Cognitive-linguistic Abilities Research Articles

La Argumentación y sus aportes a la enseñanza bilingüe de las ciencias

En el presente articulo se dan a conocer el diseno y los resultados de una experiencia educativa en el que se presentan aportes de la argumentacion en el campo de la ensenanza bilingue de las ciencias. En primer lugar, se abordan los fundamentos de la argumentacion en el campo de la didactica de las ciencias como habilidad cognitivo-linguistica y su necesaria articulacion con otras habilidades de pensamiento. Asi mismo, se exponen algunos de los beneficios de la ensenanza bilingue de las ciencias y sus relaciones con el tema de la argumentacion. En segundo lugar, se mencionan las tecnicas de recoleccion de informacion y criterios de analisis propuestos. En tercer lugar, se tratan los resultados cuyos analisis permiten referirse a la argumentacion como una habilidad que dentro de sus diversas potencialidades favorece la ensenanza y el aprendizaje bilingue de las ciencias. Finalmente, se hace un llamado a la elaboracion de mas investigaciones que contribuyan a mejorar la comprension acerca de como la argumentacion favorece la educacion bilingue en ciencias.

Musical, language, and reading abilities in early Portuguese readers

Early language and reading abilities have been shown to correlate with a variety of musical skills and elements of music perception in children. It has also been shown that reading impaired children can show difficulties with music perception. However, it is still unclear to what extent different aspects of music perception are associated with language and reading abilities. Here we investigated the relationship between cognitive-linguistic abilities and a music discrimination task that preserves an ecologically valid musical experience. 43 Portuguese-speaking students from an elementary school in Brazil participated in this study. Children completed a comprehensive cognitive-linguistic battery of assessments. The music task was presented live in the music classroom, and children were asked to code sequences of four sounds on the guitar. Results show a strong relationship between performance on the music task and a number of linguistic variables. A principle component analysis of the cognitive-linguistic battery revealed that the strongest component (Prin1) accounted for 33% of the variance and Prin1 was significantly related to the music task. Highest loadings on Prin1 were found for reading measures such as Reading Speed and Reading Accuracy. Interestingly, 22 children recorded responses for more than four sounds within a trial on the music task, which was classified as Superfluous Responses (SR). SR was negatively correlated with a variety of linguistic variables and showed a negative correlation with Prin1. When analyzing children with and without SR separately, only children with SR showed a significant correlation between Prin1 and the music task. Our results provide implications for the use of an ecologically valid music-based screening tool for the early identification of reading disabilities in a classroom setting.

Cognitive neuropsychology has been, is, and will be significant to aphasiology

Background: In recent years some critical voices have been raised in regard to the significance of cognitive neuropsychology (CNP) to the study of brain and mind. Given the central role of language disorders in CNP research, it is time to consider the relevance of this research approach in aphasiology. Aims: We analyse the main points of criticism raised against the CNP research approach, evaluate the significance of this approach to the study of acquired language disorders, and make some suggestions concerning further development of the field. Main Contribution: The main points of criticism against CNP (reliance on single-case studies; single-minded hunt for dissociations; emptiness of theorising) have been important long-term concerns but do not take into account the fact that, during its history of circa four decades, the CNP approach has diversified. There are thus CNP studies that rely on case series analyses, focus on error analyses rather than mere dissociations, or employ computational modelling rather than the “boxes-and-arrows” models of the mental architecture. The CNP approach to cognition and its disorders is thus applicable to different research questions and theoretical stances, providing experimental rigour to single-case patient studies. With regard to clinical applications in aphasia diagnostics and treatment, the CNP approach provides a richer view on the strengths and weaknesses of a patient's cognitive-linguistic abilities. Conclusions: We believe that CNP case studies continue to be an important source of information for generating hypotheses and providing converging evidence for research on the mind and on the brain. However, there is a need for further research development especially in computational modelling of language processes, their impairments, and recovery. This research is expected to provide further benefit to clinical diagnostics and treatment of aphasia.

Management of speech, Language and Communication Difficulties in Huntington’s Disease

SUMMARY Speech and language therapists play an important role in the management of communication difficulties in Huntington’s disease (HD). As the disease progresses the effectiveness of communication becomes increasingly compromised by a combination of changes in motor function, diminishing cognitive linguistic abilities and neuropsychiatric changes, such as depression and apathy. The complexities and challenges presented by communication breakdown in HD require comprehensive assessment and interventions that are responsive to the changing motor, cognitive and emotional needs of the individual. The European Huntington’s Disease Network Standards of Care Speech and Language Therapy Working Group has brought together expert speech and language therapists from across Europe to produce guidelines to improve the management of communication disorders for individuals with HD. The guidelines were developed with the aim of promoting timely and appropriate assessment and focused management throughout all stages of the disease. Literature was thoroughly searched and evaluated in an attempt to ensure that the guidelines are based on available evidence. However as there is a paucity of good-quality, high-level evidence the guidance is based predominantly on expert opinion and consensus. The provision of care varies widely between countries in Europe and the implementation of these guidelines aims to help improve the quality of care delivered to individuals with HD.

Assessing cognitive-linguistic abilities in South African adults living with HIV: the Cognitive Linguistic Quick Test

HIV can cross the blood-brain barrier to enter the central nervous system. This results in cognitive deficits in the majority of patients. The assessment of these deficits and management of these patients poses challenges for healthcare workers in South Africa. This study investigates the effectiveness of the Cognitive Linguistic Quick Test (CLQT) in identifying the cognitive and linguistic abilities of adults with HIV or AIDS. Sixteen participants were recruited from an outpatient clinic in Johannesburg. The CLQT was utilised to assess the cognitive/linguistic abilities of the participants. The overall scores revealed that 87.5% of the participants presented with some form of cognitive deficit, 81% exhibited deficits in memory and executive functioning, 75% showed deficits in attention and visual perception, and 50% exhibited language deficits. Thus, this instrument may be usefully employed with patients who exhibit neurological disorders, including those caused by HIV infection. We conclude that the CLQT can be used as an alternative to more expensive, elaborate and time-consuming neuropsychometric evaluations to identify deficits in memory, attention and executive functions as experienced by adults with HIV or AIDS in South Africa.

Situaciones problemáticas de Química diseñadas como pequeñas investigaciones en la escuela secundaria desde un encuadre heurístico a partir de una situación fortuita que involucra reacciones ácido-base

The present proposal focuses on the strategy of open problem solving in school science, that starts from a fortuitous situation that involves acid-base reactions and that offers a point of view to practical laboratory work that differs from “recipe procedures”, and that provides motivation and improves the cognitive linguistic abilities of pupils.It is presented a possible laboratory guide that enables the task to be organized starting from the heuristic tool known as the ‘Gowin's V’ in order to establish relations between concepts.

Cognitive–linguistic deficit and speech intelligibility in chronic progressive multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a disabling neurological disease with varied symptoms, including dysarthria and cognitive and linguistic impairments. Association between dysarthria and cognitive-linguistic deficit has not been explored in clinical multiple sclerosis studies. In patients with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis, the study aimed to investigate the presence and nature of cognitive-linguistic deficit, the association between levels of cognitive-linguistic ability and speech intelligibility, and of both of these with functional disability and time since onset of multiple sclerosis symptoms. The Arizona Battery for Communication Disorders of Dementia (ABCD) (Bayles and Tomoeda 1993 ), The Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech (AIDS) Sentence Intelligibility Task (Yorkston and Beukelman 1984 ), and the Modified Barthel Activities of Daily Living Index (MBADLI) (Shah 1998 ) were administered to 24 chronic progressive multiple sclerosis participants with dysarthria. A total of 24 non-neurologically impaired participants, matched for gender, age and education, formed a control group. For multiple sclerosis participants, linear regression analysis showed a strong association between ABCD and AIDS (beta = 0.89, p = 0.005), no association between ABCD and either MBADLI or time since onset, a strong association between AIDS and MBADLI (beta = 0.60, p = 0.001), and a trend towards an association between AIDS and time since onset (beta = -0.29, p = 0.08). Correlations between the four included ABCD construct scores and between these and the total ABCD score were significant (r>0.60, p<0.01). For each of the 15 included ABCD measures and for the four construct scores and the overall ABCD score, multiple sclerosis and control group performances were significantly different (p<0.01) and effect sizes were large (d>0.80). The results revealed a strong association between dysarthria, as measured by connected speech intelligibility testing, and cognitive-linguistic deficit, in people with chronic progressive-type multiple sclerosis. While some of the impairments that are associated with multiple sclerosis, including motor speech disorder, may influence performance on the ABCD, the data support the conclusion that marked cognitive-linguistic deficit is present in chronic progressive-type multiple sclerosis patients with dysarthria. Deterioration was global, rather than being indicative of a construct specific deficit, and encompassed language, both expression and comprehension. Episodic memory and linguistic expression were especially affected. Speech and language therapists who work with dysarthric patients with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis should monitor cognitive-linguistic impairment. An awareness of this might influence assessment, intervention and management, including the information and advice given to patients and their relatives.

The Pediatric Test of Brain Injury

The Pediatric Test of Brain Injury (PTBI) is designed to assess neurocognitive, language, and literacy abilities that are relevant to the school curriculum of children and adolescents recovering from brain injury. The PTBI is intended to help clinicians establish baseline levels of cognitive–linguistic abilities in the acute stages of recovery, identify strengths and weaknesses for informing intervention, monitor functional changes and track recovery patterns, and guide decision making related to school reintegration and educational performance. This article describes the research version of the PTBI with regard to theoretical concerns guiding its development, selection of neurocognitive and language abilities that are relevant to the school curriculum and likely to be affected by brain injury, the rationale for tracking early recovery, and research being conducted on the PTBI to establish criterion-referenced benchmarks for children and adolescents from age 6 through 16 years. Two case examples illustrate qualitative interpretations of results on each of the PTBI subtests, which are discussed with regard to implications for further curriculum-based language assessment and successful reintegration into school.

Early category and concept development: making sense of the blooming, buzzing confusion

Foreword: Categories, Cognitive Development, and Cognitive Science Preface Acknowledgments Contributors 1. Issues in the Early Development of Concepts and Categories: An Introduction PART I. CONCEPTS AND CATEGORIES BEFORE THE EMERGENCE OF LANGUAGE 2. Chunking Language Input to Find Patterns 3. Concepts Are Not Just for Objects: Categorization of Spatial Relation Information by Infants 4. Parsing Objects into Categories: Infants' Perception and Use of Correlated Attributes 5. Conceptual Categorization 6. Principles of Developmental Change in Infants' Category Formation 7. Parts, Motion, and the Development of the Animate-Inanimate Distinction in Infancy 8. Commentary on Part I: Unresolved Issues in Infant Categorization PART II: CONCEPTS AND CATEGORIES DURING EARLY LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 9. Links between Object Categorization and Naming: Origins and Emergence in Human Infants 10. Transaction of Child Cognitive-Linguistic Abilities and Adult Input in the Acquisition of Lexical Categories at the Basic and Subordinate Levels 11. Making an Ontology: Cross-linguistic Evidence 12. Words, Kinds, and Causal Powers: A Theory Theory Perspective on Early Naming and Categorization 13. Theory-Based Categorization in Early Childhood 14. The Acquisition and Use of Implicit Categories in Early Development 15. Commentary on Part II: Abilities and Assumptions Underlying Conceptual Development 16. Final Commentary: Conceptual Development from Origins to Asymptotes Author Index Subject Index

Reductions in ‘Ross Information Processing Test-Geriatric’ information processing and ‘A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed’ processing speed in Alzheimer's disease: which lead and which follow?

Our objective was to obtain preliminary evidence for an order of emergence of measurable reductions in cognitive-linguistic abilities and processing/naming speed. A total of 22 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment and 22 age- and sex-matched controls participated. Ross Information Processing Test-Geriatric (RIPA-G) evaluated functional information processing and A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed (AQT) measured naming speed (s) for familiar single-dimension (e.g. colors, forms) and dual-dimension (e.g. color-form combinations) visual stimuli. Patient age was not a significant factor. Means for RIPA-G information processing were in the normal range. AQT means for most perceptual-speed (e.g. form naming) and all cognitive-speed measures (e.g. color-form naming) were in the atypical/pathological range. Correlations between information processing and processing speed were moderate, negative and mostly nonsignificant. RIPA-G memory and organization identified that about a third of patients performed below the normal range. AQT dual-dimension naming identified that all 19 patients with mild-to-moderate AD performed in the atypical range (i.e. slower than +2 SD of the mean). The findings provide preliminary evidence that reductions in perceptual and cognitive speed precede reductions in cognitive-linguistic abilities and functional information processing in mild-to-moderate AD. AQT can assess short-term changes in cognitive functioning and monitor intervention. RIPA-G can provide broad-based functional measures at baseline and over the longer term. The combined use of AQT and RIPA-G can provide health professionals with broadly based clinical information, relevant for making team-based rehabilitation, living and other decisions for patients with AD.

The Impact of Varied Speaker Role and Communication Partner on the Communicative Interactions of a Person With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Single Case Study Using Systemic Functional Linguistics

AbstractThis article presents preliminary findings on an investigation into the differences in communicative performance across varying speaking conditions, of an individual with a cognitive–linguistic impairment following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The article compares the communicative exchanges of an individual in a conversation with a therapist, a conversational dyad with a peer with TBI, and in a communication group task where they were interacting with other participants with TBI. The speaking conditions studied included an unstructured chat, the participant requesting information and the participant giving information. Results showed that the person with TBI responded to differences in communication partner and speaker role. He was best able to give information in the unstructured chat with the clinician and the information giving session in the group. Requesting was maximally facilitated in the information request condition with the clinician. Qualitatively, however, the most equal interactions occurred with the peer, with evidence of the person with TBI engaging in typical conversational strategies such as establishing common ground to facilitate topic development and co-constructing the discourse topics. These strategies did not occur in the clinician or group interactions, possibly due to power imbalance in the former and impaired cognitive–linguistic ability in the latter situation. Implications for clinical decision making regarding intervention strategies for patients with cognitive–communication deficits are discussed.

Retained neuropsychological abilities of individuals with Alzheimer's disease.

Individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) retain certain cognitive abilities over the course of the disease. In this article, we describe retained cognitive-linguistic abilities and the status of activities of daily living (ADLs) of individuals in the early, middle, and late stages of AD. Knowledge of preserved abilities in AD is necessary for clinicians to structure communication-stimulation programs and to train caregivers in the most effective ways to facilitate communication. Using the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) for staging severity of AD, an outline of preserved abilities by disease stage is provided. Attention, memory, and communication abilities are discussed, and samples of discourse from patients at different stages are included.