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This dissertation addresses the differential effects of two oral corrective feedback strategies, recasts and metalinguistic prompts, on the acquisition of Chinese wh-questions and classifiers, while examining how individual differences (i.e. language analytical abilities, attitudes, and anxiety) would moderate the effects of CF. Two beginning Chinese classes were randomly assigned to the recast or metalinguistic prompts group. In a span of 5 weeks, a total of 4 treatment sessions took place. Students were tested with an oral production task and a written error correction task before, immediately after, and two weeks after the treatment. Mixed-method ANOVAs were used to analyze the differential effects of the two CF strategies on the acquisition of wh-questions and classifiers. In addition, students also completed two questionnaires, with one testing their language analytical ability, and a combined questionnaire measuring their attitudes and anxiety. Multiple regressions were used to analyze the relationship between individual differences and students’ learning outcome. The results showed that the metalinguistic prompts group had significant gains in accuracy in all measures, regardless of testing time (posttests or delayed posttests), target forms (wh-questions or classifiers), and testing mode (oral production or written error correction tests). The recast group showed significant gains in the written tests for wh-questions and classifiers, but only achieved significant short-term gains for wh-questions in the oral test. Regarding individual differences, we found that learners’ language analytical abilities and attitudes were important in predicting their test performance, while anxiety did not affect the learning outcome. Results were discussed within the Interactional Cognitive Framework. Form-focused instruction, along with metalinguistic prompts, which were consistent, output-pushing, and reminded students of previous learned declarative knowledge, worked better than input-providing CF (recasts) for both syntactic and lexical features. Metalinguistic prompts withheld the target L2 forms, provided metalinguistic comments, and pushed for modified output, which may have increased the likelihood for learners to close the gap between their existing knowledge and the target L2 forms, and convert declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge. The findings also suggested that CF could be delivered without raising students’ anxiety, and helping students maintain positive attitude was important for their language development.

This paper considers Psychological Style (PS) as a supraordinal category in the personality organization andas an approach of change. The PS organizes behavior, has an eminet global character, is essential for interpretation, and could be considered as a set of guidelines. Given its encompassing nature, PS is useful in many fields. An empírica! research on Life Styles (LS) is presented, in which is proposed its operativization through time distribution. An original instrument on time distribution is given (AD IT). The data collected indicated that time distribution can be used as an operativisation of LS, since the profiles found have a clear psychological significance and the relation with demographic variables also have a psychological meaning. / Este estudio considera el Estilo Psicológico (EP) como categoría supraordinal en la organización de la personalidad y como base del enfoque del cambio. El estilo organiza la conducta, tiene un carácter eminentemente global, es imprescindible para el mantenimiento adaptativo del individuo y puede considerarse como un conjunto de pautas de interpretación, donación de significados y respuestas. Dado su carácter globalizador, el EP es aplicable a muchos campos. Se presenta un trabajo empírico sobre estilos de vida (EV), proponiéndose su operativización mediante la distribución del tiempo. Se presenta el instrumento original creado (ADIT). Los datos indicaron que podemos utilizar la distribución del tiempo como operativización del EV, puesto que los perfiles encontrados tienen un claro sentido psicológico y las relaciones con las variables demográficas tienen también sentido psicológico.

Les différences interindividuelles en mémoire de travail (MDT) ont un lien stable et largement documenté avec la performance dans les tâches de cognition de haut niveau. Dans la mesure où l'utilisation de stratégies efficaces joue un rôle aussi bien dans les tâches de MDT que de cognition de haut niveau, on peut faire l'hypothèse que les stratégies médiatisent le lien entre ces deux construits. De fait, certaines données suggèrent que le comportement stratégique au sein de tâches de cognition de haut niveau pourrait être en lien avec la capacité de MDT. L'objectif de ce travail de thèse était d'évaluer ce lien de façon plus poussée. Cette approche nous a conduit à deux résultats particulièrement significatifs. Le premier concerne le développement et la formalisation du paradigme de Hard Fall Effect (HFE), défini comme étant la chute de performance plus importante en situation de double tâche pour les participants avec une forte capacité de MDT. L'hypothèse sous-jacente à cet effet est que ces participants utilisent des stratégies afin d'améliorer leurs performances en situation de simple tâche, et que la situation de double tâche perturbe l'utilisation de ces stratégies. Au cours de ce travail, le HFE a notamment été mis en évidence dans une tâche de mémoire visuospatiale, et a pu être attribué à l'utilisation de stratégies d'encodage plus efficaces par les participants avec une forte capacité de MDT au sein de tâches de mémoire complexes. Notre second résultat significatif correspond au test direct de l'hypothèse de médiation du lien entre MDT et cognition de haut niveau par l'utilisation de stratégies efficaces en cognition de haut niveau. Nous avons montré que lorsqu'on contrôle la variance associée à l'utilisation de stratégies efficaces dans la tâche des Matrices Avancées de Raven, la relation entre capacité de MDT et intelligence fluide diminue. Dans l'ensemble, ces deux résultats permettent de renforcer l'idée selon laquelle le comportement stratégique impliqué dans les tâches de cognition de haut niveau intervient dans la relation entre MDT et cognition de haut niveau. / The relationship between individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) and high-level cognition has been extensively documented. Since efficient strategy use plays an important role in the performance of both working memory and high-level cognitive tasks, it could be the case that strategies mediate the WM-high-level cognition relationship. Importantly, it has been observed that the use of efficient strategies in high-level cognitive tasks is related to individual differences in WMC. The goal of this research work was to investigate this association between WMC and the use of efficient strategies in more detail. Firstly, we formalized a paradigm termed the Hard Fall Effect (HFE), defined as a larger decrease of performance in dual task conditions for high WMC individuals. The underlying interpretation of this effect is that these individuals use efficient strategies under simple task conditions to improve their performance, and these strategies are disrupted by dual tasking. The present work evidenced the HFE in a visuospatial memory task, and attributed the effect to the higher tendency of high WMC individuals to use efficient encoding strategies in complex memory tasks. Secondly, we provided evidence that efficient strategy use in high-level cognitive tasks partly mediates the WMC-high-level cognition relationship. More precisely, when statistically controlling the use of efficient strategies in Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, the WMC-fluid intelligence relationship was significantly reduced. Overall, these two results provide evidence that the use of efficient strategies in high-level cognitive tasks is involved in the WMC-high-level cognition relationship.

This study investigates verbal and visuospatial memory strategies used by individuals with perceptual or cognitive disabilities. The groups concentrated on in this study are deaf individuals who are native sign language users and individuals with dyslexia. The study comprises an experiment and an in-depth study in which a pre-test and a questionnaire were used. Nine deaf signers, two persons with dyslexia and 12 persons without any perceptual or cognitive constraints participated. Of these 23 persons, seven were selected to take part in the in-depth study. The results indicate individual differences in working memory capacity among the subjects and differences in performance and processing between native sign language users and hearing individuals. Further, all of the participants were using a number of different strategies and shifting between strategies in the experiment. The results demonstrate that the amount of information individuals are able to hold activated in working memory is dependent on a range of factors, both internal factors specific to the individual and external factors relating to how information is presented. Guidelines for information presentation to limit working memory demands based on the findings are suggested.

O presente estudo busca entender como se apresentam e se relacionam os estados afetivos e motivacionais dos alunos ingressos e egressos do nível de graduação do curso de língua russa da USP. Para tanto, a pesquisa utiliza-se de enfoque teórico e metodológico que engloba fatores tanto da Psicologia Social quanto da Psicologia Educacional. A análise dos resultados sugere a mudança destes estados afetivos no contato com as diferentes situações de aprendizagem a que são expostos. / The research aims to understand foreign language students\' affective and motivational situation. The participants of the research have a higher level of education and they studied Russian as a foreign language. For the purpose mentioned above we have applied the educational psychological and the social psychologycal theories and a mixed methodology. The results suggest that initial motivation changes over time as students has been exposed to different language learning contexts, as classes, groups, professors, materials, etc.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-11T13:59:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 andre luiz.pdf: 1346017 bytes, checksum: 65a9a93635e6cc6fcd9af5c7e2ff70ac (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Emotions can be understood as multidimensional phenomena that cover biological, subjective, cognitive and social aspects. Despite its controversies, evidence point to the existence of a specific number of basic emotions, universally recognized in facial expressions. The capacity to recognize emotion in face have been studied for its importance in social interaction, as a relevant ability, but it has been documented mostly in studies with brain lesions or specific disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, among others. This studies point to a relation between perception of emotions in faces and a series of important phenomena related to social adaptation and behavioral mediation. In this perspective, this work aims to study individual differences on the ability of perception of basic emotions in a sample of students of both sexes. To this purpose, it was conducted a bibliographic research about the measure instruments mostly used, which allowed the choice of a measure used internationally in emotion perception studies. After that, it was executed two pilot studies to estimate the psychometric parameters of the measure. Ultimately, after instrument adjustments, it was selected 71 images (items) to compose the final instrument. There was 217 subjects assessed, young adults with the mean age of 20.8 years-old for women and 24.24 for men. The results indicate that the items presented low psychometric qualities; hence the need of creation of an instrument with improved characteristics, difficulty and discrimination. Nevertheless, it was possible to find significant differences between genders concerning the perception of basic emotion. / As emoções podem ser entendidas como fenômenos multidimensionais que abarcam aspectos biológicos, subjetivos, cognitivos e sociais. Apesar de diversas controvérsias, as evidências apontam para a existência de um número específico de emoções básicas, universalmente reconhecíveis através das expressões faciais. A capacidade de reconhecer emoções através da face tem sido estudada pela sua importância em interações sociais, como uma habilidade relevante, mas tem sido documentada principalmente em estudos com lesões cerebrais ou transtornos específicos como esquizofrenia, depressão, transtorno bipolar, entre outros. Esses estudos apontam para a relação entre a percepção de emoções em faces e uma série de fenômenos importantes para a adaptação dos sujeitos e mediação dos comportamentos sociais. Nessa perspectiva, o presente estudo tem por objetivo estudar as diferenças individuais na capacidade de perceber emoções básicas em uma amostra de estudantes universitários, de ambos os sexos. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica acerca dos principais instrumentos de medida utilizados, o que permitiu a escolha de uma medida internacionalmente utilizada em estudos de percepção de emoções. Após essa fase, foram conduzidos dois estudos pilotos para estimar os parâmetros psicométricos da medida. Por fim, após os ajustes do instrumento, foram selecionadas 71 imagens (itens) para compor o instrumento final. Foram avaliados 217 jovens adultos com idade média 20,8 para mulheres e 24,24 para homens. Os resultados indicaram que os itens apresentam baixa qualidade psicométrica, havendo a necessidade de criação itens com melhores características, tanto de dificuldade quanto de discriminação. Apesar disso, foi possív

Individual differences have been of special interest in the field of second language acquisition for decades. Recent studies show special interest in the stability of various individual differences. The results, however, have not proven to be coherent. This thesis aimed to investigate individual differences of Swedish students enrolled in a German course in 2011 and addressed the issue of stability and correlation, in terms of personality, motivation/attitude and communication strategy use. Furthermore, teachers' perception of their students‟ individual differences, as well the enhancement of ID factors in the language classroom were determined. The results could not verify recent criticism on previous individual difference research, since ID factors analyzed proved to be stable and to be highly correlated with each other. Especially the correlation between anxiety and extroversion, as well as communication strategy use proved to be interesting. Furthermore, a correlation between teaching practices and students' individual differences could be found.

Age can affect memory performance. This statement is so often heard that it has become almost a truism. When research surrounding memory inhibition – the ability to ignore irrelevant material to aid in the retrieval of a target memory – is examined specifically, a more mixed picture of findings emerges. Whilst some previous work has found evidence of an age-related deficit, other research has rather found intact memory inhibition in older adults. Less often discussed, too, are the effects of individual differences on memory inhibition in addition to age, including differences in metacognitive strategy, working memory capacity, stress and mood. The present thesis set out primarily to investigate the effects of age on memory inhibition chiefly using cognitive experimental paradigms, and also to investigate potential individual differences in this ability which exist across the lifespan. The findings of the present thesis showed that age alone was not related to a deficit in memory inhibition, - young and older adults rather showed equivalent levels of inhibitory forgetting on two different paradigms, when methodological measures were put in place to control for alternative, interference-based explanations (Study 1). These findings also could not be explained by differences in metacognitive, covert-cuing strategies (Study 2). Instead, age-related inhibitory deficits were qualified by differences in working memory capacity (Study 3a & b). In combination, older age and low working memory capacity were related to impaired memory inhibition, whereas young age or high working memory capacity were not. Finally, natural variations in stress and mood over time were found to be related to significant differences in working memory capacity, but not memory inhibition (Study 4). This suggests that these important cognitive abilities may be capable of changing even over relatively short time periods, and thus they may also potentially be improved, - a proposal which is considered in the General Discussion.

This study investigates the acquisition and use of metadiscourse markers in learners/users of L2 Spanish and the role these markers play in the development of fluency and conversational participation during a five-month stay in Spain as exchange students of business administration. The study has been conducted in three steps. The first part focuses on the theory and categorization of metadiscourse markers, followed by an analysis of the use and development of these markers in learners of L2 Spanish. The second part deals with the categorization and operationalization of aspects of fluency and conversational participation that can be associated with the use of metadiscourse markers; followed by an analysis of these aspects in the performance of the learners. The third part of the study is a summary of the results obtained and a discussion of the relationship between the use of metadiscourse markers and the development of fluency and conversational participation. The data underlying the current study consists of a selection of 17 recorded conversations between learners of L2 Spanish and native speakers of Spanish taken from the AKSAM database. The conversations belong in two activity types: discussions and simulated negotiations. The selected sample has a duration of approx. 10 hours and comprises 87 683 words. The study focuses on nine learners who have been recorded at the beginning and at the end of their five month study-abroad stay. Results show that frequency of use of metadiscourse markers has increased considerably at the end of the stay in the majority of the learners under study. A qualitative development can also be found, through which the metadiscourse markers that characterize the learners’ L1 and/or interlanguage have been substituted by more target-like expressions. Furthermore, both their fluency and level of conversational participation have generally increased. Within this development, however, a notable individual variation can be found. The learners who show the strongest development as regards fluency and conversational participation are also found to exhibit the most salient development of metadiscourse markers. Since disfluency is reduced to a lesser degree in those participants who also exhibit a less developed use of metadiscourse markers, it is argued that the development of metadiscourse markers in the L2 learner runs parallel to the development of discourse skills, but also that acquiring an adequate use of metadiscourse markers helps developing these skills.