Development of a test battery to diagnose specific learning disorder in mathematics in a multilingual education context

Scientific Conference (2022, November)

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 ▲]

Sprach- und Leseunterschiede zwischen portugiesischen Migrantenkindern mit und ohne Klassenwiederholung in Luxemburg.

in University of Luxembourg, LUCET; Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et de la Jeunesse, SCRIPT, (Eds.) Nationaler Bildungsbericht Luxemburg 2021 (2021)

Antônio ist ein Junge aus Luxemburg im schulpflichtigen Alter. Er wird demnächst Lesen und Schreiben lernen. Antônios Eltern sind Portugiesen, und zu Hause sprechen sie nur ihre Muttersprache. In Cycle 1 ... [more ▼]

Antônio ist ein Junge aus Luxemburg im schulpflichtigen Alter. Er wird demnächst Lesen und Schreiben lernen. Antônios Eltern sind Portugiesen, und zu Hause sprechen sie nur ihre Muttersprache. In Cycle 1 (Vorschule) hat Antônio Luxemburgisch sprechen gelernt. Seit er in der Vorschule mit der Sprache in Berührung gekommen ist, hat er sich einen großen Wortschatz in Luxemburgisch angeeignet. Wortschatzkenntnisse gehören zu den wichtigsten Voraussetzungen für das Lesen (Lervåg & Aukrust, 2010). Kinder, die das Lesenlernen mit umfangreicheren Wortschatzkenntnissen beginnen, haben bessere Chancen auf Lernerfolge beim Lesen. Für Kinder in Luxemburg ist es eine große Herausforderung, dass der Schriftspracherwerb in Deutsch erfolgt, das für die meisten von ihnen eine Fremdsprache ist, und nicht in Luxemburgisch, also der Sprache, die sie zuvor in Cycle 1 gelernt haben. [less ▲]

Automatic Integration of Numerical Formats Examined with Frequency-tagged EEG

in Scientific Reports (2021)

How humans integrate and abstract numerical information across different formats is one of the most debated questions in human cognition. We addressed the neuronal signatures of the numerical integration ... [more ▼]

How humans integrate and abstract numerical information across different formats is one of the most debated questions in human cognition. We addressed the neuronal signatures of the numerical integration using an EEG technique tagged at the frequency of visual stimulation. In an oddball design, participants were stimulated with standard sequences of numbers (<5) depicted in single (digits, dots, number words) or mixed notation (dots – digits, number words – dots, digits – number words), presented at 10Hz. Periodically, a deviant stimulus (>5) was inserted at 1.25 Hz. We observed significant oddball amplitudes for all single notations, showing for the first time using this EEG technique, that the magnitude information is spontaneously and unintentionally abstracted, irrespectively of the numerical format. Significant amplitudes were also observed for digits – number words and number words – dots, but not for digits – dots, suggesting an automatic integration across some numerical formats. These results imply that direct and indirect neuro-cognitive links exist across the different numerical formats. [less ▲]

The Mediation role of ADHD Symptoms and Emotion Regulation in the association between Executive functions and internalizing Symptoms: A study among youths with and without ADHD and/of Dyslexia

in Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (2021), 5

Objectives The present study aimed at combining previous separate research findings having shown that executive functions (EF) contribute to a large range of emotional and behavioral problems among youths ... [more ▼]

Objectives The present study aimed at combining previous separate research findings having shown that executive functions (EF) contribute to a large range of emotional and behavioral problems among youths with and without neurodevelopmental disorders such as dyslexia and ADHD. Within a unifying framework, it investigated the mediational roles of ADHD symptoms and emotion regulation (ER) difficulties in the association between various EF and internalizing symptoms. Methods The sample included 82 adolescents with ADHD, dyslexia, comorbid ADHD/dyslexia, and typically developing adolescents, thus showing varying EF deficits. Whereas EF (attentional control, inhibition, shifting, working memory) were assessed in behavioral tasks, parents reported on ADHD symptoms, and ER and internalizing (anxiety, depression) symptoms were assessed via self-reports. Results In two-path mediation analyses, ADHD symptoms and ER problems mediated the association between working memory and anxiety (via inattention and ER, a1d21b2 = − .27, 95% CI [− .58, − .04]; via hyperactivity and ER, a1d21b2 = − .19, 95% CI [− .42, − .02]) and depression symptoms (via inattention and ER, a1d21b2 = − .20, 95% CI [− .54, − .03]; via hyperactivity and ER, a1d21b2 = − .24, 95% CI [− .48, − .03]). Hyperactivity and ER, but not inattention and ER, mediated the association between inhibition and internalizing symptoms (predicting anxiety, a1d21b2 = .003, 95% CI [.0001, .009]; predicting depression, a1d21b2 = .004, 95% CI [.002, .009]) as well as between attentional control and internalizing symptoms (predicting anxiety, a1d21b2 = .01, 95% CI [.001, .03]; predicting depression, a1d21b2 = .01, 95% CI [.004, .03]). Conclusions These results offer an insight into how ADHD symptoms and ER problems mediate the association between EF components and internalizing symptoms, with potential implications for prevention and intervention measures. [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)

Rechenstörungen

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

The Mediating Role of ADHD Symptoms and Emotion Regulation in the Association Between Executive Functions and Internalizing Symptoms: a Study Among Youths with and Without ADHD and/or Dyslexia

in Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (2021), 5(4), 396--412

Harmonic amplitude summation for frequency-tagging analysis

in Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (2021)

In the approach of frequency tagging, stimuli that are presented periodically generate periodic responses of the brain. Following a transformation into the frequency domain, the brain’s response is often ... [more ▼]

In the approach of frequency tagging, stimuli that are presented periodically generate periodic responses of the brain. Following a transformation into the frequency domain, the brain’s response is often evident at the frequency of stimulation, F, and its higher harmonics (2F, 3F, etc.). This approach is increasingly used in neuroscience, as it affords objective measures to characterize brain function. However, whether these specific harmonic frequency responses should be combined for analysis, and if so, how, remains an outstanding issue. In most studies, higher harmonic responses have not been described or were described only individually; in other studies, harmonics have been combined with various approaches, e.g., averaging and root mean squared summation. A rationale for these approaches in the context of frequency-based analysis principles, and understanding of how they relate to the brain’s response amplitudes in the time domain, has been missing. Here, with these elements addressed, the summation of (baseline-corrected) harmonic amplitude is recommended. [less ▲]

LEARN Newsletter - Editioun 2021

Book published by LEARN (2021)