Working Memory Resources Depletion Makes Delayed Testing Beneficial

Cognitive load theory (CLT) uses working memory resources depletion to explain the superiority of spaced learning, predicting that working memory resources will be less taxed if there are resting/spacing periods inserted between learning tasks, in comparison to learning from the same tasks in a single session. This article uses the working memory resources depletion effect, as a factor, to investigate the hypothesis that delayed testing would show superior results to immediate testing on math tasks for primary students in Singapore, as participants' working memory resources might be restored because of the resting between the immediate and delayed tests. Results confirmed higher performance on the delayed test than on the immediate test, as well as more working memory resources available for the delayed test.

Development and Validation of a New Measure of Mental Rotation for Preadolescent and Adolescent Groups

Measurement of mental rotation presents a serious challenge to cognitive researchers owing to the lack of a single comprehensive measure that can be applied across the developing age groups. Objective of the present study was to develop and validate a new measure of mental rotation for preadolescent and adolescent age groups. Items were conceptualized and constructed based on existing theories. Study I checked the suitability of these items among preadolescent and adolescent age groups. After revisions, Study II was done to evaluate the item properties using item response theory. Subsequently done Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided evidence for the construct validity of the new measure. Finally, Study III was done to develop the age wise and gender wise norms for preadolescent and adolescent age groups. The newly developed measure was found to have sufficient reliability and validity and hence can be widely applied for measuring mental rotation of preadolescents and adolescents.

Number Sense Makes All the Difference: Calculation Using Number Sense by Pupils With and Without Learning Difficulties in Math

The research examined the calculation methods used by pupils in Grades 3–6 when they were presented with problems that could be worked out efficiently and flexibly by applying number sense. The study was conducted with a convenience sample of 179 pupils between the ages 7 years and 10 months to 12 years and 10 months. in mainstream education in Israel, who attended schools belonging to different sectors and situated in different areas of the country with varied socioeconomic profiles. The test included addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems that pupils were asked to solve mentally, in writing and by identifying correctly and incorrectly solved problem. Some of the problems presented pupils with opportunities to apply number sense. As expected, the research findings showed significant differences in calculation accuracy between pupils with and without learning difficulties, especially in multiplication and division tasks. Still, the performance of pupils with difficulties in the accuracy variable was above average, and there was high variance within this group. We found significant differences between pupils with and without difficulties in the calculation-speed variable in all tasks and in all calculation modalities. One of the implications is that pupils, and especially those with difficulties, should be afforded enough time to work out problems, and should be presented with tasks that would enable them to use number sense in order to retrieve prior knowledge and apply it.

Miswriting (Especially Mirror Writing) of the Digits: An Ecological Assessment Using ELFE Data

The French National Cohort of Children Study (Etude Longitudinale Française depuis l'Enfance—ELFE) tested the literacy and numeracy skills of 4- to 5-year-old typically developing children in the second year of école maternelle. Tasks were administered by more than 4,000 teachers at schools across France. One of the study's numeracy tasks required participants to write the number of ducks (up to 5) they had counted. Analyzing the digits written by 14,904 children showed that miswritings were much more common for the digit 3 than for the digit 4. This result is consistent with the right-orienting rule, which young children in Western cultures apply when they do not know a digit's orientation, and which leads them to write, for example, ε instead of 3.The nature and frequency of miswritten digits did not differ significantly between the 466 children presumed to have written with their left hand and the 3,531 children presumed to have written with their right hand. However, a logistic mixed-effects regression showed that two other factors—age of entry to école maternelle and very early smartphone use—had a (modest) influence on the percentage of digits that were miswritten.

Comparison of Cognitive Performance Between Two Generations of Immigrant School-Aged Children: Child Development Change Over Time

The objective of this research is to comparatively analyze the performance of two generations of children (as first generation of immigrants) attending primary and secondary education in different geographical areas, evaluated in different decades but with equivalent age brackets. Two samples of 169 immigrant school populations in Portugal, with fair immigration criteria, were evaluated for the same verbal reasoning and auditory discrimination tasks in different periods (cohort 1—2001–2009 and cohort 2—2013–2017). The aim is to verify if age remains a differentiating variable of the performance and acuity, as maintained by the critical period hypothesis. That performance referring to two samples evaluated in second language decoding tasks, in different periods. Additionally, to evaluate the emergence of other factors that explain proficiency, cognitive and linguistic discrimination behaviors of two generations of immigrant students in Portugal. The results contribute to a new direction in the analysis and intervention for school groups that are highly diverse in terms of mother tongue and nationalities. The data point to a greater divergence of performance and difficulties not according only to the disparity of ages, but considering the nationality (country of origin and respective educational system). It is also clear, despite just the difference of a decade, how subjects are changing their immigration routes and their cognitive and social development.

Anna's Story: How a Ukrainian Orphan's Acquisition of English as a Second Language Transformed Her Life

This article presents a case study of an adult Ukrainian orphan, Anna, who acquired English as a second and accessed U.S. higher education despite the fact that adopted children or aged out orphans face a unique constellation of educational and psychological challenges in language learning. This article presents Anna's story in her own voice and advocates for the specialized needs of the underserved, often voiceless thousands of older orphans in war-stricken Ukraine. This article suggests that access to institutional agents and social capital played a key role in Anna's success. Of interest to researchers, the article postulates common, current language learning theory perhaps may not fully explain the distinct processes of language acquisition by institutionalized, language-delayed children. The article also offers tangible lessons for educators of victims of trauma, and would thus be of interest to practitioners as well as researchers in the areas of language acquisition and educational psychology.

Intensive Phonological Training With Articulation—An Intervention Study to Boost Pupils' Word Decoding in Grade 1

The aim of this study is to examine how a structured intensive training period with a phonological multisensory reading training method, at the end of Grade 1, can develop pupils' ability to connect phonemes with the corresponding graphemes as well as their ability to decode. A total of 38 pupils in Grade 1 from four elementary schools participated in this randomized controlled trial (RCT) study. Of the 38 pupils 19 were randomly assigned to be part of the intervention group, the other 19 were included in the control group. The intervention involved 30 minutes of intensive training on a total of 20 sessions. The control group participated in regular reading lessons in the classroom. The study included pre- and posttesting of phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and decoding. The result shows that intensive phonological awareness training with articulation, during 20 sessions spread over 4–5 weeks, stimulates pupils' decoding ability in a positive direction.

Feasibility of a Tablet-Based Program for Training Everyday Planning in Adolescents With Intellectual Disabilities

BackgroundIndividuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) show difficulties with everyday planning. A tablet-based training program for everyday planning may be a suitable intervention, but its feasibility must be evaluated. This study evaluated how behavior changes during training and if individuals with ID can use technology by themselves.MethodThirty-three adolescents with ID and 30 younger children with a typical development were recruited. The participants were instructed to train in school for a total of 300 minutes. After the intervention, the participants were matched on mental age (MA).ResultsOnly 16% of the participants trained for all 300 minutes. Participants in the MA group trained for a longer time than the ID group. Both groups made fewer errors per task at the end compared to the beginning. Individuals with ID started off making less attempts per task and increased their activity during the training. This pattern was not seen in the comparison group.ConclusionsBoth groups used the program independently, without adult supervision. However, a large group of participants in the ID group had a low usage time. Thus, the program might not have been feasible for that subgroup. The ID group increased their activity during the training which might mirror a strategy development of how to use the program. The change in behavior in activity on task attempts can be interpreted such that individuals with ID need a longer time to get familiarized with the technology. Tablet-based training programs are feasible for individuals with ID, but it is necessary to follow up on usage time.