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"Verbal Ability"
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Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of \Far Transfer\: Evidence From a Meta-Analytic Review
It has been claimed that working memory training programs produce diverse beneficial effects. This article presents a meta-analysis of working memory training studies (with a pretest-posttest design and a control group) that have examined transfer to other measures (nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, reading comprehension, or arithmetic; 87 publications with 145 experimental comparisons). Immediately following training there were reliable improvements on measures of intermediate transfer (verbal and visuospatial working memory). For measures of far transfer (nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, reading comprehension, arithmetic) there was no convincing evidence of any reliable improvements when working memory training was compared with a treated control condition. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicated that across studies, the degree of improvement on working memory measures was not related to the magnitude of far-transfer effects found. Finally, analysis of publication bias shows that there is no evidential value from the studies of working memory training using treated controls. The authors conclude that working memory training programs appear to produce short-term, specific training effects that do not generalize to measures of \"real-world\" cognitive skills. These results seriously question the practical and theoretical importance of current computerized working memory programs as methods of training working memory skills.
Journal Article
Child language acquisition : contrasting theoretical approaches
\"Is children's language acquisition based on innate linguistic structures or built from cognitive and communicative skills? This book summarises the major theoretical debates in all of the core domains of child language acquisition research (phonology, word-learning, inflectional morphology, syntax and binding) and includes a complete introduction to the two major contrasting theoretical approaches: generativist and constructivist. For each debate, the predictions of the competing accounts are closely and even-handedly evaluated against the empirical data. The result is an evidence-based review of the central issues in language acquisition research that will constitute a valuable resource for students, teachers, course-builders and researchers alike\"-- Provided by publisher.
BOOK
Remarkable Differential Verbal and Non-Verbal/Performance Cognitive Profiles in Homicide and Sexual Offenders with Adult Victims
Introduction: On average prison populations show lower cognitive scores than the general population, but it is also acknowledged that inmates are highly heterogenous and that verbal and non-verbal ability scores might uncover differential patterns. Method: We consider 140 participants divided into five groups: controls, non-sexual and non-homicidal inmates (other inmates), sex offenders with adult victims (AVS) and child victims (CVS), and homicide offenders. All participants completed two WAIS-III subtests to obtain reliable estimates of their verbal and non-verbal abilities. The quotient ‘matrices/similarities’ (UIQ) was also computed. Results: Homicide and AVS offenders showed lower general scores than controls; AVS and homicide offenders showed lower non-verbal scores than controls; homicide offenders showed lower verbal scores than the other groups; and homicide, AVS offenders and “other inmates” were the most dissimilar groups regarding UIQ. Conclusions: The findings support the relevance of distinguishing among criminal offenders to avoid unwarranted generalizations when cognitive abilities are considered.
Journal Article
Response to Music-Mediated Intervention in Autistic Children with Limited Spoken Language Ability
Purpose: Autistic children with limited spoken language ability (LSLA) often do not respond to traditional interventions, reducing their social inclusion. It is essential to identify effective interventions, and sensitive measures to track their intervention response. Methods: Using data from an RCT comparing music-mediated and play-based interventions, we investigated the impact of spoken language ability on outcomes, and measured response to intervention through natural language sample measures. Results: Children with lower verbal IQ, relative to higher verbal IQ, made some greater gains over the course of music-mediated intervention. Natural language samples were helpful in characterizing communication and tracking change. Conclusion: Music-mediated interventions hold promise as effective interventions for autistic children with LSLA. Natural language samples are robust in characterizing this subgroup.
Journal Article
Preschool Verbal and Nonverbal Ability Mediate the Association Between Socioeconomic Status and School Performance
We compared the extent to which the long-term influence of family socioeconomic status (SES) on children's school performance from age 7 through 16 years was mediated by their preschool verbal and nonverbal ability. In 661 British children, who completed 17 researcher-administered ability tests at age 4.5 years, SES correlated more strongly with verbal than nonverbal ability (.39 vs. .26). Verbal ability mediated about half of the association between SES and school performance at age 7, while nonverbal ability accounted for a third of the link. Only SES, but not verbal or nonverbal ability, was associated with changes in school performance from age 7 to 16. We found that SES-related differences in school performance are only partly transmitted through children's preschool verbal abilities.
Journal Article
Relationships between computational thinking and the quality of computer programs
Computational thinking – the ability to reformulate and solve problems in ways that can be undertaken by computers – has been heralded as a foundational capability for the 21st Century. However, there are potentially different ways to conceptualise and measure computational thinking, for instance, as generalized problem solving capabilities or as applied practice during computer programming tasks, and there is little evidence to substantiate whether higher computational thinking capabilities using either of these measures result in better quality computer programs. This study examines the relationship between different forms of computational thinking and two different measures of programming quality for a group of 37 pairs of pre-service teachers. General computational thinking capabilities were measured using Bebras tests, while applied computational thinking processes were measured using a Computational Thinking Behavioural Scheme. The quality of computer programs was measured using a qualitative rubric, and programs were also assessed using the Dr Scratch auto-grading platform. The Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (3rd edition, TONI-3) was used to test for confounding effects. While significant correlations between both measures of computational thinking and program quality were detected, regression analysis revealed that only applied computational thinking processes significantly predicted program quality (general computational thinking capability and non-verbal intelligence were not significant predictors). The results highlight the importance of students developing applied computational thinking procedural capabilities more than generalized computational thinking capabilities in order to improve the quality of their computer programs.
Journal Article
Do Children With Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Have Difficulties With Interference Control, Visuospatial Working Memory, and Selective Attention? Developmental Patterns and the Role of Severity and Persistence of DLD
Purpose: Many children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have weaknesses in executive functioning (EF), specifically in tasks testing interference control and working memory. It is unknown how EF develops in children with DLD, if EF abilities are related to DLD severity and persistence, and if EF weaknesses expand to selective attention. This study aimed to address these gaps. Method: Data from 78 children with DLD and 39 typically developing (TD) children were collected at three times with 1-year intervals. At Time 1, the children were 5 or 6 years old. Flanker, Dot Matrix, and Sky Search tasks tested interference control, visuospatial working memory, and selective attention, respectively. DLD severity was based on children's language ability. DLD persistence was based on stability of the DLD diagnosis. Results: Performance on all tasks improved in both groups. TD children outperformed children with DLD on interference control. No differences were found for visuospatial working memory and selective attention. An interference control gap between the DLD and TD groups emerged between Time 1 and Time 2. Severity and persistence of DLD were related to interference control and working memory; the impact on working memory was stronger. Selective attention was unrelated to DLD severity and persistence. Conclusions: Age and DLD severity and persistence determine whether or not children with DLD show EF weaknesses. Interference control is most clearly impaired in children with DLD who are 6 years and older. Visuospatial working memory is impaired in children with severe and persistent DLD. Selective attention is spared.
Journal Article