Cognitive decline monitoring through a web-based application

Cognitive decline usually begins after individuals reach maturity, which is more evident in late adulthood. Rapid and constant cognitive screenings allow early detection of cognitive decline and motivate individuals to participate in prevention interventions. Due to accelerated technological advances, cognitive screening and training are now available to the layperson using electronic devices connected to the internet. Large datasets generated by these platforms provide a unique opportunity to explore cognitive development throughout life and across multiple naturalistic environments. However, such data collection mechanisms must be validated. This study aimed to determine whether the data gathered by commercial visuospatial and phonological working memory tests (CogniFit Inc., San Francisco, USA) confirm the well-established argument that age predicts cognitive decline. Data from 3,212 participants (2,238 females) who were 45 years old or older were analyzed. A linear regression analysis explored the relationship between age and working memory while controlling for gender, sleep quality, and physical activity (variables that are known to affect working memory). We found that age negatively predicts working memory. Furthermore, there was an interaction between age and gender for visuospatial working memory, indicating that although male participants significantly outperformed females, the relationship between age and working memory differs for females and males. Our results suggest that the computerized assessment of visuospatial and phonological working memory is sensible enough to predict cognitive functions in aging. Suggestions for improving the sensitivity of self-reports are discussed. Further studies must explore the nature of gender effects on cognitive aging

Cognitive decline monitoring through a web-based application

Cognitive decline usually begins after individuals reach maturity, which is more evident in late adulthood. Rapid and constant cognitive screenings allow early detection of cognitive decline and motivate individuals to participate in prevention interventions. Due to accelerated technological advances, cognitive screening and training are now available to the layperson using electronic devices connected to the internet. Large datasets generated by these platforms provide a unique opportunity to explore cognitive development throughout life and across multiple naturalistic environments. However, such data collection mechanisms must be validated. This study aimed to determine whether the data gathered by commercial visuospatial and phonological working memory tests (CogniFit Inc., San Francisco, USA) confirm the well-established argument that age predicts cognitive decline. Data from 3,212 participants (2,238 females) who were 45 years old or older were analyzed. A linear regression analysis explored the relationship between age and working memory while controlling for gender, sleep quality, and physical activity (variables that are known to affect working memory). We found that age negatively predicts working memory. Furthermore, there was an interaction between age and gender for visuospatial working memory, indicating that although male participants significantly outperformed females, the relationship between age and working memory differs for females and males. Our results suggest that the computerized assessment of visuospatial and phonological working memory is sensible enough to predict cognitive functions in aging. Suggestions for improving the sensitivity of self-reports are discussed. Further studies must explore the nature of gender effects on cognitive aging

Reading comprehension precursors: Evidence of the simple view of reading in a transparent orthography

The Simple View of Reading (SVR) proposes that reading comprehension depends on two general processes –language comprehension and word recognition– and that the contribution of these known processes to reading comprehension varies in time. Specifically, the contribution of word recognition decreases, and the contribution of language comprehension increases with student progress. The purpose of this study was to test the SVR in a large sample of 4,750 Dominican public-school students from second (n = 2,399) and fourth grade (2,351) and determine the contribution of phonological awareness within the SVR. The study found that word recognition and language comprehension explained 80% of the variance in reading comprehension regardless of grade. A quantile regression showed that, as reading comprehension progresses, language comprehension’s predictive power increases, and word recognition’s predictive power decreases. A structural equation model conducted on each grade separately showed that the contribution of word recognition toward reading comprehension remained stable between second and fourth grade. This means that, although the dynamism of the SVR components follows the same pattern reported in the literature, the students evaluated here might reach reading automaticity later than expected. Therefore, more attentional resources need to be allocated toward decoding. The study found that the contribution of phonological awareness toward word recognition increases from second to fourth grade, confirming that students are taking longer than expected to obtain reading automaticity and still going through an overt effortful decoding stage rather than a covert phonological recoding stage, making reading more effortful

Validation of the Dominican system for measuring early childhood development [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Background The purpose of the study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Dominican System for Measuring Early Childhood Development (SIMEDID, for its Spanish acronym), to adjust the sequence of item presentation, and to provide age-standardized norms for each item, to enable policy and program managers to make decisions based on specific and structured data. Methods After approval from an ethics committee, a total of 948 children from 0 to 60 months participated in this study. Participants were evaluated on four early childhood development domains (gross motor, fine motor, language development, and socio-emotional development). The data were collected from November 2021 to February 2022, either at early childhood care centers or at home, using mobile devices that guided the evaluators through the screener. Data were later synced to a global database. Psychometric properties were calculated using Cronbach’s alpha and split-half parallel reliability. For reorganizing item presentation and to obtain age-standardized norms, we conducted a logistic regression analysis for each item on dependent variable item success, and independent variable age. Results The instrument showed excellent reliability and additional evidence of validity. The item presentation order was rearranged according to the probability of item success progression. In addition, the study characterized the expected evolution of item success probability across participants’ age. Conclusions SIMEDID is a valid and reliable instrument for depicting childhood development in national evaluations. Its integration with electronic platforms for national monitoring represents a cost-effective, time-efficient screening tool adapted to the Dominican sociocultural context. This represents a promising tool to strengthen strategies that support early childhood development

Revista de logopedia, foniatría y audiología

Título, resumen y palabras clave en español e inglésResumen basado en el de la publicaciónCon la mitad de la población mundial expuesta a más de una lengua, la escasez de estudios sobre la eficacia de intervenciones específicamente dirigidas a niños bilingües con trastorno del aprendizaje de la lectura (TAL) puede llevar a profesional a emitir recomendaciones precipitadas para su abordaje. Se pretende aportar orientaciones para el diseño de intervenciones adaptadas a este tipo de usuarios. Las orientaciones de intervención propuestas se dirigen a niños o adolescentes que evolucionan en contextos multilingües (con dos o más lenguas en su entorno familiar, escolar o social, que se juzguen relevantes para el desarrollo del individuo). Partiendo de la evidencia sobre la eficacia de las intervenciones fundamentadas en el desarrollo fonológico y de las correspondencias grafema-fonema con población multilingüe con trastorno del aprendizaje de la lectura, se proponen orientaciones para adaptar estos componentes del tratamiento a dicha población. Se incorporan asimismo recomendaciones de trabajo sobre componentes complementarios, tomando en cuenta su pertinencia en distintos tipos de lengua. La evidencia sugiere que es pertinente intervenir en más de una lengua con pacientes con trastorno del aprendizaje de la lectura, siempre y cuando se tengan en cuenta determinados aspectos específicos en el diseño del programa de intervención. No obstante, es necesario seguir generando estudios longitudinales de intervención o de caso con niños de distintos contextos multilingües, en función de la transparencia de cada una de sus lenguas, su momento de adquisición y el papel que desempeñan en la vida del niño.Biblioteca del Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]

Influencia del contexto socioeconómico en la lectura y sus precursores psicolingüísticos.

The importance of both certain psycholinguistic precursors and the socioeconomic variable in reading development has been described. The present research tries to evaluate the development of reading and that of its precursors in two different socio-educational environments, as well as to determine the predictive value of each one of them. To do this, sub-variables related to socioeconomic background, reading, and certain psycholinguistic processes were studied in a non-probability sample of Panamanians in 2nd and 3rd grade (n = 114) from two schools (state and private). The results show important differences between both groups in reading performance, but also in psycholinguistic development. The most explanatory precursors of reading performance were segmentation ability, letter naming speed, and, more moderately but unexpectedly, sequentially short-term memory visually. Explanatory hypotheses are proposed about the predictive component of the maternal educational level and of the psycholinguistic precursors in each socioeconomic environment, and educational intervention procedures based on the results obtained are suggested.Foi descrita a importância de certos precursores psicolingüísticos e da variável socioeconômica no desenvolvimento da leitura. O presente estudo visa avaliar o desenvolvimento da leitura e seus precursores em dois ambientes sócio-educativos diferentes, e determinar o valor preditivo de cada um deles. Para este fim, foram estudadas sub-variáveis relacionadas ao contexto sócio-econômico, leitura e certos processos psicolingüísticos em uma amostra não-probabilística de alunos panamenhos da 2ª e 3ª séries (n=114) de duas escolas (públicas e privadas). Os resultados mostram diferenças importantes entre os dois grupos em termos de realização de leitura, mas também no desenvolvimento psicolinguístico. Os precursores mais explicativos do desempenho de leitura foram a capacidade de segmentação, a velocidade de nomeação de letras e, mais moderadamente, mas inesperadamente, a memória seqüencial visual de curto prazo. São propostas hipóteses explicativas sobre o componente preditivo do nível educacional materno e precursores psicolingüísticos em cada ambiente sócio-econômico, e são sugeridas linhas de intervenção educacional com base nos resultados obtidos.Se ha descrito la importancia tanto de determinados precursores psicolingüísticos como de la variable socioeconómica en el desarrollo lector. El presente trabajo pretende evaluar en dos entornos socioeducativos diferenciados el desarrollo de la lectura y el de sus precursores, así como determinar el valor predictivo de cada uno de ellos. Para ello, se estudiaron subvariables relacionadas con el entorno socioeconómico, la lectura y determinados procesos psicolingüísticos en una muestra no probabilística de panameños de 2º y 3º de primaria (n=114) procedentes de dos escuelas (pública y privada). Los resultados muestran importantes diferencias entre ambos grupos en el rendimiento lector, pero también en el desarrollo psicolingüístico. Los precursores más explicativos del rendimiento lector fueron la capacidad de segmentación, la velocidad de denominación de letras y, de forma más moderada pero inesperada, la memoria a corto plazo secuencial por vía visual. Se proponen hipótesis explicativas sobre el componente predictor del nivel educativo materno y de los precursores psicolingüísticos en cada entorno socioeconómico, y se sugieren líneas de intervención educativa basadas en los resultados obtenidos