scholarly journals Associations between early efficiency in language processing and learning outcomes in children born full term and preterm: Similarities and differences

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia A. Marchman ◽  
Melanie Ashland ◽  
Elizabeth C. Loi ◽  
Mónica Munévar ◽  
Kat Adams Shannon ◽  
...  

•Associations between early language processing efficiency in toddlerhood and later standardized test performance inform the extent to which information processing skills support learning across domains.•Comparing patterns of associations in children from different clinical groups (e.g., children born full term and preterm) further informs whether neurobiological risk alters developmental pathways.•Early language processing efficiency was associated with language and pre-literacy outcomes to a similar extent for preterm and full term children, suggesting similar underlying mechanisms. •Association between processing speed and non-verbal IQ differed by group; processing speed supports learning in a broader range of domains in preterm than term children.

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia A. Marchman ◽  
Melanie Ashland ◽  
Elizabeth C. Loi ◽  
Kat Adams Shannon ◽  
Mónica Munévar ◽  
...  

Associations between children’s early language processing efficiency and later language, literacy, and non-verbal outcomes shed light on the extent to which early information processing skills support later learning across domains. Examining whether the strengths of associations are similar in typically developing and at risk populations provides an additional lens into the varying routes to learning that children take across development. We compared patterns of associations between early language processing efficiency (accuracy and reaction time) in the looking-while-listening (LWL) task and school-relevant skills in children born full-term (FT) and preterm (PT). Participants (n=94, 49 FT, 45 PT) were assessed in the LWL task at 18 months (corrected for degree of prematurity in PT group) and on standardized tests of expressive language, pre-literacy (print knowledge and phonological awareness), and non-verbal IQ at 4 ½ years. Early language processing efficiency was associated with later language and pre-literacy outcomes (r2 change ranged from 19.8 to 7.1, p < 0.01) to a similar extent in PT and FT children, controlling for age at test and SES, suggesting similar mechanisms of learning in these domains for PT and FT children. However, birth group moderated the association between reaction time and non-verbal IQ (r2 change 4.5, p < 0.05), such that an association was found in the PT but not the FT group. This finding suggests that information processing skills reflected in efficiency of real-time language processing may be recruited to support learning in a broader range of domains in the PT compared to the FT group.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 649-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia A. Marchman ◽  
Katherine A. Adams ◽  
Elizabeth C. Loi ◽  
Anne Fernald ◽  
Heidi M. Feldman

Assessment ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1198-1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles E. Gignac ◽  
Ka Ki Wong

The purpose of this investigation was to examine a single-anagram, a double-anagram, and multi-anagram versions of the Anagram Persistence Task (APT) for factorial validity, reliability, and convergent validity. Additionally, a battery of intelligence tests was administered to examine convergent validity. Based on an unrestricted factor analysis, two factors were uncovered from the 14 anagram (seven very difficult and seven very easy) response times: test-taking persistence and verbal processing speed. The internal consistency reliabilities for the single-anagram, double-anagram, and multi-anagram (seven difficult anagrams) measures were .42, .85, and .86, respectively. Furthermore, all three versions of the APT correlated positively with intelligence test performance ( r ≈ .22). However, the double-anagram and multi-anagram versions also evidenced negative, nonlinear effects with intelligence test performance ( r ≈ −.15), which suggested the possibility of testee adaptation. Taking psychometrics and administration time into consideration, simultaneously, the double-anagram version of the APT may be regarded as preferred.


2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Gottfried

The literature on school absences has focused predominantly on the reasons for student truancy, or it has assessed only aggregate student absences in their effect on achievement. However, this study brings forth a new issue: the relationship between types of absences—excused versus unexcused—and school performance. With a quantitative model of educational achievement on a longitudinal multilevel data set of all second-through fourth-grade students in the Philadelphia School District from 1994 to 2000, this study disaggregated absence information to provide new insight on the attendance–achievement relationship. Specifically, a model using fixed effects with classroom-level clustering was employed to determine how the distinction among varying proportions of excused versus unexcused absences related to students’ standardized test performance in reading and math. This article demonstrates that distinguishing between students with high rates of excused or unexcused absences is significant. Having a higher proportion of excused absences to total absences exhibits a positive relationship between reading and math test scores. Conversely, students with a higher proportion of unexcused absences places them at academic risk, particularly in math achievement and as early as in elementary school. Implications for policy are discussed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2002 (1) ◽  
pp. i-46
Author(s):  
Donald E. Powers ◽  
Wendy Albertson ◽  
Thomas Florek ◽  
Kathy Johnson ◽  
John Malak ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Anna Adrian ◽  
Frank Haist ◽  
Natacha Akshoomoff

Early mathematics skills are an important predictor of later academic, economic and personal success. Children born preterm, about 10% of the US population, have an increased risk of deficits in mathematics. These deficits may be related to lower levels of executive functions and processing speed. We investigated the development of mathematics skills, working memory, inhibitory control and processing speed of healthy children born very preterm (between 25 and 32 weeks gestational age, n=51) and full-term (n=29). Children were tested annually from ages 5 to 7 years. We found persistent lower overall mathematics skills in the preterm group, driven by differences in more informal skills (e.g. counting) at earlier time points, and by differences in more formal skills (e.g. calculation) at later time points. We did not find significant differences between preterm and full-term born children in spatial working memory capacity or processing speed. However, these cognitive measures were significant predictors of mathematics skills in the preterm but not the full-term group, hinting towards the use of different strategies when solving problems.


2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
HELEN M. GENOVA ◽  
FRANK G. HILLARY ◽  
GLENN WYLIE ◽  
BART RYPMA ◽  
JOHN DELUCA

AbstractAlthough it is known that processing speed deficits are one of the primary cognitive impairments in multiple sclerosis (MS), the underlying neural mechanisms responsible for impaired processing speed remain undetermined. Using BOLD functional magnetic resonance imaging, the current study compared the brain activity of 16 individuals with MS to 17 healthy controls (HCs) during performance of a processing speed task, a modified version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Task. Although there were no differences in performance accuracy, the MS group was significantly slower than HCs. Although both groups showed similar activation involving the precentral gyrus and occipital cortex, the MS showed significantly less cerebral activity than HCs in bilateral frontal and parietal regions, similar to what has been reported in aging samples during speeded tasks. In the HC group, processing speed was mediated by frontal and parietal regions, as well as the cerebellum and thalamus. In the MS group, processing speed was mediated by insula, thalamus and anterior cingulate. It therefore appears that neural networks involved in processing speed differ between MS and HCs, and our findings are similar to what has been reported in aging, where damage to both white and gray matter is linked to processing speed impairments (JINS, 2009, 15, 383–393).


2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gildas Brébion ◽  
Rodrigo A. Bressan ◽  
Lyn S. Pilowsky ◽  
Anthony S. David

Previous work has suggested that decrement in both processing speed and working memory span plays a role in the memory impairment observed in patients with schizophrenia. We undertook a study to examine simultaneously the effect of these two factors. A sample of 49 patients with schizophrenia and 43 healthy controls underwent a battery of verbal and visual memory tasks. Superficial and deep encoding memory measures were tallied. We conducted regression analyses on the various memory measures, using processing speed and working memory span as independent variables. In the patient group, processing speed was a significant predictor of superficial and deep memory measures in verbal and visual memory. Working memory span was an additional significant predictor of the deep memory measures only. Regression analyses involving all participants revealed that the effect of diagnosis on all the deep encoding memory measures was reduced to non-significance when processing speed was entered in the regression. Decreased processing speed is involved in verbal and visual memory deficit in patients, whether the task require superficial or deep encoding. Working memory is involved only insofar as the task requires a certain amount of effort. (JINS, 2011, 17, 485–493)


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 251581632095113
Author(s):  
Maria Ana Quadros ◽  
Marta Granadeiro ◽  
Amparo Ruiz-Tagle ◽  
Carolina Maruta ◽  
Raquel Gil-Gouveia ◽  
...  

Migraine patients frequently report cognitive difficulties in the proximity and during migraine attacks. We performed an exploratory comparison of executive functioning across the four stages of the migraine cycle. Consecutive patients with episodic migraine undertook cognitive tests for attention, processing speed, set-shifting, and inhibitory control. Performance was compared between patients in different migraine stages, controlling for attack frequency and prophylactic medication. One hundred forty-three patients (142 women, average age 36.2 ± 9.9 years) were included, 28 preictal (≤48 h before the attack), 21 ictal (during the attack), 18 postictal (≤24 h after attack), and 76 interictal. Test performance (age and literacy adjusted z-scores) was not significantly different across migraine phases, despite a tendency for a decline before the attack. This negative study shows that cognitive performance fluctuates as patients approach the attack. To control for individual variability, this comparison needs to be better characterized longitudinally with a within-patient design.


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