The study presents the Brazilian experience of the Talento Metrópole program, linked to the Digital Metropolis Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, located in Brazil's Northeast. The Talento Metrópole program aims to develop the interest of young people with high abilities/intellectual giftedness in scientific research, expand skills and abilities, and get creative in the fields of information technology and its interfaces, always seeking innovation and entrepreneurship. It also aims to create opportunities for the dissemination of new knowledge and to explore career opportunities related to this area, with the purpose of creatively inserting young people into the labor market and into solidary social participation. The participants are students from public and private schools, colleges and universities, aged between 13 and 21 years. The steps that comprise the structure of the program are described and characterized. In addition, the selection process for admission to the program is described, with emphasis on the stage which illustrates the development and characterization of the instrument which investigate the sources of skills and expertise subjacent to the field of information technology.

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The objective of the present study was to discuss the theoretical and methodological principles recommended by Alexsander Romanovich Luria and their application to neuropsychological and educational assessment in infants. We present a case study of a male child, 11 years of age, diagnosed with generalized idiopathic epilepsy absence with a history of school in mathematics. The neuropsychological evaluation followed four steps proposed by Luria: (1) qualitative analysis of the symptoms, (2) quantitative evaluation of activity, (3) qualitative evaluation of activity, and (4) the proposition of a rehabilitation program. These steps were contemplated based on a neuropsychological protocol composed of nomothetic and idiographic tasks. We found deficits in manipulation activities, especially ones that demand visuospatial and visuoconstructive skills, associated with school difficulties in mathematics. The Lurian method allowed us to identify preserved and compromised cognitive functions, allowing interventions that minimized the identified deficits. Keywords: Neuropsychological Assessment. Mathematical Activity. Luria. Epilepsy Absence. Childhood.ResumoO objetivo do presente estudo foi discutir acerca dos princípios teórico-metodológicos recomendados por Alexsander Luria e sua aplicação para a avaliação neuropsicológica e educacional infantil. Apresenta-se um estudo de caso de uma criança do sexo masculino, 11 anos de idade, diagnosticado com epilepsia idiopática generalizada do tipo ausência com histórico de dificuldades escolares em matemática. A avaliação neuropsicológica realizada seguiu os quatro passos propostos por Luria: (1) análise qualitativa do sintoma, (2) avaliação quantitativa da atividade, (3) avaliação qualitativa da atividade, e (4) a proposição de um programa de reabilitação. As etapas aludidas foram realizadas a partir da utilização de protocolo composto por tarefas nomotéticas e idiográficas. Foram identificados déficits em atividades manipulativas, notadamente aqueles que demandaram habilidades visoespaciais e visoconstrutivas, associadas com dificuldades em matemática. O modelo luriano possibilitou a identificação de funções cognitivas deficitárias e preservadas, além de proposição de intervenções que minimizaram os déficits identificados.Palavras-chave: Avaliação Neuropsicológica. Atividade Matemática. Luria. Epilepsia de Ausência. Infância.

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This study investigated how the difficulties in language in children with Rolandic Epilepsy (RE) could be related to alterations in their development of phonological awareness and/or working memory. We evaluated fourty-two children aged 6 to 13 years old. From these, twenty-one children were diagnosed with RE and formed the experimental group; and twenty-one children without RE, paired with the experimental group by sex, age, education and socioeconomic status, formed the control group. The results showed significant differences in the performances of children with RE and healthy children in the tests that evaluated working memory and phonological awareness. Also, positive and high significant correlations were found between working memory and phonological awareness in the RE clinical subgroup. Generally, the results suggest that compromises in both cognitive functions might be associated to loss of language capabilities in children with RE, and also point that the development of working memory and phonological awareness are interconnected.

This study investigated the performance of children from the Brazilian Northeast region, from 7 to 10 years in phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tasks. The participants were 102 subjects (62 girls and 40 boys) who performed three phonemic and three semantic fluency tasks. The results were submitted to correlational and variance analysis to investigate the influence of the variables age and gender on the subjects performance. There was no effect of gender on the results. Significant contrasts between age groups were found, and better performance was observed on phonemic tasks. Also, the performance in this task changed along development, in contrast to what happened with the semantic fluency. The findings seem to be in accordance to neurodevelopmental aspects, taken into account that explicit memory systems show more precocious maturational course, with earlier consolidation, in comparison to the executive functions and frontal lobes, which go on developing until adult ages.

Superior (CAPES) pelas bolsas de estudos e produtividade que viabilizaram a realização deste estudo. RESUMO O TEPIC-M é um teste que avalia a memória visual de curto prazo, validado e normatizado para a faixa etária de 17 a 89 anos, com o objetivo de encontrar evidências de validade de critério e normas para crianças e adolescentes. Este estudo contou com 542 estudantes com idade entre seis e 16 anos, de instituições de ensino públicas e privadas da cidade de Natal/RN. Verificou-se diferença estatisticamente significativa na média de acertos quando comparados os desempenhos dos participantes em função do tipo de escola (p<0,001), bem como em função da idade (p<0,001). Por outro lado, não foram verificadas diferenças na média de acertos entre sexos (p=0,808). Conclui-se que o instrumento é adequado para a avaliação da memória visual de curto prazo entre crianças e adolescentes brasileiros, podendo ser utilizado em futuros estudos com essa população. Palavras-chave: memória de curto prazo; avaliação psicológica; psicometria. ABSTRACT-Evidences of validity and standards of the TEPIC-M for children and adolescents The TEPIC-M is a test that evaluates short-term visual memory that has been validated and standardized for the 17 to 89 years age group. Participants of this study were 542 students aged between six and 16 years, of public and private educational institutions in the city of Natal, Brazil. The study aimed to find evidence of criterion validity and standards for children and adolescents. Statistically significant difference were found in the mean number of correct answers when comparing the performances of the participants according to the type of school (p<0.001) and age (p<0.001). Conversely, there were no differences in the mean number of correct answers between the sexes (p=0.808). It was concluded that the instrument is suitable for the evaluation of short-term visual memory among Brazilian children and adolescents and can be used in future studies with this population.