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Reading comprehension is a highly demanding task that involves the simultaneous process of extracting and constructing meaning in which working memory's executive processes play a crucial role. In this article, a training program on working memory's executive processes to improve reading comprehension is presented and empirically tested in two experiments with third-grade primary school students. Experiment 1 showed a greater gain after training the experimental group in contrast to the control group in reading comprehension and intelligence. In experiment 2, we focused on the training processes and compared training results of high and low pretest reading comprehension groups. Results confirmed the increase in reading comprehension, intelligence, and executive processes and showed that the low group reached a greater gain in reading comprehension after training than the high group did. The results of these experiments and their limitations are discussed in the context of recent theories on the role of executive processes in reading comprehension and the possibility of training working memory and intelligence.

Solving arithmetic word problems is a complex task that requires individuals to activate their working memory resources, as well as the correct performance of the underlying executive processes involved in order to inhibit semantic biases or superficial responses caused by the problem’s statement. This paper describes a study carried out with 135 students of Secondary Obligatory Education, each of whom solved 5 verbal arithmetic problems: 2 consistent problems, whose mathematical operation (add/subtract) and the verbal statement of the problem coincide, and 3 inconsistent problems, whose required operation is the inverse of the one suggested by the verbal term(s). Measures of reading comprehension, visual–spatial reasoning and deductive reasoning were also obtained. The results show the relationship between arithmetic problems and cognitive measures, as well as the ability of these problems to predict academic performance. Regression analyses confirmed that arithmetic word problems were the only measure with significant power of association with academic achievement in both History/Geography (β = 0.25) and Mathematics (β = 0.23).

The aim of this paper is focused on the interrelationships between Working Memory (WM) executive processes and fluid intelligence with reading comprehension, and their common ability to predict academic achievement in History. Twenty six secondary school students participated in this study. The results indicate that cognitive variables correlate with each other and with academic performance. The regression analysis showed that reading comprehension constitutes the most important higher-order cognitive ability that best predicts academic performance in this curricular subject. Likewise, the study reveals the utility of WM measures in educational environments. El propósito de este estudio es analizar las interrelaciones entre los procesos ejecutivos de la Memoria operativa (MO), la inteligencia fluida y la comprensión lectora, así como su capacidad predictiva respecto del rendimiento académico en Historia. Participaron 26 estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. Los resultados indican que las variables cognitivas correlacionan entre sí y con el rendimiento académico. Los análisis de regresión mostraron que la comprensión lectora es la variable cognitiva de alto nivel que mejor predice el rendimiento académico en dicha materia curricular. Asimismo, el trabajo pone de manifiesto la utilidad de las medidas de MO en ámbitos educativos.

This study evaluates the contribution of conditional relationship contents to making inferences, depending on the span of the participant’s working memory. This is achieved through the use of a deductive reasoning task with conditional statements and the “Reading Span Test” by Daneman and Carpenter, in its Spanish version. The results of the two experiments show that the execution of an inference task is mediated by participants’ working memory span. WM is correlated with the most complex valid inferences, but not with the most automatic ones. Contents and the number of alternatives to the antecedent only had an effect on the inference of the high-WM group. The results are relevant in several ways, and can help us to refine our predictions about inferences.

We report the results of an experiment investigating conditional inferences from conditional assertions such as ‘Juan won't go to León unless Nuria goes to Madrid’ and ‘Either Nuria goes to Madrid or Juan won't go to León’. This experiment addresses Dancygier's claims about the semantics of ‘unless’ by examining inferential endorsements of ‘not-A unless B’ and ‘Either B or not-A’ in the canonical order, presenting the categorical premise after the conditional assertions, and in the inverse order, presenting the categorical premise before the conditional assertions. The results of the experiment confirm that the representation of ‘unless’ includes two possibilities, although as Dancygier holds one of the possibilities may not be complete. The implications of the results are discussed in the context of the strategic nature of conditional reasoning and recent convergent theories of linguistic processing. Se presentan los resultados de un experimento en el que se investigaron las inferencias realizadas a partir de enunciados condicionales como ‘Juan no irá a León a menos que Nuria vaya Madrid’ y ‘O Nuria va a Madrid o Juan no irá a León’. En este experimento se abordan las concepciones de Dancygier sobre la semántica de ‘a menos que’ mediante el estudio de las inferencias que se extraen de ‘no-A a menos que B’ y de ‘o B o no-A’, en el orden canónico, al presentar la premisa categórica después de la afirmación condicional; y en el orden inverso, presentando la premisa categórica antes que la afirmación condicional. Los resultados confirman que la representación de ‘a menos que’ incluye dos posibilidades aunque, como Dancygier sostiene, una de las posibilidades puede no ser completa. Las implicaciones de los resultados se discuten en el contexto de la naturaleza estratégica del razonamiento condicional y de las teorías convergentes recientes sobre el procesamiento lingüístico.

The aim of this study was to present a new working memory test following the line of work started by García-Madruga et al. (2007) and to examine its relation to reading comprehension and propositional reasoning measures. In that study we designed a new working memory span test –based on Daneman & Carpenter's (1980) Reading Span Test (RST)– in which the processing task called for an inferential decision –to resolve a pronominal anaphora based on Morpho-Syntactic cues– and had people recall the result of this inference. In the current study, besides the RST and the Morpho-Syntactic Anaphora test, we presented a new Semantic Anaphora measure. In order to check the validity of this new Working Memory (WM) task, we used the same reasoning task used in the previous study as well as a new reading comprehension test. The results show the tight relationship amongst working memory, reading comprehension and reasoning, and confirm the validity of the new WM measure. El propósito de este trabajo es presentar una nueva prueba de memoria operativa y examinar su relación con la comprensión lectora y el razonamiento, en la línea comenzada por el estudio de García-Madruga et al. (2007). En ese estudio se diseñó una nueva medida de amplitud de memoria operativa –basada en Reading Span Test (RST) de Daneman & Carpenter (1980)– en la que la tarea de procesamiento exigía la realización de una inferencia –resolver una anáfora pronominal a partir de los rasgos Morfosintácticos– y los participantes debían recordar el resultado de esta inferencia. Además del RST y la prueba de Anáforas Morfosintácticas, en el presente estudio presentamos una nueva medida de Anáforas Semánticas. Para comprobar la validez de esta nueva tarea de Memoria Operativa (MO) hemos utilizado la misma tarea de razonamiento que en el estudio anterior, así como una nueva tarea de comprensión lectora. Los resultados muestran la estrecha relación entre memoria operativa, comprensión lectora y razonamiento, y confirman la validez de la nueva medida de MO.

El propósito de este trabajo es presentar una nueva prueba de memoria operativa y examinar su relación con la comprensión lectora y el razonamiento, en la línea comenzada por el estudio de García-Madruga et al. (2007). En ese estudio se diseñó una nueva medida de amplitud de memoria operativa –basada en Reading Span Test (RST) de Daneman & Carpenter (1980)– en la que la tarea de procesamiento exigía la realización de una inferencia –resolver una anáfora pronominal a partir de los rasgos Morfosintácticos– y los participantes debían recordar el resultado de esta inferencia. Además del RST y la prueba de Anáforas Morfosintácticas, en el presente estudio presentamos una nueva medida de Anáforas Semánticas. Para comprobar la validez de esta nueva tarea de Memoria Operativa (MO) hemos utilizado la misma tarea de razonamiento que en el estudio anterior, así como una nueva tarea de comprensión lectora. Los resultados muestran la estrecha relación entre memoria operativa, comprensión lectora y razonamiento, y confirman la validez de la nueva medida de MO.

We report the results of two experiments investigating conditional inferences from conditional unless assertions, such as Juan is not in León unless Nuria is in Madrid. Experiments 1 and 2 check Fillenbaum's hypothesis about the semantic similarity of unless with if not and only if assertions; both also examine inferential endorsements (Experiment 1) and endorsements and latencies (Experiment 2) of the four logically equivalent conditional formulations: if A then B, if not-B then not-A, A only if B and not-A unless B. The results of these experiments show the similarity of unless and only if, confirming that the representation of both conditionals from the outset probably include two possibilities directionally oriented from B to A; results also confirm the especial difficulty of unless assertions. The implications of the results are discussed in the context of recent psychological and linguistic theories of the meaning of unless. Se presentan los resultados de dos experimentos que investigan las inferencias a partir de enunciados condicionales a menos que, tales como “Juan no está en León a menos que Nuria esté en Madrid”. Los experimentos 1 y 2 comprueban la hipótesis de Fillenbaum sobre la similaridad semántica de los enunciados a menos que con si no y sólo si; ambos experimentos examinan las respuestas inferenciales (Experimento 1) y las respuestas inferenciales y las latencias (Experimento 2) de las cuatro formulaciones condicionales lógicamente equivalentes: si A entonces B, si no-B entonces no-A, A sólo si B y no-A a menos que B. Los resultados muestran la similaridad de a menos que y sólo si, confirmando que la representación de ambos condicionales probablemente incluya desde el principio dos posibilidades orientadas direccionalmente desde B a A; los resultados también confirman la dificultad especial de las afirmaciones del tipo a menos que. Las implicaciones de los resultados se comentan en el contexto de las teorías psicológicas y lingüísticas sobre el significado de a menos que.

This paper discusses the ability of children in third (about 8-years-old) and fifth (about 10-years-old) grade to produce spoken and written summaries. Two main measurement types were distinguished: micropropositional analysis and story grammar analysis. In micropropositional analysis, the results showed significant differences between both summary conditions (spoken/written); while the spoken condition provided the use of inferences and macrorules, the written condition increased the literal recall ('copy-delete'). In contrast, in the story grammar analysis, the findings showed that both the structural organization and the type of propositions recall were very similar in both types of summaries. Finally, our results showed that the older children appeared to have some qualitative advantage in the use of the story schema; and the effects of the summary type seemed to be less significant.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]