Number transcoding in bilinguals—A transversal developmental study

in PLoS ONE (2022), 17(8), 0273391

Number transcoding is the cognitive task of converting between different numerical codes (i.e. visual “42”, verbal “forty-two”). Visual symbolic to verbal transcoding and vice versa strongly relies on ... [more ▼]

Number transcoding is the cognitive task of converting between different numerical codes (i.e. visual “42”, verbal “forty-two”). Visual symbolic to verbal transcoding and vice versa strongly relies on language proficiency. We evaluated transcoding of German-French bilinguals from Luxembourg in 5th, 8th, 11th graders and adults. In the Luxembourgish educational system, children acquire mathematics in German (LM1) until the 7th grade, and then the language of learning mathematic switches to French (LM2). French `70s `80s `90s are less transparent than `30s `40s `50s numbers, since they have a base-20 structure, which is not the case in German. Transcoding was evaluated with a reading aloud and a verbal-visual number matching task. Results of both tasks show a cognitive cost for transcoding numbers having a base-20 structure (i.e. `70s, `80s and `90s), such that response times were slower in all age groups. Furthermore, considering only base-10 numbers (i.e. `30s `40s `50s), it appeared that transcoding in LM2 (French) also entailed a cost. While participants across age groups tended to read numbers slower in LM2, this effect was limited to the youngest age group in the matching task. In addition, participants made more errors when reading LM2 numbers. In conclusion, we observed an age-independent language effect with numbers having a base-20 structure in French, reflecting their reduced transparency with respect to the decimal system. Moreover, we find an effect of language of math acquisition such that transcoding is less well mastered in LM2. This effect tended to persist until adulthood in the reading aloud task, while in the matching task performance both languages become similar in older adolescents and young adults. This study supports the link between numbers and language, especially highlighting the impact of language on reading numbers aloud from childhood to adulthood. [less ▲]

Reasoning on conflicting information: An empirical study of Formal Argumentation

in PLoS ONE (2022), 17(8 August),

According to the Argumentative Theory, human reasoning has an argumentative function, which consists of devising and evaluating arguments for and against various claims. It is however unclear how humans ... [more ▼]

According to the Argumentative Theory, human reasoning has an argumentative function, which consists of devising and evaluating arguments for and against various claims. It is however unclear how humans handle conflicting claims they face in everyday life (i.e., “Bob is telling me that Alice is at the library” vs. “Charles is telling me that Alice is at home”). We here investigate human argumentative reasoning in the light of Formal Argumentation, a research field that develops formal methods to give a normative account of argumentation and reasoning about conflicting information. In Formal Argumentation, multiple argumentation semantics that allow selecting sets of jointly acceptable arguments have been proposed. Nonetheless, it is unclear which of these semantics predicts best how humans evaluate the acceptability of conflicting arguments. We conducted an empirical study in which 130 young adults judged natural language arguments. We instructed them to draw the attack relation between the given arguments and to evaluate the acceptability of each of these arguments. Our results show that human judgments on the existence and directionality of attacks between the arguments conform to theoretical predictions from Formal Argumentation. We further found out that some less well-known argumentation semantics predicted human evaluation better than the most well-known semantics. These findings support the cognitive plausibility of variants of Formal Argumentation and bring new insights into reasoning about conflicting information. [less ▲]

Différences de performance dans les compétences langagières et en lecture entre élèves à parcours scolaire régulier et irrégulier, issus de familles immigrées portugaises au Luxembourg.

in University of Luxembourg, LUCET; Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et de la Jeunesse, SCRIPT (Eds.) Rapport national sur l’éducation au Luxembourg 2021 (2021)

Learning mathematics with shackles: How lower reading comprehension in the language of mathematics instruction accounts for lower mathematics achievement in speakers of different home languages

in Acta Psychologica (2021)

Canonical representations of fingers and dots trigger an automatic activation of number semantics: an EEG study on 10-year-old children

in Neuropsychologia (2021)

Over the course of development, children must learn to map a non-symbolic representation of magnitude to a more precise symbolic system. There is solid evidence that finger and dot representations can ... [more ▼]

Over the course of development, children must learn to map a non-symbolic representation of magnitude to a more precise symbolic system. There is solid evidence that finger and dot representations can facilitate or even predict the acquisition of this mapping skill. While several behavioral studies demonstrated that canonical representations of fingers and dots automatically activate number semantics, no study so far has investigated their cerebral basis. To examine these questions, 10-year-old children were presented a behavioral naming task and a Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation EEG paradigm. In the behavioral task, children had to name as fast and as accurately as possible the numbers of dots and fingers presented in canonical and non-canonical configurations. In the EEG experiment, one category of stimuli (e.g., canonical representation of fingers or dots) was periodically inserted (1/5) in streams of another category (e.g., non-canonical representation of fingers or dots) presented at a fast rate (4 Hz). Results demonstrated an automatic access to number semantics and bilateral categorical responses at 4 Hz/5 for canonical representations of fingers and dots. Some differences between finger and dot configuration’s processing were nevertheless observed and are discussed in light of an effortful-automatic continuum hypothesis. [less ▲]

Einleitung: Lernstörungen im multilingualen Kontext – Eine Herausforderung

in Ugen, Sonja; Schiltz, Christine; Fischbach, Antoine (Eds.) et al Lernstörungen im multilingualen Kontext: Diagnose und Hilfestellungen (2021)

Number Line Tasks and Their Relation to Arithmetics in Second to Fourth Graders

in Journal of Numerical Cognition (2021), 7(1), 20--41

Varying stimulus duration reveals consistent neural activity and behavior for human face individuation

in Neuroscience (2021), 472

Establishing consistent relationships between neural activity and behavior is a challenge in human cognitive neuroscience research. We addressed this issue using variable time constraints in an oddball ... [more ▼]

Establishing consistent relationships between neural activity and behavior is a challenge in human cognitive neuroscience research. We addressed this issue using variable time constraints in an oddball frequency-sweep design for visual discrimination of complex images (face exemplars). Sixteen participants viewed sequences of ascending presentation durations, from 25 to 333 ms (40–3 Hz stimulation rate) while their electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Throughout each sequence, the same unfamiliar face picture was repeated with variable size and luminance changes while different unfamiliar facial identities appeared every 1 s (1 Hz). A neural face individuation response, tagged at 1 Hz and its unique harmonics, emerged over the occipito-temporal cortex at 50 ms stimulus duration (25–100 ms across individuals), with an optimal response reached at 170 ms stimulus duration. In a subsequent experiment, identity changes appeared non-periodically within fixed-frequency sequences while the same participants performed an explicit face individuation task. The behavioral face individuation response also emerged at 50 ms presentation time, and behavioral accuracy correlated with individual participants’ neural response amplitude in a weighted middle stimulus duration range (50–125 ms). Moreover, the latency of the neural response peaking between 180 and 200 ms correlated strongly with individuals’ behavioral accuracy in this middle duration range, as measured independently. These observations point to the minimal (50 ms) and optimal (170 ms) stimulus durations for human face individuation and provide novel evidence that inter-individual differences in the magnitude and latency of early, high-level neural responses are predictive of behavioral differences in performance at this function. [less ▲]

LEARN Newsletter - Editioun 2021

Book published by LEARN (2021)

The development of early visual-spatial abilities--considering effects of test mode

in Cognitive Development (2021), 60