Patterns Of Cognitive Processing Research Articles

Differences in Low and High Working-Memory Capacity Readers' Cognitive and Metacognitive Processing Patterns as a Function of Reading for Different Purposes

Differences in cognitive and metacognitive processing patterns as a function of working-memory capacity and reading for different purposes were examined in college-aged readers by collecting reading times and calculating absolute monitoring accuracy, which is the difference between estimated and actual comprehension test performance. Readers read an expository text under one of two reading purpose conditions, reading for study versus reading for entertainment, and then answered comprehension questions about the text. The results showed that low working-memory capacity readers' reading times were slower when reading for study versus entertainment purposes than when reading for study purposes, whereas high working-memory capacity readers' reading times were similar across reading purposes. In addition, low working-memory capacity readers were overconfident but more accurate in their estimates when reading for study versus entertainment, whereas high working-memory capacity readers were similarly underconfident and had equivalent degrees of accuracy across reading purposes. Thus, low and high working-memory capacity readers' cognitive and metacognitive processing patterns are different when reading for more demanding reading purposes such as reading for study. It is proposed that time spent reading, which is affected by the reader's working-memory capacity and purpose for reading, mediates degree of confidence and accuracy in predicting future comprehension test performance.

The Cognitive Basis of Trait Anger and Reactive Aggression: An Integrative Analysis

Cognitive processing approaches to personality have gained momentum in recent years, and the present review uses such a cognitive approach to understand individual differences in anger and reactive aggression. Because several relevant cognitive models have been proposed in separate literatures, a purpose of this review is to integrate such material and evaluate the consistency of relations obtained to date. The analysis reveals that processes related to automatic hostile interpretations, ruminative attention, and effortful control appear to be important contributors to individual differences in angry reactivity. Memory accessibility processes, by contrast, failed to exhibit a consistent relationship with trait anger. This review concludes with the proposal of an integrative cognitive model of trait anger and the discussion of several broader issues, including the developmental origins of cognitive processing patterns and plausible links to temperament-based perspectives.

Russell-Silver Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disability: A Case Study

Russell-Silver Syndrome (RSS) is a rare genetic developmental disorder characterized by prenatal and postnatal growth delays and other physical abnormalities. Neuropsychological screening was completed with LP, a 20-year-old college male diagnosed at one year of age with Russell-Silver Syndrome. LP's history and test findings yielded a profile consistent with a nonverbal learning disability, with significantly higher verbal compared to nonverbal intelligence, deficient visual-spatial memory, fine motor coordination and motor planning problems, relatively greater difficulty in math compared to other achievement areas, decreased writing fluency, and social behavior impediments. LP also experienced attention and concentration problems along with a ruminative cognitive-emotional style and mild depression. His pattern of processing weaknesses indicated a need for academic accommodations to complete his college-level academic work, along with counseling to address emotional issues. Further studies of individuals with RSS should consider neuropsychological assessment to address patterns of cognitive processing and possible need for educational and psychosocial intervention.

Fragile X Syndrome and Autism: Common Developmental Pathways?

Identifying atypical trajectories that distinguish children with differing developmental disorders from each other and from typically developing children is a potentially powerful tool for early ascertainment and treatment of syndrome specific proficiencies and deficiencies. The past decade has seen unparalleled advances in the fields of molecular genetics, pediatrics, developmental cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging. Collaboratively, these advances have facilitated our understanding of how genes can impact upon early development, through the identification of specific patterns of cognitive and behavior processing and the deficits in these domains that are typical to a specific developmental disorder. These advances have also made early diagnoses possible for many developmental disorders, including those for which genetic etiology has yet to be determined, such as is the case for most individuals with autism, or disorders such as fragile X syndrome that result from the silencing of a single gene. This early identification necessitates thorough investigation of the impact of a condition across the lifespan beginning in early childhood when interventions are most likely to have significant benefit. This is especially relevant for disorders that at first glance appear to share overlapping behavioral and clinical symptomology. In the case of autism and fragile X syndrome, commonalties in social and communication profiles are now well documented in early childhood. However, to what degree symptom overlap implies common developmental pathways or etiologies remains unclear. The focus of this review will be to critically evaluate whether so called commonalities in phenotypic outcomes actually reflect very different developmental pathways that diverge over developmental time and across syndromes. More detailed knowledge of these profiles will facilitate early timing of tailored interventions that will promote optimal development resulting in significant educational, clinical, and adaptive benefits across a childs lifespan.

Distributed and relative nature of professional expertise

This exploratory study investigates the distributed nature and complexity of professional expertise by examining the patterns of cognitive processes in novices and experts who are using ultrasound technology to make diagnoses. The study aims to identify and provide an explanation for such patterns in light of the recent debate on the locus of control underpinning human cognition. A distributed model of professional expertise based on the relationships between the four elements of socio-cultural disposition, tools and artefacts, strategies, and domain knowledge, is used to discuss the results. The findings illustrate the complexity of professional expertise, particularly when individuals depend on sophisticated tools to assist their thinking and reasoning.

Spatial Working Memoryand Planning Ability: Contrasts between Schizophreniaand Bipolar i Disorder

Working memory may be conceptualized as a multi-component system involving the active maintenance and manipulation of stored information in the service of planning/guiding behaviour. Impaired spatial working memory is a robust finding in schizophrenia patients which has been related to an impairment in frontostriatal connectivity. The purpose of this study was to examine the specificity of this impairment by comparing the mnemonic and executive aspects of working memory performance in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychotic features, focusing particularly on the functional dynamics between task components. Twenty-four patients with schizophrenia, 14 patients with bipolar I disorder (manic phase) and 33 healthy control subjects were assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB): including the spatial working memory (between search errors and strategy scores) spatial span (storage capacity) and spatial planning (Stockings of Cambridge: accuracy and latency) tasks. Both patient groups were impaired on the spatial span task, which requires the maintenance and retrieval of stored information. In contrast, only schizophrenia patients showed a significant deficit in between search errors, which requires both maintenance and manipulation of information in working memory. That is, they exhibited both a mnemonic and an executive dysfunction. Spatial span was particularly important to accurate planning ability in bipolar patients. In contrast, in patients with schizophrenia poor spatial working memory was a significant predictor of planning impairments, consistent with failures in goal selection, evaluation and/or execution. Furthermore, initial planning time was positively correlated with the latency to complete a planning sequence. This pattern of slow cognitive processing in schizophrenia patients only, resembled that reported previously in patients with basal ganglia disorders. These findings are discussed in terms of a possible common disturbance in fronto-parietal circuitry in the two disorders together with a specific disturbance of fronto-striatal circuitry in schizophrenia, that is not present in bipolar disorder.

Understanding the Connection between Cognitive Tool Use and Cognitive Processes as Used by Sixth Graders in a Problem-Based Hypermedia Learning Environment

The purpose of this study was to examine the connection between sixth graders' cognitive tool use and the cognitive processes they engage in as they solve a complex problem in a hypermedia learning environment. The three research questions were: 1) Which cognitive tools are used for which cognitive processes? 2) Is there a relationship between the extent of students' engagement in cognitive processing and their cognitive tool use? and 3) Are there any differences in cognitive tool use and performance scores between students who are engaged in different patterns of cognitive processing? The findings showed that different cognitive tools were used for different cognitive processes, and the degree of engagement in cognitive processing was positively related to the frequency of tool use. These results indicate that there is a connection between cognitive tool use and cognitive processing. In addition, tool use patterns reflected different characteristics of the learners (information processing versus metacognition oriented). Students who were more metacognitively oriented were more consistent in their tool selection, while students who were more information processing oriented were more action oriented in performing the tasks. However, there was no difference in the diversity of tool use or the performance scores between the two groups of students.

Getting ready for reading: a follow-up study of inner city second language learners at the end of Key Stage 1.

A previous study (Stuart, 1999) showed that early phoneme awareness and phonics teaching improved reading and spelling ability in inner-city schoolchildren in Key Stage 1, most of whom were learning English as a second language. The present study, a follow-up of these children at the end of Key Stage 1, addresses four main questions: (1) Are these improvements maintained to the end of Key Stage 1? (2) Are different patterns of cognitive process evident in the word recognition skills of phonics trained versus untrained children? (3) Do the phonics trained children now also show a significant advantage in reading comprehension? (4) Are there differences in amount of reading, in self-concept as readers and in oral vocabulary development between phonics trained and untrained children? Relationships between reading and spelling ages and Key Stage 1 SATs levels are also explored. Data are reported from 101 seven-year-olds (85 of whom were second language learners) remaining from the original 112 children reported on previously. Children were tested on four standardized tests of reading, spelling and vocabulary, and on a further six experimental tests of phoneme segmentation, grapheme-phoneme correspondence knowledge, regular, exception and nonword reading, author recognition and reading self-concept. Lasting influences of early phoneme awareness and phonics teaching on phoneme awareness, grapheme-phoneme correspondence knowledge, word reading and spelling were found. Part of the previously untrained group had now received structured phonics teaching, and were therefore treated as a third (late trained) group. Early and late-trained groups showed similar levels of attainment and similar cognitive processing patterns, which were different from the untrained group. However, there were no influences of training on reading comprehension, self-concept or oral vocabulary. Early phoneme awareness and phonics training efficiently accelerates the word recognition and spelling skills of first and second language learners alike. However, this is not sufficient to bootstrap the development of language comprehension in the second language learners. Further research is needed into the kinds of language teaching that will best develop their oral and written language comprehension.

Processes underlying sex differences in route-learning strategies in children and adolescents

Cognitive processes underlying sex differences in route-learning strategies were investigated in children and adolescents using a direction-giving paradigm based on a novel map. Sex differences in object memory and spatial perception tasks were found in children as young as 9 years of age although differences in route-learning strategies did not emerge until 12 years of age. This was followed by sex-specific patterns of cognitive processes underlying route-learning strategies in adolescents, suggesting that route-learning strategies emanate from different spatial processes. Results are consistent with the notion of specialized spatial processes in males and females, presumed to be the products of differential evolutionary pressures related to the division of labour.

Children in pain: an investigation of selective memory for pain and psychological adjustment

This study investigated the effects of chronic pain on processing and recall of pain-related and neutral information in a group of children suffering from chronic pain due to juvenile arthritis, and a control group. Children were asked to encode pain-sensory, pain-affective and neutral words in a self and another person reference condition. Percentage recall and processing time for each wordtype were used as dependent measures. It was predicted that the pain group would present enhanced recall and faster processing times for pain related information encoded in self-reference when compared to the control group. The results showed that for the recall scores the pain group recalled significantly more sensory and neutral words in the self-reference condition than the control group, which showed the opposite recall pattern. The analysis of the processing times revealed that the pain group allocated less time to the processing of sensory and neutral information in the self-reference condition, whilst again the control group showed the opposite pattern. Selective memory for sensory information encoded in the self-reference condition for the chronic pain group provides preliminary evidence for a pain-specific memory bias in children and replicates the effects observed in studies with adult chronic pain groups. A similar bias was found for neutral words, but this might be due to an experimental artefact. Facilitated processing for sensory information encoded in self-reference was observed only for the pain group. This suggests that children in pain exhibit specific patterns of cognitive processing of pain information whilst they present normal depression and anxiety levels.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and the Anxiety Disorders: Clinical and Research Implications of an Integrated Psychotherapy Treatment

Four recent, independent, rigorously controlled studies of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) have reported that 84 to 100% of single-trauma victims no longer maintain the posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis after the equivalent of three 90-minute sessions. The rapidity of EMDR treatment effects makes many ancillary research opportunities available. Specifically, the increased number of cases resolved in a relatively short period of time allows investigation of neurophysiological phenomena, patterns of cognitive and emotional processing, component analyses of a large range of procedural factors, and evaluation of the efficacy of application to diverse clinical populations. Unfortunately, some research has been conducted that has been severely hampered by insufficient treatment fidelity and lack of clinical validity. Consequently, this article will attempt to describe the procedures and protocols that are believed to contribute to EMDR’s clinical effects and are, therefore, suggested for the EMDR treatment and research of the anxiety disorders. This is particularly relevant given the misconceptions that have abounded due to the unfortunate naming of the procedure after the eye movements, which have proved to be only one of many useful types of stimulation, and only one of many components of this complex, integrated treatment.

Illness specific patterns of psychological adjustment and cognitive adaptational processes in children with cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease

Illness-specific patterns of adjustment and cognitive adaptational process were identified in children (7–12 years of age) with cystic fibrosis (CF, n = 40) or sickle cell disease (SCD, n = 40). Anxiety diagnoses were most frequent for both illness subgroups but children with CF had a higher rate of oppositional disorder (27.5%) than did children with SCD (2.5%). Significant portions of the variance in adjustment were accounted for by stress appraisal (19%), expectations of efficacy (9%) and health locus of control (9%) for children with CF and by stress appraisal (21%) and self-worth (12%) for children with SCD. The interaction of general and specific illness tasks and adaptational process with developmental tasks in delineating intervention opportunities is discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 54: 121–128, 1998.

A neuropsychological perspective on three schizophrenic patients with midline structural defects.

The relationship between midline structural defects and schizophrenia remains unclear, although a number of neuroradiological studies have reported an association between schizophrenia and a range of anomalies. Three patients are reported, each diagnosed with schizophrenia and neuroradiological evidence of midline structural anomalies. MRI scans are reported in conjunction with performance over a range of neuropsychological tests designed to assess frontal and lateralised cognitive functions. Evidence of anterior dysfunction was present in all three cases, while on an individual basis patients displayed varying patterns of preserved and dysfunctional cognitive processing. The reported findings raise a number of interesting issues regarding the nature of hemispheric involvement in schizophrenia.

Processing of threat-related information by women with bulimic eating attitudes

It has been proposed that bulimic attitudes and behaviors serve the function of reducing awareness, especially where a situation is regarded as threatening. However, there is little evidence to support this model. Considering a non-eating-disordered population, this study tested the prediction that a higher level of bulimic eating attitudes will be associated with a characteristic pattern of cognitive processing, where the individual is slower to respond to threatening information. In a computer-driven test of information processing, it was shown that women with more bulimic attitudes were slower to respond to threatening than neutral words, while there was no such effect for the women with less bulimic attitudes. This finding was specific to bulimic attitudes, rather than simply being related to unhealthy eating attitudes in general. These findings support the "escape from awareness" model of bulimic attitudes and behavior. Further research is needed, particularly to verify these findings in women with diagnosable bulimic disorders.

Encoding of new versus old information by autistic children.

Research and literature on communication problems of autistic individuals have identified specific pragmatic deficiencies. This preliminary study focused upon describing autistic children's verbal performance in regard to the pragmatic ability of encoding new versus old information. Four autistic children with MLUs of 1.96-2.82 were videotaped on two occasions in interactions with their teachers or speech-language pathologists. All of the subjects' referential utterances, including referential echolalic utterances, were categorized as the encoding of new or old information. Two prominent means that speakers used for encoding new versus old information were examined: the encoding of new information through single-word utterances (i.e., a lexicalization strategy) and the use of contrastive stress to highlight new information in multiword utterances. The results revealed that the 4 subjects did encode new information through lexicalization in single-word utterances and through contrastive stress in multiword utterances. However, the subjects encoded old information almost as frequently as they encoded new information. The encoding of a new action or state change was marked relatively infrequently by the subjects, and they consistently produced repetitions of previously encoded information when they failed to offer new information to their listeners. The results are discussed in reference to cognitive processing patterns of autistic individuals.

Neuroticism as predisposition toward depression: A cognitive mechanism

The relations between the personality trait of neuroticism and mechanisms of cognitive processing are reviewed. Major experimental findings in this area are described and used to evaluate a number of different cognitive theories of neuroticism, including spreading-activation, self-schema and fragmentation models. The empirical findings centre on the observation of idiosyncratic patterns of cognitive processing of emotional stimuli as a function of the level of neuroticism. These idiosyncracies are similar to those which have been observed to occur as a function of depressed mood, and it is suggested that they may be of relevance to the development and maintenance of clinical depression and other emotional disorders. Specifically, it is hypothesized that the cognitive processing of negative self-related information is generally facilitated among high N scorers and that, in appropriate circumstances, this tendency can lead to episodes of clinical depression.