Nonverbal Ability Research Articles

Cross-sectional and longitudinal assessment of cognitive development in Williams syndrome.

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic syndrome. As with all rare syndromes, obtaining adequately powered sample sizes is a challenge. Here we present legacy data from seven UK labs, enabling the characterisation of cross-sectional and longitudinal developmental trajectories of verbal and non-verbal development in the largest sample of individuals with WS to-date. In Study 1, we report cross-sectional data between N=102 and N=209 children and adults with WS on measures of verbal and non-verbal ability. In Study 2, we report longitudinal data from N=17 to N=54 children and adults with WS who had been tested on at least three timepoints on these measures. Data support the WS characteristic cognitive profile of stronger verbal than non-verbal ability, and shallow developmental progression for both domains. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data demonstrate steeper rates of development in the child participants than the adolescent and adults in our sample. Cross-sectional data indicate steeper development in verbal than non-verbal ability, and that individual differences in the discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability are largely accounted for by level of intellectual functioning. A diverging developmental discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability, whilst marginal, is not mirrored statistically in the longitudinal data. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data are discussed with reference to validating cross-sectional developmental patterns using longitudinal data and the importance of individual differences in understanding developmental progression.

Cognitive processes associated with working memory in children with developmental language disorder

The current study examined how individual differences in language, nonverbal, and attention abilities relate to working memory in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) relative to age-matched typically developing (TD) peers using an interference-based model of working memory as our theoretical framework. Our experimental paradigm involved varying the domain (verbal/nonverbal) of recall items and an interference processing task, testing effects of interference. We examined the relative importance of language, nonverbal, and attention skills in predicting working memory performance by using Bayesian leave-one-out cross-validation to compare models with varied combinations of these skills as predictors. We then statistically tested selected models. Selected models were similar between groups for nonverbal, but not verbal, working memory. Language, nonverbal, and attention skills were associated with performance regardless of whether the working memory task was verbal or nonverbal for the DLD group, yet only attention was associated with verbal working memory for the TD group. A broader set of cognitive processes was involved in verbal recall in children with DLD than in TD peers, potentially reflecting diminished specialization of cognitive processes underlying language. The interference-based model of working memory accounted for interrelationships among language, processing speed, and inhibition of interference, revealing new insights into verbal processing.

Heterogeneity in children's reading comprehension difficulties: A latent class approach.

Poor comprehenders are traditionally identified as having below-average reading comprehension, average-range word reading, and a discrepancy between the two. While oral language tends to be low in poor comprehenders, reading is a complex trait and heterogeneity may go undetected by group-level comparisons. We took a preregistered data-driven approach to identify poor comprehenders and examine whether multiple distinct cognitive profiles underlie their difficulties. Latent mixture modelling identified reading profiles in 6846 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, based on reading and listening comprehension assessments at 8-9years. A second mixture model examined variation in the cognitive profiles of weak comprehenders, using measures of reading, language, working memory, nonverbal ability, and inattention. A poor comprehender profile was not identified by the preregistered model. However, by additionally controlling for overall ability, a 6-class model emerged that incorporated a profile with relatively weak comprehension (N=947, 13.83%). Most of these children had weak reading comprehension in the context of good passage reading, accompanied by weaknesses in vocabulary and nonverbal ability. A small subgroup showed more severe comprehension difficulties in the context of additional cognitive impairments. Isolated impairments in specific components of reading are rare, yet a data-driven approach can be used to identify children with relatively weak comprehension. Vocabulary and nonverbal ability were most consistently weak within this group, with broader cognitive difficulties also apparent for a subset of children. These findings suggest that poor comprehension is best characterised along a continuum, and considered in light of multiple risks that influence severity.

A Verbal Card Sorting Task to Measure Executive Functions.

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is commonly used to measure nonverbal executive functions (EFs) in a variety of clinical populations. However, in some clinical populations (e.g., people with aphasia), deficits may be present in more linguistic (or verbal) domains and less pronounced in nonverbal domains. Thus, when determining possible deficits in these individuals, it is critical to assess both verbal and nonverbal cognitive abilities. The purpose of this study was to create a verbal card sorting task (VCST) to complement the WCST. We created the VCST by modifying a computerized version of the WCST, the Berg Card Sorting Task (BCST). We then compared 35 individuals with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and 33 matched controls' performance on each task. We tested the VCST in individuals with mTBI first because they demonstrate impaired EFs but unimpaired language. We therefore expected the mTBI group to perform similarly on the VCST and BCST, suggesting that the two tasks measure EFs similarly. In line with our hypothesis, the mTBI group had unimpaired inhibition and sustained attention but impaired shifting on each task. Component loadings for both tasks were also similar, and participants' inhibition and shifting scores positively correlated across the two tasks. Together, these findings suggest that the VCST is a potentially useful tool for measuring verbal EF deficits. Our results also provide important insights into the EF impairments experienced by individuals with mTBI. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23230475.

On the role of morphology in early spelling in Hebrew and Arabic.

It is well known that learning to spell is a complex and challenging process, especially for young learners, in part because it relies on multiple aspects of linguistic knowledge, such as phonology and morphology. The present longitudinal study investigated the role of morphology in early spelling in two Semitic languages, Hebrew and Arabic, that are structurally similar but differ in the phonological consistency of phoneme to letter mappings ("backward consistency"). Whereas Arabic mappings are mostly one-to-one - allowing children to rely mainly on phonology to spell words correctly, Hebrew has numerous one-to-many phoneme-to-letter mappings that are governed by morphological considerations, thereby precluding a purely phonological spelling strategy. We, therefore, predicted that morphology would make a more substantial contribution to early Hebrew spelling than to Arabic spelling. We tested this prediction in a longitudinal study of two large parallel samples (Arabic, N = 960; Hebrew, N = 680). We assessed general non-verbal ability, morphological awareness (MA), and phonological awareness (PA) in late Kindergarten and spelling in the middle of the first grade with a spelling-to-dictation task. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that after controlling for age, general intelligence, and phonological awareness, morphological awareness contributed a significant additional 6% variance to Hebrew spelling but only 1% to Arabic word spelling. The results are discussed within the framework of the Functional Opacity Hypothesis (Share, 2008), which we extend to spelling.

Characterizing exact arithmetic abilities before formal schooling

Children appear to have some arithmetic abilities before formal instruction in school, but the extent of these abilities as well as the mechanisms underlying them are poorly understood. Over two studies, an initial exploratory study of preschool children in the U.S. (N = 207; Age = 2.89–4.30 years) and a pre-registered replication of preschool children in Italy (N = 130; Age = 3–6.33 years), we documented some basic behavioral signatures of exact arithmetic using a non-symbolic subtraction task. Furthermore, we investigated the underlying mechanisms by analyzing the relationship between individual differences in exact subtraction and assessments of other numerical and non-numerical abilities. Across both studies, children performed above chance on the exact non-symbolic arithmetic task, generally showing better performance on problems involving smaller quantities compared to those involving larger quantities. Furthermore, individual differences in non-verbal approximate numerical abilities and exact cardinal number knowledge were related to different aspects of subtraction performance. Specifically, non-verbal approximate numerical abilities were related to subtraction performance in older but not younger children. Across both studies we found evidence that cardinal number knowledge was related to performance on subtraction problems where the answer was zero (i.e., subtractive negation problems). Moreover, subtractive negation problems were only solved above chance by children who had a basic understanding of cardinality. Together these finding suggest that core non-verbal numerical abilities, as well as emerging knowledge of symbolic numbers provide a basis for some, albeit limited, exact arithmetic abilities before formal schooling.

Maternal Occupation-Specific Skills and Children’s Cognitive Development

This article hypothesizes that maternal occupation-specific skills are associated with children’s cognitive development over and above parents’ other human, financial and social capital. Data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study on 13,543 children were complemented with occupation-level data (n = 79) from the British Skills Surveys on aggregate measures of mothers’ occupation-specific skills (literacy, numeracy, problem-solving, verbal and physical). We did not find any association between maternal occupation-specific skills and children’s non-verbal ability (inductive reasoning, spatial awareness) at age five when conditioning on covariates. However, mothers’ verbal skills (e.g. presentation skills) were positively associated with children’s verbal ability (Naming Vocabulary) over and above other parental resources. By contrast, mothers’ physical skills (e.g. use of physical strength) were negatively associated with children’s verbal abilities. Albeit effect sizes are small, maternal occupation-specific skills contribute to social stratification in children’s verbal development net of human, financial and social capital.

Morphology and Reading Skills in Arabic‐Speaking Syrian Refugee Children

ABSTRACTLimited research has been conducted on the literacy skills of Arabic‐speaking refugee children. This study investigated the concurrent and longitudinal roles of morphological awareness in Arabic word reading and reading comprehension. A total of 75 Syrian refugee children aged 6–13 years resettled in Canada were administered measures of nonverbal reasoning, vocabulary, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, word reading accuracy, and reading comprehension at two points in time separated by 1 year. Hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for age, nonverbal and verbal cognitive abilities, and phonological awareness indicated that morphological awareness was related to word reading and reading comprehension concurrently and longitudinally. Results are interpreted in the context of the targeted refugee population and the linguistic and orthographic features of Arabic. Implications for future research, assessment, and instruction are discussed.

Restricted and repetitive behaviors and their developmental and demographic correlates in 4-8-year-old children: A transdiagnostic approach.

Background: Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a broad class of behaviors characterized by frequent action repetition and intense preference for sameness. Research has predominantly focused on RRBs in diagnosed clinical groups, particularly in autism spectrum disorder and genetic disorders. Using a transdiagnostic approach, the current study examined RRBs in a diverse sample of children in relation to developmental and demographic correlates (age, language, non-verbal ability, child anxiety, sex, and socioeconomic status). Separate analyses examined two RRB subtypes; repetitive sensory and motor behaviors (RSMB) and insistence on sameness (IS). Method: Children (N = 260, age 4-8 years, 174 male, 86 female) in mainstream schools identified by teachers as having behavioral, emotional, and/or cognitive difficulties, were assessed using the Repetitive Behavior Questionnaire-2 (RBQ-2), the British Picture Vocabulary Scale (BPVS), Lucid Ability Scale, the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). Recruitment excluded diagnosed clinical conditions. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess children's difficulties. Results: RRB scores were of high frequency and the scores for the IS were higher than for RSMB. The severity of anxiety symptoms and male sex were significantly associated with both RRB subtypes, and younger age and SES scores were associated with IS. Elevated RRB total and subtype scores were significantly related to SDQ scores for emotion, conduct, hyperactivity, and peer-relations. Discussion: The study provides the first evidence of RRBs in a diverse sample of young children with emerging difficulties in behavior, cognition, and/or emotion. The results contribute to proposals about psychological development in RRB and indicate that RRBs are best represented on a continuum of severity found across children in the early school years. The results support previous findings of a relation between RRB and anxiety reported in clinical samples and importantly, they indicate that it is time to move beyond the study of categorically defined groups and consider correlates of RRBs that include broad indices of mental health and well-being.

General figure and face-specific closure ability: predictors of trait-autism?

Little research has examined the association between general figure closure speed, a stratum I ability within the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence, and face-specific closure ability; an important consideration, as some research suggests face processing is independent of other abilities. Additionally, figure closure ability (general and face) may correlate negatively with trait-autism, due to theorised autism-related difficulties in global processing. Therefore, in addition to developing a psychometrically robust short-form Mooney face detection task, we administered the Gestalt Figure Completion Test and the Autism Spectrum Quotient to a sample of 263 general community adults. We found convergent validity between face-specific and general figure closure ability (r = .44, 95%CI:[.30, .58]). Furthermore, based on a latent variable model, general figure closure ability was directly, and face-specific figure closure ability indirectly, negatively associated with trait-autism (i.e., nonverbal communication). We conclude that face detection ability evidences convergent validity with general figure closure ability and can be measured reliably in less than four minutes. Finally, a general, rather than face-specific, figure closure process may tap more directly into autism-like nonverbal communication ability, supporting the notion that global processing abilities of non-face objects may better reflect the requirements to ‘fill in the gaps’ in social contexts.

Find the Mistake!

Abstract: Reasoning ability has commonly been regarded as the best predictor of academic and occupational success. Due to concerns about the validity of multiple-choice (MC) formats, test security breaches, and the fact that the difficulty levels of most existing reasoning assessments target the population mean, there is a constant need for new reliable and valid test instruments that can be applied to assess fluid intelligence in advanced cognitive performance areas. We developed a novel computerized figural matrices test to assess nonverbal reasoning for university student aptitude assessment. In two studies, we generated, revised, and empirically validated the Isometric Matrices Test (IMT). Our results show that the IMT is less prone to test-wiseness strategies than existing reasoning tests. In a third study, we created and evaluated an innovative Find the Mistake (FtM) response format as an alternative to classical multiple-choice formats. Overall, both response formats revealed satisfactory psychometric quality in terms of item difficulties and discrimination, test-retest reliability, construct and criterion validity, and Rasch or two-parameter logistic (2PL) model fit, but in one MC version, the internal consistency was low due to negative discrimination indices. The MC response format turned out to be easier than the FtM format, with men slightly outperforming women in both response modes. We propose the IMT as a useful tool for assessing nonverbal reasoning ability in above-average performance areas and discuss the automatic generation of larger IMT item pools for adaptive testing in order to increase test security and reliability.

The association of cognitive abilities with language disorder in 8-year-old children: A population-based clinical sample.

Despite accumulated evidence that language development depends on basic cognitive processes, the balance in contributions of verbal and non-verbal cognitive skills to language abilities is still underexplored. Little is known about which cognitive measures best predict the degree of severity in children with language disorder (LD). To examine the association between verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities with language abilities in typically developing and language impaired 8-year-old children, as well as which cognitive abilities are most effective in distinguishing LD severity levels. Children (N = 509) from the Language-8 Study, which oversampled probable cases of children with LD from a population-based cohort in Norway, were assessed at 8 years. Language skills were assessed using the Norwegian Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 (CELF-4). Children's verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities were assessed via standardized cognitive measures. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was first conducted to uncover the underlying factor structure of the cognitive variables. Using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, we then examined to what extent the non-verbal cognition factor explained language abilities above and beyond verbal cognition factors. Lastly, multinomial logistic regression was used to examine which cognitive measures best predicted the degree of severity in the children with LD. The EFA resulted in three factors (Verbal Cognition, Processing Speed and Memory, and Non-Verbal Cognition). The hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that all three cognitive factors contributed significantly to individual variation in language abilities. Non-Verbal Cognition explained 5.4% variance in language abilities above and beyond that accounted for by Verbal Cognition and Processing Speed and Memory. Results from the multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that cognitive subtests, including Familiar Sequences, WASI Vocabulary and WASI Similarities, not only distinguished LD from typically developing children, but were also efficient in distinguishing severity of LD symptoms. This study confirms concurrent links between language and non-verbal cognitive skills above and beyond the contribution of verbal cognitive skills. The results provide further evidence that children with LD experience both language and cognitive problems in mid-childhood. Our findings suggest implications for LD intervention and diagnosis. The findings support the importance of measuring both verbal and non-verbal cognitive skills when making an LD diagnosis, and point to the potential of targeting underlying cognitive skills as one strategy to support language abilities. What is already known on the subject Language development is dependent on basic cognitive processes. These include both verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities. Children with LD often experience both language and cognitive problems. There is evidence that performance on cognitive tests may be associated with the degree of severity of LD. What this paper adds to existing knowledge The current results from a large population-based cohort establish that a number of verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities are tightly linked to variation in language abilities and the degree of severity of LD. Our study confirms concurrent links between language and non-verbal cognitive abilities above and beyond the contribution of verbal cognitive abilities. We also identify specific verbal and non-verbal cognitive tests that distinguish between typical children and children with LD, as well as LD severity. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Our findings support the importance of measuring both verbal and non-verbal cognitive skills when making an LD diagnosis. Our findings also point to the potential of targeting underlying cognitive skills as one strategy to support language abilities. We suggest that future intervention studies focus on the impact of non-verbal cognitive skills on language development in children with LD.

Visualization of latent components assessed in O*Net occupations (VOLCANO): A robust method for standardized conversion of occupational labels to ratio scale format.

Occupations are typically characterized in nominal form, a format that limits options for hypothesis testing and data analysis. We drew upon ratings of knowledge, skills, and abilities for 966 occupations listed in the US Department of Labor's Occupational Classification Network (O*NET) database to create an accessible, standardized multidimensional space in which occupations can be quantitatively localized and compared. Principal component analysis revealed that the occupation space comprises three main dimensions that correspond to (1) the required amount of education and training, (2) the degree to which an occupation falls within a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) discipline versus social sciences and humanities, and (3) whether occupations are more mathematically or health related. Additional occupational spaces reflecting cognitive versus labor-oriented categories were created for finer-grained characterization of dimensions within occupational sets defined by higher or lower required educational preparation. Data-driven groupings of related occupations were obtained with hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Proof-of-principle was demonstrated with a real-world dataset (470 participants from the Nathan Kline Institute - Rockland Sample; NKI-RS), whereby verbal and non-verbal abilities-as assessed by standardized testing-were related to the STEM versus social sciences and humanities dimension. Visualization of Latent Components Assessed in O*Net Occupations (VOLCANO) is provided to the research community as a freely accessible tool, along with a Shiny app for users to extract quantitative scores along the relevant dimensions. VOLCANO brings much-needed standardization to unwieldy occupational data. Moreover, it can be used to create new occupational spaces customized to specific research domains.

Spatial Language and Cognition in Autistic Preschoolers.

ASD is associated with relative strengths in the visuospatial domain but varying abilities in the linguistic domain. Previous studies suggest parallels between spatial language and spatial cognition in older autistic individuals, but no research to date has examined this relationship in young autistic children. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the connection between children's spatial language production and nonverbal spatial cognition over time. We also examined two potential predictors of spatial language observed in previous literature, ASD symptom severity and parent spatial language input. In past work investigating spatial language in NT children of the same age, parent-child interactions have been a primary context for study. Therefore, in the present study, we analyzed transcripts of dyadic naturalistic play interactions between autistic children and their parents over three visits from age 30 to 66 months and administered standardized cognitive and ASD diagnostic assessments at each visit. Spatial language production was related to nonverbal spatial cognition even when accounting for overall language production, though the strength of that relationship decreased over time. Parent spatial input (but not ASD severity) significantly predicted children's spatial language production over and above the effect of overall language production. Spatial language is associated with spatial cognition in young autistic children and appears to reflect the interaction of overall linguistic skills and nonverbal spatial cognitive ability regardless of autism severity. Parent-mediated interventions may be a promising context for increasing spatial language in autistic preschoolers.

Pre-pragmatic language use in toddlerhood: Developmental antecedents, aetiological factors, and associations to autism.

Pragmatic language is key for adaptive communication, but often compromised in neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Decontextualized language-to talk about events and things beyond here and now-develops early in childhood and can be seen as a pre-pragmatic ability. Little is known about the factors that contribute to decontextualized language use in toddlers and whether these are different from factors contributing to general language development. We studied longitudinal associations between parent-rated core language and non-verbal socio-communicative abilities at 14months of age, and decontextualized language use at 24months of age in children with typical and elevated likelihood of ASD (total N=303). Using twin modelling, we also investigated genetic and environmental contributions on decontextualized language and grammar use in two-year-old twin pairs (total N=374). Core language ability was a strong predictor of later decontextualized language use in both children with and without an elevated likelihood of ASD. In contrast, social communication was only a significant predictor of decontextualized language use for children with low levels of core language. This pattern was specific to decontextualized language, and not replicated in prediction of concurrent grammatical ability. Further, there was a large genetic influence on decontextualized language at 2years of age, which mostly overlapped with the genetic influences on grammatical ability. Shared environment influences were significant for grammatical ability, but not found on decontextualized language. In children with an elevated likelihood of ASD, decontextualized language use was negatively associated with autistic symptoms. This study suggests that decontextualized language is developmentally associated with, yet dissociable from, more general language development measured as grammatical ability. Already at 2years of age, parental ratings of decontextualized language is associated to clinician-rated symptoms of ASD.

ORDINAL POSITION AND DEVELOPMENT OF VERBAL & NON-VERBAL CREATIVITY IN CHILDREN

Background: Every parent after child birth think upon creativity and during nurturance and care they make their own expectation on the basis of different activity. When child have another siblings parents comparebetween them. Many of the time they discuss their creative behavior with neighbor, teacher and other family member and give proper remark but after a long duration past when child grew-up and form an adolescent that time actual scenario represent the creativity. Present study makes an attempt toassess impact of birth order on creativity. Aims: To examine the influence of ordinal position and development of verbal and nonverbal creative abilities in children. Methods: Schools were randomly selected from central and peripheral area of Ara district in Bihar. 400 subject were selected from high school in the age group of 10 years to 13 years, Half of the respondents were urban and half of rural inhabitation. Subjects were equally divided on the basis of birth order and for assessment of creative thinking Baquer Mehdi's (1973) test was applied. Data was analyzed through Mean, SD, SE and't'. Result: First born children significantly higher score in overall creative domain than their later born. Conclusion: Birth order and creativity always have the matter of research, many study attempted to justify the correlation of different birth order and creativity, but they have own strength and weakness.

Directionality in the interrelations between approximate number, verbal number, and mathematics in preschool-aged children.

A fundamental question in numerical development concerns the directional relation between an early-emerging non-verbal approximate number system (ANS) and culturally acquired verbal number and mathematics knowledge. Using path models on longitudinal data collected in preschool children (Mage =3.86 years; N=216; 99 males; 80.8% White; 10.8% Multiracial, 3.8% Latino; 1.9% Black; collected 2013-2017) over 1 year, this study showed that earlier verbal number knowledge was associated with later ANS precision (average β=.32), even after controlling for baseline differences in numerical, general cognitive, and language abilities. In contrast, earlier ANS precision was not associated with later verbal number knowledge (β=-.07) or mathematics abilities (average β=.10). These results suggest that learning about verbal numbers is associated with a sharpening of pre-existing non-verbal numerical abilities.

Predictors in language proficiency of young children with presumed developmental language disorder within the setting of early language intervention

IntroductionIn the Netherlands, early language intervention is offered to children with presumed Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). The intervention is a combination of group language intervention, individual speech and language therapy and parent-implemented language intervention. During the intervention, some children show more language progress than others. It is unclear what might explain this variation. In this study, we therefore explored to what extent child, parental, and treatment factors were predictive for receptive and expressive language outcomes of young children with presumed DLD during early language intervention.MethodsFour multiple regression analyses were conducted with four child factors [pre-test receptive syntax, behavior (internalizing and externalizing), non-verbal cognitive ability and gender], one parental factor (parental stress) and one treatment factor (treatment duration) as predictors and receptive and expressive language post-test scores as outcomes. For each language post-test, the corresponding pre-test language measure was also added. Data of 183 children with presumed DLD were included.ResultsReceptive syntax problems were an important predictor of expressive language outcomes. Findings also showed a longer treatment duration to be a predictor of progress in expressive vocabulary. Internalizing behavior, externalizing behavior, non-verbal cognitive ability, gender and parental stress did not contribute to predicting language outcomes. Lower pre-intervention language scores led to lower corresponding post-intervention language scores.ConclusionsProfessionals may need to be aware that children with receptive problems may be indicative of more pervasive impairment and that it can be more difficult to improve their language problems. In fact, children with receptive language problems may need both more and different approaches. The finding that the level of the pre-intervention score has an essential influence on language outcomes underlines the importance of early diagnosis and early intervention, to prevent language problems increasing.

Rhythmic training, literacy, and graphomotor skills in kindergarteners.

The aim of this manuscript is twofold: first, to investigate the relationship between rhythmic, phonological and graphomotor skills in kindergarten children; and second, to evaluate the possible impact of rhythmic training on the two other skills. To that end, we selected a sample of 78 children in Québec. Forty-two children received rhythmic training (experimental group) and 34 arts training (active control group) during the same period (10 weeks). Before and after training, children in both groups were assessed for general skills (forward and backward memory span, vocabulary, non-verbal ability), rhythmic skills (synchronization and discrimination tasks), literacy skills (phonological skills - syllable counting, syllable deletion, rhyme discrimination - and invented spelling skills) and graphomotor skills (legibility of letter writing, quality of copying of geometric shapes). Results showed correlations between the child's rhythmic and literacy skills, as well as between rhythm synchronization and pen pressure. In addition, rhythmic training showed improvement in rhythmic abilities, but this did not transfer to literacy or graphomotor development (apart from a significant increase in the duration of pauses in both groups at post-test, with a larger improvement for the rhythm group). These results are discussed in terms of duration and intensity of learning, and they highlight the possible benefits of informal rhythm practices in the classroom.

Remote Consultations for People With Parkinson Disease and Cognitive Impairment: Interview Study With Patients, Caregivers, and Health Care Professionals

Background The COVID-19 pandemic led to many consultations being conducted remotely. Cognitive impairment is recognized as a potential barrier to remote health care interactions and is common and heterogeneous in Parkinson disease. Studies have shown remote consultations in Parkinson disease to be feasible, but little is known about real-life experience, especially for those with cognitive impairment. We explored the experiences and perceptions of remote consultations for people with Parkinson disease and cognitive impairment. Objective This study aimed to explore the experiences of remote consultations for people with Parkinson disease and cognitive impairment from the perspective of service users and professionals and investigate considerations for future service delivery. Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted remotely with 11 people with Parkinson disease and cognitive impairment, 10 family caregivers, and 24 health care professionals (HCPs) between 2020 and 2021. Purposive sampling was used. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results Overall, four themes were identified: “the nature of remote interactions,” “challenges exacerbated by being remote,” “expectation versus reality,” and “optimizing for the future.” Remote consultations were considered as “transactional” and less personal, with difficulties in building rapport, and considered to play a different role from that of in-person consultations. The loss of nonverbal communication and ability of HCPs to sense led to remote consultations being perceived as riskier by all groups. Issues arising from communication and cognitive impairment, balancing the voices of the person with Parkinson disease and the caregiver, and discussions of the future affect this population specifically. Remote consultations were reported to have been more successful than anticipated in all 3 groups. Obstacles were not always as expected; for example, age was less of a barrier than predicted. Video consultations were perceived as being preferable to telephone consultations by many participants, but not accessible to all people with Parkinson disease. With widespread expectation of ongoing remote consultations, potential improvements for these 3 groups and health care services were identified, including practice, preparation, increased awareness of issues, expectation management by HCPs, and more time and flexibility for consultations. Conclusions Advantages and challenges of remote consultations for this population are identified. Consultations could be improved with increased support, practice, preparation, awareness of issues, and more time and flexibility within services.