Sequential difficulty effects in cognitive and sensorimotor tasks: Insights from arithmetic and Fitts' task

International audienceThe present study tested sequential difficulty effects (SDEs) in arithmetic problem solving and Fitts’ aiming task for the same individuals. SDEs refer to poorer performance on current items following harder items relative to after easier items. Young and older adults accomplished a computational estimation task (i.e., finding the approximate products to two digit multiplication problems) and a Fitts aiming task (i.e., performing rapid pointing movements to reach the finish areas). Current items were preceded by two easy or difficult items (i.e., in the repeate precursor condition) or only one easy or difficult item (i.e., in the unrepeated precursor condition). Participants’ performance revealed SDEs in both the arithmetic and the aiming tasks only when the precursor items were repeated. Data also revealed comparable SDEs in both age groups during the arithmetic task, but SDEs only in older adults while participants accomplished the aiming task. These findings have a number of implications for our understanding of mechanisms underlying SDEs and age-related differences in SDEs, as they suggest that SDEs involve both domain general and domain specific mechanisms that are differentially influenced by aging

Priming effects of arithmetic signs in 10‐ to 15‐year‐old children

International audienceIn this research, 10- to 12- and 13- to 15-year-old children were presented with very simple addition and multiplication problems involving operands from 1 to 4. Critically, the arithmetic sign was presented before the operands in half of the trials, whereas it was presented at the same time as the operands in the other half. Our results indicate that presenting the 'x' sign before the operands of a multiplication problem does not speed up the solving process, irrespective of the age of children. In contrast, presenting the '+' sign before the operands of an addition problem facilitates the solving process, but only in 13 to 15-year-old children. Such priming effects of the arithmetic sign have been previously interpreted as the result of a pre-activation of an automated counting procedure, which can be applied as soon as the operands are presented. Therefore, our results echo previous conclusions of the literature that simple additions but not multiplications can be solved by fast counting procedures. More importantly, we show here that these procedures are possibly convoked automatically by children after the age of 13 years. At a more theoretical level, our results do not support the theory that simple additions are solved through retrieval of the answers from long-term memory by experts. Rather, the development of expertise for mental addition would consist in an acceleration of procedures until automatization

Risk of neonatal hypothyroidism in newborns from mothers exposed to CTPA during pregnancy: Ancillary data from a prospective outcome study

Background: Neonatal hypothyroidism is often raised as a potential concern for the use of computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in pregnant women with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). Objectives: To assess the incidence of neonatal hypothyroidism among newborns from mothers exposed to CTPA. Patients/methods: Pregnant women with clinically suspected PE were included in a multicenter, multinational prospective diagnostic management outcome study, based on pretest clinical probability assessment, high-sensitivity D-dimer testing, bilateral lower limb venous compression ultrasonography, and CTPA. Results of Guthrie tests were systematically collected for newborns of all women who required CTPA as part of the diagnostic strategy. A thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level above 15 U/ml was used to define hypothyroidism. Results: Out of the 166 women included in the Swiss participating centers, 149 underwent a CTPA including 14 with twin pregnancies. Eight women suffered a pregnancy loss and results of the Guthrie test could not be retrieved for four newborns. All TSH levels were reported as being below 15 U/ml. The incidence of neonatal hypothyroidism was 0/151 (0.0%, 95% confidence interval: 0.0%-2.5%). Conclusions: We did not identify any cases of neonatal hypothyroidism in our cohort of 149 pregnant women investigated for suspected PE using a CTPA. Along with previous literature data, this provides further reassuring data regarding the use of CTPA in this indication. Keywords: Guthrie test; diagnosis; hypothyroidism; pregnancy; pulmonary embolism

Revisiting the Effects of Gender Diversity in Small Groups on Divergent Thinking: A Large-Scale Study Using Synchronous Electronic Brainstorming

Numerous studies have examined the effects of gender diversity in groups on creative performance, and no clear effect has been identified. Findings depend on situational cues making gender diversity more or less salient in groups. A large-scale study on two cohorts (N = 2,261) was conducted among business students to examine the impact of the gender diversity in small groups on divergent thinking in an idea-generation task performed by synchronous electronic brainstorming. Participants were automatically randomized in three- or four-member groups to generate ideas during 10 min on a gendered or neutral task. Then, five categories of groups where the proportion of men/women in groups varied from three/four men to three/four women were compared to examine creative performance on three divergent thinking measures (fluency, flexibility, and originality). A Multivariate Generalized Linear Mixed Model (mGLMM) showed greater fluency in all-women groups than in other groups (except mixed-gender groups composed of two men and two women), and more specifically “solo” groups composed of a single woman/man among a majority of men/women. For flexibility and originality, the superiority of all-women groups was found only in comparison to “solo” groups composed of a single woman. As gender differences are more salient in “solo” groups than in other groups faultlines may appear in groups, leading to a deleterious impact on creative performance

The Evolution of Finger Counting between Kindergarten and Grade 2

In this longitudinal study, we aimed at determining whether children who efficiently use finger counting are more likely to develop internalized arithmetic strategies than children who are less efficient. More precisely, we analyzed the behavior of 24 kindergarteners aged between 5 and 6 years who used their fingers to solve addition problems, and we were interested in determining the evolution of their finger counting strategies towards mental strategies after 2 years (Grade 2). Our results show that kindergarteners who were the most proficient in calculating on fingers were the more likely to have abandoned this strategy in Grade 2. This shows that the use of efficient finger counting strategies early during development optimizes the shift to mental strategies later on during school years. Moreover, children who still use their fingers to solve additions in Grade 2 present lower working memory capacities than children who had already abandoned this strategy

French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting

Teachers' beliefs and attitudes are known to guide the type of activities they implement in their classrooms. A traditional conception that finger counting is merely a back-up when children fail to use more sophisticated and efficient strategies could therefore prevent teachers from encouraging children's use of fingers in arithmetic tasks. However, the potential benefit of finger counting for young learners has been recently documented and setting aside its practice within classrooms may hinder children's mathematical skill development. It is therefore important to establish whether there is a discrepancy between teacher's beliefs regarding finger counting and the latest discoveries in this field of research. To this aim, we interrogated 413 teachers from preschool to Grade 5. We found that, despite being generally positive towards finger counting, teachers think that finger counting is typical of children who present math difficulties or lack of confidence, even during the first years of learning. These results are discussed considering what is known and what remains to be determined in the current scientific literature

Older and younger adults' strategies in sensorimotor tasks: Insights from Fitts' pointing task.

International audienceWe investigated how young and older adults differ in sensorimotor tasks. Two groups of participants (young and older adults) performed discrete Fitts' tasks in which 4 levels of difficulty (ID) were used, resulting from either the manipulation of the size of the target (ID W) or of the distance between home and target positions (ID D). Kinematic analysis allowed distinguishing 4 different types of strategies used to reach the target, on the basis of the existence and the nature of submovements. Results showed that the repertoire of strategies was significantly smaller in older than in young participants. In addition, the frequency of use of the different strategies varied with participants' age. Specifically, the most frequent strategies used by older participants included submovements, while those used by young participants did not include submovements. The differences observed between young and older adults were independent of whether ID was manipulated via target size or movement distance. Finally, age-related differences in strategy performance were found. These results have important implications for furthering our understanding of aging effects in sensorimotor tasks. They also illustrate the usefulness of a strategy approach in a domain where it had never been formally used before

Sequential difficulty effects in cognitive and sensorimotor tasks: Insights from arithmetic and Fitts' task

International audienceThe present study tested sequential difficulty effects (SDEs) in arithmetic problem solving and Fitts’ aiming task for the same individuals. SDEs refer to poorer performance on current items following harder items relative to after easier items. Young and older adults accomplished a computational estimation task (i.e., finding the approximate products to two digit multiplication problems) and a Fitts aiming task (i.e., performing rapid pointing movements to reach the finish areas). Current items were preceded by two easy or difficult items (i.e., in the repeate precursor condition) or only one easy or difficult item (i.e., in the unrepeated precursor condition). Participants’ performance revealed SDEs in both the arithmetic and the aiming tasks only when the precursor items were repeated. Data also revealed comparable SDEs in both age groups during the arithmetic task, but SDEs only in older adults while participants accomplished the aiming task. These findings have a number of implications for our understanding of mechanisms underlying SDEs and age-related differences in SDEs, as they suggest that SDEs involve both domain general and domain specific mechanisms that are differentially influenced by aging