scholarly journals A-048 Semantic, Not Phonetic, Working Memory Performance Predicts Variation in Reading Comprehension in a Mixed Sample

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 838-838
Author(s):  
Bandel L ◽  
Travis-Judd H ◽  
Schlak J ◽  
Kibby M
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Neuropsychological Battery ◽  
Comorbid Adhd

Abstract Objective Reading comprehension (RC) is the result of a combination of interrelated abilities including decoding, linguistic processing, and higher-order cognitive functions such as working memory (WM). Problems with RC are associated with deficits in verbal WM, especially on tasks involving semantic processing. Hence, this study’s aim was to determine which is the better predictor of RC when controlling for basic reading ability: semantic or phonetic WM. Semantic WM was hypothesized to be the better predictor. Methods Participants included 258 children (aged 8-13 years) with ADHD, reading disability (RD), or comorbid ADHD/RD, and typically developing controls (53.6% Male, 87.8% Caucasian). Participants completed a neuropsychological battery as part of a larger, grant-funded study (R03HD048752, R15HD065627), including the WJ-III Letter-Word Identification and Passage Comprehension subtests that were utilized to assess basic reading and RC, respectively. Participants also completed the Rhyming Words and Semantic Association subtests of the Swanson-Cognitive Processing Test, which measure phonetic WM and semantic WM, respectively. Results Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that worse performance on the semantic WM task was associated with poorer RC (Beta = 0.15; p < 0.001) above and beyond basic reading (R2 change = 0.02, p < .001). Phonetic WM was not related to RC when decoding was controlled despite the zero-order correlation being significant (p < .001), showing much of phonetic WM’s relationship to RC may be due to basic reading requiring this skill. Conclusion Findings suggest differences in RC may be related to semantic WM functioning in children with and without RD, but not phonetic WM, when basic reading is controlled. Replication with a longitudinal design is warranted.

Laterality of Lesions and Trait-Anxiety on Working Memory Performance

2002 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 551-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. S. Killgore
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Brain Lesion ◽  
Cerebral Activation ◽  
The Right

An asymmetry of anterior cerebral activation favoring the right hemisphere has been associated with dispositional negative affect including trait-anxiety, while the opposite appears true of cerebral asymmetry favoring the left hemisphere. It was hypothesized that an asymmetry of cerebral activation, as defined by scores on a measure of trait-anxiety, ipsilateral to the side of an anterior brain lesion would be associated with less efficient cognitive processing than greater activation in the hemisphere contralateral to the lesion. Patients with anterior left ( n = 16) or right ( n = 15) hemisphere lesions completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and several neurocognitive tasks. Of the abilities tested, only Digit Span scores showed an interaction between side of lesion and presumed activation asymmetry. Patients with right- but not with left-hemisphere damage showed significant differences in working memory performance depending on the presumed direction of asymmetry of the two hemispheres, supporting the dual roles of the right hemisphere in affective processing and directed attention.

scholarly journals Emotional Facial Processing: Does Cognitive Load Make a Difference?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsie Ong ◽  
Rick Law Tsz Chun
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Emotional Faces ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Facial Processing

<p>The manuscript is titled ‘Emotional facial processing: does cognitive load make a difference?’ and it describes a research study that measures how emotion and distraction of different cognitive loads may impact working memory performance. The findings show that cognitive load on working memory performance, with poorer working memory performance in the high compared to the low level of distraction. However, no effects of emotional faces were found on task performance. The work therefore has significance with regard to cognitive processing and working memory span.</p>

Verbal and visual-spatial working memory performance in Arabic monolingual and English/Arabic bilingual Kuwaiti children

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S369-S369
Author(s):  
F. Khashawi
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Spatial Span ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Visual Spatial Working Memory

IntroductionResearch in psycholinguistics focusing on cognitive processing in bilinguals and the role played by working memory about cognitive processing indicated that Working Memory (WM) was instrumental in cognitive processing in bilinguals, but that its role was different and generally more complex than it was in monolinguals. However, the specific manner in which the use of WM differed between monolinguals and bilinguals was not always clear.ObjectivesThis research explored the verbal and visual-spatial WM performance in an Arabic monolingual group and a bilingual English/Arabic group.MethodsThe participants were 396 Kuwaiti (198 monolingual aged 7.99 ± 1.97 years and 198 bilingual aged 8.03 ± 1.92) with no significant age differences (t = 0.23, P > 0.05). The two groups were compared on how they performed in the Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA), to measure a verbal and visual-spatial WM tasks. The tasks were Listening Recall, Counting Recall, Mr. X, Backward Digit Recall, Odd-one-out and Spatial Span. All tasks were internally consistent (Alpha = 0.91, 0.93, 0.87, 0.88, 0.87, and 0.91 respectively). The data was analyzed using Independent Sample t Test.ResultsThe findings showed that there was significant group difference as the monolingual Arabic group (L1) performed better than bilingual English/Arabic group (L2) on both of verbal WM (t = 3.25, P < 0.002) and visuospatial WM (t = 3.04, P < 0.002).ConclusionThe monolingual children obtained higher scores on both verbal and visuospatial WM. These findings were explained in terms of the complexity of the Arabic language and cultural context in which the second language is being practiced. This warrants further investigation.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Working memory, metacognition and foreign language reading comprehension: a bibliographical review

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Sidnei Werner Woelfer ◽  
Lêda Maria Braga Tomitch ◽  
Leonilda Procailo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Complex Activity ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Foreign Language Reading ◽  
Complex Activities

Making sense of texts from a cognitive-processing perspective involves several mental operations connecting conceptual and procedural knowledge (Gagné et al., 1993). In this regard, the reader’s ability to articulate several processes simultaneously, involving information processing and comprehension monitoring, is crucial to the construction of the mental representation of texts. Thus, this bibliographical review intends to establish theoretical relationships among reading processing, as sustained by working memory (WM) and influenced by working memory capacity (WMC), metacognition and the componential processes inherent to FL reading comprehension. The implications of the findings point to the relation of metacognition developing according to WM maturation and having an impact on reading comprehension. Therefore, as reading in a foreign language involves more complex activities and the activity per se also involves and depends upon several other variables, it is reasonable to assert that this complex activity is affected by the limitations of WM.***Memória de trabalho, metacognição e compreensão leitora em língua estrangeira: uma revisão bibliográfica***A construção de sentido em leitura na perspectiva do processamento cognitivo pressupõe uma gama de operações que conectam o conhecimento conceitual e o procedural (Gagné et al., 1993). Assim, a habilidade do leitor em articular vários processos simultaneamente, incluindo o processamento de informações e o monitoramento da compreensão, é crucial para a construção da representação mental de um texto. A presente revisão bibliográfica objetiva traçar discussões teóricas acerca da relação entre o processamento da leitura, sustentada pela memória de trabalho (MT) e mediada pela capacidade de memória de trabalho (CMT), metacognição e os processos componenciais inerentes à compreensão. Conclui-se que há uma relação entre a maturação da MT e o desenvolvimento da metacognição, o que influencia a compreensão leitora. Portanto, como a leitura em língua estrangeira é uma tarefa mais complexa e que também envolve e depende de outras variáveis, consideramos que essa atividade é afetada pelas limitações da MT.

scholarly journals Peak Alpha Frequency in Relation to Cognitive Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (03) ◽  
pp. 416-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sushma Rathee ◽  
Divya Bhatia ◽  
Vikas Punia ◽  
Rajbir Singh
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Probabilistic Sampling ◽  
Alpha Frequency ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Spectrum Density

Abstract Objective  Peak alpha frequency (PAF) is reported to be a nervous system property which is genetically endowed and reflected in individual’s cognitive functioning. Cognitive performance denotes the mental processes for effective changes in response to situations in general and mental task in particular. None of the study has till now used reading comprehension as a measure of cognitive functioning, which is considered to be a measure of higher cognitive processes. The reading comprehension task used in the study implies certain cognitive processes such as reading ability, comprehension, memory performance involving information maintenance, and retrieval. Therefore, the study was conducted to test the hypothesis of differences in cognitive reading comprehension performance between high- and low-peak alpha subjects. Materials and Methods A group of 300 healthy participants were selected on the basis of incidental-cum-probabilistic sampling from seven districts of Indian state of Haryana. In the present study, reading comprehension task (Hindi–English; bilingual format) was used to assess the cognitive performance and multichannel electroencephalography alpha frequencies were recorded to measure PAF through power spectrum density analysis of each subject. Results The findings revealed that individuals with high-peak alpha frequency had significantly higher score (p < 0.05) on reading comprehension task as compared with individuals with low PAF. Conclusion The present study concluded that the reading comprehension task is effected by peak alpha frequency of an individual. PAF can be considered to be a correlate of cognitive performance.

scholarly journals Externally induced frontoparietal synchronization modulates network dynamics and enhances working memory performance

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ines R Violante ◽  
Lucia M Li ◽  
David W Carmichael ◽  
Romy Lorenz ◽  
Robert Leech ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Relative Phase ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Network Dynamics ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Frontoparietal Network

Cognitive functions such as working memory (WM) are emergent properties of large-scale network interactions. Synchronisation of oscillatory activity might contribute to WM by enabling the coordination of long-range processes. However, causal evidence for the way oscillatory activity shapes network dynamics and behavior in humans is limited. Here we applied transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to exogenously modulate oscillatory activity in a right frontoparietal network that supports WM. Externally induced synchronization improved performance when cognitive demands were high. Simultaneously collected fMRI data reveals tACS effects dependent on the relative phase of the stimulation and the internal cognitive processing state. Specifically, synchronous tACS during the verbal WM task increased parietal activity, which correlated with behavioral performance. Furthermore, functional connectivity results indicate that the relative phase of frontoparietal stimulation influences information flow within the WM network. Overall, our findings demonstrate a link between behavioral performance in a demanding WM task and large-scale brain synchronization.

scholarly journals Reading Ability and Working Memory in School-Age Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing Using Cochlear Implants and/or Hearing Aids: A 3-Year Follow-Up on Computer-Based Phonics Training

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1388-1399
Author(s):  
Cecilia Nakeva von Mentzer ◽  
Sonia Wallfelt ◽  
Elisabet Engström ◽  
Malin Wass ◽  
Birgitta Sahlén ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Phonics Intervention

Purpose The aim of the current study was to investigate reading ability in children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) using cochlear implants (CI) or hearing aids (HA) 3 years after computer-assisted phonics intervention. Reading ability was examined in relation to cognitive and audiological aspects and compared to a reference group of children with typical hearing (TH). Method Participants were 73 Swedish primary school children ( Mdn = 9 years). Fifty-five of the children were TH, and 18 children were DHH using CI ( n = 10) or HA ( n = 8). Twenty-seven of the children (all children who were DHH and nine of the children with TH) had participated in computer-based phonics intervention 3 years earlier. Children were assessed on word and nonword decoding, reading comprehension, and three working memory (WM) tasks. Age at diagnosis, age of amplification, and duration of unaided hearing loss formed the audiological variables. Results Comparable word decoding skills and reading comprehension were observed in all three groups (CI, HA, and TH). Children with CI showed strong and significant correlations between two aspects of WM capacity (phonological and complex WM) and all aspects of reading. For children with TH, similar but weaker correlations as in children with CI was observed, and correlations with visual WM were also evident. In children with HA only, complex WM correlated strongly and significantly with nonword decoding. Duration of unaided hearing loss was the single audiological variable that was significantly associated with reading. Conclusions This 3-year follow-up showed overall positive reading results at the group level in children who are DHH. However, some children still lag behind their peers with TH. Early hearing experience and intervention are stressed as crucial factors in preventing negative outcomes in these children.

scholarly journals Emotional Facial Processing: Does Cognitive Load Make a Difference?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsie Ong ◽  
Rick Law Tsz Chun
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Emotional Faces ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Facial Processing

<p>The manuscript is titled ‘Emotional facial processing: does cognitive load make a difference?’ and it describes a research study that measures how emotion and distraction of different cognitive loads may impact working memory performance. The findings show that cognitive load on working memory performance, with poorer working memory performance in the high compared to the low level of distraction. However, no effects of emotional faces were found on task performance. The work therefore has significance with regard to cognitive processing and working memory span.</p>

Skipping Breakfast Affects the Early Steps of Cognitive Processing

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-118
Author(s):  
Andrés Antonio González-Garrido ◽  
Jacobo José Brofman-Epelbaum ◽  
Fabiola Reveca Gómez-Velázquez ◽  
Sebastián Agustín Balart-Sánchez ◽  
Julieta Ramos-Loyo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Brain Functioning ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Electrical Brain Activity ◽  
Skipping Breakfast

Abstract. It has been generally accepted that skipping breakfast adversely affects cognition, mainly disturbing the attentional processes. However, the effects of short-term fasting upon brain functioning are still unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of skipping breakfast on cognitive processing by studying the electrical brain activity of young healthy individuals while performing several working memory tasks. Accordingly, the behavioral results and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) of 20 healthy university students (10 males) were obtained and compared through analysis of variances (ANOVAs), during the performance of three n-back working memory (WM) tasks in two morning sessions on both normal (after breakfast) and 12-hour fasting conditions. Significantly fewer correct responses were achieved during fasting, mainly affecting the higher WM load task. In addition, there were prolonged reaction times with increased task difficulty, regardless of breakfast intake. ERP showed a significant voltage decrement for N200 and P300 during fasting, while the amplitude of P200 notably increased. The results suggest skipping breakfast disturbs earlier cognitive processing steps, particularly attention allocation, early decoding in working memory, and stimulus evaluation, and this effect increases with task difficulty.

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