The Use of Letter Position Cues in the Visual Processing of Words by Children with an Intellectual Disability and Nondisabled Children

Digit position coding in two-digit Arabic numbers was examined in two masked priming experiments. In Experiment 1, participants had to decide whether the presented stimulus was a two-digit Arabic number (e.g., 67) or not (e.g., G7). Target stimuli could be preceded by a prime which (i) shared one digit in the initial position (e.g., 13-18), (ii) shared one digit but in a different position (83-18), and (iii) was a transposed number (81-18). Two unrelated control conditions, equalized in terms of the distance between primes and targets with the experimental conditions, were also included (e.g., 79-18). Results showed a priming effect only when prime and target shared digits in the same position. Experiment 2 employed a masked priming same-different matching task – a task that has been successfully employed in the literature on letter position coding. Results showed faster response times when prime and target shared digits – including the transposed-digit condition – relative to the control conditions. Thus, the identity of each digit in the early stages of visual processing is not associated with a specific position in two-digit Arabic numbers. We examine the implication of these findings for models of Arabic number processing.

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Which Factors Modulate Letter Position Coding in Pre-literate Children?

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.708274 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

María Fernández-López ◽

Pablo Gómez ◽

Manuel Perea

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processes ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Reading Difficulties ◽

Letter Pair ◽

Letter Position ◽

Literacy Intervention ◽

Metalinguistic Awareness ◽

Letter Position Coding ◽

Early Reading Acquisition ◽

Linguistic Skills

One of the central landmarks of learning to read is the emergence of orthographic processing (i.e., the encoding of letter identity and letter order): it constitutes the necessary link between the low-level stages of visual processing and the higher-level processing of words. Regarding the processing of letter position, many experiments have shown worse performance in various tasks for the transposed-letter pair judge-JUDGE than for the orthographic control jupte-JUDGE. Importantly, 4-y.o. pre-literate children also show letter transposition effects in a same-different task: TZ-ZT is more error-prone than TZ-PH. Here, we examined whether this effect with pre-literate children is related to the cognitive and linguistic skills required to learn to read. Specifically, we examined the relation of the transposed-letter in a same-different task with the scores of these children in phonological, alphabetic and metalinguistic awareness, linguistic skills, and basic cognitive processes. To that end, we used a standardized battery to assess the abilities related with early reading acquisition. Results showed that the size of the transposed-letter effect in pre-literate children was strongly associated with the sub-test on basic cognitive processes (i.e., memory and perception) but not with the other sub-tests. Importantly, identifying children who may need a pre-literacy intervention is crucial to minimize eventual reading difficulties. We discuss how this marker can be used as a tool to anticipate reading difficulties in beginning readers.

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On the Design of Broad-Based Neuropsychological Test Batteries to Assess the Cognitive Abilities of Individuals with Down Syndrome in the Context of Clinical Trials

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci8120205 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 205 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ines Basten ◽

Richard Boada ◽

Hudson Taylor ◽

Katherine Koenig ◽

Veridiana Barrionuevo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Down Syndrome ◽

Intellectual Disability ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Pilot Trial ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

The One

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetically-defined cause of intellectual disability. Neurodevelopmental deficits displayed by individuals with DS are generally global, however, disproportionate deficits in cognitive processes that depend heavily on the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are also well documented. Additionally, DS is associated with relative strengths in visual processing and visuospatial short-term memory, and weaknesses in the verbal domain. Although reports of pharmacological rescuing of learning and memory deficits in mouse models of DS abound in the literature, proving the principle that cognitive ability of persons with DS can be boosted through pharmacological means is still an elusive goal. The design of customized batteries of neuropsychological efficacy outcome measures is essential for the successful implementation of clinical trials of potential cognitive enhancing strategies. Here, we review the neurocognitive phenotype of individuals with DS and major broad-based test batteries designed to quantify specific cognitive domains in these individuals, including the one used in a pilot trial of the drug memantine. The main goal is to illustrate the essential considerations in planning trials to enhance cognitive functions in individuals with DS, which should also have implications for the design of similar studies in individuals with other forms of intellectual disability.

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Cognitive Predictors of Performance in Well-Trained Table Tennis Players With Intellectual Disability

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly ◽

10.1123/apaq.2015-0122 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 324-337 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Debbie Van Biesen ◽

Jennifer Mactavish ◽

Janne Kerremans ◽

Yves C. Vanlandewijck

Keyword(s):

Intellectual Disability ◽

Reaction Time ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Spatial Visualization ◽

Classification Systems ◽

Cognitive Test ◽

Future Research ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Table Tennis ◽

Tennis Players

Evidence-based classification systems in Paralympic sport require knowledge of the underlying effect of impairment in a specific sport. This study investigated the relationship between cognition and tactical proficiency in 88 well-trained table tennis players with intellectual disability (ID; 29 women, 59 men, M ± SD IQ 59.9 ± 9.6). Data were collected at 3 competitions sanctioned by the International Federation for Para-Athletes with Intellectual Disabilities (INAS). A generic cognitive test consisting of 8 neuropsychological subtests was used to assess cognitive abilities relevant to sport (reaction time, processing speed, and decision speed; spatial visualization; fluid reasoning; memory; executive functioning; and visual processing). The backward stepwise-regression analysis model revealed that 18% of the variance in tactical proficiency was attributed to spatial visualization and simple reaction time. Applications of these findings resulted in an evidence-based classification system that led to the reinclusion of athletes with ID in Paralympic table tennis and provide the basis for future research in this important area.

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CURSIVE WORD RECOGNITION BASED ON INTERACTIVE ACTIVATION AND EARLY VISUAL PROCESSING MODELS

International Journal of Neural Systems ◽

10.1142/s0129065708001683 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 18 (05) ◽

pp. 419-431 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

JOSE RUIZ-PINALES ◽

RENE JAIME-RIVAS ◽

ERIC LECOLINET ◽

MARIA JOSE CASTRO-BLEDA

Keyword(s):

Word Recognition ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Letter Position ◽

Recognition System ◽

Input Image ◽

Position Uncertainty ◽

Second Stage ◽

Early Visual Processing ◽

Third Stage ◽

Interactive Activation

We present an off-line cursive word recognition system based completely on neural networks: reading models and models of early visual processing. The first stage (normalization) preprocesses the input image in order to reduce letter position uncertainty; the second stage (feature extraction) is based on the feedforward model of orientation selectivity; the third stage (letter pre-recognition) is based on a convolutional neural network, and the last stage (word recognition) is based on the interactive activation model.

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Normocentric biases taint cognitive neuroscience and intervention of autism

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18002297 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Laurent Mottron

Keyword(s):

Intellectual Disability ◽

Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

Social Motivation ◽

Repetitive Behaviors ◽

Restricted Interests ◽

Autistic People

Abstract Stepping away from a normocentric understanding of autism goes beyond questioning the supposed lack of social motivation of autistic people. It evokes subversion of the prevalence of intellectual disability even in non-verbal autism. It also challenges the perceived purposelessness of some restricted interests and repetitive behaviors, and instead interprets them as legitimate exploratory and learning-associated manifestations.

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