Esta pesquisa propôs-se a examinar a compreensão leitora de crianças, estabelecendo os seguintes objetivos: 1) discutir os modelos teóricos e experimentais da compreensão leitora; 2) elaborar um instrumento de avaliação de compreensão de texto; 3) investigar o desenvolvimento da habilidade entre a quarta e a sexta séries do Ensino Fundamental, analisando também o impacto de variáveis externas (nível socioeconômico e tipo de escola) sobre aquele desenvolvimento; 4) investigar na amostra as associações e dissociações entre o desempenho em leitura de palavras e em compreensão de textos; 5) verificar que funções neuropsicológicas relacionam-se à compreensão leitora; 6) e, finalmente, investigar a forma como aquelas funções neuropsicológicas se relacionam com o nível socioeconômico e a inteligência, em seus efeitos sobre a compreensão leitora. Para os estudos empíricos, alunos de quarta a sexta séries (n= 110; escolas públicas e privadas) foram avaliados em tarefas de leitura, tarefas neuropsicológicas, e quanto à inteligência. Testou-se a significância estatística da diferença entre os grupos em função da série e do tipo de escola. Da amostra total, apenas o grupo de maus compreendedores (leitura de palavra preservada/compreensão textual deficitária) e o de bons leitores (leitura de palavras e de texto adequadas), foram comparados quanto ao desempenho neuropsicológico. Usou-se regressão linear para verificar o efeito da variável grupo (maus compreendedores versus bons leitores) sobre os escores nas tarefas, controlando o efeito da série e tipo de escola. Modelagem de Equações Estruturais foi usada para testar 6 modelos que propunham diferentes relações entre nível socioeconômico, inteligência e funções executivas (variáveis independentes), sobre compreensão leitora. Os resultados mostraram que há efeito da série sobre leitura de palavras isoladas e sobre a compreensão (questionário), e que o desempenho das crianças de escola pública é inferior ao dos alunos de escolas privadas tanto na leitura de palavras, como na compreensão de textos (reconto). A variável grupo (maus compreendedores versus bons leitores) relacionou-se significativamente com quatro tarefas da bateria de avaliação neuropsicolinguística, destacando-se a memória de trabalho e as funções executivas. No modelo estrutural de melhor ajuste o efeito do nível socioeconômico sobre a compreensão leitora foi totalmente mediado pelas funções executivas (enquanto o fator que incluiu as medidas de funções executivas e de memória de trabalho), enquanto que a inteligência não teve efeito significativo sobre a compreensão leitora. Como desdobramento da pesquisa, acredita-se que funções executivas devem ser foco de ações clínicas junto a crianças com dificuldades de compreensão, e de ações escolares preventivas junto a crianças de nível socioeconômico baixo, como forma de prevenir dificuldades em compreensão leitora. / This research aimed to examine reading comprehension in children, establishing the following objectives: 1) discussing the experimental and theoretical models of reading comprehension; 2) developing an instrument to evaluate reading comprehension; 3) investigate the development of reading comprehension, also analyzing the effect of external variables (socioeconomic status and type of school) on this development; 4) investigating in the sample associations and dissociations between word reading and reading comprehension performances; 5) verifying which neuropsychological functions are related to reading comprehension; 6) and, finely, investigating how those neuropsychological functions relate to socioeconomic status and intelligence in their effect upon reading comprehension. For the empirical studies, 110 children, 4th to 6th grades, were assessed in reading, neuropsychological and intelligence measures. Statistical differences among the groups, in terms of grade and type of school, were tested. Poor comprehenders (high word reading and low reading comprehension) and good readers (high word reading and reading comprehension) were compared in relation to the neuropsychological measures. Linear regression tested the effect of the variable group (poor comprehenders versus good readers) upon neuropsychological scores, controlling for grade and type of school. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test six models proposing different relations among socioeconomic status, intelligence and executive functions (independent variables) in their effect upon reading comprehension. The results showed that grade has effect upon word reading and comprehension (questionnaire), and that students from public schools underscore the ones from private schools. Group variable (poor comprehenders versus good readers) were significantly related to performance on four tasks of the neuropsycolinguistic battery, highlighting executive functions and working memory. In the best-fitting structural model, effects of socioeconomic status on reading comprehension were fully mediated by executive functions. Furthermore, IQ had no effect on reading comprehension once the direct effect of executive function was included in the model. It is concluded that executive functions should be focused both on clinical actions among children with reading comprehension difficulties, and preventive actions with the school children from low socioeconomic level, in order to prevent difficulties in reading comprehension.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:39:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruna Tonietti Trevisan.pdf: 1049312 bytes, checksum: 721c1c576134d816f03fa62c08223a83 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-12-10 / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo / Executive functions (EF) are characterized by a set of cognitive and metacognitive processes that allow individuals to regulate their behavior, allowing their engagement in direct actions to goals. During development, children gradually become more able to control their thoughts and actions. This change has been linked to the development of EF, because they are especially important in new situations, as in the learning process, and is therefore considered crucial in preschool. In addition, changes in these processes have been documented in several cases, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate attention and inhibitory control in preschool children, specifically: to verify the relationship between signs of inattention and hyperactivity and EF, verifying if the performances in the tests differ between groups of children with and without signs of inattention and hyperactivity, and the relation between EF and development of preschool children, examining if the abilities of attention and inhibitory control increase with the progression school grades. A total of 139 preschool children, aged between 4 and 7 years old, 65 males, from two public schools in a town in Sao Paulo state, were assessed with Trial Making Test, Cancellation Attention Test, Stroop Test for Preschoolers, Semantic Generation Test, Go/No-Go Task, Simon Task, Columbia Mental Maturity Scale, Scale for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and SNAP-IV. Nonparametric analysis of Mann-Whitney test revealed, in general, differences between extreme groups with and without inattention and hyperactivity indicators for measuring instruments in all of EF, especially for groups in the inattention domain. Spearman correlation analysis also revealed significant correlations between indicators and performance in EF, with changes in the patterns of correlation throughout the school grades, showing relation with more basic cognitive abilities in the initial grades and with more complex skills in the lasted grades. Through MANOVAS and Kruskal-Wallis were observed developmental trends of the skills of attention and inhibitory control over the school grades. / As funções executivas (FE) são caracterizadas por um conjunto de processos cognitivos e metacognitivos que permitem ao indivíduo regular seu comportamento, possibilitando seu engajamento em ações direcionadas a metas. Durante o desenvolvimento, crianças se tornam gradualmente mais hábeis para controlar seus pensamentos e ações. Esta mudança tem sido associada ao desenvolvimento das FE, isto porque elas são especialmente importantes em situações novas, como no processo de aprendizagem, sendo, portanto, consideradas cruciais na idade pré-escolar. Além disso, alterações nestes processos têm sido documentadas em diversos casos, como no Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade (TDAH). Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar atenção e controle inibitório em crianças pré-escolares, mais especificamente: analisar a relação entre indicadores de desatenção e hiperatividade e FE, verificando se os desempenhos nos testes diferem entre os grupos de crianças com e sem sinais de desatenção e hiperatividade; e analisar a relação entre as FE e o desenvolvimento de crianças pré-escolares, verificando se as habilidades de atenção e controle inibitório aumentaram com a progressão séries escolares. Participaram 139 crianças pré-escolares, com idades entre 4 e 7 anos, sendo 65 do sexo masculino, de duas escolas municipais de uma cidade do interior de São Paulo. Foram utilizados: Teste de Trilhas, Teste de Atenção por Cancelamento, Teste de Stroop para Pré-escolares, Teste de Geração Semântica, Go/no-Go Task, Simon Task, Escala de Maturidade Mental Colúmbia, Escala de Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade e SNAP-IV. Análise não paramétrica de Mann-Whitney revelou, de modo geral, efeito entre os grupos extremos com e sem indicadores de desatenção e hiperatividade para medidas em todos os instrumentos de FE, especialmente para os grupos no domínio de desatenção. Análises de correlação de Spearman também revelaram correlações significativas entre os indicadores e os desempenhos em FE, com mudanças nos padrões de correlação ao longo das séries, verificando relação com habilidades cognitivas mais básicas na série inicial e com habilidades mais complexas nas séries posteriores. Por meio de MANOVAS e teste de Kruskal-Wallis foram verificadas tendências desenvolvimentais das habilidades de atenção e controle inibitório ao longo das séries escolares.

No modelo dos multicomponentes da memória de trabalho o problema do armazenamento da ordem serial de eventos visuais e espaciais ainda é muito discutido. A literatura sugere que recursos do executivo central (o sistema de controle atencional da memória de trabalho) são utilizados para manter a representação da posição serial dos estímulos visuais e espaciais na memória. Mais precisamente, é proposto que a função executiva de atualização de informações esteja envolvida com este processo. Esta função promoveria a modificação contínua da representação mental conforme a entrada de novas informações no sistema cognitivo. Entretanto, não está esclarecido se ocorre uma dissociação visual e espacial no uso de recursos da função executiva de atualização de informações para o registro da ordem serial. O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar o envolvimento da função executiva de atualização da informação na memória para a ordem de eventos visuais e espaciais. Os participantes foram estudantes universitários (n = 71) que realizaram as tarefas de memória delineadas segundo o paradigma de tarefas duplas. Neste procedimento as tarefas primárias de memória visual e espacial foram combinadas a tarefas secundárias executivas de tempo de reação de escolha (CRT) e tarefas que exigiam recursos de atualização da informação (tarefa de tempo de reação de escolha para um item anterior CRT-1). Na tarefa CRT o participante deveria julgar dois tons auditivos como sendo de alta ou baixa frequência. Na tarefa CRT-1 esta resposta deveria ser atrasada em um item, ou seja, a resposta ao estímulo n só deveria ser dada quando o estímulo n + 1 fosse apresentado. As tarefas secundárias eram realizadas durante a apresentação dos estímulos e no intervalo de retenção das tarefas primárias. No primeiro experimento a capacidade máxima de armazenamento espacial e visual (span) de cada participante foi estabelecida em sessão pré-teste, e no segundo experimento o participante memorizou sequências de três a sete itens. Os resultados mostraram que, de modo geral, o desempenho dos participantes nas tarefas primárias foi prejudicado mediante a interferência na função de atualização de informações. As semelhanças entre a memória serial visual e a memória serial espacial foram: curvas de posição serial caracterizadas por primazia e recência; predominância de erros de transposição de deslocamento em um item da posição correta; efeito prejudicial do aumento do tamanho da sequência; queda do desempenho quando recursos executivos são reduzidos, principalmente os designados a sustentar a função executiva de atualização da informação. As diferenças entre os dois tipos de representação serial em geral foram: menor capacidade e precisão na representação de itens na memória visual em comparação à espacial; a memória visual é mais susceptível ao aumento da quantidade de itens para retenção e para este tipo de armazenamento não há uma diferenciação clara entre os efeitos dos dois tipos de interferência executiva (CRT e CRT-1), como pôde ser determinado para a tarefa espacial. Conclui-se que recursos executivos de atualização da informação participam dos mecanismos envolvidos com o registro da ordem serial dos eventos visuais e espaciais de maneira integrada aos recursos específicos do armazenador visuoespacial. Sugere-se que a memória visual conta com um mecanismo de registro da ordem serial semelhante à memória espacial, sendo que as diferenças entre os dois padrões de desempenho são atribuídas às especificidades no registro da identidade dos itens, e não na manutenção da ordem serial dos mesmos. Implicações para a compreensão da interação funcional entre recursos de armazenamento e processamento da informação na memória de trabalho são discutidos. / In the multicomponent model of working memory is still unclear how the serial order of visual and spatial events is retained in memory. The literature suggests that the central executive resources (the attentional control system of working memory) are used to maintain the representation of serial position. More precisely, it is proposed that the executive function of updating information is involved with this process. This function makes continuous modification of mental representation to accommodate new information in the cognitive system. However, until now had not yet been determined whether there is a visual-spatial dissociation in use of executive function of updating information for the registration of serial order. The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of the executive function of updating information in memory for the order of visual and spatial events. Participants were undergraduate students (n = 71) who performed memory tasks designed under the paradigm of dual-tasks. In this procedure the primary tasks of visual and spatial memory were combined with secondary executive tasks of choice reaction time (CRT) and tasks that occupied resources required to update the information (one-back choice reaction time CRT-1). In the CRT task the participant should judge two auditory tones as high or low frequency. In CRT-1 task this response should be delayed in one item, that is, the response to the n stimulus should only be given when the n + 1 stimulus was presented. The secondary tasks were performed during the presentation of the stimuli and the retention interval of the primary tasks. In the first experiment the capacity (span) to retain spatial and visual information was established in pre-test session, and in the second experiment the participants memorized sequences of three to seven items. The results showed that, overall, participants\' performance on primary tasks was impaired by interference on the updating information. The similarities between visual and spatial serial memory were: primacy and recency in serial position curves; most frequent serial position error of transposition in one item; detrimental effect of increasing the size of the sequence, performance impaired by the interference in the executive resources, especially those designed to support the executive function of updating information. The differences between the two types of serial representation, in general, were: smaller capacity and precision in the representation of visual items as compared to the spatial characteristics; the vulnerability of visual memory to the increasing the amount of items is bigger than in spatial memory, and for visual memory there is not a clear differentiation between the effects of two types of executive interference (CRT and CRT-1) as could be determined for the spatial task. We conclude that executive resources of updating information are part of the mechanisms involved in the registration of the serial order of visual and spatial events, and they work in an integrated manner to specific visuospatial resources. The data suggests that visual memory has a mechanism for registration of serial order like spatial memory, and the differences between the two patterns of performance are attributed to the maintenance of identity of the items, and not the maintenance of serial order. Implications for understanding the functional interaction between storage resources and processing of information in working memory are discussed.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-10-10T20:08:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 anapauladasilva.pdf: 2729640 bytes, checksum: 70d04957f4e4a75abdba362b2698e4fe (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-10-16T13:32:08Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 anapauladasilva.pdf: 2729640 bytes, checksum: 70d04957f4e4a75abdba362b2698e4fe (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-16T13:32:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 anapauladasilva.pdf: 2729640 bytes, checksum: 70d04957f4e4a75abdba362b2698e4fe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta tese apresenta um estudo de base experimental, em que se investigam as possíveis relações entre Linguagem, Teoria da Mente e Funções Executivas. Assume-se como Teoria da Mente (ToM – do inglês Theory of Mind) a capacidade cognitiva de o indivíduo perceber seus próprios estados mentais e os dos outros e, dessa forma, predizer suas ações ou comportamentos (ASTINGTON & GOPNIK, 1988, 1991; FELDMAN, 1992; WELLMAN, 1991). Já as Funções Executivas (FEs) são compreendidas como processos cognitivos impulsionados em atividades que demandam elevado nível de processamento, como planejar, inibir, coordenar e controlar uma sequência de ações para a manutenção de um determinado objetivo. Neste estudo, focalizam-se os seguintes domínios das FEs: memória de trabalho, inibição e flexibilidade cognitiva (DIAMOND, 2013; LEHTO et al.; 2003; MIYAKE et al.; 2000). A perspectiva teórica assumida é a de se considerar uma concepção minimalista de língua (CHOMSKY, 1995 – atual) e, mais especificamente, de faculdade da linguagem nos termos de Hauser et al. (2002), enquanto faculdade mental constituída de duas instâncias: a FLN (Faculty of Language in the narrow sense ou Faculdade da Linguagem em sentido estrito) e a FLB (Faculty of Language in the broad sense ou Faculdade da Linguagem em sentido amplo). A interface gramática-pragmática é investigada com base em uma teoria pragmática formal de natureza cognitiva, nos termos da Teoria da Relevância (SPERBER & WILSON, 2001; 2002). A hipótese que norteia este trabalho é a de que existe uma correlação entre o desenvolvimento das FEs e o desenvolvimento da ToM, com implicações para o raciocínio de CFs, e que o insucesso de crianças com idade inferior a 4 anos nesses testes não se deve precipuamente à falta de domínio de uma estrutura linguística recursiva, contrariando a proposta de Villiers (2005-2007). O objetivo geral deste estudo é o de melhor caracterizar a sobreposição de demandas cognitivas linguísticas e não linguísticas envolvidas em tarefas de Crenças Falsas (CFs) de 1ª ordem. Para isso, foram realizados dois conjuntos de experimentos. O primeiro conjunto, conduzido com crianças de 3-4 anos, tem os seguintes objetivos: (i) verificar em que medida a retomada anafórica por meio de DPs plenos acarreta menor demanda de processamento; (ii) aferir se a alteração do status informacional do texto narrado, estabelecendo-se a referência a personagens e objetos da história por meio de DPs plenos, interfere positivamente no desempenho das crianças; (iii) investigar em que medida a intencionalidade, enquanto fenômeno mental, constituise como pista relevante para a atribuição de CFs por essas crianças. O segundo conjunto de atividades experimentais, composto por 3 testes e uma tarefa clássica de CF, foi aplicado a crianças de 3;0-3;11 e 4;0-4;11 anos, as quais participaram de todas as atividades. Os objetivos são: (i) verificar o desempenho dessas crianças em tarefas que envolvem FEs, e (ii) verificar se há correlação entre os resultados obtidos nos testes e no experimento de CF. Os resultados indicam que a capacidade de lidar com a sobreposição de diferentes demandas cognitivas linguísticas e não linguísticas se constitui como fator diretamente relacionado à habilidade de conduzir um raciocínio de crenças falsas e que há uma correlação entre o desempenho das crianças em tarefas voltadas às FEs e à de CF. / This doctoral dissertation presents an experimental based study, which investigates the possible relations between Language, Theory of Mind and Executive Functions. Theory of Mind (ToM) is understood as the cognitive capacity of an individual to perceive their own mental states and those of others and, thus, to predict their actions or behaviors (ASTINGTON & GOPNIK, 1988, 1991; FELDMAN, 1992; WELLMAN, 1991). Executive Functions (EFs) are understood as cognitive processes driven by activities that demand a high level of processing, such as planning, inhibiting, coordinating and controlling a sequence of actions for the maintenance of a certain objective. In this study, we focus on the following domains of EFs: working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility (DIAMOND, 2013; LEHTO et al., 2003; MIYAKE et al., 2000). The theoretical perspective assumed is to consider a minimalist conception of language (CHOMSKY, 1995 - current) and, more specifically, the language faculty according to Hauser et al. (2002), as a mental faculty consisting of two instances: the FLN (Faculty of Language in the narrow sense) and the FLB (Faculty of Language in the broad sense). The Grammar Pragmatics interface is investigated based on a formal Pragmatics theory of cognitive nature, in line with the Relevance Theory (SPERBER & WILSON, 2001; 2002). The hypothesis that guides this work is that there is a correlation between the development of EFs and the development of ToM, with implications for the reasoning of False Beliefs (FBs), and that the failure of children under 4 years of age in these tests is not due to the lack of mastery of a recursive linguistic structure, contrary to de Villiers' proposal (2005-2007). The general objective of this study is to better characterize the overlapping of linguistic and non-linguistic cognitive demands involved in first-order false-belief tasks. For this purpose, two sets of experiments were performed. The first set, conducted with children of 3-4 years, has the following objectives: (i) to verify to what extent the anaphoric resumption through and full DPs entails a lower demand for processing; (ii) to verify whether the alteration of the informational status of the narrated text, establishing the reference to characters and objects of the story through full DPs, interferes positively in the performance of the participant children; (iii) to investigate the extent to which intentionality, as a mental phenomenon, constitutes a relevant clue to the attribution of FBs by these children. The second set of experimental activities, consisting of 3 pretests and a classic FB task, was applied to children of 3;0-3;11 and 4;0-4;11 years old, who participated in all activities. The objectives are: (i) to verify the performance of these children in tasks involving EFs, and (ii) to verify whether there is a correlation between the results obtained in the pretests and in the FB experiment. The results indicate that the ability to cope with the overlapping of different linguistic and non-linguistic cognitive demands is directly related to the ability to conduct false belief reasoning and that there is a correlation between the children's performance in tasks related to EFs and to FB.

The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of the Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment training (FIE) in respondents with Parkinson's disease (PD) in comparison with another type of cognitive training. The specific aim of the study was to verify whether there were differences between the effectiveness of the FIE and the training of the individual cognitive domains for cognitive functions in respondents with PD. The study included patients with PD who underwent an examination by a neuropsychological battery before the beginning of the training in order to evaluate the level of cognitive functions. Based on the demographic characteristics and the overall score in the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-II (DRS-II), the respondents (n = 24) were randomly divided into two research groups. The experimental group (EXP) trained using the FIE method for 60 minutes once a week during three months. The control group (CON) trained the individual cognitive domains. After the cognitive training the respondents were examined again in order to detect changes of the level of each one of the cognitive functions. The examination revealed significant differences in the first and the second phases of testing in the EXP respondents (n = 12) in the level of current anxiety (p = 0.024), memory for non-verbal...

This thesis addresses young adults with Alström syndrome (AS). AS causes acquired deafblindness, a severe, progressive, combined auditory and visual impairment affecting daily life and self-reliance to a degree that full participation depends on help from others and society. AS is an autosomal, recessively inherited single-gene disorder that affects the ALMS1 gene. AS has a multi-systemic pathology including a high incidence of additional multiple endocrine abnormalities, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary fibrosis, restrictive lung disease and progressive hepatic and renal failure leading to reduced life expectancy. The focus in the present thesis is on the development of Theory-of-mind (ToM) and on how ToM relates to the development of certain cognitive skills and the characteristics of the individual social network. ToM refers to the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others. The results reveal that individuals with AS displayed a significantly higher degree of heterogeneity in the performance of ToM tasks, and some individuals with AS performed on an equal level with nondisabled individuals. ToM performance was predicted by verbal ability and executive functioning (EF), whereas working memory capacity (WM) proved to be an indirect predictor. Later onset of visual loss further characterized AS individuals with better ToM. The sizes of the social networks of individuals with AS were smaller relative to those of nondisabled individuals, and many of the acquaintances were professionals working with individuals with AS. The number of friends correlated with ToM performance. Methods to improve verbal ability and EF, and interventions to enhance social participation in childhood of individuals with AS might prove to be fruitful. In addition assistive technology to establish and maintain friendships in adulthood is required.

During the process of aging, the human mental and physical abilities decline. Olfactory abilities are not an exception. A significant decrease of olfactory capabilities in patients with Parkinson's disease was firstly observed a few decades ago. After the discovery of the relationship between olfactory abilities and cognitive abilities in patients with neurodegenerative disease, the same relationship was also found in healthy aging people. It seems that the factors causing the decline of cognition foremost affect the olfactory functions. A number of studies suggests, that this could lead to a possibility of prediction of the future cognitive decline through the assessment of olfactory decline. Our research followed the results of these studies as a part of the NANOK study. Testing of the smell abilities was done in 2014 and 2015. Participants were screened with the Sniffin 'Sticks. Cognitive functions were tested with an extensive battery of cognitive tests. The processiong of data was divided into two parts. In the first part we tested the olfactory identification and discrimination relationship with the general cognitive abilities and the level of the executive functions. In the second part we tested the possibility of prediction of cognitive functions using the smell identification and discrimination...

[pt] O presente estudo teve como objetivos determinar os melhores preditores neuropsicológicos de demência e analisar a trajetória cognitiva de idosos com comprometimento cognitivo leve (CCL) em dois anos. Oitenta e sete idosos com CCL foram submetidos a uma bateria de testes neuropsicológicos e 62 foram reavaliados após dois anos. 21,8 por cento converteram para demência. Os resultados revelaram que a memória episódica e a memória de trabalho foram os melhores preditores de conversão de CCL para demência após dois anos e que idosos com declínio em duas ou mais funções cognitivas apresentaram maior prejuízo na funcionalidade e maior porcentagem de conversão para demência que os idosos com declínio apenas nas funções executivas. Além disso, os resultados mostraram que os sintomas de depressão estão mais associados ao perfil de idosos que declinam somente nas funções executivas. / [en] This study aimed to determine the best neuropsychological predictors of dementia and analyze the cognitive trajectory of older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a two-year follow-up study. 87 older adults with MCI were submitted to a broad neuropsychological battery and 62 were evaluated two years later. 21.8 percent converted to dementia. The results revealed that episodic memory and working memory are the best predictors of dementia from MCI after two years. Older adults showing decline in two or more cognitive functions showed greater deficits in functionality and higher percentages of conversion to dementia when compared to older adult with executive function decline. In addition, the results showed that depressive symptoms are specifically associated with older adults showing exclusively executive function decline.

Les pensées répétitives négatives (PRN) sont considérées comme un des processus transdiagnostiques impliqués dans le développement, le maintien et la récurrence de plusieurs troubles psychologiques tels que les troubles de l'humeur, les troubles anxieux ou les addictions. Une des priorités dans les recherches actuelles sur les PRN est de déterminer quel processus contribue au développement et au maintien des PRN inadaptés. La littérature suggère que les déficits d’inhibition et de désengagement attentionnel sont deux facteurs potentiellement impliqués dans la récurrence des PRN. L’objectif de la présente thèse de doctorat était, premièrement de systématiser les recherches antérieures sur le lien entre les PRN et l’inhibition. Deuxièmement nous avons testé dans des études expérimentales comment l’induction des PRN affectait l’inhibition et le désengagement attentionnel.Le premier article expérimental présente une série d’études testant l’impact des PRN sur l’efficacité de l’inhibition. Le second article expérimental montre comment l’induction des PRN affecte le désengagement attentionnel. Une plus-value des études présentées dans cette thèse est la différenciation faite entre les PRN constructives (concrètes expérientielles) et non constructives (abstraites analytiques) dans la procédure d’induction.Les résultats suggèrent que les pensées analytiques abstraites interfèrent avec la régulation émotionnelle dans une situation de problème non résolu. Contrairement aux prédictions, il semble que les pensées abstraites favorisent les processus inhibiteurs et attentionnels dans le traitement des stimuli verbaux.Les résultats sont discutés selon la perspective de la théorie du mode de traitement et de la théorie de dérégulation du niveau objectif/action. Une nouvelle approche des fonctions exécutives dans les PRN est également proposée : l’hypothèse de l’allocation des ressources cognitives dirigée par le mode de traitement. / Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is one of the transdiagnostic processes involved in development, recurrence and relapse of various psychological disorders, i.e. mood disorders, or anxiety disorders. One of the priorities in the current RNT research is to identify the mechanisms responsible for RNT development and maintain. RNT theory and previous research identified inhibition and attentional disengagement impairment as two potential factors of RNT recurrence.The first aim of the dissertation was to systematize previous research exploring the relation between RNT and inhibition. The second aim was to experimentally test how RNT induction affects both, inhibition and attentional disengagement. The first two chapters present RNT concept itself and a systematic literature review on the links between RNT and inhibition. The following chapters are composed of two empirical articles. The first article presents three experimental studies exploring the impact of RNT induction on inhibition efficiency. The second article tests experimentally how RNT affects attentional disengagement. An important contribution of these experimental studies lays also in testing separately constructive (concrete experiential) and unconstructive (abstract analytic) RNT processing mode.The results suggest that abstract analytic thinking impairs emotional regulation in a non-resolved problem situation – a situation predicted to activate RNT. Contrarily to the predictions, it seems that abstract analytic processing enhances inhibition and attentional performance for verbal stimuli comparing to concrete processing.These results are discussed at the theoretical level in the processing mode theory and deregulation of goal/action level perspective. We provide also methodological recommendation for the further research on the link between RNT and executive functions. Finally, we propose a new framework for the hypothesis of processing mode driven resource allocation in RNT.

Le présent manuscrit développe une problématique liée à l’implication des capacités de gestion de buts et d’engagement des fonctions exécutives dans le raisonnement par analogie et son développement. Les trois premières expériences étudient cette problématique dans deux tâches de raisonnement par analogie différentes à travers l’étude des stratégies visuelles employées par des adultes et des enfants de 6-7 ans. Les résultats montrent des différences de stratégies visuelles entre les tâches, liées aux buts différents de celles-ci, ainsi que, entre enfants et adultes, des différences de patterns visuels liés à l’inhibition de l'information non pertinente pour la résolution des problèmes. Les deux expériences suivantes étudient les stratégies visuelles, toujours en lien avec le fonctionnement exécutif et le maintien du but, dans une tâche A:B::C:? dont la difficulté est manipulée afin de mettre en évidence des différences d’engagement de processus de contrôle et d’évaluation. Les résultats montrent un effet de la difficulté des essais, ainsi que du type de distracteur, dans les stratégies visuelles. Enfin les trois dernières expériences étudient l’implication de la flexibilité cognitive, une des fonctions exécutives, dans le raisonnement par analogie, chez l’enfant (5-6 ans), limité dans sa flexibilité. Les résultats montrent que l’ancrage dans un type de représentation, pertinent ou non pour la solution du problème, est lié à leur capacité à résoudre le problème, et suggèrent une difficulté à changer de représentation au cours de la résolution. Ces résultats sont finalement discutés en rapport aux modèles de raisonnement par analogie et de développement de cette capacité. / This manuscript develops an issue related to the involvement of goal management capabilities and executive functions in this type of reasoning and its development. The first three experiments examine this issue in two tasks of analogical reasoning, the scene analogy task and the A:B::C:? task, through the study of visual strategies used by adults, and children aged 6-to-7. The results show differences in visual patterns related to goals, and to the inhibition of irrelevant information for the solution of the problems, between the different tasks, and between children and adults. The following two experiments study the visual strategies, always in relation to executive functioning and goal management, in an A:B::C:? task whose difficulty is manipulated to highlight the difference in involvement of monitoring and evaluation processes. The results do show an effect of the difficulty of the test and the type of distractor in the visual strategies employed. Finally, the last three experiments investigate the involvement of cognitive flexibility, one of the executive functions, in the analogical reasoning of preschool children (5-6-year-olds), limited in their flexibility. The results show that their early anchoring in a type of representation, relevant or not to the solution of the problem, is related to their ability to solve the problem later, and thus suggest a difficulty in shifting their representation during the resolution of the problems. These results are finally discussed in relation to models of analogical reasoning and of the development of this ability, especially those integrating goal management and executive functions.