WORKING MEMORY AND LEARNING: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF TRILINGUAL CHILDREN

Scientific Conference (2009, August)

The aim of the present study was to investigate the contribution of two working memory systems (the phonological loop and the central executive) to children’s learning in the areas of vocabulary, language ... [more ▼]

The aim of the present study was to investigate the contribution of two working memory systems (the phonological loop and the central executive) to children’s learning in the areas of vocabulary, language comprehension, reading, spelling, mathematical skills, and foreign language acquisition. The term working memory refers to the ability to store and manipulate information in mind for a brief period of time, in the course of ongoing cognitive activities (Baddeley, 2000). A sample of 119 Luxembourgish children, learning German and French as secondary languages were assessed longitudinally over a 3-year time period. In Luxembourg, children learn to speak, read, and write in two languages that are different from their native language Luxembourgish. A battery of working memory, and learning ability tests were administered. Children were tested in kindergarten (5 years of age), in first, and in second grade with a one year interval between each testing wave. Multiple assessments of each construct made it possible to construct latent variables, and apply structural equation modeling techniques to explore the underlying theoretical structure of working memory in young children, and possible links with learning. Results indicate that relations between the working memory measures were best characterized by a model consisting of two related but separable constructs corresponding to the phonological loop and the central executive. Individual differences in phonological loop functioning and the central executive were found to be remarkably stable from kindergarten through second grade. The data further showed that both memory components were differentially associated with learning: Whereas the phonological loop was more specifically linked to early language development and vocabulary in particular, the central executive appeared to make more general contributions to classroom related learning. The findings lend strong support to the position that the phonological loop is one of the main contributors to new word learning in both native and non-native languages by supporting the formation of stable phonological representations of new words in long-term memory. Furthermore the findings fit well with the position that the central executive might play an important role in the monitoring and processing of information during complex and demanding activities present in many classroom situations. In conclusion, the presented evidence of (a) the stability of individual differences in young children’s working memory capacity and, (b) causal relations of working memory with learning reinforces the value of early screening of working memory abilities to identify children who are at risk of poor academic progress over the coming years. [less ▲]

Die Drittwirkung des Sicherungsvertrags beim Immobiliarkredithandel

in Archiv für die civilistische Praxis (2009), 209. Band, Heft 3/4

Robust Collaborative-Relay Beamforming

in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing (2009), 57(8), 3130-3143

Relay communications is a promising technique to extend the range of wireless communications by forwarding the message from the sender to the intended destination. While fixed or variable-power relays ... [more ▼]

Relay communications is a promising technique to extend the range of wireless communications by forwarding the message from the sender to the intended destination. While fixed or variable-power relays have been previously investigated, this paper addresses the collaborative use of variable-phase variable-power amplify-and-forward (AF) relays for robust beamforming, with the aid of imperfect channel state information (CSI) at the sender. In particular, the maximization of the worst-case signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the destination terminal is studied under a bounded spherical region for the norm of the CSI error vector from the relays to the destination. Our main contribution is that we prove, under a condition on the quality of the estimated CSI, the robust-optimal collaborative-relay beamforming (CRBF) can be obtained by S-procedure and rank relaxation techniques. In addition, a distributed algorithm is developed by examining the structure of the optimal CRBF solution. Results demonstrate a significant gain of CRBF over non-robust approaches. [less ▲]

Wunnéngshëllef: Eine Institution im Wandel. Anlayse der Erfahrungen, Interessen und Motive der Mitarbeiter als Grundlage der Konzept- und Strategieentwicklung

Report (2009)

Der vorliegende Evaluationsbericht dokumentiert die Ergebnisse einer Studie, die im Sommer 2005 durch die Wunnéngshëllef beim luxemburgischen Forschungsinstitut CESIJE (Centre d'Etudes sur la Situation ... [more ▼]

Der vorliegende Evaluationsbericht dokumentiert die Ergebnisse einer Studie, die im Sommer 2005 durch die Wunnéngshëllef beim luxemburgischen Forschungsinstitut CESIJE (Centre d'Etudes sur la Situation des Jeunes en Europe) in Auftrag gegeben wurde. Sie hat das Ziel, die strukturellen und konzeptionellen Leistungen der Institution Wunnéngshëllef mit sozialwissenschaftlichen Instrumenten zu beleuchten und zu analysieren, um hieraus Einschätzungen zur Ist-Situation der institutionellen und organisatorischen Abläufe, ihrer Qualität, aber auch des Entwicklungsbedarfs und des Entwicklungspotentzials zu erhalten. [less ▲]

On the way to competence levels in dynamic microsystems: The MicroDYN Approach

Scientific Conference (2009, August)

Anchoring effects in teachers’ assessment of student performance: Two experimental studies

Scientific Conference (2009, August)

Interaction between Scottish Folksong and the Music of the Viennese Classical Period Music

Scientific Conference (2009, July 25)

Application of Statistical Shape Analysis to the Classification of Renal Tumorurs Appearing in Early Childhood

Scientific Conference (2009, July 16)

Software Development & Online Systems: CAS

Scientific Conference (2009, July 14)

The primary aims of this working group are to exchange ideas/plans for future extensions of GeoGebra and organise its developer community. Current projects include extending the statistics and spreadsheet ... [more ▼]

The primary aims of this working group are to exchange ideas/plans for future extensions of GeoGebra and organise its developer community. Current projects include extending the statistics and spreadsheet capabilities of GeoGebra and improving CAS integration into the software. In addition, some work has been already carried out on the 3D extension of GeoGebra. As an open-source project with a large user base, the future development of GeoGebra will be substantially influenced by the needs and desires of the GeoGebra user community and by the strength and cohesiveness of the GeoGebra developers. The focus areas of this working group include: * Features & Wishlist * Extensions: exploring possible extensions of GeoGebra features like Spreadsheet, CAS, 3D, etc. * Online Systems: integration into online systems like Moodle, Sage, WebWork, etc. * Wishlist & Roadmap: developing and evaluating a wish list for future extensions * Organization * User Community: new website, GeoGebraWiki, material manager * Developer Community: distributing work and managing the open-source developer community * Support * Projects: listing existing projects; developing ideas for research and development projects; * Funding: exploring resources for future developments and supporting developers [less ▲]

Intergeo: fostering the use of Dynamic Geometry Software in Europe

Scientific Conference (2009, July 13)