Verbal Task Performance Research Articles

Verbal ability in postmenopausal women in relation to age, cognitive and reproductive factors

Word-finding difficulties have been associated with age and, in women, lowered sex hormone levels following menopause. However, there is limited understanding of the ways that specific aspects of word-finding are shaped by women's age, reproductive histories, and background factors such as education. The current study investigated the effects of age, cognitive and reproductive factors on word-finding abilities in 53 healthy postmenopausal women aged 48–79. A questionnaire was used to gather demographic information and reproductive history. A battery of verbal fluency, continuous series, and naming tasks was designed to assess word-finding across different sensory modalities and cognitive demands. Category and letter fluency were quantified as total number of correct words produced on each task. For continuous series, switch rates and switch costs were computed. For the naming tasks, accuracy and latency measures were used. There were three key findings. Firstly, there was a consistent positive association between education and all word-finding measures, i.e., verbal fluency, continuous series, and naming. Secondly, age-related declines were seen on tasks heavily dependent on working memory such as the continuous series task. Thirdly, reproductive factors across the lifespan such as age at menarche and reproductive years showed subtle effects on naming abilities, but not on verbal fluency or continuous series. The results highlight that word-finding abilities in healthy postmenopausal women are shaped by factors associated with their early years (education, age at menarche) and later adult life (age, reproductive years). The study also distinguished between the more global effects of education, and the more task-specific associations with age and reproductive variables, on verbal task performance after menopause.

Specifika práce s bilingvním klientem v psychologické praxi

There has been a great increase of interest in bilingual studies in recent years. Currently there is a solid basis of theoretical knowledge in many aspects of bilingualism, however, they get to practicing psychologists only on a very limited scale. The goal of this article is to make this knowledge more accessible to practicing psychologists in both fields, clinical and I/O psychology. At the beginning, the contemporary theories of bilingual processing within one brain are discussed. They help to explain some aspects of bilingualism, such as cognitive advantages (like better executive functions, or social cognition) and disadvantages (like worse performance in verbal tasks). Then there are described differences in personality and emotional expressions based on the used language. This is followed by specifics of bilingualism in some neuropsychiatric conditions. The article concludes with several notes on practical application of mentioned research in psychological work.

Development of Spatiotemporal EEG Organization in Males and Females Aged 8–30 Years during Comprehension of Oral and Written Texts

The maturation of brain structures and their connections and the improvement of verbal skills are the two key processes forming the central mechanisms of verbal activity; it is almost impossible to evaluate their separate contributions. Apart from age, gender has a significant effect on the structural and functional characteristics of the brain and cognitive activity. Despite the fact that the influence of gender is less pronounced than that of age, it cannot be ignored. We studied the effect of age and gender characteristics of the neurophysiological mechanisms of perception of oral and written texts on the spatial organization of brain bioelectric potentials. Spatial synchronization of brain bioelectric potentials (SSBP) was evaluated in 143 subjects (children aged 8–11 years, adolescents aged 12–14 years and 15–17 years, and adults) based on the changes in the integral indicator “volume” of 20 EEG vectors and the degree of connections of EEG signals. It was found that there was a gradual increase in the spatial synchronization of brain bioelectric potentials with age, both during quiet wakefulness and verbal activity, while the level of SSBP in all age groups during verbal task performance was lower than in the background state. In adolescents, gender-related differences included the changes in the levels of SSBP during verbal activity (for oral perception, at the age of 12 years; for reading, at the age of 15 years). Males and females had different trajectories of the formation of distant EEG connections, which had zonal specificity for the studied types of verbal activity.

Neurophysiological Correlates of Verbal Task Performance in Competition and Individually

Neurophysiological Correlates of Verbal Task Performance in Competition and Individually

Looking up improves performance in verbal tasks

ABSTRACTEarlier research suggested that gaze direction has an impact on cognitive processing. It is likely that horizontal gaze direction increases activation in specific areas of the contralateral cerebral hemisphere. Consistent with the lateralization of memory functions, we previously showed that shifting gaze to the left improves visuo-spatial short-term memory. In the current study, we investigated the effect of unilateral gaze on verbal processing. We expected better performance with gaze directed to the right because language is lateralized in the left hemisphere. Also, an advantage of gaze directed upward was expected because local processing and object recognition are facilitated in the upper visual field. Observers directed their gaze at one of the corners of the computer screen while they performed lexical decision, grammatical gender and semantic discrimination tasks. Contrary to expectations, we did not observe performance differences between gaze directed to the left or right, which is consistent with the inconsistent literature on horizontal asymmetries with verbal tasks. However, RTs were shorter when observers looked at words in the upper compared to the lower part of the screen, suggesting that looking upwards enhances verbal processing.

Psychophysiological correlates of the performance of verbal tasks in situations initiating personal meanings

Introduction. This paper presents the study of psychophysiological correlates of the performance of verbal tasks in situations initiating personal meanings. For the first time in psychophysiological research the authors employed meaning tasks as a tool for modeling the meaning-building process. The authors suggest that certain patterns of the electrical activity of the brain may be associated with the performance of verbal tasks in situations initiating personal meanings.
 Methods. Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used to test the hypothesis offered by the authors. The EEG activity was recorded from 128 leads using a multi-channel electroencephalograph (Neurovisor-136, Medical Computer Systems, LTD, Russia). The study sample comprised 52 individual participants – boys and girls aged 18 to 25 years. The participants were asked to interactively perform two types of tasks, namely (a) emotionally neutral logical tasks (control) and (b) verbal tasks that modeled situations of personal meaning initiation (test).
 Results. Brain activity patterns of the performance of simple mental tasks were significantly different from the frequency and spatial characteristics of the bioelectric activity of the cerebral cortex during the performance of verbal tasks in situations initiating personal meanings (p < 0.05). In addition to these differences, the results indicate that there were sex differences in the EEG frequency and spatial characteristics (p < 0.05).
 Discussion. The increase in functional activity in frontal and central brain regions and the increase in high-frequency rhythms in the temporal-parietal-occipital area of the left hemisphere may be associated with an increase in cognitive and affective loads during the performance of verbal tasks in situations initiating personal meanings. It seems that meaning-building is realized by means of multimodal synthesis and is associated with verbal and non-verbal long-term memory.

Retraction Notice

At the request of the Journal Editor(s) and the Publisher and/or the author(s), the following article has been retracted. Çetin, Y., Wai, J., Altay, C., & Bushman B. J. (2016). Effects of violent media on verbal task performance in gifted and general cohort children. Gifted Child Quarterly, 60(4), 279-287. doi: 10.1177/0016986216660382

RETRACTED: Effects of Violent Media on Verbal Task Performance in Gifted and General Cohort Children

At the request of the Journal Editor(s) and the Publisher and/or the author(s), the following article has been retracted. Çetin, Y., Wai, J., Altay, C., & Bushman B. J. (2016). Effects of violent media on verbal task performance in gifted and general cohort children. Gifted Child Quarterly, 60(4), 279-287. doi: 10.1177/0016986216660382 Joseph Hilgard, postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, contacted the journal with questions regarding the pattern of results and conducted reanalyses of the data that called into question the credibility of the data. Unfortunately, the data collection procedures could not be verified because the author who collected the data (Cengiz Altay) could not be contacted following the attempted coup in Turkey. Therefore, as the integrity of the data could not be confirmed, the journal has determined, and the co-authors have agreed, to retract the study.

Early psychosis in young women

IntroductionIt is well known that young women are at lower risk for schizophrenic psychoses than young men. However, little is known about the peculiarities of emerging psychosis in young women.ObjectivesTo describe characteristics of emerging psychosis in women.MethodsWithin the FePsy (Früherkennung von Psychosen = early detection of psychosis) study at the University of Basel Psychiatric Clinics we have examined consecutively all patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) or an at-risk mental state (ARMS) referred to us between 2000 and 2015.ResultsWomen did not significantly differ from men regarding psychopathology, neither in the ARMS nor in the FEP group. This was true for positive as well as negative symptoms and basic symptoms. Interestingly, women had a higher correlation of self-rating with observer-rating regarding psychotic symptoms. Duration of untreated psychosis was significantly lower in women than in men. Women seek help more quickly than men and their first contact is more often their partner.Regarding neurocognition women showed a slightly better performance in verbal tasks. They also had higher prolactin levels and larger pituitary volumes, even when drug-naive.Transition to psychosis occurred as often and as quickly in women as in men.ConclusionsThere are only few gender differences in patients with emerging psychosis, which resemble mainly those found in the general population, with women showing a better help-seeking behavior, being more partner-oriented, having a better verbal performance and potentially also a higher stress reactivity [1].Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Musical Imagery and the Planning of Dynamics and Articulation During Performance

Musicians anticipate the effects of their actions during performance. Online musical imagery, or the consciously accessible anticipation of desired effects, may enable expressive performance when auditory feedback is disrupted and help guide performance when it is present. This study tested the hypotheses that imagery 1) can occur concurrently with normal performance, 2) is strongest when auditory feedback is absent but motor feedback is present, and 3) improves with increasing musical expertise. Auditory and motor feedback conditions were manipulated as pianists performed melodies expressively from notation. Dynamic and articulation markings were introduced into the score during performance and pianists indicated verbally whether the markings matched their expressive intentions while continuing to play their own interpretation. Expression was similar under auditory-motor (i.e., normal feedback) and motor-only (i.e., no auditory feedback) performance conditions, and verbal task performance suggested that imagery was stronger when auditory feedback was absent. Verbal task performance also improved with increasing expertise, suggesting a strengthening of online imagery.

Do Women With Alzheimer’s Disease Demonstrate Greater Cognitive deterioration?

561 ISSN 1758-2024 10.2217/NMT.12.64 © 2012 Future Medicine Ltd Neurodegen. Dis. Manage. (2012) 2(6), 561–564 Two-thirds of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are women. Of course, women have a greater longevity, but remain disproportionally prone to AD even after adjusting for their longer life expectancy. Much less attention has been paid to sex differences in the neurocognitive profiles of AD patients, and, in particular, evidence showing that women fare much worse than men cognitively. Remarkably, few studies report comparisons of neurocognitive performance in men and women with AD. Our recent meta-analysis identified just 15 published studies presenting data for men and women with AD (involving a total of 828 men and 1238 women) [1]. Significant and highly consistent male advantages emerged across every cognitive domain examined: episodic memory (Cohen’s d effect size [d]: -0.17; 95 CI: -0.33 to -0.01); semantic memory (d: -0.25; 95 CI: -0.42 to -0.07); verbal (d: -0.27; 95 CI: -0.37 to -0.16); and visuospatial (d: -0.24; 95 CI: -0.43 to -0.05) tasks. Although the effect sizes are small, this is unsurprising given the reduced levels at which most AD patients are cognitively functioning; and to overturn them would require 15 negative studies for memory, 114 for verbal ability, 26 for spatial and 28 for semantic ability. Indeed, of the 52 effect sizes we calculated, 94% (49/52) showed women exhibiting worse performances compared with men. Furthermore, moderator regression analyses demonstrated age, education and dementia severity (as measured by mini-mental state examination) did not significantly predict the male advantage, therefore it cannot be attributed to these particular confounds. Differences in the neurocognitive profiles of healthy men and women are ubiquitous, with verbal and spatial processing advantages for women and men, respectively, probably being the most common. In their large meta-analysis, Hyde and Linn derived 120 effect sizes for verbal task performance and found that women outperformed men in 75% of the studies – although the effect itself is modest (d: 0.11) [2]. Turning to visuospatial ability, in a meta-analysis of 286 studies spanning 50 years Voyer et al. confirms that men significantly outperform women: with a large effect for mental rotation (d = 0.73) and a medium effect for spatial perception (d = 0.44) [3]. Crucially, these sex differences persist into old age, with healthy

Correlative formation of functions as one of mechanisms of functional evolution (by example of development in child’s ontogenesis of central maintenance of stereognosis and speech function)

The paper considers a possibility of correlative formation in ontogenesis of central mechanisms of stereognosis and speech function by example of comparison of changes in spatial organization of interregional interaction of various cortex areas in children of three age groups (5–6, 7–8, and 9–10 years) and in adults subjects during their performances of stereognostical, verbalmnestic, and motor manual activity (the tapping test). With age dynamics of children there was observed a significant increase in the degree of similarity of the spatial structure of interregional relations during periods of performance of stereognostical test with patterns of changes in the EEG distant relationships revealed at performance of verbal tasks. In turn, similarity of patterns of interregional EEG relationships characteristic of stereognostical tasks with the patterns revealed at periods of performance of the tapping test was not increased with age. On the whole, the obtained data allow believing that with increase of children’s age there rose the degree of topological similarity of the spatial structure of systemic interactions of the cortex zones, on which there were “supported” processes of realization of stereognostical and verbal functions. The progressing increase with children’s age of the degree of similarity of the distributive organization of neurophysiological mechanisms of central provision of the verbal and stereognostic functions can argue in favor of the concept of correlative formation of these higher psychical functions in postnatal ontogenesis. The obtained data show that the correlative interfunctional interactions promoting progressive development of cognitive functions in the child ontogenesis can be realized through the long association fibers and commissural pathways composing the morphofunctional longitudinal-transversal “skeleton” of neocortex in the close interaction with thalamo-cortical integrative systems.

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the prefrontal cortex enhances complex verbal associative thought.

The remote associates test (RAT) is a complex verbal task with associations to both creative thought and general intelligence. RAT problems require not only lateral associations and the internal production of many words but a convergent focus on a single answer. Complex problem-solving of this sort may thus require both substantial verbal processing and strong executive function capacities. Previous studies have provided evidence that verbal task performance can be enhanced by noninvasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). tDCS modulates excitability of neural tissue depending on the polarity of the current. The after-effects of this modulation may have effects on task performance if the task examined draws on the modulated region. Studies of verbal cognition have focused largely on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F3 of the 10-20 EEG system) as a region of interest. We planned to assess whether modulating excitability at F3 could affect complex verbal abilities. In Experiment 1 (anodal, cathodal, or sham stimulation over F3 with the reference electrode over the contralateral supraorbital region), we found a significant overall effect of stimulation condition on RAT performance. Post hoc tests showed an increase in performance after anodal stimulation (1 mA) compared to sham (p = .025) and to cathodal stimulation (p = .038). In Experiment 2 (either anodal stimulation at F3 or separately at its homologue F4), we replicated the anodal effect of the first study, but also showed that anodal stimulation of F4 had no effect on RAT performance. These data provide evidence that anodal stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex can improve performance on a complex verbal problem-solving task believed to require significant executive function capacity.

Effects of nicotine administration via a sublingual tablet on arousal and verbal ability in non-smokers

Tobacco smoking or nicotine administration on its own can influence cognitive task performance. This study examined the effects of acute nicotine administration on verbal task performance and a physiological index of arousal. Healthy non-smoking participants received either a 2-mg sublingual nicotine tablet or placebo. Participants next completed various verbal tasks while heart rate recordings were taken concurrently. Nicotine increased heart rate relative to a pre-administration baseline period, indicating that the new method of nicotine administration increased cardiovascular arousal. Nicotine was associated with reduced accuracy in a verbal matching task and reduced accuracy and increased reaction time in an anagram task, but had no effect on performance during an analogy or verbal fluency task. The data suggest that nicotine-naïve individuals are unlikely to gain any benefit to their verbal ability from the single acute intake of nicotine, such as that obtained from cigarette smoking or by using nicotine replacement therapy products.

'Faster counting while walking' as a predictor of falls in older adults

To establish whether changes in a spoken verbal task performance while walking compared with being at rest could predict falls among older adults. Prospective cohort study of 12 months' duration. Twenty-seven senior housing facilities. Sample of 187 subjects aged 75-100 (mean age 84.8 +/- 5.2). During enrollment, participants were asked to count aloud backward from 50, both at rest and while walking and were divided into two groups according to their counting performance. Information on incident falls during the follow-up year was monthly collected. The number of enumerated figures while sitting on a chair and while walking, and the first fall that occurred during the follow up year. The number of enumerated figures under dual-task as compared to single task increased among 31.5% of the tested subjects (n = 59) and was associated with lower scores in MMSE (P = 0.034), and higher scores in Geriatric Depression Scale (P = 0.007) and Timed Up & Go (P = 0.005). During the 12 months follow-up, 54 subjects (28.9%) fell. After adjusting for these variables, the increase in counting performance was significantly associated with falls (adjusted OR = 53.3, P < 0.0001). Kaplan-Meier distributions of falls differed significantly between subjects who either increased or decreased their counting performance (P < 0.0001). Faster counting while walking was strongly associated with falls, suggesting that better performance in an additional verbal counting task while walking might represent a new way to predict falls among older adults.

Signposts to development: theory of mind in deaf children.

Possession of a "theory of mind" (ToM)--as demonstrated by an understanding of the false beliefs of others--is fundamental in children's cognitive development. A key question for debate concerns the effect of language input on ToM. In this respect, comparisons of deaf native-signing children who are raised by deaf signing parents with deaf late-signing children who are raised by hearing parents provide a critical test. This article reports on two studies (N = 100 and N = 39) using "thought picture" measures of ToM that minimize verbal task-performance requirements. These studies demonstrated that even when factors such as syntax ability, mental age in spatial ability, and executive functioning were considered, deaf late signers still showed deficits in ToM understanding relative to deaf native signers or hearing controls. Even though the native signers were significantly younger than a sample of late signers matched for spatial mental age and scores on a test of receptive sign language ability, native signers outperformed late signers on pictorial ToM tasks. The results are discussed in terms of access to conversation and extralinguistic influences on development such as the presence of sibling relationships, and suggest that the expression of a ToM is the end result of social understanding mediated by early conversational experience.

Focused Attention in the Context of Irrelevant Speech

The purpose of this study was to examine individual differences in focused attention and the influence of these differences on verbal task performance under conditions in which irrelevant speech was present. Subjective workload was also examined (using the NASA TLX, Hart and Staveland, 1984). Fifty-four participants performed three editing task trials under quiet, discontinuous, and continuous speech conditions. The Task Absorption subscale of the Expanded Tellegen Absorption Scale (Jackson, Klein, Reeth, and Waters, 1997) was also administered. Significant differences were found within conditions between High and Low Task Absorbers. The importance of focused attention in the open-plan office is discussed.

The effects of unilateral forced nostril breathing on cognitive performance.

This study describes the effects of 30 minutes of unilateral forced nostril breathing on cognitive performance in 51 right-handed undergraduate psychology students (25 males and 26 females). A verbal analogies task modeled after the Miller Analogies and SAT Tests was used as a test of left-hemispheric performance and mental rotation tasks based on the Vandenburg and Kuse adaptation of Shepard and Metzler's tests were used as spatial tasks for testing right-hemispheric performance. Spatial task performance was significantly enhanced during left nostril breathing in both males and females, p = .028. Verbal task performance was greater during right nostril breathing, but not significantly p = .14. These results are discussed in comparison to other cognitive and physiological studies using unilateral forced nostril breathing. This yogic breathing technique may have useful application in treating psychophysiological disorders with hemispheric imbalances and disorders with autonomic abnormalities.

Asymmetrical Brain Electrical Activity Discriminates Between Psychometrically‐Matched Verbal and Spatial Cognitive Tasks

This study compared the asymmetry of different features of brain electrical activity during the performance of a verbal task (word finding) and a spatial task (dot localization) that had been carefully matched on psychometric properties and accompanying motor activity. Nineteen right-handed subjects were tested. EEG was recorded from F3, F4, C3, C4, P3, and P4, referred to both CZ and computer-derived averaged-ears references, and Fourier transformed. Power in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands was computed. There were significant Task X Hemisphere effects in all bands for CZ-referenced data and for the alpha and beta bands for ears-referenced data. The effects were always either greater power suppression in the hemisphere putatively most engaged in task processing or greater power in the opposite hemisphere. Correlations between EEG and task performance indicated that CZ-referenced parietal alpha asymmetry accounted for the most variance in verbal task performance. Power within individual hemispheres or across hemispheres was unrelated to task performance. The findings indicate robust differences in asymmetrical brain physiology that are produced by well-matched verbal and spatial cognitive tasks.

Individual differences in inference processes

Information processing differences between field independent (FI) and field dependent (FD) individuals were examined by comparing the performance of 28 FI and 28 FD undergraduates on sentence verification and working memory tasks. For the sentence verification task, FI and FD learners read short passages and then verified necessary and unnecessary inferences, paraphrases, and explicit sentences based upon the passages. Reaction times revealed faster verification of necessary inferences by FI learners. For FD readers, necessary inferences took longer to verify than paraphrases. Error data showed no FI-FD differences, but working memory capacity was larger for FI than for FD learners and was related to unnecessary inference accuracy. It was concluded that FI-FD cognitive restructuring differences are related to working memory capacity and may influence verbal task performance.