scholarly journals Predicting Academic Achievement with Cognitive Abilities: Cross-Sectional Study across School Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Tatiana Tikhomirova ◽  
Artem Malykh ◽  
Sergey Malykh

The relationship between cognitive abilities and academic achievement across schooling from the first to the eleventh grade was analyzed. Information processing speed, visuospatial working memory, number sense, and fluid intelligence were considered predictors of general academic achievement, which was derived from grades in mathematics, language, and biology. This cross-sectional study involved 1560 pupils who were in grades 1–11 at general education schools and were aged from 6.8 to 19.1 years (50.4% were boys). Information processing speed, visuospatial working memory, and number sense were measured using the Choice Reaction Time, Corsi Block-Tapping, and Number Sense computerized tests, respectively. Fluid intelligence was measured using the paper-and-pencil version of the Standard Progressive Matrices test. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were carried out. It was shown that it is possible to describe the structure of the relationship between cognitive abilities and academic achievement for all levels of schooling with a single model. In this model, information processing speed is the key predictor of fluid intelligence, working memory, and number sense, which in turn contribute to individual differences in academic success. Additionally, the specificity of the relationship between individual indicators of cognitive abilities and academic achievement at each level of schooling was revealed.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Hossein Sanjari Moghaddam ◽  
Behrang Shadloo ◽  
Helen Shahkhah ◽  
Abbas Tafakhori ◽  
Maryam Haghshomar ◽  
...  

This cross-sectional study is aimed at assessing the effects of opium use disorder (OUD) on attention, working memory, and information-processing speed. Thirty outpatients with OUD and 20 healthy controls (HCs) were assessed using a neuropsychological battery consisted of Auditory Verbal Learning Test-Revised (AVLT-R), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R), Digit Forward and Backward Tests (DFT and DBT), and WAIS-R Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). The most affected cognitive functions in patients with OUD were detected by DBT and DSST. However, we found no significant difference between patients according to the route of administration. Within patients with OUD, DBT score was associated with opium use quantity (OUQ) ( r = − 0.385 ), and DBT ( r = 0.483 ) and DSST ( r = 0.542 ) scores were correlated with duration of use. Our findings indicated that working memory and information-processing speed are the most affected domains of cognitive functioning. DBT and DSST could be used as brief assessments in clinical settings to screen for cognitive deficits in patients with OUD.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen Van Schependom ◽  
Marie B D’hooghe ◽  
Krista Cleynhens ◽  
Mieke D’hooge ◽  
Marie-Claire Haelewyck ◽  
...  

Background: Cognitive impairment affects half of the multiple sclerosis (MS) patient population and is an important contributor to patients’ daily activities. Most cognitive impairment studies in MS are, however, cross-sectional or/and focused on the early disease stages. Objective: We aim to assess the time course of decline of different cognitive domains. Methods: We collected neuropsychological data on 514 MS patients to construct Kaplan-Meier survival curves of the tests included in the Neuropsychological Screening Battery for MS (NSBMS) and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Cox-proportional hazard models were constructed to examine the influence of MS onset type, age at onset, gender, depression and level of education on the time course, expressed as age or disease. Results: Survival curves of tests focusing on information processing speed (IPS) declined significantly faster than tests with less specific demands of IPS. Median age for pathological decline was 56.2 years (95% CI: 54.4–58.2) on the SDMT and 63.9 years (95% CI: 60–66.9) on the CLTR, a memory task. Conclusion: In conclusion, IPS is the cognitive domain not only most widely affected by MS but it is also the first cognitive deficit to emerge in MS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-123
Author(s):  
E.I. Donii ◽  
N.B. Shumakova

The work is aimed at identifying specific manifestations of creativity and basic cognitive characteristics in young adolescents with artistic and intellectual giftedness. The relevance of the study is due to lack of study of the issue of cognitive manifestations of different types of giftedness in early adolescence, in which the issue of specialization of education is often resolved. The study involved 54 intellectually gifted adolescents (M = 11.4 years old) and 32 artistically gifted peers (M = 11.2 years old). The study used the following methods: a computerize d battery of test tasks for studying bas ic cognitive characteristics (“number sense”, visua l working memory and information processing speed), "Raven’s Progressive Matrixes”, “Verbally-figura l creativity test”, drawing tests of Urban and "Horizon Line ". The results confirm the hypothesis about the specificity of creativity in younger adolescents with different types of giftedness (intellectual and artistic). Intellectually gifted younger adolescents show higher rates of divergent verbal creativity compared to their artistically gifted peers; and artistically gifted younger adolescents surpass their intellectually gifted peers in terms of picturesque (figurative) creativity and are distinguished by their highquality originality, revealing a high emotional expressiveness and creative approach to the implementation of the plan. No statistically significant intergroup differences in the basic indicators of cognitive development and general intelligence were found, although artistically gifted adolescents better than their intellectually gifted peers compare asymmetrically expressed amounts (“number sense”), but they are inferior in terms of information processing speed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1175-1191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P Ross ◽  
Sydne O’Connor ◽  
Graham Holmes ◽  
Brittany Fuller ◽  
Megan Henrich

Abstract Objective This study examined the test–retest reliability and construct validity of the Action Fluency Test (AFT) as a measure of executive functioning. Method Using a correlational design, 128 healthy college students (M Age = 19.24, SD = 2.01; M education = 13.29 years, SD = 0.81) completed the AFT, and measures of verbal and figural fluency, executive functioning and other relevant constructs (e.g., vocabulary, working memory, and attention). Results Coefficients of stability were acceptable for AFT correct words (r = .76; p < .01), but not for errors (r = .41) or perseverations (r = .14). No practice effects were observed upon repeat testing (M interval = 39.21 days). Divergent validity evidence was mixed. AFT scores were unrelated to working memory and perceptual-reasoning abilities; however, correlations with vocabulary (r = .32; p < .01) and information-processing speed (r = .30; p < .01) were greater than associations between AFT scores and executive measures. Regarding convergent validity, AFT scores correlated with other fluency tasks (r = .4 range), but correlations with measures of executive functioning were absent or small. Action and letter fluency correlated with measures of attentional control and inhibition; however, these associations were no longer significant after controlling for shared variance with information-processing speed. Conclusions Findings are consistent with previous research suggesting vocabulary and information-processing speed underlie effective fluency performance to a greater extent than executive functioning. The AFT measures unique variance not accounted for by semantic and letter fluency tasks, and therefore may be used for a variety of research and clinical purposes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Thaler ◽  
Isabelle Hartramph ◽  
Jan-Patrick Stellmann ◽  
Christoph Heesen ◽  
Maxim Bester ◽  
...  

Background: Cortical and thalamic pathologies have been associated with cognitive impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).Objective: We aimed to quantify cortical and thalamic damage in patients with MS using a high-resolution T1 mapping technique and to evaluate the association of these changes with clinical and cognitive impairment.Methods: The study group consisted of 49 patients with mainly relapsing-remitting MS and 17 age-matched healthy controls who received 3T MRIs including a T1 mapping sequence (MP2RAGE). Mean T1 relaxation times (T1-RT) in the cortex and thalami were compared between patients with MS and healthy controls. Additionally, correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between MRI parameters and clinical and cognitive disability.Results: Patients with MS had significantly decreased normalized brain, gray matter, and white matter volumes, as well as increased T1-RT in the normal-appearing white matter, compared to healthy controls (p < 0.001). Partial correlation analysis with age, sex, and disease duration as covariates revealed correlations for T1-RT in the cortex (r = −0.33, p < 0.05), and thalami (right thalamus: r = −0.37, left thalamus: r = −0.50, both p < 0.05) with working memory and information processing speed, as measured by the Symbol-Digit Modalities Test.Conclusion: T1-RT in the cortex and thalamus correlate with information processing speed in patients with MS.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha Hansen ◽  
Stefan Lautenbacher

Abstract. Neuropsychological deficits in multiple sclerosis (MS) are common. Over the past decades, many different procedures have been employed in diagnosing these deficits. Even though certain aspects of cognitive performance such as information processing speed and working memory may be affected more frequently than other cognitive functions, no specific deficit profile has been established in MS. This article provides an overview of the neuropsychological diagnostic procedures in MS and allows the reader to reach an informed decision on the applicability of specific procedures and the availability of study data in the context of MS. Additionally, it makes recommendations on the compilation of both screening procedures and extensive test batteries.


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