The effect of language proficiency on executive functions in balanced and unbalanced Spanish–English bilinguals

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
MÓNICA ROSSELLI ◽  
ALFREDO ARDILA ◽  
LAXMI N. LALWANI ◽  
IDALY VÉLEZ-URIBE
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Verbal Ability ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Nonverbal Intelligence ◽  
Ability Test ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Intelligence Scores

This study analyzed the association between levels of language proficiency and levels of bilingualism and performance on verbal and nonverbal executive functions (working memory, updating, shifting, and inhibition tasks) in young bilinguals. Forty balanced (high and low proficiency), 34 unbalanced bilinguals, and 40 English monolinguals, were selected. The Bilingual Verbal Ability Test was used as a measure of language proficiency; WAIS Block design test was used as a measure of non-verbal intelligence. High proficiency balanced bilinguals performed better than low proficiency balanced bilinguals; unbalanced bilinguals scored in between both balanced groups. High proficiency monolinguals scored higher than low proficiency monolinguals and similar to high proficiency bilinguals. Regression analyses demonstrated that nonverbal intelligence significantly predicted performances on verbal working memory and verbal and nonverbal inhibition tasks. It was concluded that nonverbal intelligence scores are better predictors of executive function performance than bilingualism or language proficiency.

scholarly journals Intervention for executive functions in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Menezes ◽  
Natália Martins Dias ◽  
Bruna Tonietti Trevisan ◽  
Luiz Renato R. Carreiro ◽  
Alessandra Gotuzo Seabra
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Intelligence Quotient ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Inattention And Hyperactivity ◽  
And Control ◽  
Weekly Group

This study aimed to investigate if an executive functions (EF) intervention could promote these skills in individuals with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Eighteen children and adolescents, 7-13 years old, divided into experimental (EG, N = 8) and control (CG, N = 10) groups, were assessed in the Block Design and Vocabulary subtests of the WISC III and seven tests of EF. Parents answered two scales, measuring EF and inattention and hyperactivity signs. EG children participated in a program to promote EF in twice-weekly group sessions of one hour each. After 8 months of intervention, groups were assessed again. ANCOVA, controlling for age, intelligence quotient and pretest performance, revealed gains in attention/inhibition and auditory working memory measures for the EG. No effect was found for scales or measures of more complex EF. Results are not conclusive, but they illustrate some promising data about EF interventions in children and adolescents with ADHD.

scholarly journals Attentional and executive functions in children and adolescents with developmental coordination disorder and the influence of comorbid disorders: A systematic review of the literature

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252043
Author(s):  
Catherine Lachambre ◽  
Mélodie Proteau-Lemieux ◽  
Jean-François Lepage ◽  
Eve-Line Bussières ◽  
Sarah Lippé
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Developmental Coordination Disorder ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Comorbid Disorders ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Coordination Disorder

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting primarily motor skills, but attentional and executive impairments are common in affected individuals. Moreover, the presence of neurodevelopmental comorbidities is frequent in this population, which certainly influences the cognitive profile of the children concerned. Previous studies have reported deficits in visuospatial/nonverbal and planning tasks. This systematic review of the literature aims to determine if impairments can be found in other attentional and executive functions as well. The type of cognitive tasks, the tasks’ modality (verbal/nonverbal), and the influence of comorbid disorders on attentional and executive profiles are systematically considered. Forty-one studies were identified through the PubMed/Medline and PsycINFO databases according to pre-established eligibility criteria. The results reveal weaknesses in inhibitory control, working memory, planning, nonverbal fluency, and general executive functioning in children with DCD. The presence of comorbid disorders seemingly contributes to the verbal working memory difficulties findings. This review contributes to a better understanding of the cognitive impairments in DCD and of the needs of children with this disorder, allowing to optimize practitioners’ therapeutic interventions.

Executive functions in youths with autism spectrum disorder and their unaffected siblings

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guan-Jye Seng ◽  
Wan-Ling Tseng ◽  
Yen-Nan Chiu ◽  
Wen-Che Tsai ◽  
Yu-Yu Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Planning Problem

Abstract Background Executive dysfunction is one of the main cognitive theories of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite evidence of deficits in executive functions in individuals with ASD, little is known about executive dysfunctions as candidate cognitive endophenotypes for ASD. In this study, we investigated executive functions in youths with ASD, their unaffected siblings and typically developing controls (TDC). Methods We recruited 240 youths with a clinical diagnosis of ASD (aged 6–18 years), 147 unaffected siblings of ASD youths, and 240 TDC youths. TDC youths were recruited based on the age and sex distribution of the ASD youths. Participants were assessed using the verbal Digit Span test and four executive function tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, including Intra-dimensional/Extra-dimensional Shift (I/ED), Spatial Span (SSP), Spatial Working Memory (SWM), and Stocking of Cambridge (SoC). Results ASD youths, relative to TDC, performed significantly worse in executive function tasks assessing verbal working memory (forward and backward digit span), set-shifting (I/ED), visuospatial working memory (SSP, SWM), and planning/problem solving (SoC). Furthermore, unaffected siblings, relative to TDC, performed worse in forward and backward digit recalls and made more errors in SWM. These results were independent of the effects of age, sex, IQ, and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Conclusions Our findings support impaired executive functions in youths with ASD. However, unaffected siblings were mostly unimpaired except in the areas of verbal and spatial working memory, which may be potential cognitive endophenotypes for ASD.

Updating Information in Verbal Working Memory and Executive Functioning

2005 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Doiseau ◽  
Michel Isingrini
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Verbal Ability ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting ◽  
Sorting Test

50 older adults ( M age = 77.9 yr., SD = 7.3; 35 women and 15 men) were tested using the updating working-memory task. They were also given the neuropsychological Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, assumed to evaluate executive functioning and the frontal cortex. A factor analysis with age, education, and verbal ability partialled out was computed on the updating task outcomes and resulted in a two-factor solution, indicating that this task requires two independent processes, interpreted as reflecting a storage component and an updating component. Partial correlations with age, education, and verbal ability partialled out indicated that Wisconsin Card Sorting Test measures were significantly associated with the factor supposed to reflect the updating process. Such results appeared consistent with the model of working memory with a central executive system involved in the updating process and related to the executive-frontal functioning, and a phonological loop system involved in the storage of verbal information and not linked to executive-frontal functions.

Neuropsychological Significance of Children's Wechsler Intelligence Scores

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 787-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph T. Kunce ◽  
Robert C. McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Test Scores ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Language Disability ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Brain Dysfunction ◽  
Diagnostic Significance ◽  
Psychological Conditions ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Intelligence Scores

The relationships of Wechsler test scores (WISC and WISC-R) to 6 neuropsychological conditions in one sample of children ( N = 120) were compared to those of a second sample ( N = 36). Only 6 of the 84 IQ-diagnosis correlations showed comparable relationships in both samples. These consistent correlations were: Arithmetic and Digit Span scores with auditory perceptual dysfunction; Block Design with visual perceptual dysfunction; Verbal IQ with speech and language disability and with auditory perceptual dysfunction; and Performance IQ with visual perceptual dysfunction. The notable lack of consistency of most correlations obtained across the two samples for the test scores to diagnoses of minimal brain dysfunction, hyperkinesis, and learning disability suggests that (a) these diagnoses need greater specificity and definitiveness if they are to relate meaningfully to cognitive dysfunction or that (b) the Wechsler subtests are not sufficiently sensitive to these neuro-psychological conditions to have diagnostic significance for children of average intelligence.

Children's Verbal Working Memory: Role of Processing Complexity in Predicting Spoken Sentence Comprehension

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 669-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beula M. Magimairaj ◽  
James W. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Word Recall ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Simple Sentences

Purpose This study investigated the role of processing complexity of verbal working memory tasks in predicting spoken sentence comprehension in typically developing children. Of interest was whether simple and more complex working memory tasks have similar or different power in predicting sentence comprehension. Method Sixty-five children (6- to 12-year-olds) completed a verbal working memory (listening) span task that varied in syntactic processing difficulty (simple sentences representing a “simple working memory task,” complex sentences representing a “complex working memory task”) and a standardized sentence comprehension test. Results Word recall on the simple and complex working memory tasks correlated with each other. Both memory tasks also correlated with children's sentence comprehension. Regression analyses showed that the simple working memory task remained a significant predictor of comprehension even after accounting for variance associated with age and performance on the complex working memory task. Conclusions Results were interpreted to suggest that relative to more complex verbal working memory tasks, simple tasks are more robust predictors of children's sentence comprehension because they represent a basic yet robust index of working memory that sufficiently captures controlled attentional focus.

scholarly journals Support for an independent familial segregation of executive and intelligence endophenotypes in ADHD families

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 1595-1606 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. N. J. Rommelse ◽  
M. E. Altink ◽  
J. Oosterlaan ◽  
C. J. M. Buschgens ◽  
J. Buitelaar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Verbal Iq ◽  
Familial Factors ◽  
Cross Correlations ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Family Based

BackgroundImpairments in executive functioning (EF) and intelligence quotient (IQ) are frequently observed in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The aim of this paper was twofold: first, to examine whether both domains are viable endophenotypic candidates for ADHD and second to investigate whether deficits in both domains tend to co-segregate within families.MethodA large family-based design was used, including 238 ADHD families (545 children) and 147 control families (271 children). Inhibition, visuospatial and verbal working memory, and performance and verbal IQ were analysed.ResultsChildren with ADHD, and their affected and non-affected siblings were all impaired on the EF measures and verbal IQ (though unimpaired on performance IQ) and all measures correlated between siblings. Correlations and sibling cross-correlations were not significant between EF and IQ, though they were significant between the measures of one domain. Group differences on EF were not explained by group differences on IQ and vice versa. The discrepancy score between EF and IQ correlated between siblings, indicating that siblings resembled each other in their EF–IQ discrepancy instead of having generalized impairments across both domains. Siblings of probands who had an EF but not IQ impairment, showed a comparable disproportionate lower EF score in relation to IQ score. The opposite pattern was not significant.ConclusionsThe results supported the viability of EF and IQ as endophenotypic candidates for ADHD. Most findings support an independent familial segregation of both domains. Within EF, similar familial factors influenced inhibition and working memory. Within IQ, similar familial factors influenced verbal and performance IQ.

scholarly journals Comparation and validation of reading span tasks

Psihologija ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejan Lalovic ◽  
Dusan Vejnovic
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Predictive Validity ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Verbal Ability ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Memory Efficiency ◽  
Span Tasks

The aim of the present study was to compare two most widely employed versions of the reading span task in Serbian speaking population, with respect to the procedure and validity. First step was to compare psychometric properties of several measures of reading span, derived from each task version. Second step was to compare predictive validity of memory span and processing measures, for each task version. Two task versions proved to be parallel, with small discrepanciens, providing reliable and discriminative measures. The only exception was traditional reading span measure, which has not met any of psychometric standards. Therefore, we propose this measure to be abandoned. While processing measures showed better predictive validity with respect to criteria of verbal ability and reading comprehension, reading span measures independently contributed to prediction of the same criteria with only one exception. Results obtained suggest a small modifications of reading span tasks required in order to improve their psychometric properties. They also suggest combining processing and span measures might yield a better verbal working memory efficiency estimate.

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