Executive Functions and Visual-Spatial Skills Predict Mathematical Achievement: Asymmetrical Associations Across Age

OBJECTIVES: to compare the neuropsychological profile of eutrophic, stunted and chronically malnourished children, and to analyse the role of socio-economic factors on the cognitive development. METHODS: seven to 10 year-old girls and boys from a poor community in São Paulo were evaluated: 27 eutrophyc, 31 stunted and 15 chronically malnourished. Neuropsychological evaluation involved cognitive functions not fully assessed in this population, such as working, declarative and non-declarative memories, attention and executive functions. Socio-economic indicators, maternal mental health and the children's behaviour at school were also evaluated. RESULTS: malnourished children had a lower score on the vocabulary test than the eutrophic and stunted groups (p s<0.05), performed worse in the visuospatial working memory task (p = 0.01), were more anxious than the stunted (p = 0.006), and despite having lower average birth weight than eutrophic children (p = 0.01), only two children as had prenatal malnutrition. Stunted children exhibited no impairment. No differences in socio-economic variables were found among groups. CONCLUSIONS: chronic malnutrition was associated to impairment of expressive speech, visual-spatial short-term memory and increased anxiety. No effects were observed in intellectual abilities, executive functions, verbal working memory, long-term memory, nor in visuoconstructive function. Preservation of the latter cognitive functions can be attributed to adequate environmental conditions and the lack of overall prenatal malnutrition.

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Combining Science and Humanities to Assess and Promote the Development of Visual‐Spatial Skills in Medical Learners

The FASEB Journal ◽

10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.s1.03463 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 35 (S1) ◽

Author(s):

David Riddle ◽

Wendy Lackey‐Cornelison ◽

Tyler Gibb ◽

Paul Solomon

Keyword(s):

Spatial Skills ◽

Visual Spatial

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Transpersonal Experiences in Childhood: An Exploratory Empirical Study of Selected Adult Groups

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1992.75.3f.1135 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 75 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1135-1153 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Harry T. Hunt ◽

Sheryl Shearing-Johns ◽

Arlene Gervais ◽

Fred Travis

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Skills ◽

Mystical Experience ◽

Childhood And Adolescence ◽

Spatial Skills ◽

Body Experience ◽

Transpersonal Experience ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Out Of Body Experience ◽

Transpersonal Experiences ◽

Meditative Practice

A questionnaire was developed to assess adult recall for a range of transpersonal experiences throughout childhood and adolescence (mystical experience, out-of-body experience, lucid dreams, archetypal dreams, ESP), as well as nightmares and night terrors as indicators of more conflicted, negative states. In two exploratory studies this questionnaire was administered to subjects with high estimated levels of early transpersonal experiences and practising meditators, with respective undergraduate controls. A cognitive skills/precocity model of early transpersonal experience was contrasted with a vulnerability of self model by comparisons of these groups on questionnaire categories, imaginative absorption, neuroticism, and visual-spatial skills, with some support found for both models depending on experience type, age of estimated recall, and adult meditative practice.

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Evaluation of Surgical Dexterity During the Interview Day: Another Factor for Consideration

Journal of Graduate Medical Education ◽

10.4300/jgme-d-14-00546.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 234-237 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Dinchen Jardine ◽

Benjamin Hoagland ◽

Angel Perez ◽

Eric Gessler

Keyword(s):

Spatial Ability ◽

General Surgery ◽

Manual Dexterity ◽

Spatial Skills ◽

Application Process ◽

Current Application ◽

Residency Programs ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Standard Interview ◽

Composite Scores

Abstract Background Manual dexterity and visual spatial ability are not routinely used to evaluate candidates for surgical residency training as part of the application interview. Objective This study assessed the acceptability and feasibility of evaluating the manual dexterity and visual spatial ability of applicants for general surgery and otolaryngology residency, and evaluated the relationship between this information and routinely considered application factors. Methods During the 2012 interview season, medical students applying to our institution's general surgery and otolaryngology residency programs underwent a battery of tests relevant to surgical dexterity. Five tests shown to be related to the surgeons' dexterity or visual spatial skills were administered during the course of their in-person interview day. The results from these tests were compared with data collected as part of the current application process. Results A total of 64 students were enrolled, and 58 had data that could be analyzed. Regression analysis using the enter method was performed for each of the tests, and for the composite scores. None of the values were significant as defined by P ≤ .05. Neither the scatterplots of the data nor Pearson r showed a correlation between the highest performers on the surgical dexterity composite score and individuals' highest scores on the dimensions used in the current process to assess applicants. Conclusions The addition of 1 or more evaluations of visual spatial skills and psychomotor aptitude can be done during a standard interview day, is acceptable to applicants, and may provide information that is different from the usual components of the application.

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Association of Sleep Quality on Memory-Related Executive Functions in Middle Age

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617717000637 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 67-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Brinda K. Rana ◽

Matthew S. Panizzon ◽

Carol E. Franz ◽

Kelly M. Spoon ◽

Kristen C. Jacobson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Executive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Later Life ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Interference Control ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Increased Risk

AbstractObjectives: Sleep quality affects memory and executive function in older adults, but little is known about its effects in midlife. If it affects cognition in midlife, it may be a modifiable factor for later-life functioning. Methods: We examined the association between sleep quality and cognition in 1220 middle-aged male twins (age 51–60 years) from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging. We interviewed participants with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and tested them for episodic memory as well as executive functions of inhibitory and interference control, updating in working memory, and set shifting. Interference control was assessed during episodic memory, inhibitory control during working memory, and non-memory conditions and set shifting during working memory and non-memory conditions. Results: After adjusting for covariates and correcting for multiple comparisons, sleep quality was positively associated with updating in working memory, set shifting in the context of working memory, and better visual-spatial (but not verbal) episodic memory, and at trend level, with interference control in the context of episodic memory. Conclusions: Sleep quality was associated with visual-spatial recall and possible resistance to proactive/retroactive interference. It was also associated with updating in working memory and with set shifting, but only when working memory demands were relatively high. Thus, effects of sleep quality on midlife cognition appear to be at the intersection of executive function and memory processes. Subtle deficits in these age-susceptible cognitive functions may indicate increased risk for decline in cognitive abilities later in life that might be reduced by improved midlife sleep quality. (JINS, 2018, 24, 67–76)

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The Use of Hand Gestures to Communicate About Nonpresent Objects in Mind Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2015_jslhr-l-14-0213 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 373-382 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Wing-Chee So ◽

Ming Lui ◽

Tze-Kiu Wong ◽

Long-Tin Sit

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Intervention Program ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Spatial Skills ◽

Typically Developing Children ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Children With Asd

Purpose The current study examined whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison with typically developing children, perceive and produce gestures to identify nonpresent objects (i.e., referent-identifying gestures), which is crucial for communicating ideas in a discourse. Method An experimenter described the uses of daily-life objects to 6- to 12-year-old children both orally and with gestures. The children were then asked to describe how they performed daily activities using those objects. Results All children gestured. A gesture identified a nonpresent referent if it was produced in the same location that had previously been established by the experimenter. Children with ASD gestured at the specific locations less often than typically developing children. Verbal and spatial memory were positively correlated with the ability to produce referent-identifying gestures for all children. However, the positive correlation between Raven's Children Progressive Matrices score and the production of referent-identifying gestures was found only in children with ASD. Conclusions Children with ASD might be less able to perceive and produce referent-identifying gestures and may rely more heavily on visual–spatial skills in producing referent-identifying gestures. The results have clinical implications for designing an intervention program to enhance the ability of children with ASD to communicate about nonpresent objects with gestures.

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Effects of Gender on Perception of Spatial Illusions

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1995.80.2.625 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 80 (2) ◽

pp. 625-626 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Marc E. Pratarelli ◽

Brenda J. Steitz

Keyword(s):

Prior Experience ◽

Spatial Skills ◽

3 Dimensional ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Performance Differences ◽

Males And Females

Popular theories explaining performance differences between males and females generally predict that females tend to outperform males on certain perceptual and linguistic tasks, while males outperform females on tasks involving visual-spatial skills. 28 males and females were shown commercially available computer-generated 3-dimensional illusions in which the hidden object(s) varied in complexity. Although females reported more prior experience with this form of art, males were about four times faster at identifying the illusions at all levels of difficulty.

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