Reading-specific flexibility moderates the relation between reading strategy use and reading comprehension during the elementary years

The goal was to test whether cognitive flexibility moderates the relation between reading strategy use and reading comprehension during the elementary years. Seventy-five second through fifth grade students completed a think aloud task and a metacognitive questionnaire to measure reading strategies, two card-sorting tasks to measure general and reading-specific cognitive flexibility, and one standardized measure of reading comprehension, as well as measures of oral reading fluency and vocabulary. As expected, oral reading fluency and vocabulary predicted reading comprehension, as did reading-specific flexibility. Importantly, reading-specific flexibility had a significant moderating effect, over and above the other effects. Specifically, weak reading-specific flexibility skills were associated with a negative relation between reading strategy use during think aloud and reading comprehension, suggesting that children with weak flexibility skills are less adept at using reading strategies effectively

Executive functioning predicts reading, mathematics, and theory of mind during the elementary years.

The goal of this study was to specify how executive functioning components predict reading, mathematics, and theory of mind performance during the elementary years. Ninety-three 7- to 10-year-old children completed measures of working memory, inhibition, flexibility, reading, mathematics, and theory of mind. Path analysis revealed that all three executive functioning components (working memory, inhibition, and flexibility) mediated age differences in reading comprehension, whereas age predicted mathematics and theory of mind directly. In addition, reading mediated the influence of executive functioning components on mathematics and theory of mind, except that flexibility also predicted mathematics directly. These findings provide important details about the development of executive functioning, reading, mathematics, and theory of mind during the elementary years

Heidiphyllum, Rissikia y Desmiophyllum (Pinophyta, Coniferales) in the Triassic of northern Chile and southern Argentina

Troncoso, A. Departamento de Biologia Vegetal,Universidad de Talca, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile.Species of the genera Heidiphyllum (H. elongatum), Rissikia [R. media (Tenison-Woods) Townrow] and Desmiophyllum [D. cacheutense (Kurtz) nov. comb., D. sp.] found in the Triassic of northern Chile and southern Argentina are described. A brief discussion of the history and validity of the generic name Desmiophyllum for long and narrow, parallel-veined leaves lacking cuticle is given to reassess its use

Rochipteris nov gen., leaf incertae sedis (=Chiropteris pro parte), Upper Triassic of Argentina and Chile

Troncoso, A. Departamento de Biologia Vegetal,Universidad de Talca, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile

Plant-insect interactions on dicots and ferns from the miocene of Argentina

The study of plant-insect interactions provides valuable information about the ecology of feeding behavior and the relationships between the host plant and the producer insect. Records of feeding traces are relatively rare for the Miocene of South America. Here, new records of plant-insect interactions on dicot leaves and fern fronds from the middle and late Miocene of Argentina are presented. In total, 1204 dicot and fern impressions were analyzed including 384 from the San JoŚe Formation and 856 from the Palo Pintado Formation. Traces of arthropod herbivory are found on 303 foliar impressions, 288 from the Palo Pintado Formation and just 15 from the San JoŚe Formation. Forty-four percent of all traces were found on Thelypteris interrupta (Willd.) Iwatsuki 1963 (Thelypteridaceae), followed by Cedrela fissiliformis Anzótegui and Horn 2011 (Meliaceae) (15.1%) and Schinus herbstii Anzótegui 1998 (Anacardiaceae) (11.3%). Thelypteris interrupta is associated with a low diversity of Damage Types, mainly hole and window feedings, indicating a monospecific relationship with the trace maker. On the other hand, the high abundance and diversity of damage types found on C. fissiliformis and S. herbstii denote that these plants were hosting a more diverse group of arthropods. Likewise, the lower number of traces identified in the San JoŚe Formation corresponds to the xeric conditions established during the middle Miocene in northwestern Argentina. These conditions changed in the late Miocene, at least in some regions, to a humid climate, promoting an increase in phytophagy that is evidenced by the abundance recorded in the Palo Pintado Formation.Fil: Robledo, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Pinheiro, Esther R. S.. University of Wyoming; Estados UnidosFil: Gnaedinger, Silvia Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura; ArgentinaFil: Wappler, Torsten. Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt; Alemani