It is suggested that neuroticism impairs cognitive performance mostly in difficult tasks i.e. WM tasks, but not so much in easier tasks. However, behavioural, and functional neuroanatomical correlates of detrimental effect of neuroticism in relation to central executive system (CES) during cognitive tasks particularly in multitasking still unknown. I aim at investigating behavioural and functional neuroanatomical correlates of single- and dual-task performance in high and low neurotics. The general hypothesis is that high neurotics will show a poorer performance on processing of cognitive tasks as compared to low neurotics. From a screened population, I select low neurotics (below 6) and high neurotics (over 16) on 24 item Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) neuroticism scale. First empirical study was consisted of three standard WM tests. The result of this study showed that high neurotics had lower performance when the task heavily requires CES such as switching and inhibition. Next empirical studies were consisted of dual tasks based on PRP paradigm. In dual task studies, in addition to SOA manipulation SOA (0 and1000ms), task demand manipulated either by presentation of task order or task set maintenance. The results show that high neurotics considerably slower when SOA is short. Further, it has been observed dual task cost differences between high and low neurotics increase as the demand increase either by random tasks or task set maintenance as evident by lower processing efficiency in high neurotics. Also, high neurotics perceived higher stress level as the task demand increase. In the final study, I assessed brain activity by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in low and high neurotics while they were performing a demanding dual-task and the less demanding component tasks as single-tasks. Imaging data showed that high neurotics showed less dual-task specific activation in lateral and medial prefrontal cortices. In conclusion, I conclude that high levels of neuroticism impair behavioural performance in demanding tasks with higher perceived stress level, and that this impairment is accompanied by reduced activation of the task-associated brain areas. Key words: Neuroticism, Personality, Multitasking, dual-task performance, prefrontal cortex attentional control theory, working memory.

Essa dissertação teve como objetivo investigar as funções executivas em crianças e adolescentes com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo (TEA). No primeiro estudo, foi feita uma revisão sistemática de publicações de 2001 a 2011, que avaliaram as funções executivas nessa amostra. No segundo estudo, foi feita uma comparação de desempenho de dois grupos de crianças e adolescentes, um grupo com diagnóstico de TEA (n=11) e um grupo controle com desenvolvimento típico (n=19), em tarefas de funções executivas e memória de trabalho. Concluiu-se que, embora o estudo de revisão tenha encontrado evidências de componentes executivos intactos (resolução de problemas, memória de trabalho) e disfuncionais (planejamento, flexibilidade, fluência verbal, inibição) nas amostras com TEA, o estudo empírico indicou desempenho inferior do grupo TEA em todas as tarefas de funções executivas e memória de trabalho, envolvendo componentes do controle inibitório, da flexibilidade cognitiva, do planejamento, de memória de trabalho e de fluência verbal. / This dissertation aimed to investigate executive function in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In the first study, we performed a systematic review of publications from 2001 to 2011, which assessed executive function in this sample. In the second study, was done a performance comparison of two groups of children and adolescents, a group with ASD (n=11) and a control group with typical development (n=19), in tasks of executive function and working memory. It was concluded that, although the review study has found evidence of intact (problem-solving, working memory) and dysfunctional (planning, flexibility, verbal fluency, inhibition) executive components in samples with ASD, the empirical study indicated lower performance of executive function in ASD group, involving components of inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, planning, working memory and verbal fluency.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-08-26T14:35:32Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Tese (VERSÃO FINAL) Josiane em PDF.pdf: 2742658 bytes, checksum: 600d697767f82f73dd7ae1b6dcfb94eb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-26T14:35:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Tese (VERSÃO FINAL) Josiane em PDF.pdf: 2742658 bytes, checksum: 600d697767f82f73dd7ae1b6dcfb94eb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-26 / FACEPE / O Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade tem sido, atualmente, um dos diagnósticos psiquiátricos mais comuns na infância. Trata-se de um transtorno neurocomportamental, com um quadro clínico, de início precoce, que se caracteriza por sintomas de desatenção, hiperatividade e impulsividade exageradas acarretando grandes prejuízos em várias esferas da vida, mas sobretudo na vida social e acadêmica. Além das dificuldades comportamentais, são percebidas as dificuldades nas interações sociais, pois a falta de controle das atitudes e reações dificultam a participação em atividades de grupo, ou que envolvam relações, denotando uma inabilidade de compreender e aceitar as questões do outro. Essa inabilidade, por sua vez, implica na Teoria da Mente, que é o processo cognitivo responsável pela capacidade de compreender, interpretar e atribuir estados mentais para si e para o outro, que viabilizam um melhor desenvolvimento social. Uma criança com TDAH, além do déficit da atenção e impulsividade, apresenta um prejuízo do controle inibitório, que está relacionado com as funções executivas. Um prejuízo nessas funções pode ser observado no desempenho acadêmico, como no comportamento, à medida que a criança apresenta dificuldades de planejar, inibir respostas, sustentar a atenção, participar de jogos e interação com pares, gerando desconforto e conflitos a sua volta. Objetivo: investigar a relação entre teoria da mente, funções executivas e competência social em crianças em risco para o Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade. Método: estudo de investigação correlacional, quantitativo, transversal e analítico. Participaram 230 alunos de escolas particulares de Recife, com idades entre 7,0; 10 e 11anos (idade média 8,5), ambos os sexos, divididos em dois grupos, um com crianças que apresentassem ao menos 7 sintomas para TDAH, segundo critérios do DSM-IV, consideradas “em risco”, e outro com crianças com desenvolvimento típico. Os dados foram coletados através de questionário sociodemográfico, questionário SNAP-IV, Matrizes Progressivas de RAVEN, Torre de Londres, Stroop palavra-cores, Tarefas de Teoria da Mente de crença falsa de primeira e segunda ordem e o Inventário Multimídia de Habilidades Sociais para Crianças. Resultados: teoria da mente de 2ª ordem mostrou correlação positiva em crianças com risco para TDAH, assim como, estas apresentaram grande prejuízo na execução das tarefas que avaliaram as funções executivas e competência social, diferindo significativamente do grupo de crianças com desenvolvimento típico. A correlação entre as variáveis, teoria da mente de 2ª ordem, funções executivas e competência social mostraram ser preditoras do TDAH, denotando que quanto maior o risco para o TDAH em crianças, maior o prejuízo da teoria da mente de 2ª ordem, das funções executivas e menos competentes socialmente estas se apresentam. / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has been lately, one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in the childhood. It is a neurobehavioral disorder presenting its clinical conditions at a premature life stage. The symptoms are characterized as exaggerated absence of mind, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness leading to great losses in several areas of the patient’s life, but mainly over his social and academic life. Apart from behavioral difficulties, problems on social interactions are perceived, for the lack of control of the attitudes and reactions, hinder participation on group activities, or activities that involve relations, denoting a disability to comprehend and accept the issues of the other. This disability, on the other hand, implicates on the theory of mind, which is the cognitive process responsible by the capacity to comprehend, interpret and assign mental states for himself and others, which enables better social development. A child with ADHD, in addition to the attention deficit and impulsiveness, presents loss of the inhibitory control, which is related with the executive functions. A damage to these functions can be observed over the academic performance, as on behavior, as the child presents difficulties to plan, inhibit responses, maintain attention, participate of games and interact with pairs, generating discomfort and conflicts around himself. Objective: to investigate the relation between the theory of mind, executive functions and social competence on children at risk to the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Methods: correlation inquiry study, quantitative, transversal and analytical. 230 students from private schools of Recife participated, aged between 7,0 and 10,11 years old (mean age 8,5), both genders, divided into two groups, one with children presenting at least 7 symptoms to ADHD, according to DSM-IV criteria, considered “at risk”, and another containing children with typical development. Data were collected through a sociodemographic questionnaire, SNAP-IV questionnaire, Raven Progressive Dies, London Tower, Stroop word-colors, Theory of Mind tasks of false belief from both first and second orders and the Multimedia Inventory of Social Abilities for Children. Results: theory of mind 2ª order showed positive correlation in children at risk for ADHD, and these showed great impairment in executive functions tasks and social competence, differing significantly from the group of children with typical development. The correlation between the variables theory of mind from 2ª order, executive functions and social competence shown to be predictors of ADHD, indicating that the higher the risk for ADHD in children, the greater the loss of the theory of mind from 2ª order, executive functions and less social competence they present themselves.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-09-19T12:50:10Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Emily Gaião e Albuquerque (versão definitiva).pdf: 1172460 bytes, checksum: 2b33070317d41a389f5f546fe0519701 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-19T12:50:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Emily Gaião e Albuquerque (versão definitiva).pdf: 1172460 bytes, checksum: 2b33070317d41a389f5f546fe0519701 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-22 / CNPq / O presente estudo objetivou investigar a relação entre processos cognitivos (inteligência e funções executivas) e a resiliência e se essas variáveis podem ser consideradas preditoras significavas da adaptação às vivências acadêmicas, por parte de estudantes (i)migrantes. Essa exploração foi realizada de duas formas, tendo como objetivos específicos: averiguar a relação entre medidas ligadas à resiliência e processos cognitivos e verificar a validade preditiva de medidas de resiliência e de processos cognitivos na predição da adaptação ao ambiente universitário, em estudantes intercambistas ou migrantes. Participaram dessa investigação 64 estudantes universitários, vinculados a alguma IES da cidade de Porto Alegre – RS, provenientes de outros estados brasileiros ou de outros países. Eles apresentaram média de idade 23,75 anos (DP = 2,9), sendo majoritariamente mulheres (52,3%), estudantes de graduação (75%) e vindos de outros países (79,7%). Os participantes responderam a cinco instrumentos: questionário sociodemográfico, Escala de Resiliência para Adultos (RSA), Questionário de Vivências Acadêmicas, versão reduzida (QVA-r), Prova de Raciocínio Abstrato da Bateria de Provas de Raciocínio (BPR-5) e a versão eletrônica do Teste Wisconsin de Classificação de Cartas (E-WCST). Para alcançar os objetivos propostos, foram realizados os seguintes procedimentos de análise de dados: estatísticas descritivas, Teste T, análises de variância (ANOVA), análises correlacionais bivariadas exploratórias, análise fatorial exploratória e regressões lineares múltiplas. Os resultados apresentaram relação direta entre alguns fatores da resiliência com os aspectos das vivências acadêmicas. Foi encontrada também uma relação indireta e frágil da cognição com o QVA-r. Tais achados apontam para a possibilidade de a cognição não apresentar um papel preponderante processo adaptativo dessa população, diferentemente da resiliência. / This study aimed to investigate the relation between cognitive processes (intelligence and executive functions) and resilience ad if these variables can be considered significant predictors of adjustments in academic experiences, lived by (im)migrant college students. This investigation was carried out in two ways, with specific goals: verify the relation between resilience related and cognitive processes measures and the predictive validity of these measures to predict the academic adaptation in this population. The sample consisted of 64 college students, enrolled in any institution of higher education in Porto Alegre-RS. They were from other Brazil’s states or countries. The average age was 23.75 years old (SD=2.9), mostly women (52.3%), undergraduate students (75%) and from other countries. They answered five instruments: sociodemographic questionnaire, Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), Questionnaire Academic Experiences, short version (QVA-r), Abstract Reasoning test of Reasoning Tests Battery (BPR-5) and the electronic version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (E-WCST). To achieve the goals the following analysis were performed: descriptive statistics, T-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlational exploratory bivariate analyzes, exploratory factorial analysis and multiple linear regressions. The results showed direct relation between some resilience’s factors with academic experiences’ aspects. It was also found an undirected and fragile relation between cognition and the QVA-r. These findings point to the possibility that cognition doesn’t have a preponderant role on this population’s adaptation process, differently of resilience.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-09-19T12:59:13Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Emily Gaião e Albuquerque (versão definitiva).pdf: 1172460 bytes, checksum: 2b33070317d41a389f5f546fe0519701 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-19T12:59:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Emily Gaião e Albuquerque (versão definitiva).pdf: 1172460 bytes, checksum: 2b33070317d41a389f5f546fe0519701 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-22 / CNPq / O presente estudo objetivou investigar a relação entre processos cognitivos (inteligência e funções executivas) e a resiliência e se essas variáveis podem ser consideradas preditoras significavas da adaptação às vivências acadêmicas, por parte de estudantes (i)migrantes. Essa exploração foi realizada de duas formas, tendo como objetivos específicos: averiguar a relação entre medidas ligadas à resiliência e processos cognitivos e verificar a validade preditiva de medidas de resiliência e de processos cognitivos na predição da adaptação ao ambiente universitário, em estudantes intercambistas ou migrantes. Participaram dessa investigação 64 estudantes universitários, vinculados a alguma IES da cidade de Porto Alegre – RS, provenientes de outros estados brasileiros ou de outros países. Eles apresentaram média de idade 23,75 anos (DP = 2,9), sendo majoritariamente mulheres (52,3%), estudantes de graduação (75%) e vindos de outros países (79,7%). Os participantes responderam a cinco instrumentos: questionário sociodemográfico, Escala de Resiliência para Adultos (RSA), Questionário de Vivências Acadêmicas, versão reduzida (QVA-r), Prova de Raciocínio Abstrato da Bateria de Provas de Raciocínio (BPR-5) e a versão eletrônica do Teste Wisconsin de Classificação de Cartas (E-WCST). Para alcançar os objetivos propostos, foram realizados os seguintes procedimentos de análise de dados: estatísticas descritivas, Teste T, análises de variância (ANOVA), análises correlacionais bivariadas exploratórias, análise fatorial exploratória e regressões lineares múltiplas. Os resultados apresentaram relação direta entre alguns fatores da resiliência com os aspectos das vivências acadêmicas. Foi encontrada também uma relação indireta e frágil da cognição com o QVA-r. Tais achados apontam para a possibilidade de a cognição não apresentar um papel preponderante processo adaptativo dessa população, diferentemente da resiliência. / This study aimed to investigate the relation between cognitive processes (intelligence and executive functions) and resilience ad if these variables can be considered significant predictors of adjustments in academic experiences, lived by (im)migrant college students. This investigation was carried out in two ways, with specific goals: verify the relation between resilience related and cognitive processes measures and the predictive validity of these measures to predict the academic adaptation in this population. The sample consisted of 64 college students, enrolled in any institution of higher education in Porto Alegre-RS. They were from other Brazil’s states or countries. The average age was 23.75 years old (SD=2.9), mostly women (52.3%), undergraduate students (75%) and from other countries. They answered five instruments: sociodemographic questionnaire, Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), Questionnaire Academic Experiences, short version (QVA-r), Abstract Reasoning test of Reasoning Tests Battery (BPR-5) and the electronic version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (E-WCST). To achieve the goals the following analysis were performed: descriptive statistics, T-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlational exploratory bivariate analyzes, exploratory factorial analysis and multiple linear regressions. The results showed direct relation between some resilience’s factors with academic experiences’ aspects. It was also found an undirected and fragile relation between cognition and the QVA-r. These findings point to the possibility that cognition doesn’t have a preponderant role on this population’s adaptation process, differently of resilience.

No presente trabalho é apresentado o Teste de Omissões Voluntárias (Square-Skipping Test, SST), uma versão de papel e lápis da tarefa computadorizada do sinal inibitório. Na primeira parte do trabalho, são relatados estudos que utilizaram uma tarefa computadorizada do sinal inibitório com estímulos excitatórios e inibitórios apresentados visualmente em um procedimento lateralizado. As estratégias de esperar o sinal inibitório foram controladas com sucesso mediante o controle "on-line" da estabilidade dos tempos de reação ao sinal excitatório. Um dos objetivos foi elucidar algum possível fator comum subjacente ao desempenho na tarefa do sinal inibitório e no Teste da tarefa Dupla. Os tempos de reação ao sinal inibitório não foram afetados pela lateralização, enquanto que os tempos de reação ao sinal excitatório direito foram os mais rápidos. Esta vantagem, a qual parece envolver especialização hemisférica e comunicação interhemisférica, correlacionou com a perda no desempenho da tarefa de box-crossing quando combinada com a tarefa verbal no Teste da Tarefa Dupla. A diferença Parte B-menos-Parte A do Trail Making Test correlacionou com os tempos de reação simples. Os resultados também sugerem a associação entre o tempo de reação simples e funções executivas. Foi descartada uma assimetria no sentido do deslocamento da atenção entre hemicampos para explicar a vantagem dos tempos de reação ao sinal excitatório direito. O tempo de reação simples parece ser uma medida de capacidade executiva. A comparação do desempenho de adultos idosos e jovens, medido pela tarefa computadorizada, demostrou que o controle inibitório não foi afetado de forma significativa pela idade. Na segunda parte do trabalho, é apresentado o SST, o qual permite obter de forma prática e rápida, medidas da habilidade inibitória e outras capacidades executivas tais como a flexibilidade cognitiva, a atenção concentrada e a velocidade na busca visual. O SST foi validado mediante a comparação com o desempenho na tarefa computadorizada do sinal inibitório. A execução do SST requer marcar com ‘Xs’ quadradinhos alinhados em um caminho irregular impressos em uma folha A4 (Parte D), sendo que nas Partes A, B e C devem-se omitir alguns quadradinhos indicados. Na terceira tentativa do SST deve ser escrita a seqüência de dígitos ‘1, 2, 3’. A correlação com o teste computadorizado do sinal inibitório sugeriu que o controle inibitório seria medido pela Parte D preenchida com a seqüência de dígitos (Parte D3). A idade não afetou de forma significativa o desempenho na Parte D3. O fator idade parece afetar seletivamente o desempenho nas diferentes partes do SST; p. ex. na Parte A1, que correlacionou com o coeficiente de atenção concentrada do Teste de Toulouse-Pièron. Para evitar os efeitos da prática sobre o desempenho no SST, recomenda-se a execução do Teste da Tarefa Dupla antes da execução do SST, e de preferência na mesma sessão experimental. / The present study aims to contribute to the understanding of the inhibitory ability, within the framework of the neuropsychology. The objective was to develop a paper-and-pencil test to assess the ability to stop an action in a simple and rapid way. A computerized stop signal task was used to validate the test. In the first part of this work, studies that involved the computerized stop signal task are presented. The result of these studies allowed to raise some theoretical issues. The paper-and-pencil test is presented in the second part of this work. In the Experiment 1 the aim was to control experimentally the strategy of waiting for the stop-signal on a lateralized stop signal task, by means of an algorithm, which controlled, on-line, the variation of response latencies for the go-signal (GSRT). Thirty-four healthy volunteers participated in this study. The GRST of the group that performed the task without the algorithm were significantly higher than the GSRT of the group that performed the task with the algorithm, whereas the stop-signal reaction times did not reach significant differences between groups. This procedure provided more stable reaction times throughout the task, and shifted the probability of responding on stop-trials from 0.364 to 0.479. The Experiment 2 studied the relationship between reaction time, laterality, and executive functions were examined by employing two computerized tasks with lateralized visual stimuli. Simple reaction time (SRT) was correlated with the Part B-minus-A difference of Trail Making Test (TMT). No significant difference was found between left and right SRT. Reaction times for left go-signals of the Stop-task were longer than reaction times for right go-signals. The ratio of left go-signal-minus left SRT to right go-signal-minus-right SRT was correlated with the loss in the visuospatial component when it was combined with a concurrent verbal task in the Dual-Task Test. Results suggest association between SRT and executive functions, and the involvement of hemispheric specialization and interhemispheric transfer in both, the stop signal task and the Dual-Tasks Test. Results from Experiment 3 permit to discard the possibility that the observed right visual field advantage observed was due to the orienting of attention across hemifields. The left GSRT were significantly slower than right GSRT. The right GRST advantage was not due to an attentional shift between left and right visual hemifields. In the Experiment 4, the stopping ability of older people in the computerized stop task was explored. There were no significant differences between the stopping ability of older and younger adults. The Square-skipping Test (SST) a paper-an-pencil version of the stop signal computerized task. is described in the second part of this study. The SST is divided in four parts. The effect of the administration of the different parts of the SST was studied in Experiment 5. The results allow for the use of the four parts in the same trial, since there was no effect of order of administration. In Experiment 6 it was studied the effect of placing a digit sequence on the third trial of the test, instead of the X’s. It seems that a greater degree on the inhibitory ability is necessary to perform the task with the sequence "1, 2, 3", than with the sequence "3, 2, 1". Thus, the sequence "1, 2, 3" was used in the final version of the SST. The practice effects of the Dual-Task Test on the SST was studied in Experiment 7. The interaction Group x Trial showed a general decrease on the performance of participants without previous practice in the Dual-task Test, contrasting with the performance of participants with within-session practice, which showed a clear digit sequence load effect. The aim of Experiment 8 was to know possible aging effects in the performance of SST. A general decrease was observed in the performance of older adults compared with performance of young adults; the interaction Group x Trial showed that the slope of the curves were different. The performance in SST is significantly affected by age. Performance in SST correlated with performance in the stop signal and the SRT tasks, respectively. Performance in SST also correlates with TMT, with the visuospatial component of the mu index of the Dual-task and with the attention coefficient of the Toulouse-Pièron Test. The best predictor of the stopping ability was the performance on the Part D with the digit sequence (Part D3). Thus, SST seems to be a useful neuropsychological tool for the assessment of several executive functions, including the stopping ability, mental flexibility, speed for visual search and focused attention.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:40:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Natalia Martins Dias.pdf: 1935013 bytes, checksum: d73cb90443ea926ba2dd01d20bafd766 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-12-11 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / Executive functions (EF) are an abilities set, including selective attention, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, planning, monitoring and working memory, among others, whose function is to regulate and control goals oriented behaviors. There are evidences that these abilities follow distinct developmental paths, and some of them still are in full development until the initial adulthood. In this way, this study aimed to investigate the development tends of different abilities of the EF in children and adolescents, searching for validity evidences of neuropsychological assessment instruments of these abilities. The participants were 572 children and adolescents with ages between 6 and 14 years, students of 1st to 8th grades of two public schools of a city of the SP interior. The instruments utilized were Auditive Work Memory Test, Visual Work Memory Test, Cancel Attentional Test, Trail Making Test parts A and B, Semantic Generation Test, Computerized Stroop Test, the Tower of London and the FAS Verbal Fluency Test. The Cancel Attentional Test and Trail Making Test parts A and B were applied collectively; the others, individually. Variance analysis and Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed age effect in the performances in all instruments. The data suggested that the abilities evaluated follow developmental courses lightly distinct, the most initiating a more abrupt development between the 9 and 10 years. Mann-Whitney analysis showed that the girls were better that the boys in the auditive working memory, alternated attention and verbal fluency measures. Diverse significant correlations were find between the performances, the most of them were of low to moderate, corroborating the literature that defends the notion of the EF unit and diversity. Exploratory Factorial Analysis returned a two factors solution and regression analysis enabled the verification that the executive abilities can contribute of differential ways to the complex task performance, like as the FAS Verbal Fluency Test and the Tower of London Test. In this way, the study provided his contributions to the knowledge about EF and its development, as well derived validity evidences to the diverse instruments and, it‟s a hope, can expand its contribution to the future availability of adequate instruments for the construct assessment. / Funções executivas (FE) designam um conjunto de habilidades, incluindo atenção seletiva, flexibilidade cognitiva, controle inibitório, planejamento, monitoramento e memória de trabalho, dentre outros, cuja função é regular e controlar comportamentos orientados a metas. Há evidências de que estas habilidades seguem distintas trajetórias desenvolvimentais, sendo que algumas ainda estão em pleno desenvolvimento até a idade adulta inicial. Destarte, este estudo tem por objetivo investigar tendências de desenvolvimento dos diferentes processos que integram as FE em crianças e adolescentes, buscando evidências de validade de instrumentos de avaliação neuropsicológica de tais habilidades. Participaram 572 crianças e adolescentes com idades entre 6 e 14 anos, estudantes de 1ª a 8ª série de duas escolas públicas de uma cidade do interior de SP. Foram utilizados os instrumentos: Teste de Memória de Trabalho Auditiva, Teste de Memória de Trabalho Visual, Teste de Atenção por Cancelamento, Teste de Trilhas partes A e B, Teste de Geração Semântica, Teste de Stroop Computadorizado, Torre de Londres e Teste de Fluência Verbal FAS. Os instrumentos Teste de Atenção por Cancelamento, Teste de Trilhas partes A e B foram aplicados coletivamente; os demais, individualmente. Análises de Variância e de Kruskal-Wallis revelaram efeito da idade sobre os desempenhos em todos os instrumentos. Verificou-se que as habilidades avaliadas seguem cursos desenvolvimentais levemente distintos, a maioria iniciando um desenvolvimento mais abrupto entre os 9 e 10 anos. Análise de Mann-Whitney evidenciou que as meninas foram melhores que os meninos nas medidas de memória de trabalho auditiva, atenção alternada e fluência verbal. Diversas correlações significativas foram evidenciadas entre os desempenhos, a maioria delas de baixas a moderadas, corroborando a literatura no que tange à noção de unidade e diversidade das FE. Análise Fatorial exploratória retornou uma solução de dois fatores e análises de regressão possibilitaram a constatação de que as habilidades executivas podem contribuir de modo diferencial ao desempenho em tarefas complexas, como o Teste de Fluência Verbal FAS e Teste da Torre de Londres. Deste modo, o estudo proveu contribuições ao conhecimento sobre FE e seu desenvolvimento, bem como derivou evidências de validade aos diversos instrumentos e, espera-se, possa expandir sua contribuição à futura disponibilização de instrumentos adequados à avaliação do construto.

Objetivo: Investiar as competências neuropsicológicas da atenção de crianças com fissura labiopalatina (FLP) reparada; caracterizar o perfil das habilidades neuropsicológicas da atenção quanto a seletividade, sustentação e alternância; comparar os níveis atencionais entre os grupos compostos por crianças com fissuras pré-forame, pós-forame e transforame incisivo. Fizeram parte deste estudo 111 sujeitos, ambos os sexos, entre 7 e 12 anos, diagnosticados com FLP isolada. Os critérios de inclusão foram; estar inscrito no Hospital de Reabilitação em Anomalias Craniofaciais (HRAC/USP); ter diagnóstico de FLP isolada e reparada, classificados num dos tipos: pré-forame, transforame e pós-forame; estar na faixa etária do estudo; apresentar nível intelectual dentro da classificação de normalidade; não fazer uso de medicação neurológica ou psiquiátrica; apresentar queixa de atenção e/ou nível inferior na leitura e escrita; consentir formalmente na pesquisa através do termo de consentimento. Material e Métodos: Os instrumentos utilizados foram; Matrizes Progressivas Coloridas de Raven: escala especial; Teste de Desempenho Escolar (TDE); Teste de Atenção Difusa - Forma 1 (TEDIF-1); Teste de Atenção Visual (TAVIS-4); Teste Wisconsin de Classificação de Cartas (WCST); Teste Stroop de Cores e Palavras. Os dados foram categorizados e descritos conforme os crivos e tabelas de apuração e interpretação, contidos no manual de cada instrumento. Resultados: O gênero masculino teve maior incidência e o tipo predominante foi o da fissura transforame. Os recursos intelectuais em tarefas de raciocínio mostraramse na média para a maioria dos participantes. Quanto ao domínio de leitura e escrita, caracterizado por níveis inferiores à série e idade em atividades de escrita (85,59%) e leitura (73,87%), indicando as dificuldades básicas de aprendizagem. Conclusão: Concluiu-se que as crianças com fissura labiopalatina apresentam alterações nas habilidades atencionais, tendo aquelas com fissura pós-forame maiores prejuízos atencionais quanto à seletividade e alternância da atenção e as com o tipo transforame, na sustentação atencional, e a pré-forame, comprometimentos nos três componentes de atenção, com significância estatistica comparado ao transforame / Objective: To investigate the neuropsychological skills of the attention of children with repaired cleft lip and palate (CLP); to characterize the neuropsychological skills profile of attention in this population, including selectivity, support, and alternation; to compare attentional levels between groups of children with pre-foramen clefts, postforamen, and incisive Trans. The sample comprised 111 subjects, both genders, between 7 and 12 years, diagnosed with FLP isolated. Inclusion criteria were: registered in the Rehabilitation Hospital of Craniofacial Anomalies (HRAC / USP); have diagnostic FLP isolated and repaired, and ranked one of the following: preforamen, trans, and post-foramen; appropriate age; present intellectual levels within normal classification; not taking neurological or psychiatric medication; complain of attention and/or lower level in reading and writing; provide formal consent through the consent form. Methods: The instruments used were Colored Progressive Matrices of Raven: Special Scale; School Performance Test (TDE); Divided Attention Test - Form 1 (TEDIF-1); Visual Attention Test (TAVIS-4); Test Wisconsin Card Sorting (WCST); and Stroop Color and Word Test. The data were categorized and described as strainers and calculation and interpretation tables contained in each instrument manual. Results: Males reported a higher incidence and the predominant type was the transforame fissure. The brainpower in reasoning tasks for most participants was within average range. Reading and writing were characterized by levels below average for their age for both writing (85.59%) and reading activities (73.87%), indicating basic learning difficulties. Conclusion: Children with cleft lip and palate demonstrate changes in attentional skills. Those with post-foramen fissure possess greater attentional losses in the selectivity and switching of attention, those with the transforame type require attentional support, and those with pre-foramen require commitments in the three components of attention, with statistical significance compared to Transforame.

Almost 100 years ago, Jersild (1927) published his article “Mental Set and Shift”. He borrowed this title from a book of Hollingworth and Poffenberger (1919), according to whom “shifting back and forth from one mental set, one attitude or one task to another, is a relatively ineffective mode of work.” As pointed out by Jersild, the cost of switching between activities or mental sets is, for instance, the reason for Taylor’s model of industrialization and the trend in industry toward specialization. Through specialization, the element of switch is reduced to its minimum because “the cost of shift is loss in efficiency” (Jersild, 1927). However, outside of the factory, switching between multiple tasks is a crucial part of human life and the cost of switching, consequently, impacts our everyday functioning.The main topic of this doctoral dissertation is cognitive flexibility and task switching. The task-switching paradigm requires participants to switch frequently between tasks. Therefore, it measures the capacity of our brain to adapt rapidly according to tasks and goals. Dynamic adaptation according to context and goals is encompassed in cognitive psychology and neurosciences under the term cognitive control. Consequently, the ability to switch between tasks constitutes the part of cognitive control that is needed when the current goal changes and the cognitive system has to adapt. Our experimental contribution aimed at investigating how this task-goal switching can be modulated by factors such as time, language, alertness and expertise. In this introduction, we succinctly review the vast literature about attentional systems, cognitive control and task switching. In the experimental section, we describe the cued match-to-sample task that we developed to investigate task-goal switching and present five experimental studies that address the impact of several factors on task-goal switching. In the general discussion, we summarize our results and consider their implications for cognitive-control and task-switching literatures. / Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

L’objectif de cette thèse était de contribuer à la compréhension de l’effet des caractéristiques environnementales et individuelles sur l’autodétermination et l’autorégulation d’adolescents et jeunes adultes présentant une déficience intellectuelle (DI). Pour cela, nous avons conduit une première étude, longitudinale, auprès de 45 jeunes DI évaluant l’impact du changement d’environnement (passage du milieu spécialisé au milieu ordinaire de formation) ainsi que l’effet des fonctions exécutives sur l’autodétermination et l’autorégulation. Les résultats n’ont pas mis en évidence d’effet du changement d’environnement sur l’autodétermination (échelle du LARIDI ; Wehmeyer et al., 2001). Concernant la dimension d’autorégulation, la mesure d’autorégulation en situation de gestion de vie (Nader-Grosbois, 2007b) était sensible aux changements d’environnement. Le score d’autorégulation (LARIDI) était quant à lui prédit par une mesure générale de la flexibilité (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). Dans une seconde étude, nous avons exploré plus spécifiquement les liens entre l’autorégulation, le langage et les fonctions exécutives (inhibition, flexibilité et mise à jour en mémoire de travail) chez 63 jeunes DI. Les résultats ont montré que le langage, l’inhibition et la mise à jour en mémoire de travail prédisaient la performance d’autorégulation dans notre échantillon. Ces deux études ont permis de mettre en évidence l’implication importante du langage et des fonctions exécutives dans l’autorégulation, dimension clé de l’autodétermination. Cependant d’autres recherches sont nécessaires afin de mieux définir les relations entre ces différentes dimensions. Le développement de programmes de soutien à l’autorégulation ayant recours à l’entraînement des fonctions exécutives pourrait être bénéfique pour les personnes DI. / The aim of this thesis was to increase the understanding of the effect of environmental and individual factors on self-determination and self-regulation among teenagers and young adults with intellectual disability (ID). For this purpose, we have conducted a longitudinal study, among 45 young people with ID to assess the effects of environmental changes (moving from a less to a more integrated setting) and executive functioning on self-determination and self-regulation. Results did not show a significant effect of environmental factors on self-determination (LARIDI; Wehmeyer et al., 2001). With regard to self-regulation, one measure assessing self-regulation in daily life was sensitive to environmental changes (Nader-Grosbois, 2007b) whereas the other selfregulation’s score (LARIDI) was predicted by shifting ability (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). In another study, we have investigated the relationships between self-regulation, language and executives functions (inhibition, shifting and updating) among 63 young people with ID. Results showed that language, inhibition and updating predicted self-regulation’s performance in our sample. These studies highlighted the significant involvement of language and executive functions in self-regulation, a key dimension of self-determination. Nevertheless, further research is required to define the relationship between these dimensions. Training focusing on executive functions could be efficient to improve self-regulation in people with ID.