This study investigated the role of working memory capacity on the making of reinstatement and causal elaborative inferences during the reading of natural texts. In order to determine participants' working memory capacity, they were asked to take the reading span task before they took part in the study. Those participants that were identified as high or low working memory capacity readers were asked to perform a lexical decision task in two conditions: pre-inference and inference. In the pre-inference condition, target words representing reinstatement or causal elaborative inferences were presented immediately before the sentences that were predicted to prompt them. In the inference condition, the target words were presented immediately after the sentences that were predicted to prompt the inferences. Results indicated that, for the high working memory capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations for both types of inferences. In the case of low working capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations only for reinstatement inferences. These findings suggest that working memory capacity plays a role in the making of causal inferences during the comprehension of natural texts.
Simultaneous interpreting is a complex bilingual verbal activity that involves
the auditory perception of an oral communication and the production of a
coherent discourse. One of the cognitive functions underlying simultaneous
interpreting is working memory. The aim of this work was to study the
relationship between expertise, working memory capacity and articulatory
suppression effect, and the ability to perform simultaneous interpreting. For
this purpose, four working memory tasks and one simultaneous interpreting task
were administered to thirty Spanish-speaking professional English interpreters.
Results showed that simultaneous interpreting ability might be supported by the
working memory´s capacity to store or process information, but also by the
ability of the interpreter to cope with the articulatory suppression effect. We
conclude that interpreters may have or develop resources to support the effect
caused by articulatory suppression.
Resumen: El objetivo del estudio fue analizar la respuesta a la intervención (RAI) en niños en contextos de pobreza con bajo nivel de alfabetización respecto de sus pares. Durante seis meses, 37 alumnos de 7 a 14 años de edad participaron de un programa de enseñanza individual. Los niños completaron una prueba de escritura de palabras al comenzar y al finalizar la intervención. Se obtuvieron diferencias significativas entre el pre y pos test. Un análisis de regresión sobre la ganancia en escritura mostró que la cantidad de sesiones del programa tuvo un efecto significativo. Solamente un 16 % de los niños presentó baja RAI, lo que indica que las dificultades de la mayor parte de los niños serían experienciales y no resultado de déficit cognitivo. Palabras clave: aprendizaje, escritura, enseñanza, pobreza, dificultades. months, 37 7-to-14-year-old children (41 % girls)
Abstract: The paper aimed to analyze the Response to Intervention (RTI) in children growing up in poverty contexts and exhibiting low levels of literacy when compared to their school peers. For six
Emotional intelligence includes self-perception regarding attention to feelings, clarity of feelings and mood repair. The aim of this work is to study the relationship between emotional intelligence, self-concept, and self-esteem. The sample included 137 adolescents from Buenos Aires City, that attended middle school, with a mean age of 13.12 years old (SD = 1.79). Correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were performed. Results showed significant positive correlations between self-esteem and clarity of feelings on the complete sample and the female subsample, and between mood repair and self-esteem on the male subsample. The linear regression analyses showed results on the same line. It´s concluded that positive self-evaluation regarding emotions, emotion comprehension and recovery can minimize the effect of negative experiences.
We examined the contribution of Internet operational and navigation skills, previous knowledge, and working memory capacity to expository text comprehension as a lesson within an e-learning course. As different from previous studies in controlled settings; this study addressed students' typical behavior in more ecological conditions. The first study tested self-reported Internet Skills Scale structure, reliability and concurrent validity, in a sample of 254 college students from a large Latin American public university. The second study addressed the contribution of selfreported Internet skills, previous domain knowledge, and working memory capacity to text comprehension in e-learning. Students (n = 125) read high or low previous knowledge expository science texts and answered questions about them, in an e-learning course specifically designed for research purposes, accessed remotely. They also completed working memory tests. Working memory and navigation were significantly associated with text comprehension: higher working memory, and lower scores in self-reported navigation behavior, led to better comprehension. These results have implications for instructional design and reading strategies interventions.
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