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1

Hughes, Maureen Eliabeth. "Teachers and other adults as talk-partners for pupils in nursery and reception classes." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.241540.

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2

MARCILESE, MERCEDES. "ON THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS: REPRESENTATION, RECURSION AND NUMERICAL COGNITION." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2011. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=17819@1.

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CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO<br>Esta tese investiga a possível relação existente entre dois aspectos tidos como centrais na cognição humana: a capacidade de qualquer criança sem impedimentos de ordem neurológica ou social adquirir uma língua e a possibilidade de habilidades cognitivas superiores que, tais como a língua, são específicas da espécie, serem desenvolvidas. No que tange às habilidades superiores, são focalizadas habilidades numéricas dependentes do cálculo com quantidades exatas e a habilidade de integrar informações provenientes de diferentes domínios cognitivos. Esse tópico é explorado tomando como eixo duas propriedades cruciais das línguas: representacionalidade e recursividade. Ambas estão vinculadas ao fato de as línguas serem sistemas de natureza representacional – dado que incluem um léxico – e incorporarem um sistema computacional que opera recursivamente. Parte-se de uma proposta teórica (Corrêa, 2005-2009; Correa & Augusto, 2007) que visa a articular uma teoria psicolingüística da aquisição e do processamento da linguagem com a concepção de língua expressa no Programa Minimalista (Chomsky, 1995-2007), aliada à idéia de que a língua forneceria o suporte necessário para a combinação de informação advinda de diferentes sistemas de representação vinculados a vários domínios da cognição (Spelke, 1992-2010). A hipótese de trabalho que orienta esta pesquisa é a de que o papel da língua no desenvolvimento das habilidades superiores em questão vincula-se diretamente às duas propriedades cruciais mencionadas: representacionalidade – no caso da cognição numérica, o fato de a língua poder vir a fornecer uma representação exata para a numerosidade por meio dos numerais – e recursividade, definida como um mecanismo que possibilita a integração de informação de natureza diversa e como propriedade compartilhada por estruturas que podem estar associadas a diferentes domínios da cognição. São reportados dois conjuntos de experimentos, cada um voltado para questões centradas na representação e na recursividade, respectivamente. Cinco experimentos foram conduzidos com crianças de 2-6 anos, tendo um grupo de adultos como controle. Um experimento elaborado com vistas a verificar se haveria priming de estruturas recursivas entre os domínios lingüístico e matemático foi conduzido apenas com adultos. Adicionalmente, o desempenho de quatro adultos com quadros de afasia foi avaliado em uma tarefa de cada conjunto de experimentos. Os resultados dos experimentos vinculados à representacionalidade sugerem uma sensibilidade precoce das crianças às propriedades que distinguem numerais de outras formas de expressão de quantidade. Numerais parecem ser associados preferencialmente à codificação de quantidades exatas mesmo antes de a aquisição do significado de cada item (um a cinco) ser completada. Os resultados de dois experimentos relacionados à recursividade indicam que as dificuldades atribuídas a crianças de até 6 anos de idade com estruturas recursivas podem ser decorrentes de fatores não-lingüísticos assim como de possíveis problemas metodológicos. Não foram encontrados resultados compatíveis com um efeito de priming estrutural interdomínios, quando comparadas sentenças relativas e expressões numéricas recursivas. Tomados em conjunto, os resultados mostram-se consistentes com a hipótese de trabalho e podem ser considerados como indicativos de que a aquisição de uma língua contribui para o desenvolvimento de habilidades específicas relacionadas à cognição numérica, mas sugerem cautela quando transferências entre domínios cognitivos são consideradas.<br>This thesis investigates the possible relationship between two central aspects of the human cognition, namely, the capacity of any child to acquire a natural language (in the absence of neurological or social impairments) and the development of high cognitive abilities, which appear to be specifically human. As far as the latter is concerned, numeral abilities involving calculus with exact quantities and the ability to integrate information from different cognitive domains are focused on here. Two fundamental aspects of human languages are considered in this regard: representation, in so far as languages include a lexicon, and recursion, in so far as they incorporate a computational system that operates on lexical items recursively. This study is inserted into a research program aiming at articulating a minimalist conception of language with a theory of language processing and acquisition (Corrêa, 2005-2009; Correa & Augusto, 2007). The idea that language is crucial for the integration of information from different cognitive systems (Spelke, 1992-2010) is also incorporated here. The working hypothesis guiding this investigation is that the role of language in the development of numerical abilities can be related to those two fundamental aspects: language provides the means of representing exact quantities, in so far as the lexicon includes numerals (number words) and is endowed with recursive operations that enable information stemming from different domains to be integrated in a single linguistic expression. Moreover, recursion is a property that can be shared by systems pertaining to different cognitive domains. Two sets of experiments are reported, each of them devoted to questions pertaining to representation and recursion, respectively. Five experiments were conducted with 2-6 year olds and adults. An experiment carried out only with adults explored the possibility of a cross-domain priming effect to be obtained when recursive structures (sentences with relative clauses and recursive numeral expressions) are sequentially presented. Additionally, four aphasic patients were submitted to one task of each set of experiments. The results suggest early sensitivity to the distinction between numerals and other sorts of number words (quantifiers). Numerals appear to be associated with exact quantities even before their exact meaning (from 1- 5) has been acquired. Recursion appears to be operating before the age of six. Difficulties in dealing with the processing of recursive linguistic structures usually ascribed to children appear to be due to non-linguistic factors and/or to methodological problems in the assessment of children’s recursive abilities. Cross domain structural priming effects failed to be obtained. As a whole, the results are compatible with the hypothesis orienting this thesis, though caution is required when cross domain effects are considered.
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3

Dubarry, Anne-Sophie. "Linking neurophysiological data to cognitive functions : methodological developments and applications." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016AIXM5017.

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Un des enjeux majeurs de la Psychologie Cognitive est de décrire les grandes fonctions mentales, notamment chez l’humain. Du point de vue neuroscientifique, il s’agit de modéliser l’activité cérébrale pour en extraire les éléments et mécanismes spatio-temporels susceptibles d’être mis en correspondance avec les opérations cognitives. Le travail de cette thèse a consisté à définir et mettre en œuvre des stratégies originales permettant de confronter les modèles cognitifs existants à des données issues d’enregistrements neurophysiologiques chez l’humain. Dans une première étude nous avons démontré que la distinction entre les organisations classiques de la dénomination de dessin sériel-parallèle, doit être adressée au niveau des essais uniques et non sur la moyenne des signaux. Nous avons conçu et mené l’analyse des signaux SEEG de 15 patients pour montrer que l’organisation temporelle de la dénomination de dessin n’est pas, au sens strict, parallèle. Dans une deuxième étude nous avons combiné trois techniques d’enregistrements : SEEG, EEG et MEG pour clarifier l’organisation spatiale des sources d’activité neuronales. Nous avons établi la faisabilité de l’enregistrement sur un patient qui exécute une tâche de perception visuelle. Au delà des corrélations entre les signaux moyens des trois techniques, cette analyse a révélé des corrélations au niveau des essais uniques. À travers deux approches expérimentales, cette thèse propose de nombreux développements méthodologiques et conceptuels originaux et pertinents. Ces contributions ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives à partir desquelles les signaux neurophysiologiques pourront informer les théories des Neurosciences Cognitives<br>A major issue in Cognitive Psychology is to describe human cognitive functions. From the Neuroscientific perceptive, measurements of brain activity are collected and processed in order to grasp, at their best resolution, the relevant spatio-temporal features of the signal that can be linked with cognitive operations. The work of this thesis consisted in designing and implementing strategies in order to overcome spatial and temporal limitations of signal processing procedures used to address cognitive issues. In a first study we demonstrated that the distinction between picture naming classical temporal organizations serial-parallel, should be addressed at the level of single trials and not on the averaged signals. We designed and conducted the analysis of SEEG signals from 5 patients to show that the temporal organization of picture naming involves a parallel processing architecture to a limited degree only. In a second study, we combined SEEG, EEG and MEG into a simultaneous trimodal recording session. A patient was presented with a visual stimulation paradigm while the three types of signals were simultaneously recorded. Averaged activities at the sensor level were shown to be consistent across the three techniques. More importantly a fine-grained coupling between the amplitudes of the three recording techniques is detected at the level of single evoked responses. This thesis proposes various relevant methodological and conceptual developments. It opens up several perspectives in which neurophysiological signals shall better inform Cognitive Neuroscientific theories
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4

Ho, Joses Wei-hao. "Functional investigation of microRNA pathways in human speech and language disorders." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0e350300-03b0-4d0b-ba8f-6548d66494bc.

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5

O'Neil, Lauren. "Investigating to What Degree Individual Differences in Language and Executive Function Are Related to Analogical Learning in Young Children Across Socio-Economic Populations." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/24562.

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Analogical reasoning is a foundational skill necessary for enabling learners to draw inferences about new experiences, to transfer learning across contexts, and to make abstractions based on relevant information from daily experiences. Linguistic and executive function (EF) skills may support analogical reasoning ability, as both these skill sets have previously been shown to influence other higher-order cognitive abilities, such as perspective taking. Outside influences such as socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds may also influence analogical reasoning, as they have been shown to affect other cognitive processes. At present, current research offers little information about developmental relations among SES, language, EF and analogical learning. The purpose of this dissertation research was to explore the extent to which the provision of relational language facilitates children’s analogical reasoning, and to investigate the influence of SES, executive function and language skills in regard to such facilitation. Results indicate that the use of relational language indeed aids analogical reasoning. SES significantly predicted analogical reasoning, but interestingly, this was so only when relational language was absent. These findings support that relational language plays a key role in scaffolding analogical reasoning, and this support is particularly beneficial to children whose cognitive skills may be influenced by SES.
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VILLARINHO, CLARA NOVOA GONCALVES. "ON THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS: THE FEATURE POINT OF VIEW OF COMPLEMENT CLAUSES AND THE MASTERING OF FALSE BELIEFS." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2012. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=21874@1.

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PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO<br>CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO<br>PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO<br>Nesta tese, investiga-se a hipótese de que a aquisição de um traço sintático de Ponto de Vista (PoV) e sua codificação em CPs de orações completivas subcategorizadas por verbos de crença seja condição necessária para o desenvolvimento pleno de Teoria da Mente (TM), caracterizado pelo domínio da habilidade de raciocinar e prever ações de indivíduos que possuem uma Crença Falsa (CF), atingido por crianças aproximadamente aos quatro anos de idade (cf. DE VILLIERS E DE VILLIERS, 2009) (doravante, Hipótese PoV-CF). Especificamente, esta pesquisa visou a: averiguar em que medida a HPoV-CF pode ser sustentada; avaliar a possibilidade de se incorporar um traço PoV a um modelo online de computação sintática baseado nos pressupostos minimalistas (CORRÊA E AUGUSTO, 2007; 2011); e caracterizar o processo de aquisição do conhecimento relativo a esse traço à luz de uma teoria procedimental de aquisição da linguagem (CORRÊA, 2009). São apresentadas três possíveis análises de PoV codificado como traço formal ou semântico em completivas. Argumenta-se que, independentemente da caracterização desse traço, a aquisição do conhecimento que este representa dependeria inevitavelmente de um bootstrapping semântico, o que pressupõe a habilidade cognitiva de distinguir pontos de vista. No que concerne à investigação empírica, oito experimentos foram conduzidos. Os experimentos 1 a 6 visavam a investigar a habilidade de crianças de 3;3-3;5 anos em lidar com diferentes demandas requeridas à realização das tarefas tradicionais de CF e de Memória para Complementos (cujos resultados corroboram a HPoVCF), como a habilidade em lidar com interrogativas QU de objeto, a factividade de verbos mentais e factualidade. Foi também investigada a habilidade dessas crianças em lidar com tarefas linguísticas que incluem uma situação de CF. No Experimento 7, foi avaliada a habilidade das crianças em atribuir valores-verdade a completivas e a ambas as orações da sentença complexa. No experimento 8, o papel da recursividade linguística para o raciocínio sobre CFs de primeira e segunda ordem foi investigado, com crianças de 6;2 anos. De um modo geral, os resultados sugerem que i) as crianças não dominam demandas inerentes às tarefas tradicionais, indicando que seu insucesso nessas tarefas pode não refletir uma dificuldade em lidar com completivas ou com CFs; ii) as crianças atribuem corretamente valores-verdade a completivas, embora a atribuição de valor-verdade à oração principal (sentença completa) independentemente do valor da completiva seja mais custosa; iii) o raciocínio de CFs de primeira e segunda ordem pode ser conduzido por meio de estruturas não recursivas, embora estruturas recursivas pareçam facilitá-lo. Tendo-se em vista os resultados obtidos e à luz do possível processo de aquisição assumido, considera-se que a HPoV-CF não pode ser sustentada. Habilidades metacognitivas parecem ser requeridas para que a criança ignore o valor-verdade da completiva ao atribuir um valor-verdade à sentença completa. Argumenta-se que um possível papel para as completivas no desenvolvimento de TM seria o de prover uma representação que pode ser usada como recurso para facilitar (não sustentar) o raciocínio sobre CFs.<br>This dissertation investigates the hypothesis that acquiring knowledge concerning the syntactic feature Point-of-View (PoV) in CPs of complement clauses (CCs) subcategorized by verbs of belief is a necessary condition for children to achieve a fully developed Theory of Mind (ToM) – the ability to ascribe false beliefs (FBs) to others and to predict their reasoning and action based on it (usually achieved by 4 years of age) (cf. DE VILLIERS AND DE VILLIERS, 2009) (henceforth, PoV-FBHypothesis). In particular, this study aimed to verify the extent to which PoV-FBH can be maintained; to evaluate the possibility of incorporating a PoV feature in an on-line model of syntactic computation grounded in minimalist assumptions (Corrêa & Augusto, 2007; 2011) and to characterize the developmental course of the acquisition of knowledge concerning this feature in the light of a procedural theory of language acquisition (Corrêa, 2009). The possibility of PoV being represented as a formal feature or as a semantic feature was considered in three analyses of CCs. It is argued that no matter how this feature is characterized, the acquisition of the knowledge it represents would inevitably rely on semantic bootstrapping, which presupposes the cognitive ability of distinguishing points of view. As for the empirical investigation, 8 experiments were conducted. Experiments 1-6 aimed at assessing 3;3-3;5 year olds ability to cope with a number of the demands of the traditional FB and Memory for Complements (MC) tasks, which supports PoVFBH, such as the ability to cope with object WH, the factivity of mental verbs and factuality. The production of CCs and childrens ability to cope with a linguistic task that includes a FB situation were also investigated. In experiment 7, childrens ability to assign truth-values to CCs and for both clauses of the complex sentence was evaluated. In Experiment 8 the role of language recursion for first- and second-order FB reasoning was investigated with 6;2 year-old children. In general, the results suggested that i) childrens failure on the traditional FB and MC tasks does not necessarily mean difficulty in dealing with CCs or FBs, insofar as they do not cope with most of the demands these tasks presuppose; ii) 3 year olds correctly assign truth-values to CCs, though assigning the truth-value for the main clause (the whole sentence) independently of the truth-value of the CC is particularly costly; iii) first- and second-order FB reasoning can be undertaken on the basis of non-recursive structures, although recursive structures seem to facilitate it. In sum, both in the light of the possible developmental courses of acquisition considered here and on the basis of the results obtained, it would be hard for the PoV-FBH to be maintained, as it stands. Metacognitive abilities may be required for children to be able to ignore the truthvalue of the CC when assigning a truth-value for the complex sentence. It is argued that the possible role of CCs in the development of ToM is to provide a representation that can be used to facilitate FB reasoning, not to support it.
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Kiehl, Kent Anthony. "A neuroimaging investigation of affective, cognitive, and language functions in psychopathy." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ48667.pdf.

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8

VAN, CLEAVE MATTHEW JAMES. "THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1186060901.

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9

Bloom, Paul 1963. "Semantic structure and language development." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/13686.

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Briscoe, Josephine Mary. "Cognitive development after preterm birth." Thesis, University of Bristol, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.266900.

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Hong, Namkyung. "Language-specificity and young preschoolers' social-cognitive development." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2017. http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/85189/.

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This thesis investigated the role of linguistic access in reference to mental states in children’s social understanding. The importance of access to, or an understanding of, mentalistic language has been stressed regarding the development of children’s social understanding (e.g., Astington & Baird, 2005). It was predicted that the exposure to the mental-state terms using specific grammatically embedded forms specifying certainty and/or the origins of information would enhance Korean children’s social understanding. There has been a vast body of research, showing the predictive role of executive function on the development of social understanding, in particular false-belief understanding (e.g., Carlson & Moses, 2001; Sabbagh, Xu, Carlson, Moses, & Lee, 2006). However, research on Korean children did not support the view on the general development between the two cognitive skills (e.g., Oh & Lewis; 2008). Thus, the current study explored the relationships between executive function and false belief understanding in response to the debate. Executive function, or higher-level self control, is necessary to fulfil goal-directed action inhibiting irrelevant alternatives (Welsh & Pennington, 1988). Children learning from adults, however, trust information selectively (Koenig & Sabbagh, 2013). As children are required to suppress distracting information for selective trust, it was expected that higher skills in executive function may predict performance on selective trust. Thus, the role of executive function on this social understanding was also examined (in Experiment 1 and 2 for false belief and 5 for selective trust). In Experiments 1 and 2 (N = 175) when a protagonist in a false-belief task expressed either his uncertainty (i.e., -keyss (-ul keya) = may) or certainty (i.e., -ci = really), the linguistic markers influenced 3- and 4-year-olds’ apparent grasp of false beliefs. The different levels of certainty (i.e., -hata = do or –ya hata = must do) were applied to the executive function measures. However, the effects of different linguistic markers on executive skills were not observed. Experiment 3 (N = 144) moved the focus from false-belief understanding to selective trust with the application of differential evidentiality in correct and incorrect speakers. Four types of tasks, presented within a 2 (certainty vs. uncertainty) x 2 (accuracy vs. inaccuracy) design, were administered (N = 36 for each task) to three age groups (3.6-4.5 years, 4.6-5.5 years and 5.6-6.5 years). In order to indicate direct access to information, -te (I saw) was used while –napo (It seems) was used for indirect information. The findings from the four tasks showed a crucial effect of accuracy over certainty in selective trust. Following on from the results of Experiment 3, Experiments 4 and 5 compared the children’s performance in epistemic trust experiments in which linguistic access to the protagonists’ mental states was specified using either two evidential markers (i.e., -te vs. – napo) identifying both certainty and the origins of the protagonist’s knowledge, or specific verb terms (i.e., know vs. think) that expressed certainty. In Experiment 4 (N = 59), the findings revealed different developmental patterns according to the use of the two types of linguistic references (evidential markers vs. explicit verb terms): sensitivity to speakers’ epistemic states using mental-verb terms was in evidence at the age four and by evidentiality around the age six. The final experiment of this work employed a battery of executive function measures along with two selective trust tests, using the same contrasting means of identifying the protagonists’ certainty and knowledge (evidential markers vs. different linguistic terms: N = 84). The findings replicated the different developmental patterns of selective trust found in Experiment 4. There were different associations between executive function and questions of two of the three levels of the standard selective trust measure. Verbal working memory predicted the children’s performance in judging who is correct when the test question used included evidential markers. Visual working memory did the same job when verbal mental-state terms were used. Finally inhibitory control predicted selective learning when verbal terms were used. Taken together, the findings suggest that (a) a grasp of certainty appears earlier than an understanding of evidentiality; (b) the grammaticalized forms of certainty and evidentiality are more likely to influence children’s linguistic access to mental states than more explicit mental-verb terms (positively in false belief and negatively in epistemic trust). These lead to the conclusions that: (c) a mastery of semantics and syntactic forms is needed in developing social-cognitive skills; (d) specific language markers identifying the sources of a protagonist’s knowledge may reduce demands of executive function in processing another’s epistemic states.
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Mohamed-Kaleel, Saheeda Bebe. "Screening of cognitive functions : analysis and development of neuropsychological test instruments." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2018. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8392/.

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INTRODUCTION: Cognitive impairments are common after stroke, particularly those involving the executive functioning, which is a complex cognitive construct encompassing a collection of interrelated functions (or set of processes) that are responsible for controlled goal-directed behaviours to novel or complex situations (Gioa, Isquith, & Guy, 2001). Therefore, deficits in executive processes can affect an individual profoundly. There are numerous executive measures currently available, however they are mostly language-laden, and therefore not ideal for stroke patients who are present with aphasia and neglect. Accordingly, in this thesis we aimed to develop unbiased measures of planning/organisation (the 'systematicity' index) using performance-based, language reduced, nonverbal tasks that are suitable for use in a stroke population. METHOD: Initially, we examined the cognitive variation in stroke profile, across various stages, using the Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS: Humphreys, Bickerton, Samson, & Riddoch, 2012). Subsequently, we developed three novel scoring measures, on two key tests: 1) the Broken Hearts test (from the Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS): Demeyere, Riddoch, Slavkova, Bickerton, & Humphreys, 2015) and 2) the Complex Figure test (from the BCoS/OCS). RESULTS: Measures include: I) The 'Nearest Neighbour' measure - validated against the subjective ratings provided by experienced neuropsychologists (of how systematic a patient is during cancellation) and a measure of executive function (EF); 2) the 'Global - Local Scoring System' - a qualitative scoring system that provides an index of executive measure for the BCoS Complex Figure which was validated against subjective ratings from experienced neuropsychologists and other measures of EF; 3) the 'automated Global-Local Scoring System'- validated against the 'Nearest Neighbour' measure on the overall cancellation performance. CONCLUSION: We conclude that these measures would be beneficial to clinicians in terms of measuring planning/organisation abilities of stroke survivors and freeing them from time consuming and tedious tasks.
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Janjua, Fatima. "Language and cognitive development in very young deaf children." Thesis, University of Bristol, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1983/68cb555b-3d31-49da-be84-e71d5b01bcd5.

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Lin, Hui-Ju. "Bilingualism, feedback, cognitive capacity, and learning strategies in L3 development." Connect to Electronic Thesis (ProQuest) Connect to Electronic Thesis (CONTENTdm), 2009. http://worldcat.org/oclc/453905362/viewonline.

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Price, Jaima S. "Exploring the Relationship Between Early Childhood Attentional Control and Language Ability." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2523.

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Relatively few studies have investigated the relationship between early childhood attentional control and later cognitive outcomes, especially language development. The current study is an investigation of the relationship between the executive functioning (EF) component of attentional control and language ability in the second year of life. More specifically, the predictive nature of two aspects of attentional control, attentional focus and resistance to distraction, was be the primary focus of the proposed study. Although it was expected that children both high in attentional focus and resistance to distraction would have significantly superior language development than infants with lower attentional capacities, analyses indicated associations between the postural deviation component of resistance to distraction and language. Attentional focus was also related to infant language ability. Avenues for future research regarding early childhood attentional control, resistance to distraction, and language ability are discussed.
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Alexiou, Thomai. "Cognitive development, aptitude and language learning in Greek young learners." Thesis, Swansea University, 2005. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42407.

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Current views of foreign language learning aptitude are adult orientated. Descriptions of aptitude are cast in terms of sophisticated language abilities and these are investigated by means of complex language tests. It is not possible within this framework to test, or even describe, aptitude in young children since their language capacities are still developing. Recent studies support the idea that there is a link between the general cognitive skills that learners possess and their success in learning their second language. They can suggest, therefore, which separate elements of cognitive ability may be part of language learning aptitude in children. A series of research concerning the relation between general cognitive skills and second language success has been conducted during the past three years. The studies are done in Greek schools and involve young learners of 5-9 years. The results suggest that tests of general cognitive skills such as memory and analytic ability are very good predictors of foreign language learning success. In this, aptitude in young learners appears to be very similar to aptitude in adults. These cognitive skills appear to improve with age so it can be argued that in certain ways older learners are actually better language learners than children. Yet, the question of a 'window of opportunity' and the age effect still remains open. As other researchers have supported comprehensible and continuous exposure, appropriate methodology and trained teachers are more promising than the onset time. The study offers convincing evidence that the nature of language learning aptitude might not be fixed at least at that age and there is a possibility that at that stage it might actually be plastic. This does not mean that one could instruct everyone to be equally good at learning languages using the cognitive skills suggested here. It does imply, however, that practice and improvement on certain abilities that relate to language may well facilitate effective learning at least to some extent. A test of cognitive skills that appear to relate to foreign language learning is devised at the end that could hopefully offer a valuable source for a child's learning profile at the very beginning of learning.
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Slama, Hichem. "Task-goal switching: Influences of time, language, alertness and expertise." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/229285.

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Almost 100 years ago, Jersild (1927) published his article “Mental Set and Shift”. He borrowed this title from a book of Hollingworth and Poffenberger (1919), according to whom “shifting back and forth from one mental set, one attitude or one task to another, is a relatively ineffective mode of work.” As pointed out by Jersild, the cost of switching between activities or mental sets is, for instance, the reason for Taylor’s model of industrialization and the trend in industry toward specialization. Through specialization, the element of switch is reduced to its minimum because “the cost of shift is loss in efficiency” (Jersild, 1927). However, outside of the factory, switching between multiple tasks is a crucial part of human life and the cost of switching, consequently, impacts our everyday functioning.The main topic of this doctoral dissertation is cognitive flexibility and task switching. The task-switching paradigm requires participants to switch frequently between tasks. Therefore, it measures the capacity of our brain to adapt rapidly according to tasks and goals. Dynamic adaptation according to context and goals is encompassed in cognitive psychology and neurosciences under the term cognitive control. Consequently, the ability to switch between tasks constitutes the part of cognitive control that is needed when the current goal changes and the cognitive system has to adapt. Our experimental contribution aimed at investigating how this task-goal switching can be modulated by factors such as time, language, alertness and expertise. In this introduction, we succinctly review the vast literature about attentional systems, cognitive control and task switching. In the experimental section, we describe the cued match-to-sample task that we developed to investigate task-goal switching and present five experimental studies that address the impact of several factors on task-goal switching. In the general discussion, we summarize our results and consider their implications for cognitive-control and task-switching literatures.<br>Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation<br>info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
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Ezrine, Greer A. "Effects of Language on the Development of Executive Functions in Preschool Children." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2010. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cps_diss/41.

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The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between language skills and the development of executive functions in a normative preschool population over a 3 year period. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine models of individual change and correlates of change in the growth of 7 executive skills in a sample of 39 children ages 3 to 5. Results of the analyses revealed significant positive linear growth trajectories over time for 5 of the 7 executive skills measured (p < .05). Maturation alone accounted for a significant amount of variance in nonverbal working memory (Block Span, Stanford Binet-5th Edition (SB-5)) and problem solving skills (Tower, NEPSY). Growth in verbal working memory (Memory for Sentences, SB-5) was predicted uniquely by initial receptive vocabulary (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–3rd Edition) and oral language (Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language) skills, even after considering age. Language variables did not predict rate of change in the 6 other executive skills measured. Thus, the pattern of results extends previous cross-sectional research by documenting that executive skills grow systematically with age in individual children during the preschool period. Furthermore, results suggest that during the preschool years, language ability is an important predictor of growth in working memory for verbal information—a capacity associated both theoretically and empirically with the transition from other- to self-regulation in early childhood. Findings are discussed in relationship to the literature on school readiness and the development of self-regulation. Implications for future research and practice are also suggested.
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Wells, Wilfred Henry. "Development of a cognitive work analysis framework tutorial using Systems Modeling Language." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2011. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4720.

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At the present time, most systems engineers do not have access to cognitive work analysis information or training in terms they can understand. This may lead to a disregard of the cognitive aspect of system design. The impact of this issue is system requirements that do not account for the cognitive strengths and limitations of users. Systems engineers cannot design effective decision support systems without defining cognitive work requirements. In order to improve system requirements, integration of cognitive work requirements into the systems engineering process has to be improved. One option to address this gap is the development of a Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) framework using Systems Modeling Language (SysML). The study had two phases. The first involved aligning the CWA terminology with the SysML to produce a CWA framework using SysML. The second was the creation of an instruction using SysML to inform systems engineers of the process of integrating cognitive work requirements into the systems engineering process. This methodology provides a structured framework to define, manage, organize, and model cognitive work requirements. Additionally, it provides a tool for systems engineers to use in system design which supports a user's cognitive functions, such as situational awareness, problem solving, and decision making.<br>ID: 030646182; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-255).<br>Ph.D.<br>Doctorate<br>Industrial Engineering and Management Systems<br>Engineering and Computer Science<br>Industrial Engineering
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Smith, Jacqueline R. C. "The interrelationship between social and cognitive factors in second/foreign language development." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1996. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10021698/.

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Foreign language pedagogy has often been influenced by findings drawn from the area of first and/or second language acquisition with confusing results. The thesis explores the extent to which the inter-relation of variables in foreign language learning differs from that in natural acquisition processes and varies across a range of learning contexts, thereby encouraging different pedagogical approaches. Chapter one argues that some models underestimate the different variables involved and suggests that a socio-cultural approach is more effective in identiffing and explaining the shifting relation between context and cognition. Chapter two seeks to situate foreign language study within a more general process of jimctional differentiation' in the child's widening linguistic repertoire, arguing that not only does the relation of context and cognition change between L I and L2 but also within L2 itself. Chapter three examines the shifting relation between context and cognition with reference to the language programme of European Schools in general, and the one at Culham in particular. The latter provides a basis for answering two questions: (1) is there a correlation between success in an acquisition poor environment and the extent of the learner's analytic competence; (2) does motivation play an increasing role in affecting success in contexts where goals are long-term rather than immediate? Data collected from the school are analyzed in chapter four. Response to both questions would seem to he positive although the complexity of the learners' backgrounds produced greater variation in the role of affective factors than anticipated. Finally, chapter five argues that the relative success of foreign language study from an early stage in schemes such as the European schools or the immersion programmes depends upon a precise interplay of socio-cognitive variables which is unlikely to he replicated elsewhere.
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Birbas, Nicole, and Linda Terneborg. "Second language proficiency and its effects on cognitive functions: : Relations between bilingualism and tactile and visual versions of the Simon task." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för psykologi, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-118464.

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Bilinguals have repeatedly shown to have better results than monolinguals in non-verbal cognitive tasks that require inhibition of distracting stimuli. Evidence suggests that this enhanced performance is due to training effects of non domain specific executive functions, and that this gain in cognitive performance can contribute to a cognitive reserve in old age. One of the most frequently used methods when studying the relationship between second language proficiency and cognitive abilities is the Simon task in the visual sensory modality. The present study aimed to determine if the advantage found in the visual Simon task also could apply to a tactile Simon task. The sample consisted of 40 individuals aged 43 to 64 with different levels in their second language. An operational span test (OSPAN) was used to control for working memory capacity. No significant correlation was found between bilingualism and the Simon effect in either modality. Since the study has low statistical power and a small range in second language proficiency, it was concluded that further research investigating whether the bilingual advantage found in the visual Simon task can be found across modalities is necessary before any conclusions regarding a relationship between bilingualism and cognitive control can be made.
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Gorby, Sean Ryan. "Heart Rate Variability and Cognitive Function: Connecting Autonomic Functions to Sustained Attention, Working Memory, and Counselor Trainees’ Cognitive Performance." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563448201927916.

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23

Feiman, Roman. "The Structure and Development of Logical Representations in Thought and Language." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:23845487.

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The expressive power of human thought and language comes from the ability to systematically combine a finite vocabulary of concepts into a boundless number of meaningful thoughts. What properties of conceptual representations enable their combination? Three papers investigate different aspects of the combinatorial system in the context of a single general approach – taking logical concepts as a special case of concepts whose content is completely specified by their combinatorial properties. The first paper looks at infants’ ability to represent two types of goals: approach and avoid, where each goal-type could be represented as the negation of the other. Consistent with past literature, we find evidence of children representing approach at 7 month, but failing to represent avoid at both 7 and 14 months. This suggests that these children cannot combine their representation of approach with a negation operator, possibly because they do not yet have this operator. In the second paper, we continue to look at the emergence of logical negation through the relationship between the emergence of the concept and the words that label it. We find that, although 15-month-olds say the word “no”, they do not understand its logical meaning until 24 months. This is the same age at which they begin to produce the word “not”, comprehend its logical meaning, and use both “no” and “not” to deny the truth of others’ statements. This pattern of results suggest a common limiting factor on the mapping of any word to the concept of logical negation. This factor could be the emergence of the concept, or a linguistic limitation common to both “no” and “not”. The third paper looks at the properties of the combinatorial system in adults, taking linguistic quantifier scope ambiguity phenomena as a case study. Using a priming paradigm, we find evidence for independent combinatorial operations for the universal quantifiers EACH, EVERY and ALL, but common operations for the numbers THREE, FOUR and FIVE. We also find that the semantic operations that compose quantifier meanings abstract away from the verb and noun content of sentences. This suggests a division of labor in adult combinatorial thought, with conceptual content represented separately from the combinatorial properties of concepts.<br>Psychology
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Lundequist, Aiko. "Longitudinal studies of executive and cognitive development after preterm birth." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Psykologiska institutionen, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-78946.

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Stockholm Neonatal Project is a longitudinal population-based study of children born prematurely in 1988-93, with a very low birth weight (&lt;1500 g), who have been followed prospectively from birth through adolescence. A matched control group was recruited at age 5 ½ years. The overall aim was to investigate long-term developmental outcome, paying particular attention to executive functions (EF) in relation to degree of prematurity, birth weight and medical risks. Study I showed a disadvantage in visuo-motor development at 5 ½ years, especially among the preterm boys. Visuo-motor skills were highly related to IQ, and also to EF. In Study II, neuropsychological profiles typical of preterm children and term born children, respectively, were identified through cluster analysis. The general level of performance corresponded well with IQ, motor functions and parental education in both groups, but preterm children had overall lower results and exhibited greater variability across domains. Study III showed that extremely preterm birth (w. 23-27) per se poses a risk for cognitive outcome at age 18, particularly for EF, and that perinatal medical complications add to the risk. By contrast, adolescents born very preterm (w. 28-31) performed just as well as term-born controls in all cognitive domains. However, adolescents born moderately preterm (w. 32-36) and small for gestational age showed general cognitive deficits. Study IV found that cognitive development was stable over time, with parental education and EF at 5 ½ years as significant predictors for cognitive outcome at age 18. Among preterm children, perinatal medical risks and being small for gestational age had a continued negative impact on cognitive development from 5 ½ to 18 years. Study V demonstrated that neuropsychological scoring of Bender drawings, developed in study I, predicted cognitive outcome in adolescence, indicating that the method  may be useful in developmental screening around school entry.<br><p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Submitted.</p>
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25

Byrne, Angela. "The development of reading skills in children with Down syndrome." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.364338.

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This longitudinal study charts the development and achievement in reading, language and memory skills of a representative group of children with Down syndrome in mainstream education. Twenty-four children with Down syndrome were followed over a 2 year period and compared to (i) children matched for reading age (N=31) and, (ii) average readers (N=42), from the same school classes as the children with Down syndrome. A battery of standardised assessments was administered annually to obtain measures of reading, language, memory, number skills, and general intelligence. On all three occasions the children with Down syndrome showed an uneven profile of development with advanced reading ability compared to their other cognitive skills. Two years after the initial assessment there was still no significant difference between the reading scores of the children with Down syndrome and the reading age control group indicating similar rates of progress in the two groups despite the children with Down syndrome being significantly delayed on all of the other measures. Although it was predicted that learning to read may enhance the language and memory skills of children with Down syndrome, partial correlations revealed no significant associations between reading and language ability once age and intelligence had been controlled for. This suggests that reading and language are independent cognitive skills in this age group of children. The relationship between reading and auditory STM was less clear as significant partial correlations were only found at some times. Furthermore, exploratory multiple regression analyses also suggested that there was no clear predictive relationship of language and memory development from early reading ability. Finally, reading strategies were examined longitudinally in an experimental task in which words and nonwords were presented via a computer. The Down syndrome and reading matched groups were similar in their ability to read words but the children with Down syndrome were significantly less accurate when reading nonwords. The results suggested that the majority of the children with Down syndrome were continuing to make progress using a logographic reading strategy. However, there was also some evidence that some children with Down syndrome (those who had the highest reading ages) had developed alphabetic skills.
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Gaglio, Gina. "The study of a preschooler's motor, social-emotional, cognitive, and language / literacy development /." Staten Island, N.Y. : [s.n.], 2004. http://library.wagner.edu/theses/education/2004/thesis_edu_2004_gagli_study.pdf.

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Ricketts, Jessie. "Reciprocal development in vocabulary and reading skills." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2009. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ef73c787-eba9-4ddf-bc85-1700de9c6d3a.

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Data are presented in seven chapters that address the reciprocal relationship between oral vocabulary and reading development. Chapter 2 explores exception word reading in poor comprehenders longitudinally, finding deficits that are pervasive over a period of two years. The results support the hypothesis that weak oral vocabulary skills are causally related to poor exception word reading in this group. In Chapter 3, orthographic and semantic skills in poor comprehenders are investigated in a word learning paradigm. This chapter provides evidence that poor comprehenders have more difficulty learning and retaining semantic information than orthographic information. A similar paradigm is described in Chapter 4 to investigate predictors of orthographic and semantic learning. In a large group of typically developing readers, this demonstrates that decoding is the strongest predictor of orthographic learning while existing oral vocabulary knowledge is the strongest predictor of semantic learning. In Chapters 5 and 6 orthographic and semantic skills in poor comprehenders and children with dyslexia are compared using standard off-line tasks (Chapter 5) and an online word learning experiment (Chapter 6). These chapters indicate similarities as well as differences in the reading and language profiles of these groups. Chapter 7 adopts a different approach by using a word learning study to investigate the benefit of teaching new oral vocabulary in the presence of orthography.
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Attias, Lior Rivka, and Lior Rivka Attias. "A genetic understanding of language development through cognitive and neurogenetic studies: an exploration of the FOXP2 gene, songbird development, human language, and autism." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/626743.

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It is well known that FOXP2 has a connection to human language. In a familial case study of humans in one family with a mutated FOXP2, it was found that all members showed Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia, a cognitive language deficit. In knock out experiments in mice, it was found that FOXP2 is critical for Purkinje cell development in the brain as well as lung development. In FOXP2 knock out experiments in songbirds, it was found that songbirds could no longer learn new songs or cognitively understand song, which is used as a type of language in these animals. In knock in experiments with rats, it was found that rats with humanized FOXP2 show increased ability to switch between two central types of learning, a critical aspect of habit formation. It is thought that this habit formation is the basis of human language learning and development. Through a deep analysis of studies such as these, as well as of the genetic structure of FOXP2, it is hypothesized that the FOXP2 gene plays a critical role in allowing for appropriate connectivity on neurons in the brain, which could explain its role in language understanding and development, as well as its role in Autism in humans.
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Anderson, Julia Harriet. "The role of storytelling and personal narrative in cognitive, moral, and oral language development." Online pdf file accessible through the World Wide Web, 2007. http://archives.evergreen.edu/masterstheses/Accession89-10MIT/Anderson_J%20MITthesis%202007.pdf.

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30

Pereira, Cleuza Clair. "Cognitive development and its implication to the teaching of English as a foreign language." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UFPR, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1884/24190.

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31

Nielsen, Dea. "Cognitive, linguistic, and literacy development in young children learning English as an Additional Language." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2016. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/16470/.

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Extensive research with monolingual children has established the importance of early code-related skills, memory, and oral language for children’s future literacy attainment, but less is known about the development of these skills in children who learn English as an Additional Language (EAL) in school. As there has been a particular lack of longitudinal research with this population spanning development during preschool and into early education, the aim of this thesis was to examine the performance and development of EAL children on measures of phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, rapid automatized naming, verbal memory, and oral language during this time frame. Additionally, once EAL children reached school age, their skills on these measures were compared to those of their monolingual peers, and the role of these cognitive and linguistic abilities in explaining individual differences in literacy skills (reading accuracy, fluency, comprehension, and spelling) was compared across groups. EAL children from diverse linguistic backgrounds (N=96) were first recruited in Nursery (3;7 years), and were reassessed in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2. Monolingual children (N=53) from the same schools were recruited and assessed in Years 1 and 2. Comparisons to both norms and the monolingual groups suggested that although EAL children’s cognitive and linguistic skills in English were very limited during Nursery, these skills showed accelerated development during Nursery to Reception, and their code-related and memory skills were very similar to those of monolingual children by the time they reached Reception or Year 1. However, oral language remained an area of weakness for these children, even at the final testing point. Finally, there were group differences in the contributions of cognitive and linguistic predictors to explaining differences in literacy outcomes. The relevance of these findings for our understanding of bilingual literacy development and the practical implications of this work are discussed.
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Zaldivar, Marc Robert. "Blending cognitive rule-based, process-based, and context-based theories in the development of online grammar instruction." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/29533.

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This study proposes to blend contemporary educational research in order to design an online instructional environment. The goal was to create an environment that would better educate learners about grammar use in higher education, given the complexity of the rule learning that was being asked of them. By blending approaches from tested educational research on cognitive information processing theories, schema theories, and situated cognitive theories in order to determine how language rules are best learned, eight design principles were derived for the instructional environment. A prototype of the environment was then developed. Two series of formative evaluations, one with a group of subject-matter experts (teachers, linguists, and instructional designers) and one with a group of students, were run against the instruction. Overall, it was found that a database-driven website employing user-defined variables to customize the instruction for each individual user was a useful way to achieve the goals of the study.<br>Ph. D.
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Davies, Simon Rolf. "An investigation of the cognitive nature of general intelligence." University of Western Australia. School of Psychology, 2005. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2005.0118.

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[Truncated abstract] Central to the study of general intelligence is Spearman?s g, one definition of which is general fluid reasoning ability. At a cognitive level of explanation, it has recently been hypothesized that individual differences in g is based in the executive functions of the frontal lobes. This theory can be contrasted with the theory that the fount of g is speed of information processing. The aim of this thesis was to test the idea that the two contrasting theories of g could be reconciled by invoking an alternative theory which suggests that there may be two g?s one related to individual differences in intelligence and attributable to differences in speed of information processing and one related to the development of intelligence and based in executive functions of the frontal lobes. This was done with a series of neuropsychological studies that tested groups of adults and children with and without putative central nervous system damage on tests of fluid intelligence, executive function, goal-neglect, and speed of information processing. In study 1, three adults with focal frontal lobe lesions and ten adults with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) were administered three common intelligence tests. In comparison to premorbid and crystallized measures on intelligence, the majority of frontal patients exhibited impaired fluid g. In study 2, 10 patients with FTD, 8 patients with Alzheimer?s disease (AD), 10 adult controls, and 15 adults with low fluid g, were tested on a fast and slow version of a goal-neglect task (thought to measure executive functioning) and a measure of speed of processing. A classical double dissociation was found. Frontal patients with impaired fluid g displayed goal-neglect but intact speed of information processing whereas the adults with low fluid g exhibited slowed speed of information 2 processing but not goal-neglect. It was concluded that the link between fluid g and goal-neglect in adults (demonstrated by previous research) was based on a speed of information processing confound in the goal-neglect task. In study 3, a series of hierarchical regressions were conducted to analyse the performances of 116 children aged 6- to 11-years on all tests. The statistical attempt to dissociate executive function and speed of information processing only provided tentative support for the hypothesis that executive functions are the basis of developmental changes in g
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Kingsbury, Moore Lois Joy. "Reference and representation in Down's syndrome." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2522.

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Previous research has highlighted a different pattern in the use of grammatical forms to successfully maintain coherent discourse by individuals with Down's syndrome. To maintain coherent discourse both linguistic and non-linguistic information must be integrated and maintained in a mental representation of current discourse. The ability of children with Down's syndrome to use such a mental representation has been assessed in this study. The ability of adults with Down's syndrome to comprehend and produce a range of grammatical forms was initially assessed, using a grammaticality judgement task, an imitation task, and a spontaneous speech sample. Results indicated that the production and comprehension of pronouns was found moderately difficult. The successful use of a pronoun depends on the ability to use a mental representation to retain information about its antecedent in order to assist correct interpretation and avoid ambiguity. A narrative task was used to investigate the use of referential forms by children with Down's syndrome and typically developing children. The effects of certain contextual features on the use of referential forms were investigated: the status of each character and the number of characters in the story; the method of presenting the story; and the position of a listener while the story was narrated. When narrating a story typically developing children distinguished the status of characters in the stories by consistently using different referential forms for each. As age increased this strategy was used more successfully and flexibly. Children with Down's syndrome did not use referential forms in the same way as typically developing children. It is likely that this is a consequence of a difficulty in maintaining information about the whole story-where many sources of information must be accessed, integrated and maintained in a mental representation. At a local level within the story, children with Down's syndrome used referential strategies successfully, demonstrating an ability to integrate limited amounts of information about characters in a story. The inability to maintain information in a mental representation across longer periods of discourse indicates the importance of short term memory in language production.
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35

Jiang, Qianhong. "Development of metalinguistic abilities : young learners learning a foreign language by using poetry." Thesis, Toulouse 2, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017TOU20079/document.

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La thèse actuelle propose un modèle interactif de capacité métalinguistique, de poésie et d'apprentissage des langues étrangères. Elle vise à examiner l'influence du cours d'anglais langue étrangère basé sur la poésie sur la capacité métaphonologique des élèves, et à explorer des relations entre leur capacité métaphonologique et les facteurs d'apprentissage tels que la pédagogie des enseignants, les stratégies d'apprentissage des langues des apprenants, l'exposition linguistique à l’anglais en dehors de la classe et les commentaires des élèves sur le cours d’anglais auquel on a intégré de la poésie. Deux études de cas visent à enquêter sur le développement de la capacité métaphonologique des élèves dans le cours d’anglais avec poésie, ainsi que les relations mentionnées ci-dessus. Une combinaison de méthodes quantitatives et de méthodes qualitatives est utilisée dans cette thèse. Les résultats de la quasi-expérience indiquent que la classe d'anglais prenant appui sur la poésie facilite le développement de la capacité métaphonologique des élèves dans une certaine mesure. La théorie de Bialystok (2001, 2012), la « noticing hypothesis » de Schmidt (Schmidt, 2010) et la poétique cognitive de Tsur (2008) sont utilisées pour analyser et expliquer les résultats des tests de capacité métaphonologique<br>The present study proposes an interactive model of metalinguistic awareness, poetry and foreign language learning. It aims at examining the influence from poetry-embedded class of English as a foreign language on pupils’ phonological awareness, with considering the relations between their phonological awareness and the factors in ecological learning environment that includes teacher’s instruction, learners’ language learning strategies, linguistic exposure to English that learners receive outside of classroom, and pupils’ feedback on the poetry sequence. Two case studies are conducted to probe into the development of pupils’ phonological awareness in the context of poetry-embedment English class, as well as the relations mentioned above. A combination of quantitative methods and qualitative methods are employed in the current study. The results of quasi-experiment of phonological awareness indicate poetry-embedment English class globally facilitates the development of pupils’ phonological awareness to some extent. Bialystok’s theory (2001, 2012) Schmidt’s noticing hypothesis (Schmidt,2010), and Tsur’s cognitive poetics (2008) are employed to interpret the results of phonological awareness tests
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Hoskyn, Maureen Janet. "Relationships among metalinguistic awareness, cognitive development, verbal abilities and biliteracy in first grade early French immersion students." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29933.

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The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relation of language and cognitive factors to biliteracy development among EFI first grade children. Variables of interest included phonological awareness, print awareness, level of operativity, English/French verbal ability, and influences in the home environment (e.g. socioeconomic status, parent's level of education, time spent on reading activities). A battery of language, cognitive and reading tests was administered in Fall and again in Spring of the first grade to sixty-eight preliterate Anglophone children. A parent questionnaire yielded information pertaining to socioeconomic status, and reading related leizure activities in the home. A teacher questionnaire provided details which described the various classroom environments of the children in the study. Results of correlational analyses indicate that phonological and print awareness both form a significant, positive relationship with French and English reading. Level of operativity and level of English verbal ability did not correlate significant with any measure of reading. The pattern of correlations between French verbal ability tasks and French/English reading was inconsistent. Four of the six French verbal measures correlated significantly, but weakly with French reading and only one measure formed a significant positive correlation with English reading. Analyses of scatterplots which showed the relation of phonological abilities to reading suggest that phonological awareness is a necessary, but not sufficient skill for learning to read. Several children who had mastered a French phonological test could not decode French words; however, there were no children who were good readers who did not score above the sample mean on at least one measure of phonological awareness. Step-wise multiple regression analyses of sample performance on measures of reading and phonological awareness indicate print awareness is the best predictor of reading achievement in French and English. Scores on phonological measures were able to account for residual variance after print awareness had entered the equation. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed and recommendations for further research are presented.<br>Arts, Faculty of<br>Psychology, Department of<br>Graduate
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Ganger, Jennifer B. "Genes and environment in language acquisition : a study of early vocabulary and syntactic development in twins." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9436.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 1998.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-168).<br>The goal of this thesis is to explore the contributions of heredity and environment to language development using the twin method. This method consists of comparing monozygotic (MZ) twins to dizygotic (DZ) twins to see if MZs have a more similar course of development. Two major aspects of language development are examined: vocabulary and syntax. The development of vocabulary in 43 MZ and 33 same-sex DZ English-speaking twins was studied via parent report. The rate and content of the first 100 or so words in children's productive vocabularies were examined. MZ twins had more similar ages at reaching several milestones of vocabulary growth, more similar overall rates of vocabulary growth, more similar spurts in vocabulary growth, and more similarity in actual words and categories of words they produced than DZ twins, suggesting heritability in early word learning. However, the effects of environment were also prominent in vocabulary development, dwarfing effects of heritability. The development of first word combinations and of first over regularizations of the past tense rule "add -ed'' (e.g., goed for went) were also studied by parent report to examine the contributions of heredity and environment to the development of syntax. Both the age of producing first word combinations and the rate of producing combinations were much more similar in MZ than in DZ twins (N = 24 MZ, 23 DZ). This effect showed large heritability and small effects of environment. The rate of producing past tense over regularizations also appeared to be more similar in MZ than in DZ twins, though this result is tentative due to the small number of twins in this study ( 16 MZ, 11 DZ). Finally, the development of verb tense and agreement was studied longitudinally in 4 MZ and 4 DZ twin pairs. The percentage of correct use of tense/agreement morphemes over time was on average more correlated in the MZ than in the DZ twins, suggesting that differences in the development of the Inflectional system also have genetic influence.<br>by Jennifer B. Ganger.<br>Ph.D.
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Colunga, Cavazos Juan Ernesto. "The cognitive development of students from 9th grade to college in the learning of linear and quadratic functions." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2001. http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/3162970.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, 2001.<br>Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Dec. 2, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-02, Section: A, page: 0470. Chair: Enrique Galindo.
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Kingen, Sharon A. "When middle school writers compose : exploring relationships of processes, products, and levels of cognitive development." Virtual Press, 1990. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/720404.

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This study was designed first to describe the writing processes and products of students in grades 7, 8, and 9 and second to explore patterns of differences related to cognitive development. From the 117 students enrolled at a midwestern university laboratory school who voluntarily completed the Arlin Test of Formal Reasoning, 12 subjects were chosen on the basis of sex, grade, and test score.Each subject individually wrote four letters. A talk-aloud procedure was employed during three sessions and stimulated recall was used during the last session. Finally, all subjects were interviewed.Audio tapes of interviews and videotapes of writing sessions were transcribed. Final copies of texts were typed. Interview responses were examined and summarized. The letters were rated holistically and scored for audience awareness. Counts of words, T-units, and clauses were conducted. Verbalizations in protocols were coded. Further, all data produced during stimulated recall were examined for information about time use, fluency, and pausing, as well as revising and editing.The data revealed that writers considered themselves capable, but the papers received mediocre ratings and scores. The analysis of products showed that subjects wrote more in response to an expressive/informative task, but syntax was more mature on information and persuasion.Overall, formal thinkers wrote more syntactically mature discourse and usually received higher ratings. The analysis of processes data failed to reveal consistent differences, but there were many similarities. The subjects prewrote mentally and focused on producing text quickly. They reread text and edited often, but they rarely revised. Descriptions of processes and rhetorical principles were vague. Although the writers employed many strategies, had some intuitive sense of purpose and audience, and made decisions on the basis of many factors, they lacked control over their composing activities and were unable to transfer strategies from one task to the next.The study concluded with a series of recommendations for composition instruction and further research, particularly a call for teaching the processes of composing at the middle school level and for measuring the effects of this instruction against the baseline of data provided in this study.<br>Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education
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Doe, Timothy Jonathan. "ORAL FLUENCY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES: A ONE-SEMESTER STUDY OF EFL STUDENTS." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2017. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/475911.

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Teaching & Learning<br>Ed.D.<br>The development of speaking fluency is a major goal for many EFL language learners and several researchers have proposed frameworks for fluency instruction based on theories of cognitive science. It is unclear however, whether EFL students with restricted opportunities to use English outside of language classrooms can benefit from fluency development activities. This main purpose of this study was to determine whether EFL students’ speaking fluency improved whilst participating in theoretically grounded fluency development activities. In addition, student use of formulaic language, participation in classroom activities, and repetition of previously used lexical items was examined in order to determine its relation to development in speaking fluency. 32 first-year Japanese university students from four intact discussion skills classes took part in the study, which was conducted over a period of 12 weeks. Data were collected by recording student performances in a variety of fluency development activities and interactive communicative tasks. There were four main questions investigated in this study. The first research question was focused on long-term fluency development by using multi-level modeling to determine whether gains were made in fluency measures in four 2-minute speaking monologue tests that were conducted at regular periods throughout the semester. Three in-class performance variables - the amount of repeated words, the amount of tokens spoken, and the amount of formulaic language spoken, and three individual difference variables—willingness to communicate, extraversion, and first language fluency were also examined to determine if they were related to any growth observed. The second research question looked at short-term fluency development across a time-pressured speaking activity and similarly used multi-level modeling with the same predictor variables. The third research question concerned the relationship of complexity and accuracy to the fluency measures derived from the monologue speaking tests. Finally, the fourth research question was an investigation of the relationship between the objective fluency measurements and subjective expert ratings. The results indicated that the participants made very small, but significant gains on their mean length of pause across the monologue speaking tests. While none of the predictor variables had a strong relationship with this development, post-hoc analyses suggested that other fluency measures and oral proficiency level could have covaried with this growth. There was also a small but significant improvement in the phonation/time ratio, however, none of the predictor variables appeared to covary with this development. No other significant relationships were found in the long-term fluency measures. For the short-term fluency measures, significant growth was seen across the three deliveries of the speaking activity. While several of the predictor variables, most prominently repetition and the number of tokens spoken, had a significant relationship with this growth, a closer examination revealed that the degree of covariance was extremely slight. The relationship among complexity, accuracy, and fluency also became more significantly correlated over time, suggesting that learners produced higher quality samples of language as the study progressed. Finally, the expert ratings had significant correlations with three of the five fluency measures, indicating that human raters were able to detect small differences in spoken fluency. The findings of this study show that fluency can develop in instructed foreign language settings, however, the role of practice and repetition might be more complex than has been suggested in the research literature. This study provides some insight into that complexity and suggests a number of directions that can be followed to understand more about fluency development.<br>Temple University--Theses
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Svirko, Elena. "Individual differences in complex grammar acquisition : causes and consequences." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b0b039d2-5025-4f48-8aa5-546b6bd29090.

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A longitudinal study lasting 3.5 years was conducted to investigate complex grammar development, focusing on acquisition of the passive and type 3 conditionals, and its relationship with a number of domain-general, domain-specific and environmental factors. 128 children (M = 5 years 10 months) were tested at the beginning and towards the end of each school year starting from Year 1. The administered measures included established tests of fluid intelligence, short-term and working memory, seriation, grammar, vocabulary, literacy and arithmetic, plus newly-developed tests of passive and conditional sentence acquisition, and arithmetic word problem solving. It was demonstrated that grammar acquisition is not complete even when children start Year 4 of primary school (M = 8 years 7 months), when the current study was completed. At that time, 32% of children have not acquired type 3 conditionals and 89% showed no understanding of centre-embedded sentences. However, only 3% showed no passive sentence acquisition. Fluid intelligence, verbal STM and WM, ability to seriate, vocabulary and parental education level were all found to contribute to individual differences in complex grammar acquisition, independently of age differences and, where relevant, independently of non-verbal ability. There were differences between the passives and the conditionals in their relationship to these variables. Complex grammar development was found to be a significant predictor of reading comprehension, spelling and arithmetic performance, independently of age, non-verbal ability, verbal STM and WM. The findings demonstrate the inter-relatedness of higher cognitive functions, particularly domain-general with domain-specific ones. Modularity in its strictest sense (informational encapsulation, functional isolation) is not present in normally developing brains. Educational applications of the results are discussed.
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Lindsay, Mary. "The test of cognitive skills and the test of language development-2 primary short form as indicators of language dysfunction." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28418.

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The Test of Cognitive Skills (TCS) Level 1 and the Test of Language Development-2 (TOLD-2) Primary Short Form were administered to 34 students diagnosed with language disorders and 34 language normal students. The subjects were matched for age, sex and years of schooling. Both the TCS Level 1 and the TOLD-2 Primary Short Form differentiated the language disordered group from the language normal group. Results are discussed with respect to (a) differences of each of the language groups based on the subtests, (b) a significant positive correlation between the TCS Level 1 Cognitive Skills Index and the TOLD-2 Primary Short Form Quotient for the language normal group only, and (c) the applicability of the results to the screening for language dysfunction.<br>Education, Faculty of<br>Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of<br>Graduate
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Nácar, García Loreto 1988. "Language acquisition in bilingual infants : Early language discrimination in the auditory and visual domains." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/511361.

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Learning language is a cornerstone in the cognitive development during the first year of life. A fundamental difference between infants growing up in monolingual versus bilingual environments is the necessity of the latter to discriminate between two language systems since very early in life. To be able to learn two different languages, bilingual infants will have to perceive the regularities of each of their two languages while keeping them separated. In this thesis we explore the differences between monolingual and bilingual infants in their early language discrimination abilities as well as the strategies that arise for each group as a consequence of their adaptation to their different linguistic environments. In chapter two, we examine the capacities of monolingual and bilingual 4-month-old infants to discriminate between their native/dominant language from foreign ones in the auditory domain. Our results show that, in this context, bilingual and monolingual infants present different brain signals, both in the temporal and the frequency domain, when listening to their native language. The results pinpoint that discriminating the native language represents a higher cognitive cost for bilingual than for monolingual infants when only auditory information is available. In chapter three we explore the abilities of monolingual and bilingual 8-month-old infants to discriminate between languages in the visual domain. Here we show to infants never exposed to sign languages videos of two different sign languages and we measure their discriminatory abilities using a habituation paradigm. The results show that at this age only bilingual infants can discriminate between the two sign languages. The results of a second control study points in the direction that bilinguals exploit the information coming from the face of the signer to make the distinction. Altogether, the studies presented in this thesis investigate a fundamental ability to learn language - specially in the case of bilingual environments - which is discriminating between different languages. Compared to a monolingual environment, being exposed to a bilingual environment is characterized by receiving more information (2 languages) but with less exposure to each of the languages (on average half of the time to each of them). We argue that the developmental brain is as prepared to learn one language from birth, as it is to learn two. However, to do so, monolingual and bilingual infants will develop particular strategies that will allow them to select the relevant information from the auditory and visual domains.<br>La adquisición del lenguaje es una pieza fundamental en el desarrollo cognitivo durante el primer año de vida. Una diferencia fundamental entre los bebés que crecen en ambientes monolingües y bilingües es que estos últimos necesitan discriminar entre dos sistemas lingüísticos desde muy temprano en la vida. Para poder aprender dos idiomas, los bebés bilingües tienen que percibir las regularidades de cada uno de sus idiomas y a la vez mantenerlos separados. En esta tesis exploramos las diferencias entre bebés monolingües y bilingües tanto en sus capacidades de discriminación tempranas, como en las estrategias que desarrolla cada grupo como consecuencia de la adaptación a su entorno lingüístico. En el segundo capítulo, examinamos la capacidad de los bebés bilingües y monolingües a los 4 meses de edad para discriminar entre la lengua nativa/dominante de otra extranjera en el dominio auditivo. Nuestros resultados muestran que, en este contexto, los bebés monolingües y bilingües presentan diferentes señales auditivas cuando escuchan su lengua nativa. Los resultados señalan que discriminar la lengua nativa representa un coste cognitivo mayor para los bebés bilingües que para los monolingües cuando sólo sólo disponen de información auditiva. En el capítulo 3, exploramos las habilidades de los bebés monolingües y bilingües a los 8 meses de edad para discriminar lenguas en el dominio visual. Aquí, mostramos a bebés que nunca han sido expuestos a lengua de signos, videos de dos lenguas de signos diferentes y medimos sus habilidades discriminatorias usando un paradigma de habituación. Los resultados muestran que a esta edad sólo los bebés bilingües son capaces de hacer la distinción y apuntan que para ello aprovechan la información proveniente de la cara de la signante.
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Robertson, Chelsea L. "Exploring the Moderating Effect of Maternal Scaffolding on The Temperament - Language Development Relationship." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2019. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3613.

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Many studies have examined the relationship between a child’s temperament and its effect on his or her early language development. However, few studies have investigated the detrimental effects a child’s negative affectivity may have on their language development and potential ways these effects may be limited through parental behaviors. The current study aimed to investigate if physical or verbal maternal scaffolding behaviors moderated the effect negative affect has on language development. Although it was expected that maternal encouragement of physical activity would play a moderating role in the relationship between temperament and language development, no such relationship was found. One explanation for these findings is the operationalization of maternal scaffolding behaviors in the present study; previous studies have also included instances of emotional and motivational scaffolding. Future efforts should aim to incorporate a broader range of potential scaffolding behaviors in their coding protocols.
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Barnard, Miriam K. "The Assessment of Cognitive Development and Writing Aptitude Within Learning Communities." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2001. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2916/.

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Learning communities have emerged as an efficient and effective paradigm for improving undergraduate education, especially for entering freshmen. The academy has become increasingly interested in learning outcomes and student retention, especially as they are related to the assessment of various approaches to educating the whole student. Learning community pedagogy has developed through rigorous research. However, little is known about the impact of this pedagogy upon college students' cognitive development and writing aptitude. Cognitive development theory has been most significantly influenced by the work of William G. Perry, Jr. Though no theory exists which would address the stages of writing development in university students, many composition theorists suggest a correlation between cognitive development and writing aptitude. This study measured cognitive development and writing aptitude in learning community students and non-learning community students, matching them for SAT scores, high school grade point averages, gender, and ethnicity. The research questions of interest were: 1) How does participation in a learning community affect students' cognitive development; and 2) How does participation in a learning community affect students' writing aptitude? The participants were pre- and post-assessed for cognitive development, using the Measure of Intellectual Development (MID). Additionally, participants were preand post-assessed for writing aptitude, using a diagnostic essay and exit exam. Results of this study indicate no statistically significant differences in cognitive development and writing aptitude for learning community students and non-learning community students as measured by the Measure of Intellectual Development (MID) and the diagnostic essay and exit exam. These findings may have been influenced by the small sample size. It is suggested that this research be replicated, ensuring a larger sample size, to determine the efficacy of this pedagogy on these variable sets.
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Aaro, Jonsson Catherine. "Long-term cognitive outcome of childhood traumatic brain injury." Doctoral thesis, Stockholm : Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-38530.

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Hobbs, Kathryn Virginia. "Infants' and toddlers' reasoning about others: Connections to prosocial development and language." Thesis, Harvard University, 2014. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:13065030.

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Often overlooked in the study of theory of mind (ToM) development, the understanding of motivational states, such as goals and desires, is both an important capacity in its own right and also a likely precursor to more advanced social and cognitive skills. This dissertation explored infants' and toddlers' reasoning about agents' motivational states, linking those representations to the domains of language and prosocial development. Parts I and II of the dissertation asked about toddlers' abilities to use representations of others' motivational states to guide helping behaviors. Part I used a spontaneous helping paradigm with two goal objects, one previously liked and the other disliked. Three- but not 2-year-olds helped appropriately by giving an actor her desired object, reflecting prosocial concern for others' specific desires at age 3. Part II probed the understanding of goals and helping of 14- and 24-month-olds. After establishing that toddlers encode simple reaching actions as goal-directed, a series of 4 experiments using an object-giving paradigm investigated toddlers' abilities to use goal representations to guide helping. The results indicate that 24- but not 14-month-olds used representations of prior goals to inform their helping behaviors; 14-month-olds were capable of using only current goals to guide helping. Part III of the dissertation asked whether there is continuity in the developmental relationship between language and ToM by investigating links between toddlers' understanding of motivational states and their vocabulary size. Experiment 1 found no correlation between the vocabulary size of typically hearing toddlers and their performance on tasks measuring motivational state understanding. Experiment 2 compared the same motivational state understanding of typically hearing toddlers and deaf toddlers with smaller vocabularies, finding no differences in performance between groups. The results of these experiments indicate that the link between language and false belief that is present at age 4 does not extend to motivational state reasoning in the toddler years. Together the findings of this dissertation highlight important limits and boundary conditions on young children's reasoning about motivational states. Further research is needed into the developmental trajectory and mechanisms of theory of mind reasoning.<br>Psychology
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Paterson, Sarah Jane. "Language and number in Williams Syndrome and Down's Syndrome : from infant precursors to the mature phenotype." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2000. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1348745/.

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This thesis is an examination of language and number in two atypically developing groups, Williams Syndrome (WS) and Down's Syndrome (DS). These groups were chosen because their cognitive profiles in adulthood differ significantly. It is already known that language is a relative strength in WS but that it is poorer than non-verbal ability in DS. The precursors to both language and number ability were studied in 24-36 month old infants and performance at this stage was compared with that in the steady state, by testing older children and adults, aged 9-35 years. Similar age-appropriate tests were used with both groups so that performance in the steady state could be compared with that in infancy. Specific subdomains of language and number were assessed to investigate whether the pattern seen in the adult steady state was also present in infancy, or whether the mature phenotype is a product of the different developmental trajectories followed by each group. The overall cognitive profile of infants with WS and DS did not differ significantly, despite clear distinctions between the adult profiles. However, their performance on number and language tasks did differ in infancy. While in adulthood WS performance on number tasks was poorer than that of DS, in infancy this pattern was reversed. For language, infants with DS exhibited a large discrepancy between productive and receptive vocabulary. A more even pattern was present for the WS group. In adulthood, vocabulary was better in WS than DS but both groups had problems with syntactic structures. Taken together these results suggest that it is not possible to derive the pattern of infant performance from the steady state in adulthood. The developmental trajectories from precursors to mature phenotype need to be thoroughly charted in atypical populations because the study of development, not just the characterisation of the endstates, is crucial.
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Eun, Barohny Heining-Boynton Audrey L. "The impact of an English as a second language professional development program a social cognitive approach /." Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006. http://dc.lib.unc.edu/u?/etd,74.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006.<br>Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 10, 2007). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education (Educational Psychology, Measurement, and Evaluation). Chapel Hill 2006." Discipline: Education; Department/School: Education.
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Ntshangase, Nelisiwe Dolly. "The negative impact of learning in English on the cognitive development of second language learners of English." Thesis, University of Zululand, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/1098.

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A study submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of General Linguistics at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2011.<br>This study focuses on the negative impact of English on the cognitive development of second language learners of English. The study was conducted in Empangeni District (Ngwelezane Ward) in KwaZulu-Natal. The negative impact of English on the cognitive development of second language learners of English was identified as the main cause of the high failure rate, especially at matric level. Second language learners of English in rural and some township schools end up unemployed and not in tertiary institutions as most teachers are not adequately trained to detect, explain, diagnose and try to remedy the problems these learners encounter when they are taught in English. This study highlights the negative impact of learning in English on the cognitive development of second language learners of English that result on the high failure rate in rural and some township schools. Challenges facing the different stakeholders that are affected by this problem are outlined. Suggestions towards alleviating the negative impact of English on the cognitive development of second language learners of English are also provided.
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