Vanessa Arán Filippetti

Verbal Fluency in Spanish-Speaking Children: Analysis Model According to Task Type, Clustering, and Switching Strategies and Performance Over Time

Verbal fluency (VF) tasks are extensively used to measure strategic retrieval and executive functioning. Results for total production of words, clustering and switching strategies, and performance over time for Spanish-speaking children are provided. A total of 120 children, ranging in age from 8 to 11, were divided by age into two groups and evaluated. A higher total score for words produced in the semantic compared with the phonological task, a correlation between clustering and switching strategies and total score, and decreased task performance over time were evidenced. These scores were higher in the older group. Moreover, an association was found between verbal fluency tasks, strategies employed, and cognitive executive functions. This indicates that clustering and switching strategies provide indicators of strategic retrieval and executive processes. Together the results suggest that these fluency scores are valuable to measure underlying cognitive processes and retrieval strategies and therefore could be useful to assess executive function deficits in children.

A structural equation modeling of executive functions, IQ and mathematical skills in primary students: Differential effects on number production, mental calculus and arithmetical problems

ABSTRACT Though the relationship between executive functions (EFs) and mathematical skills has been well documented, little is known about how both EFs and IQ differentially support diverse math domains in primary students. Inconsistency of results may be due to the statistical techniques employed, specifically, if the analysis is conducted with observed variables, i.e., regression analysis, or at the latent level, i.e., structural equation modeling (SEM). The current study explores the contribution of both EFs and IQ in mathematics through an SEM approach. A total of 118 8- to 12-year-olds were administered measures of EFs, crystallized (Gc) and fluid (Gf) intelligence, and math abilities (i.e., number production, mental calculus and arithmetical problem-solving). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) offered support for the three-factor solution of EFs: (1) working memory (WM), (2) shifting, and (3) inhibition. Regarding the relationship among EFs, IQ and math abilities, the results of the SEM analysis showed that (i) WM and age predict number production and mental calculus, and (ii) shifting and sex predict arithmetical problem-solving. In all of the SEM models, EFs partially or totally mediated the relationship between IQ, age and math achievement. These results suggest that EFs differentially supports math abilities in primary-school children and is a more significant predictor of math achievement than IQ level.

Predictores de la Comprensión Lectora en Niños y Adolescentes: El papel de la Edad, el Sexo y las Funciones Ejecutivas.

Fil: Aran Filippetti, Vanessa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Psicologia Matematica y Experimental ; Argentina

Children＇s Cognitive Development in Social Vulnerability： An Interventional Experience

This work presents the information resulting from our studies regarding the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on executive functions (EF). In the same context, we set out a proposal for cognitive intervention to strengthen cognitive resources in the school setting. We conclude that the differences in the cognitive executive system associated with SES are the consequence of the interaction of specific socioeconomic variables and a cognitive impulsivity, as well as lesser linguistic abilities that act as mediating variables in explaining the lower executive achievement associated with SES. Understanding the possible causal socioeconomic indicators and those mediating cognitive variables enables the design of intervention strategies and planning educational and social policies tending to reduce the impact of poverty on cognitive development.