EXPRESS: Lending a Hand to Storytelling: Gesture’s Effects on Narrative Comprehension Moderated by Task Difficulty and Cognitive Ability

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110249
Author(s):  
Nicola McKern ◽  
Nicole Dargue ◽  
Naomi Sweller ◽  
Kazuki Sekine ◽  
Elizabeth Austin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Intellectual Ability ◽  
Narrative Comprehension ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Iconic Gesture ◽  
Interference Background

Compelling evidence suggests observing iconic gestures benefits learning. While emerging evidence suggests typical iconic gestures benefit comprehension to a greater extent than atypical iconic gestures, it is unclear precisely when and for whom these gestures will be most helpful. The current study investigated factors that may moderate when and for whom gesture benefits narrative comprehension most, including the type of gesture, task difficulty, and individual differences in cognitive ability. Participants were shown a video narrative in which they observed either typical gestures (commonly produced gestures, highly semantically related to accompanying speech), atypical gestures (gestures that are seldom produced), or no gestures. The video narrative was either viewed with interference (background noise to increase task difficulty) or no interference (no background noise). To determine whether the effects of gesture observation and externally imposed task difficulty on narrative comprehension further depend on an individual’s cognitive abilities, participants completed four measures of cognitive abilities (immediate and delayed non-verbal memory, attention, and intellectual ability). Observing typical gestures significantly benefited narrative comprehension compared to atypical and no gestures combined, which did not differ significantly. Participants with below average and average levels of delayed non-verbal memory benefited more from typical gestures than atypical or no gestures compared to those with an above average level of delayed non-verbal memory. However, this interaction was only significant when the task was difficult (i.e., with interference) but not when the task was simple (i.e., no interference). This finding suggests that the type of iconic gesture observed may impact gesture’s beneficial effect on narrative comprehension, and that such gestures may be more beneficial in difficult tasks, but only for certain individuals.

scholarly journals Longitudinal Associations Between Loneliness and Cognitive Ability in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 1376-1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A Okely ◽  
Ian J Deary
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Visuospatial Ability ◽  
Lothian Birth Cohort ◽  
Longitudinal Associations ◽  
Reciprocal Associations

Abstract Objectives Loneliness is associated with poorer cognitive function in old age; however, the direction of this association is unknown. We tested for reciprocal associations between loneliness and the cognitive ability domains of processing speed, visuospatial ability, verbal memory, and crystallized ability. Method We used three triennial waves of longitudinal data from the Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936, and tested for cross-lagged associations between loneliness and cognitive abilities using cross-lagged panel models. Results Better processing speed, visuospatial ability, or crystallized ability at age 73, was associated with less positive changes in loneliness between ages 73 and 76; however, these associations were not replicated between ages 76 and 79. Loneliness at ages 73 and 76 did not predict subsequent changes in cognitive abilities. Discussion Our findings indicate an association between cognitive ability and loneliness, such that individuals with lower cognitive abilities at age 73 may be at a slightly higher risk of becoming lonely. However, we did not find support for the hypothesis that loneliness causes a decline in cognitive health.

scholarly journals Associations between total MRI-visible small vessel disease burden and domain-specific cognitive abilities in a community-dwelling older-age cohort

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
OKL Hamilton ◽  
SR Cox ◽  
L Ballerini ◽  
ME Bastin ◽  
J Corley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Small Vessel Disease ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Small Vessel ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Vessel Disease

AbstractCerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a leading cause of vascular cognitive impairment, however the precise nature of SVD-related cognitive deficits, and their associations with structural brain changes, remain unclear. We combined computational volumes and visually-rated MRI markers of SVD to quantify total SVD burden, using data from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (n=540; age:72.6±0.7 years). We found negative associations between total SVD burden and general cognitive ability (standardised β: −0.363; 95%CI: [−0.49, −0.23]; p(FDR)<0.001), processing speed (−0.371 [−0.50, −0.24]; p(FDR)<0.001), verbal memory (−0.265; [−0.42, −0.11]; p(FDR)=0.002), and visuospatial ability (−0.170; [−0.32, −0.02]; p(FDR)=0.029). Only the association between SVD burden and processing speed remained after accounting for covariance with general cognitive ability (−0.325; [−0.61, −0.04]; p(FDR)=0.029). This suggests that SVD’s association with poorer processing speed is not driven by, but is independent of its association with poorer general cognitive ability. Tests of processing speed may be particularly sensitive to the cognitive impact of SVD, but all major cognitive domains should be tested to determine the full range of SVD-related cognitive characteristics.

MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN KOGNITIF MELALUI AKTIVITAS SENI MUSIK TERHADAP ANAK KELOMPOK B DI TK. ADINDA CAHAYA CIMAHI

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Nurpuri Waraswati ◽  
Rini Andriani
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Present Method ◽  
Evaluation Research ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Learning Time ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Art Activities ◽  
Basic Ability

Early Childhood Education (PAUD) implements education that refers to all the basic aspects or abilities that are developing in the child. The basic ability of children is very interesting to be studied, one of them cognitive abilities of children. It is raised in connection with the lack of cognitive abilities in Adinda Cahaya kindergarten with the present method mainly through the activity of the art of music. The existing formulation in this study is "The activity of music art that can improve the cognitive abilities of children". The purpose of this study is to describe the cognitive abilities of children in music art activities.. There are six levels of cognitive ability: knowledge, understanding, application of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Research questions are 1). How does music activity and music learning time to support the development of children's cognitive abilities? 2. How does the child's memory of what the teacher has taught in music art activities? 3) How are children's development related to cognitive ability? The conclusion is that the study of music art gives a positive and influential effect on the child's cognitive development that will stimulate brain development and emotional intelligence.

Effects of urban noise variability on cognitive abilities in indoor spaces: Gender differences

2021 ◽  
pp. 095745652110307
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Masullo ◽  
Gennaro Ruggiero ◽  
Daniel Alvarez Fernandez ◽  
Tina Iachini ◽  
Luigi Maffei
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Urban Noise ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Open Window ◽  
Indoor Spaces

Previous evidence has shown that exposure to urban noise negatively influences some cognitive abilities (i.e. verbal fluency and delayed recall of prose memory) of people in indoor spaces. However, long-standing literature in the cognitive domain has reported that men and women can show different performance on cognitive tasks. Here, we aimed to investigate if and how different patterns of perceived urban noises in indoor environments could affect male and female participants’ cognitive abilities. Ambisonic sound recordings representing scenarios with varying noise patterns (low, medium and high variability) were acquired with an open window at three dwellings in a southern Italian city. As a control condition, the recordings were caught inside a quiet room. While exposed to theses four auditory conditions, participants had to perform cognitive tasks assessing free verbal memory recall, auditory–verbal recognition and working memory. The results show that male and female participants have a different tolerance to noise patterns. Women overperform men on verbal tasks, while the contrary effect emerges with men outperforming women on visuospatial working memory tasks.

scholarly journals NCOG-70. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF A NEW SELF-REPORT INDEX OF COGNITIVE CONCERNS IN BRAIN TUMOR PATIENTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii145-ii145
Author(s):  
Giuliana Zarrella ◽  
Alice Perez ◽  
Jorg Dietrich ◽  
Michael Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Brain Tumor ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Measurement Information ◽  
Patient Reported

Abstract INTRODUCTION Subjective cognitive dysfunction is an important outcome measure in neuro-oncology and may provide additional information beyond performance-based neuropsychological testing. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain (FACT-Br) is a frequently used quality of life (QoL) measure that includes indices of physical, emotional, social, and neurologic aspects of disease, but does not measure cognitive concerns. This study seeks to develop and validate an index of self-reported cognition derived from existing items on the FACT-Br. METHODS 145 patients (Mage=51.08, Medu=15.63) with heterogeneous brain tumor diagnoses completed neuropsychological evaluation including cognitive testing and self-report measures. Nine FACT-Br items regarding cognition were combined to form the Cognitive Index (CI). Reliability of the CI was measured with Cronbach’s alpha. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the CI with the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Cognitive Abilities-8 or PROMIS Cognitive Concerns-8. Discriminant validity was assessed by correlation of the CI with other FACT-Br indices and the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories (BDI, BAI). RESULTS Internal consistency within the CI was high (Cronbach’s a 0.864). The CI correlated strongly with the PROMIS-Abilities (r =.680; p&lt; 0.001) and PROMIS-Concerns (r=.780; p&lt; 0.001) indicating high convergent validity. Moderate correlations were observed between the CI and the physical and functional subscales of the FACT (r=.453 and .555), whereas correlations with the social and emotional functioning subscales were weaker (r=.381 and .325). The FACT-Br-CI correlated strongly with BDI (r=-.622) and more weakly with the BAI (r=-.344). Consistent with prior literature, the CI showed modest correlations with neuropsychological measures, including verbal memory encoding (r=.300), verbal fluency (r=.252) and a composite measure of cognition (r=.249; all p’s&lt; .01). CONCLUSIONS The FACT-Br-CI is a reliable and valid measure of self-reported cognition. Studies that include the FACT-Br could be retrospectively analyzed to assess self-reported cognitive outcomes, enriching the information gained from prior research.

scholarly journals Flipping the Script: Measuring Both Performance Validity and Cognitive Ability with the Forced Choice Recognition Trial of the RCFT

2021 ◽  
pp. 003151252110197
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn Abeare ◽  
Kristoffer Romero ◽  
Laura Cutler ◽  
Christina D. Sirianni ◽  
Laszlo A. Erdodi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Performance Validity ◽  
Two Samples

In this study we attempted to replicate the classification accuracy of the newly introduced Forced Choice Recognition trial (FCR) of the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) in a clinical sample. We administered the RCFT FCR and the earlier Yes/No Recognition trial from the RCFT to 52 clinically referred patients as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and incentivized a separate control group of 83 university students to perform well on these measures. We then computed the classification accuracies of both measures against criterion performance validity tests (PVTs) and compared results between the two samples. At previously published validity cutoffs (≤16 & ≤17), the RCFT FCR remained specific (.84–1.00) to psychometrically defined non-credible responding. Simultaneously, the RCFT FCR was more sensitive to examinees’ natural variability in visual-perceptual and verbal memory skills than the Yes/No Recognition trial. Even after being reduced to a seven-point scale (18-24) by the validity cutoffs, both RCFT recognition scores continued to provide clinically useful information on visual memory. This is the first study to validate the RCFT FCR as a PVT in a clinical sample. Our data also support its use for measuring cognitive ability. Replication studies with more diverse samples and different criterion measures are still needed before large-scale clinical application of this scale.

Mental Status Examination of an Exceptional Case of Longevity

1995 ◽  
Vol 166 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Ritchie
Keyword(s):  
Mental Status ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Depressive Symptomatology ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Exceptional Case ◽  
Intellectual Ability ◽  
Language Fluency ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mental Status Examination

BackgroundThe mental status examination of an extreme case of longevity, J. C., aged 118 years and 9 months, is documented in order to further knowledge regarding profiles of morbidity in the extremely elderly. J. C. is presently considered to have the longest authenticated life-span in the history of the human species.MethodNeuropsychological tests were improvised taking into account the subject's severe perceptual deficits. The examination was carried out over a six-month period. A CT scan was also conducted.ResultsThe subject's performance on tests of verbal memory and language fluency is comparable to that of persons with the same level of education in their eighties and nineties. Frontal lobe functions are relatively spared and there is no evidence of depressive symptomatology or other functional illness. Cognitive functioning was found to slightly improve over a six-month period.ConclusionsThe subject shows no evidence of progressive neurological disease. A high initial level of intellectual ability may have constituted a protective factor.

scholarly journals Symmetrical social relation as a factor in conservation tasks

Psihologija ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ksenija Krstic ◽  
Aleksandar Baucal
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Social Relation ◽  
Social Factor ◽  
Power Relation ◽  
Asymmetrical Power ◽  
Concrete Operational ◽  
Material Length

According to Siegal?s hypothesis, despite having concrete operational abilities some children are not successful in conservation tasks. Social factors, such as repetition of question asked by an adult experimenter alter the manifestation of existing cognitive abilities. This study varied the following aspects of conservation tasks: symmetrical vs. asymmetrical power relation. The children in the study were asked to solve three different conservation tasks (quantity of continued material, length, and number). Each task was repeated twice; once with an adult experimenter and once with a child experimenter. Results show that children?s responses were affected by social factors only in a certain tasks. In other tasks children?s responses remained unaffected in both situations. This suggests that there exists an interaction between the experimenter and the task, and that the affect of social factor is mediated by a particular characteristic of the task. Results indicate that the modifying factor is the task difficulty.

scholarly journals The Significant Connection between Communicative Competence and Cognitive Ability in Speaking English of English Debating Team

Humaniora ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Prima Dona Hapsari ◽  
F.A. Wisnu Wirawan
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Speaking Skill ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Descriptive Method ◽  
Speaking Skills

The purposes of the research were to find out whether the communicative competence in English speaking skills had a significant relationship with students' cognitive abilities was English speaking skill the most important achievement. How cognitive abilities and communicative competencies in English speaking skills were managed for the primary purposes of the English debating team. This research combined both qualitative and quantitative research. It used a descriptive method by distributing questionnaire, doing a survey, using observation, and doing an in-depth interview as the methods to collect data. The informants were twelve students who participated in the national teams of English Debating Championship of Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta from 2013-2017. The results of this research reveal that there is a significant connection between communicative competence and cognitive ability in which cognitive ability has an important impact on thinking, critical analysis, and creativity. Furthermore, cognitive ability gives a direct influence on communicative competence in speaking English. This communicative competence is reflected in the ability to produce critical-intellectual andcommunicative-factual sentences in doing the analysis and giving the argumentation.

scholarly journals The Cognitive Underpinnings of Multiply-Constrained Problem Solving

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Ellis ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer ◽  
Matthew Kyle Robison
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Crystallized Intelligence ◽  
Constrained Problems ◽  
Constrained Problem ◽  
Analytical Strategies ◽  
Fluid And Crystallized Intelligence

An individual encounters problem of varying difficulty every day. Each problem may include a different number of constraints. Multiply-constrained problems, such as the compound remote associates, are commonly used to study problem solving. Since their development, multiply-constrained problems have been related to creativity and insight. Moreover, research has investigated the cognitive abilities underlying problem solving abilities. In the present study we sought to fully evaluate a range of cognitive abilities (i.e., working memory, attention control, episodic and semantic memory, and fluid and crystallized intelligence) previously associated with multiply-constrained problem solving. Additionally, we sought to determine whether problem solving ability and strategies (analytical or insightful) were task specific or domain general through the use of novel problem solving tasks (TriBond and Location Bond). Multiply-constrained problem solving abilities were shown to be domain general, solutions derived through insightful strategies were more often correct than those derived through analytical strategies, and crystallized intelligence was the only cognitive ability that provided unique predictive value after accounting for all other abilities.

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