievement. A mental calculation task was administered in the classroom to 162 middle-school students (11–13 years old). The listening conditions were manipulated, choosing three different conditions - quiet, traffic and classroom noise - to reflect realistic noise exposure experienced in urban classrooms. A differential negative effect of listening condition on maths performance emerged in relation to task difficulty and children's age. The youngest children performed better in the quiet and traffic noise conditions than in the classroom noise condition, while in the older children these differences gradually disappeared. The detrimental effect of classroom noise was most evident when the maths task was moderately difficult. With increasing task complexity, the difference between listening conditions faded. These data support the idea that younger children are more susceptible to the detrimental effects of noise in school classrooms than older children, and that their academic attainments are affected. Our findings have implications for classroom learning because different types of environmental noise affected children's performance differently, depending on the complexity of the task in hand
Working memory and domain-specific precursors predicting success in learning written subtraction problems
No full textThis study was designed to identify individual differences predicting competence in solving written subtractions with borrowing in second-grade schoolchildren. To examine the role of domain-general and domain-specific precursors, a group of 68 second-graders was tested at three different sessions. Domain-general precursors were analyzed during the first session, including four working memory (WM) tasks, distinguishing between simple-storage and complex-span WM tasks. The domain-specific mathematical abilities tested were knowledge of symbols, arithmetical fact retrieval, understanding of the positional value of digits, and alignment skills. During the second and third sessions, children were taught written subtraction algorithms, first without and then with borrowing procedures, and were then immediately assessed on their acquired competences. Path analysis models were run and the final model showed that performance in written subtractions with borrowing was predicted by both visuospatial WM and specific mathematical skills. The results are discussed for their theoretical and educational implications. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved
Predictors of mathematics in primary school: Magnitude comparison, verbal and spatial working memory measures
Full text linkWe determined the relative importance of the so-called approximate number system (ANS), symbolic number comparison (SNC) and verbal and spatial short-term and working memory (WM) capacity for mathematics achievement in 1,254 Grade 2, 4 and 6 children. The large sample size assured high power and low false report probability and allowed us to determine effect sizes precisely. We used reading decoding as a control outcome measure to test whether findings were specific to mathematics. Bayesian analysis allowed us to provide support for both null and alternative hypotheses. We found very weak zero-order correlations between ANS measures and math achievement. These correlations were not specific to mathematics, became non-significant once intelligence was considered and ANS measures were not selected as predictors of math by regression models. In contrast, overall SNC accuracy and spatial WM measures were reliable and mostly specific predictors of math achievement. Verbal short-term and WM and SNC reaction time were predictors of both reading and math achievement. We conclude that ANS tasks are not suitable as measures of math development in school-age populations. In contrast, all other cognitive functions we studied are promising markers of mathematics development
L'apprendimento dell'area del trapezio in bambini di quarta primaria: quali sono i predittori?
No full textThe Impasse on Gender Differences in Intelligence: a Meta-Analysis on WISC Batteries
Full text linkThis meta-analysis reviews 79 studies (N = 46,605) that examined the existence of gender difference on intelligence in school-aged children. To do so, we limited the literature search to works that assessed the construct of intelligence through the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (WISC) batteries, evaluating eventual gender differences in indices and subtests. The theoretical framework we adopted is the cross-battery approach which locates cognitive abilities into different levels, also considering the possible mediating effect of the version of the WISC being used. As for broad abilities, a notable discrepancy emerged in favour of males for visual and crystallized intelligence, while female/male differences on fluid intelligence were negligible. Conversely, females’ performance on the processing speed factor was superior. Interesting results emerged at the subtest levels, albeit with less pronounced differences in performance. Results generally showed that older versions of WISC batteries displayed larger gender differences compared to the most recent ones
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Decoding gender differences: Intellectual profiles of children with specific learning disabilities
Full text linkThere has been a significant amount of debate around gender differences in intellectual functioning, however, most of this research concerns typically developing populations and lacks research into atypically developing populations and those with specific learning disabilities (SLD). To address this, we examined performance on the WISC-IV in children with SLDs (N = 1238, N female = 539, Age range = 7–16 years). We further divided the sample into those with specific deficits in reading, mathematics, and those with mixed disorder. Results indicate that gender predicts significant differences in the working memory index and processing speed index only, indicating a small but significant female superiority. Results also show different profiles for the different disorders investigated, with some gender differences emerging. The most prominent gender difference appears to be in the coding subtest indicating a female advantage, particularly in those with SLDs with mathematical difficulties. We discuss the theoretical and clinical implications of the findings
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