Differences In Error Patterns Research Articles

Effects of Audio-visual and Contextual Information on Auditory Word Recognition Performance in Normal Aging

Objectives: The present study compared performance on an auditory word recognition task with different visual, auditory, and contextual information across age groups to determine how these variables affect auditory comprehension in normal aging. Methods: We conducted an auditory word recognition task with 20 normal adults from each of the following age groups: young, middle-aged, old, and elderly, and compared their correct response scores and analyzed their error responses. We also conducted a correlation analysis between the score of auditory comprehension in Reading Diagnostic Assessment, RDA and the performance of the auditory word recognition task. Results: There was a significant between-group main effect, as well as within-group main effects of auditory and contextual information, and interaction effects between auditory information and group, contextual information and group, and auditory information and contextual information. The old and elderly groups made more errors in the following order of error types: unrelated errors, formal errors, mixed errors, and semantic errors; and there were no significant differences in error patterns between the two groups. There was a significant positive correlation between the RDA and the auditory word recognition task. Conclusion: This study confirms that auditory word recognition performance declines with aging in normal adults, and that difficulties may be more pronounced under certain conditions, such as noise and low contextual sentences.

Visual QC Protocol for FreeSurfer Cortical Parcellations from Anatomical MRI

Quality control of morphometric neuroimaging data is essential to improve reproducibility. Owing to the complexity of neuroimaging data and subsequently the interpretation of their results, visual inspection by trained raters is the most reliable way to perform quality control. Here, we present a protocol for visual quality control of the anatomical accuracy of FreeSurfer parcellations, based on an easy-to-use open-source tool called VisualQC. We comprehensively evaluate its utility in terms of error detection rate and inter-rater reliability on two large multi-site datasets and discuss site differences in error patterns. This evaluation shows that VisualQC is a practically viable protocol for community adoption.

What can be improved in learning to care for people with autism? A qualitative study based on clinical nursing simulation

Aim/objectiveThe aim of this study was to identify the main patterns of errors that 4th year nursing students made in simulated clinical practice with scenarios of care for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). BackgroundClinical simulation currently plays a major role in the training of nursing students and provides the participants with the opportunity to practice and develop their clinical sills with a pediatric patient diagnosed with ASD. DesignA retrospective longitudinal qualitative study was performed. MethodsContent analysis of the existing debriefing records from a period of 7 academic years (2016–2022) was carried out. The scenario was simulated by a standardized patient diagnosed with ASD, with 23 groups of nursing students. ResultsThe results showed different patterns of errors. These patterns were grouped into 1 main category (weaknesses) and 5 major subcategories: clinical, communication, knowledge about ASD, emotions, and behavior towards parents. The most repeated errors were excessive use of verbal communication, abundant stimuli, low demand for information from primary caregivers, low demand for information about the child's emotions and interests, and a lack of knowledge of the profile of the child with ASD. ConclusionFrom the findings of this study, we can highlight the lack of training that students received on the practical approach for providing care to these individuals. It has also been inferred in this study that clinical simulation is a tool that favors reflection and experiential learning for students when they are faced with caring for people with ASD.

Production and comprehension of grammatical gender by Spanish heritage speakers: Evidence from accusative clitic pronouns

Objectives: This study investigates (a) the accuracy of Heritage Speakers (HSs) in production and comprehension of Spanish clitic pronouns when compared to monolingual children, (b) the differences in error patterns between groups, and (c) the possible asymmetry in production and comprehension in gender clitics. Methodology: The participants included six groups, a group of Spanish-HS divided into three age groups, PreKinder, 3rd-Grade, and Adults, and a group of Spanish-monolinguals of the same ages. Agreement data were obtained using a cloze-format task for production and a picture selection task for comprehension. Data and Analysis: The results compared accuracy and response time scores between HSs and monolingual speakers, between age groups, and target gender using a 2 × 3 multivariable analysis of variance. Findings: Children in the HS-group scored lower in accuracy than the monolingual children, but Adult-HS performed at the same level as Adult-Monolinguals. HSs, but not monolinguals, overused the masculine form. Production and comprehension scores showed an asymmetrical development in which speakers are better at clitic production than comprehension. Gender clitic agreement is a difficult aspect at age 4, even in monolingual contexts. Originality: The potential contribution of this study is twofold. First, it contributes to the continuing debate on the development of HSs’ grammar by comparing comprehension and production data of monolinguals and HSs, matched for age. Second, it provides evidence of high rates of gender agreement in Adult-HSs. Significance: Grammatical gender is a vulnerable aspect of Spanish-HS grammar, but it is not an incompletely acquired representation. Results support a dissociation between production and comprehension of gender clitic.

Daily life activities in patients with Alzheimer’s disease or semantic dementia: Multitasking assessment

The aim of the present study was to compare patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) or semantic dementia (SD) on their cognitive processes and the severity of their daily life activity impairments. Three types of tasks were administered to patients (SD = 15; AD = 31) and 30 healthy controls (HC): 1) informant-based scales and questionnaires, 2) a neuropsychological assessment exploring executive functions, episodic and semantic memory, and 3) a new original test featuring multi-step naturalistic actions and multitasking: the Sequential Daily Life Multitasking (SDLM). We predicted that patients with AD would mainly exhibit task perplexity, associated with episodic and executive deficits on the SDLM, while the behavior of patients with SD would mostly be characterized by object perplexity, associated with semantic memory deficits. Results showed that patients with AD or SD were impaired across all neuropsychological tests, particularly episodic memory in AD and semantic memory in SD. General performance on the SDLM also appeared dramatically impaired in both patient groups, and correlated with results of questionnaires about instrumental activities and memory impairments. However, specific qualitative measurements on the SDLM did not allow us to pinpoint different patterns of errors and behavior in patients with AD versus SD. We suggest that the inability of patients in both groups to perform the SDLM may derive from a constellation of disorders or else from more subtle impairment of cognitive and conative processes that requires further exploration.

Do Cognitive Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses Differentially Predict Errors on Reading, Writing, and Spelling?

This study investigated the relationship between specific cognitive patterns of strengths and weaknesses (PSWs) and the errors children make in reading, writing, and spelling tests from the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement–Third Edition (KTEA-3). Participants were selected from the KTEA-3 standardization sample based on five cognitive profiles: High Crystallized Ability paired with Low Processing Speed and Long-Term Retrieval (High Gc), Low Crystallized Ability paired with High Processing Speed and Long-Term Retrieval (High Gs/ Glr), Low Orthographic Processing (Low OP), Low Phonological Processing (Low PP), and Low Phonological Processing paired with Low Orthographic Processing (Low PP_OP). Error factor scores for all five groups were compared on Reading Comprehension and Written Expression; the first four groups were compared on Letter & Word Recognition, Nonsense Word Decoding, and Spelling, and the first three groups were compared on Phonological Processing. Significant differences were noted among the patterns of errors demonstrated by the five groups. Findings support the notion that students with diverse cognitive PSWs display different patterns of errors on tests of academic achievement.

Accuracy of emotion labeling in children of parents diagnosed with bipolar disorder

BackgroundEmotion labeling deficits have been posited as an endophenotype for bipolar disorder (BD) as they have been observed in both patients and their first-degree relatives. It remains unclear whether these deficits exist secondary to the development of psychiatric symptoms or whether they can be attributed to risk for psychopathology. To explore this, we investigated emotion processing in symptomatic and asymptomatic high-risk bipolar offspring (HRO) and healthy children of healthy parents (HCO). MethodsSymptomatic (n:18, age: 13.8±2.6 years, 44% female) and asymptomatic (n:12, age: 12.8±3.0 years, 42% female) HRO and age- and sex-matched HCO (n:20, age: 13.3±2.5 years, 45% female) performed an emotion-labeling task. Total number of errors, emotion category and intensity of emotion error scores were compared. Correlations between total error scores and symptom severity were also investigated. ResultsCompared to HCO, both HRO groups made more errors on the adult face task (pcor=0.014). The HRO group were 2.3 times [90%CI:0.9–6.3] more likely and 4.3 times [90%CI:1.3–14.3] more likely to make errors on sad and angry faces, respectively. With the exception of sad face type errors, we observed no significant differences in error patterns between symptomatic and asymptomatic HRO, and no correlations between symptom severity and total number of errors. LimitationsThis study was cross-sectional in design, limiting our ability to infer trajectories or heritability of these deficits. ConclusionsThis study provides further support for emotion labeling deficits as a candidate endophenotype for BD. Our study also suggests these deficits are not attributable to the presence of psychiatric symptoms.

The Subjective Visual Vertical and the Subjective Haptic Vertical Access Different Gravity Estimates

The subjective visual vertical (SVV) and the subjective haptic vertical (SHV) both claim to probe the underlying perception of gravity. However, when the body is roll tilted these two measures evoke different patterns of errors with SVV generally becoming biased towards the body (A-effect, named for its discoverer, Hermann Rudolph Aubert) and SHV remaining accurate or becoming biased away from the body (E-effect, short for Entgegengesetzt-effect, meaning “opposite”, i.e., opposite to the A-effect). We compared the two methods in a series of five experiments and provide evidence that the two measures access two different but related estimates of gravitational vertical. Experiment 1 compared SVV and SHV across three levels of whole-body tilt and found that SVV showed an A-effect at larger tilts while SHV was accurate. Experiment 2 found that tilting either the head or the trunk independently produced an A-effect in SVV while SHV remained accurate when the head was tilted on an upright body but showed an A-effect when the body was tilted below an upright head. Experiment 3 repeated these head/body configurations in the presence of vestibular noise induced by using disruptive galvanic vestibular stimulation (dGVS). dGVS abolished both SVV and SHV A-effects while evoking a massive E-effect in the SHV head tilt condition. Experiments 4 and 5 show that SVV and SHV do not combine in an optimally statistical fashion, but when vibration is applied to the dorsal neck muscles, integration becomes optimal. Overall our results suggest that SVV and SHV access distinct underlying gravity percepts based primarily on head and body position information respectively, consistent with a model proposed by Clemens and colleagues.

Memorization of sequences of movements of the right and left hand by right- and left-handers

We analyzed the errors of right- and left-handers when performing memorized sequences by the left or the right hand during the task which activates positional coding: after 6-10 times the order of movements changed (the positions remained the same during all task). The task was first performed by one ("initial") hand, and then by another one ("continuing"); there were 2 groups of right-handers and 2 groups of left-handers. It was found that the pattern of errors during the task performance by the initial hand is similar in right- and left-handers both for the dominant and non-dominant hand. The information about the previous positions after changing the order of elements is used in the sequences for subdominant hands and not used in the sequences for dominant ones. After changing the hand, right- and left-handers show different patterns of errors ("non-symmetrical"). Thus, the errors of right- and left-handers are "symmetrical" at the early stages of task performance, while the transfer of this motor skill in right-and left-handers occurs in different ways.

The differences in error rate and type between IELTS writing bands and their impact on academic workload

This paper attempts to demonstrate the differences in writing between International English Language Testing System (IELTS) bands 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0. An analysis of exemplars provided from the IELTS test makers reveals that IELTS 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0 writers can make a minimum of 206 errors, 96 errors and 35 errors per 1000 words. The following section explores the differences in error patterns between IELTS 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0 writers and a proposition is made that the IELTS 7.0 writer shows some convergence of error types found among native English writers. In regard to workload issues, the paper discusses the impact of errors as a distraction which affects reading time and gives an indication of the amount of extra workload that may be required to assess IELTS 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0 writing. The paper concludes with remarks about entrance requirements for tertiary study and suggests that it may be simpler to raise entry standards than attempt to remediate the writing of students with low IELTS scores.

The Acquisition of Noun Plurals among Early Sequential Russian-Hebrew Speaking Bilinguals: A Longitudinal Multiple Case Study

The focus of the present study was the trajectory of the acquisition of noun pluralization in Hebrew as a window into the development of inflectional morphology among early sequential Russian-Hebrew speaking bilinguals. Our participants were six early sequential bilingual children between 36 and 42 months of age at the beginning of the study, who acquired Russian (L1) at home and at preschool within a ‘first language first approach’ and whose age at the onset of their acquisition of Hebrew (L2) was about 3 years. We investigated both qualitative and quantitative features of noun pluralization in Hebrew (L2) acquisition in order to determine (1) whether early sequential bilingual children are delayed or accelerated in this domain; (2) whether they show similar or different patterns of errors in comparison to the L1 children; and (3) at what age sequential bilingual children acquire regular versus irregular noun plural forms compared with the L1 children. We relied on a multi-faceted longitudinal analysis of noun pluralization, examining both correct and incorrect production- in structured elicitations as well as in (semi-) spontaneous interactions. Comparing our data to those collected for Hebrew L1 speakers, the results for monolinguals and early sequential bilinguals show a striking similarity with respect to the development of pluralization. These findings suggest that the accelerated rate of ESBs’ L2 pluralization mechanism provides evidence of the linguistic maturation hypothesis.

Remembering How: Language, Memory, and the Salience of Manner

Inspired by Talmy`s (1985, 2000) seminal work on the lexicalization of motion events, the linguistic encoding of elements of motion events has been an active area of research. Recently, Slobin (2003, 2004, 2006) refined Talmy`s typology, pointing out the differential salience of manner of motion across languages. Among the potential cognitive consequences of this differential salience of manner, Slobin (2003) postulates that manner might be more memorable for speakers of high-manner-salient languages than for speakers of low-manner-salient languages. In this paper, we take up this suggestion, asking whether English speakers and Spanish speakers will show different patterns of errors in a test of recognition for short video clips of motion events, consistent with the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis. We observed that English speakers produced fewer errors overall, and fewer errors in responses to previously unseen items. Responses to previously viewed items revealed a more subtle effect, with the number of videos viewed at study playing a role in the language effect: English speakers made fewer errors on previously viewed items when they had seen fewer items at study, while Spanish speakers made fewer errors when they had seen more items at study. We discuss the implications of these findings for the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis and for the role of manner salience in memory for motion events.

Children's Identification of Consonants in a Speech-Shaped Noise or a Two-Talker Masker

To evaluate child-adult differences for consonant identification in a noise or a 2-talker masker. Error patterns were compared across age and masker type to test the hypothesis that errors with the noise masker reflect limitations in the peripheral encoding of speech, whereas errors with the 2-talker masker reflect target-masker confusions within the central auditory system. A repeated-measures design compared the performance of children (5-13 years) and adults in continuous speech-shaped noise or a 2-talker masker. Consonants were identified from a closed set of 12 using a picture-pointing response. In speech-shaped noise, children under age 10 years performed more poorly than adults, but performance was adultlike for 11- to 13-year-olds. In the 2-talker masker, significant child-adult differences were observed in even the oldest group of children. Systematic clusters of consonant errors were observed for children in the noise masker and for adults in both maskers, but not for children in the 2-talker masker. These results suggest a more prolonged time course of development for consonant identification in a 2-talker masker than in a noise masker. Differences in error patterns between the maskers support the hypothesis that errors with the 2-talker masker reflect failures of sound segregation.

Developmental dyslexia in a regular orthography: Can the reading profile be reduced to strategic control?

In languages with regular orthographies, the identification of different forms of reading impairment (such as surface or phonological dyslexia) has proved elusive. Alternatively, it has been proposed that different patterns of errors depend upon strategic choices on the part of the reader. The present study aimed to test this strategic interpretation by evaluating the effectiveness of instructions to read quickly (or accurately) in modifying the reading rate and types of errors of dyslexic children. Further, drawing on an error classification based on the contrast between sounding-out behaviour and word substitution, we examined the types of reading error that best characterize the deficit in a language with regular orthography (Italian). Thirty children with dyslexia and 30 chronologically age-matched controls read aloud passages and word lists with instructions to emphasize either rate or accuracy. When asked to read quickly, children with dyslexia increased their reading rate (although less than skilled children). However, the type of instructions had little influence on reading errors. Therefore, the results did not support the view that strategic control has an important role in modulating the types of reading errors made by children with dyslexia. For word lists, sounding-out behaviour, errors in stress assignment, and form-related nonwords were useful to correctly identifying children with dyslexia. For text passages, sounding-out behaviour and form-related errors were the best predictors of group membership. Thus, specific types of errors are a fundamental component of the reading deficit in children who speak a language with regular orthography over and above their reading slowness.

Quantifying error distributions in crowding

When multiple objects are in close proximity, observers have difficulty identifying them individually. Two classes of theories aim to account for this crowding phenomenon: spatial pooling and spatial substitution. Variations of these accounts predict different patterns of errors in crowded displays. Here we aim to characterize the kinds of errors that people make during crowding by comparing a number of error models across three experiments in which we manipulate flanker spacing, display eccentricity, and precueing duration. We find that both spatial intrusions and individual letter confusions play a considerable role in errors. Moreover, we find no evidence that a naïve pooling model that predicts errors based on a nonadditive combination of target and flankers explains errors better than an independent intrusion model (indeed, in our data, an independent intrusion model is slightly, but significantly, better). Finally, we find that manipulating trial difficulty in any way (spacing, eccentricity, or precueing) produces homogenous changes in error distributions. Together, these results provide quantitative baselines for predictive models of crowding errors, suggest that pooling and spatial substitution models are difficult to tease apart, and imply that manipulations of crowding all influence a common mechanism that impacts subject performance.

OWL-based reasoning methods for validating archetypes

Some modern Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) architectures and standards are based on the dual model-based architecture, which defines two conceptual levels: reference model and archetype model. Such architectures represent EHR domain knowledge by means of archetypes, which are considered by many researchers to play a fundamental role for the achievement of semantic interoperability in healthcare. Consequently, formal methods for validating archetypes are necessary. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in exploring how semantic web technologies in general, and ontologies in particular, can facilitate the representation and management of archetypes, including binding to terminologies, but no solution based on such technologies has been provided to date to validate archetypes. Our approach represents archetypes by means of OWL ontologies. This permits to combine the two levels of the dual model-based architecture in one modeling framework which can also integrate terminologies available in OWL format. The validation method consists of reasoning on those ontologies to find modeling errors in archetypes: incorrect restrictions over the reference model, non-conformant archetype specializations and inconsistent terminological bindings. The archetypes available in the repositories supported by the openEHR Foundation and the NHS Connecting for Health Program, which are the two largest publicly available ones, have been analyzed with our validation method. For such purpose, we have implemented a software tool called Archeck. Our results show that around 1/5 of archetype specializations contain modeling errors, the most common mistakes being related to coded terms and terminological bindings. The analysis of each repository reveals that different patterns of errors are found in both repositories. This result reinforces the need for making serious efforts in improving archetype design processes.

Past tense marking in the spontaneous speech of preschool children who do and do not stutter

PurposeThe aim of this study was to identify whether different patterns of errors exist in irregular past-tense verbs in children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS). MethodSpontaneous language samples of thirty-one age- and gender-matched pairs of children (total N=62) between the ages of 24 months and 59 months were analyzed. ResultsResults indicated that children who do and do not stutter over-regularize irregular past-tense verbs (i.e., saying runned for ran) with comparable frequency. However, two nonsignificant trends which suggest possible intra-group differences were noted. First, irregular past tense verbs represented a greater portion of total verbs for CWS than for CWNS. Second, CWS appeared to double-mark (i.e., say ranned for ran) more often than CWNS. Results are discussed in light of theories about the acquisition of the irregular past-tense and about differences in language skills between CWS and CWNS.Educational objectives: After reading this article, the reader will be able to: (a) summarize previous findings about connections between stuttering and language in CWS and CWNS; (b) describe similarities and differences between irregular past-tense verb use and errors in CWS and CWNS; (c) discuss possible connections between the declarative–procedural model and stuttering.

Velopharyngeal Insufficiency and Cleft

Management of orofacial clefts requires a comprehensive approach to address the multifaceted aspects of possible aesthetic and functional deficits. Many children with cleft palate with or without cleft lip continue to have speech abnormalities that can affect socialization, education, and childhood development. An interdisciplinary cleft team ideally manages most orofacial clefts and can include members from the fields of facial plastic surgery, otolaryngology, speech and language pathology, pediatrics, nursing, audiology, genetics, oral surgery, orthodontics, dentistry, and social work. These teams follow a relatively established timeline and algorithm for each of the discrete steps of orofacial cleft treatment. Cleft lip repair is often performed after 3–5 months of age. Palatoplasty is delayed after 8–14 months of age. Speech and language pathology assessment and therapy are targeted as the vocabulary develops (2–5 years old). This special issue deals with the cleft surgeon and speech therapists role in treatment of velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD), which is often related to velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). This lack of coordinated closure of the soft palate to the posterior pharyngeal wall is often a sequela of cleft palate, even after primary repair. One paper from this issue titled “Nonlinear dynamic analysis of vowels in cleft palate children with or without hypernasality” reports on cephalometric differences between the skull base and velopharyngeal anatomy in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate compared to normal controls. These data contribute to the existing literature of abnormal skull base anatomy and inclination in children with velocardiofacial syndrome, which often associated with VPD. The next paper titled “Noncleft velopharyngeal insufficiency: etiology and need for surgical treatment” analyzes those children with VPD without obvious orofacial clefting, and assesses the etiologies and potential treatment options. This allows for comparison to the traditional orofacial cleft-related VPD management. The velopharyngeal workup is often a coordinated assessment by the cleft surgeon and speech pathologists. It can include subjective assessment, which is the subject of the next two papers. First, the next paper titled “Nonlinear dynamic analysis of vowels in cleft palate children with or without hypernasality” assesses the relationship between two speech assessment tools, Lyapunov exponents, and Nasalance scores in the presence of hypernasal speech. Furthermore, an additional paper titled “Assessment of single-word production for children under three years of age: comparison of children with and without cleft plate” presents a case-control testing of a single word assessment tool in children less than 3 years of age with cleft palate, which indentified speech differences in error patterns, consonants, articulation, and accuracy between children with and with clefts. Objective assessment of VPD also can include either fluoroscopic speech examination or nasopharyngoscopy to characterize the pattern of VPD and target a surgical goal. The next paper titled “Objective assessment of hypernasality in patients with cleft lip and palate with the nasalView system: a clinical validation study” assesses the validity and reliability of a new tool for hypernasality testing called NasalView. Speech and language therapy is instituted to address typical compensatory speech patterns seen in children with cleft palate (e.g., glottal stops). If hypernasal speech is not responsive to speech and language therapy, secondary speech surgery is warranted to address hypernasality in this time period. Surgical options may include a superiorly based pharyngeal flap, dynamic sphincter pharyngoplasty, or posterior pharyngeal wall augmentation. Occasionally, a palate-lengthening procedure (Furlow double-opposing Z-plasty) is performed. These procedures can limit nasal air emissions, but potential obstructive sleep apnea from excessive nasal obstruction is a risk. The risk of sleep apnea after surgically treating the velopharynx may be decreased if the tonsils and adenoids are addressed preemptively. Before pharyngeal flap surgery, some surgeons perform tonsillectomy to limit the potential variability of speech and airway changes that comes with fluctuating tonsillar hypertrophy, tonsillitis, or upper respiratory infections. The use of tonsillectomy in the face of VPI in children with cleft palate is somewhat controversial and is the topic of the last paper “Speech outcomes after tonsillectomy in patients with known velopharyngeal insufficiency”. The guest editors are pleased to present a collection of papers dealing with management of the speech-related difficulties in children with orofacial clefts. In this era of the expanding role of evidenced-based medicine, the effectiveness of treatments can only be monitored and improved by assessment with valid and consistent outcome measures, which are reviewed in this issue. Travis T. Tollefson David White James Brookes Steven Goudy

The development of prospective memory in typically developing children.

This study aimed to use specifically designed tasks to capture time-based, activity-based, and event-based prospective memory (PM) performance in typically developing school-age children. Two PM tasks (Fishing Game & Happy Week) were used to examine the developmental patterns of PM in these children. Retrospective memory (RM) was also examined in these tasks. A total of 120 children aged between 7 and 12 years (10 girls and 10 boys in each age band) were recruited. Tests of working memory, inhibition, and IQ were also administered. The age effect on PM accuracy was significant, with improvements identified between ages 7 to 8 and 10 to 11 years. For both tasks, performance on the time-based PM task was significantly poorer than that on the event-based PM task, which in turn was significantly poorer than that on the activity-based PM task. In terms of errors, results indicated that while errors associated with the PM component of the tasks decreased with age, errors associated with the RM component showed an inverted-U shape. The different patterns of errors suggest qualitative as well as quantitative differences in PM development in children. Finally, IQ, working memory, and inhibition were found to relate to PM when age was partialed out. Results of the study highlight the importance of contextual cues, such as activities and events, for prospective remembering in children. In addition, they have provided a general picture of PM development in school-age children and have implications for educators and parents.

Validating the Chinese version of the Verbal Learning Test for screening Alzheimer’s disease

Episodic memory tasks are one of the most sensitive tools to discriminate Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to validate a shorter version verbal memory test that will efficiently assess Chinese elderly with memory complaints. One hundred and eighty-five elderly with normal cognition (NC) and 217 AD patients were evaluated. Each participant received the Chinese Version Verbal Learning Test (CVVLT) consisting of 9 two-character nouns with 4 learning trials, 2 delayed recalls in 30 seconds and 10 minutes, and a word recognition test. In the NC elderly, age and sex had significant effects on recall scores in CVVLT, while education level showed an inverse correlation with 3 different patterns of errors made during the learning, recall, and recognition trials. AD patients had lower scores across all recall tests. In those with lower educational level, NC elderly had higher perseveration errors than AD patients. The cutoff value between the AD and NC groups in the 10-minute recall was 4/5 for those aged >75 years and 5/6 for those aged <75 years. This study has good validity in discriminating AD participants and the data here can help in diagnosing AD and mild cognitive impairment using the CVVLT.