1,720,978 research outputs found
Exploring working memory in children with low arithmetical achievement.
No full textThis research aimed at exploring the working memory functions in children with low arithmetical achievement
and normal reading, compared to age matched controls (mean age 9 years). All the children completed a series of
working memory tasks, involving the central executive functions (using both linguistic and numerical material), the phonological loop (using words, pseudo-words and digits) and the visual sketchpad (using both static visualspatial
patterns and visual-spatial sequences). Results indicated that poor arithmeticians performed worse than agematched controls in all the visual sketchpad tasks and in all the central executive tasks, whether they used linguistic or numerical material. On the contrary, the only phonological loop measure on which poor arithmeticians underachieved was the digit span forward. This selective impairment in the short-term recall of numerical material is explained as a difficulty in the access and retrieval of information from the numerical lexicon
Memoria di Lavoro e Discalculia Evolutiva. Attenzione e memoria di lavoro: espressioni di un unico dominio cognitivo?
No full text
The effects of sleep disturbance on school performance: A preliminary investigation of children attending elementary grades
Full text linkTraining of Attention in Children With Low Arithmetical Achievement
Full text linkThis study focuses on the role of attentional processes in arithmetical skills and examines if training of basic attentive skills may improve also working memory abilities reducing arithmetic difficulties. In order to study the efficacy of attentional treatment in arithmetic achievement and in enhancing working memory abilities a test-treatment-retest quasi experimental design was adopted. The research involved 14 children, attending fourth and fifth grades, with Arithmetical Learning Disabilities (ALD) assigned to experimental and control conditions. The numerical comprehension and calculation processes were assessed using the ABCA battery (Lucangeli, Tressoldi, & Fiore, 1998). Attentional abilities were evaluated using a multitask computerized assessment battery Attenzione e Concentrazione (Di Nuovo, 2000). WM abilities were evaluated by Listening span task, Digit span backward, Making verbal trails and Making colour trails. The results showed that intensive computerized attention training increased basic attentive skills and arithmetical performances with respect to numeric system in children with ALD. No effect on working memory abilities was found. Results are also important from a clinical perspective, since they may suggest strategies for planning individualized training programs
Work Engagement as a Moderating Factor between Positive Attitude toward Smart Working and Job and Life Satisfaction
Full text linkAttitude toward smart working reflects feelings of favorableness towards this object; attitudes influence intentions, which in turn guide behaviors. Recent research confirms the positive influence that attitude toward smart working has on expected usage of it. Despite a direct influence, other factors could interact in the context of opportunities for ICT usage for teleworkers; among these factors, work engagement stands out. In turn, work engagement influences the perception of job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Considering that literature suggests that among the antecedents of work engagement are attitudes, the present study analyzes the role of positive attitude towards smart working on work engagement, and consequently on job satisfaction and on life satisfaction, hypothesizing that work engagement could mediate between positive attitude towards smart working and job and life satisfaction. The participants were 342 workers (115 males and 227 females) in private and public organizations, aged 24 to 66 years. The results showed that a positive attitude towards smart working, along with work engagement as a mediator, positively influences job satisfaction and life satisfaction. This means that employers and human resources managers (HRM) can organize training sessions to enhance the positive attitude toward smart working and this can help workers feel more engaged and satisfied
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
Development of the Mental Imagery Scale for Preschool Children using Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory
No full textThis study aimed to develop a measure of mental imagery evaluation in preschool children. Three studies were conducted: Study 1 focused on the exploration of the factorial structure, reliability, and Item Response Theory (IRT) discrimination on a sample of children from 4 to 5 years old (N = 100; 50% males and 50% females); Study 2 focused on the confirmation of results about dimensionality on a sample of children from 4 to 7 years old (N = 170; 50% males and 50% females); and Study 3 focused on verifying criterion validity on a sample of children from 4 to 5 years old (N = 70; 47.1% males and 52.9% females). The results confirmed the hypothesis of three reliable factors underlying the scale for the three tasks: Blind Touch, Are Letters and Forms Similar?, and Snail’s Walk. Findings from item parameterization showed a reasonably good discrimination power and low difficulty. Overall, our research has shown that the Mental Imagery Scale for Preschool Children (MIS-PC) is a valuable tool for measuring preschoolers’ mental imagery and encourages its application in the educational context
Mental Images and School Learning: A Longitudinal Study on Children
Full text linkRecent literature have underlined the connections between children’s reading skills and capacity to create and use mental representations or mental images; furthermore data highlighted the involvement of visuospatial abilities both during math learning and during subsequent developmental phases in performing math tasks. The present research adopted a longitudinal design to assess whether the processes of mental imagery in preschoolers (ages 4–5 years) are predictive of mathematics skills, writing and reading, in the early years of primary school (ages 6–7 years). The research lasted for two school years; in the first phase, the general group of participants consisted of 100 children, and although all participants agreed to be part of the research, in the second phase, there was a mortality rate of 30%. In order to measure school learning and mental imagery processes four batteries of tests were used. The mental imagery battery evaluated mental generation, inspection and transformation processes. Data underlined that the different aspects in which mental imagery processes are articulated are differently implied in some skills that constitute school learning. These findings emphasize the potential usefulness of a screening for mental imagery ability for schoolchildren to adopt effective measures to increase their mental imagery abilities
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