Background: The role of non-linguistic factors, such as executive functions, in the reading comprehension process has been analyzed. The present research sought to investigate the relationship between executive functions and reading comprehension.
Methods: In an exploratory cross-sectional study, a group of 89 fourth-grade students were evaluated, considering a balanced number of children with and without reading comprehension difficulties.
Various aspects of online learning have been addressed in studies both pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most pre-pandemic studies may have suffered from sampling selection issues, as students enrolled in online courses were often not comparable to those taking classes on campus. Similarly, most studies conducted during the initial stages of the pandemic might be confounded by the stress and anxiety associated with worldwide lockdowns and the abrupt switch to online education in most universities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExecutive functions are psychological processes of great importance for proper functioning in various areas of human development, including academic performance. For this reason, from both clinical and educational perspectives, there is great interest in how they are assessed. This article describes the development and standardization process of Yellow-Red, an instrument for directly assessing executive functions in children between 6 and 11 years of age in a playful format using digital support.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated the repercussions of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the subsequent quarantine on the emotional well-being of children in their initial years of formal schooling, with particular emphasis on children with special educational needs (SEN) and children from high and low socioeconomic statuses (SES). This longitudinal study employed the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 6-18 (CBCL) completed by the students' guardians at least once during 2018-2019 and again during 2020. The results showed differences in internalizing and externalizing problems after 8 months of quarantine and a significant increase in students fitting clinical or borderline categories given by the CBCL itself.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to test the impact of play on the development of executive functions (EFs) in preschoolers. Thirty-two games were designed to be collectively played in groups by 70 children, in their regular classes. The games were specifically designed to promote the development of the three components of EFs: inhibition (behavioral or cognitive), working memory, and cognitive flexibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) causes significant disability and progressive functional impairment. Readily available instruments that assess functionality, especially in advanced stages of the disease, are required to monitor the progress of the disease and the impact of therapeutic interventions.
Objective: To describe the development of a scale to evaluate upper limb function (UL) in patients with DMD and SMA, and describe its validation process, which includes self-training for evaluators.