English-speaking children (N = 122) in French immersion classes participated in a 1-year longitudinal study of the relation between phonological awareness and reading achievement in both languages. Participants were administered measures of word decoding and of phonological awareness in French and in English as well as measures of cognitive ability, speeded naming, and pseudoword repetition in English only. The relation of phonological awareness in French to reading achievement in each of the languages were equivalent to that in English. These relations remained significant after partialing out the influences of speeded naming and pseudoword repetition. Phonological awareness in both languages was specifically associated with 1-year increments in decoding skill in French. These findings support the transfer of phonological awareness skills across alphabetic languages.Children in immersion programs learn to read in a language different from the one spoken at home. Little is known about the cognitive mechanisms involved in this learning. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relations between phonological processing skills and word decoding ability (reading isolated words) in children in French immersion. More precisely, we explored the possibil-

The authors describe the memory stimulation programs used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and review their efficacy. Visual imagery, errorless learning, dyadic approaches, spaced retrieval techniques, encoding specificity with cognitive support at retrieval, and external memory aids were the memory stimulation programs used alone or in combination in AD. Preliminary evidence suggests that the errorless learning, spaced retrieval, and vanishing cues techniques and the dyadic approach, used alone or in combination, are efficacious in stimulating memory in patients with AD.

Previous studies on cognitive training in Alzheimer's disease (AD) were principally aimed at making patients learn items not related to functional needs. However, AD patients also experience diffi culties with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). The goal of the present multiple baseline case report study was to assess the preliminary effi cacy and tolerability of an individualized cognitive training program using the errorless learning (EL) and spaced-retrieval (SR) techniques to relearn forgotten IADLs in mild AD. Following an exhaustive neuropsychological assessment, two participants received two training sessions per week during four weeks. Participant A was trained to use his voice mail and Participant B, to manage the messages from his answering machine. The results showed that the program was well tolerated and improved performance on the trained tasks. These ameliorations were maintained over a 5-week period. The effects of the training did not have any impact on global cognitive functions since the results on these measures remained relatively stable. This case report demonstrated preliminary effi cacy of a new cognitive training program using EL and SR techniques tailored to the needs of AD patients. This is an important fi nding since the loss of these capacities alters autonomy in AD patients.

Deux études ont permis de développer, en français, un instrument qui sert à mesurer les habiletés de segmentation des mots prononcés en leurs éléments sonores, chez des enfants de la maternelle à la sixième année, habiletés jugées cruciales pour l'apprentissage de la lecture. Une première étude qui portait sur un large échantillon d'items (n = 70) a servi à la création de deux listes de 42 items chacune, formant deux versions d'un même test, pour une deuxième étude. Les résultats des deux études montrent que les caractéristiques psychométriques - fidélité et validité - de l'instrument développé sont très élevées. De plus, dans la deuxième étude, la performance des sujets ne différait pas selon la version du test. Ces résultats appuient l'utilisation de ce test dans les milieux scolaires pour l'identification de troubles d'analyse auditive chez les enfants qui ont des problèmes de lecture.This article reports on two studies used to develop a French language test to measure oral word-segmentation ability in children from Kindergarten to Grade 6; this ability being considered important in learning to read. The first study of a large sample of items (n = 70) was used to create two lists of 42 items each, to form equivalent versions of the same test, and then used in a second study. The results of the two studies show that the psychometric characteristics of the instrument, that of reliability and validity, are very high. As well, it was found that performance of subjects did not differ with the test version used. These results support use of this test in school settings to identify auditive analysis difficulties in children who have reading difficulties.Dos estudios, han permitido crear un instrumento en francès, para medir la habilidad de los nifios para separar las palabras en fonemas. Esta habilidades considerada importante en el proceso del aprendizaje de la lectura. El instrumento puede aplicarse a nifios disde la escuela de parvulos hasta el 6° ano de primari. El primer estudio comprendié un gran numéro de cuestiones (n = 70) y sirvio para la confection de dos listas de 42 preguntas cada una; se obtuveron asi dos versiones de un mismo test que constituyeron la base del segundo estudio. Los resultados de los dos estudios muestran que las caractensticas psocométricas - fidelidad y validez - del instrumento son bastante elevadas. Ademâs, en el segundo estudio se destaca que el resultado obtenido por no deflene mucho entre las dos versiones. Creemos que esos resultados avalan la utilizaciôn de este test en el medio escolar para identificar problemas de analisis auditivo en nifios con dificultades en el aprendizaje de la lectura.Zwei Studien haben erlaubt, fur die franzôsische Sprache ein Instrument zu entwickeln zur Messung der Fâhigkeit, gesprochene Worter in ihre Lautelemente zu zerlegen, und zwar bei Kindern von der Vorschule vis zur 6.Volksschulklasse. Dièse Fâhigkeit gilt als àuÊerst wichtig fur das Lesenlernen. Eine erste Untersuchung iiber eine grofie Anzahl von Einheiten (n = 70) fiihrte zur Erstellung zwei...

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